Event Report – 2021 AMPRA/WC Team Trial – Warrnambool Feb 2022

On the weekend of February 26-27, 2022, we finally had a chance to get together and run our 2021 AMPRA Champs. The AMPRA event was also a team selection for the F3D World Championships to be held later this year in the U.S. This meant we had lots of competitors from interstate come down, which was great to see.

We had some of our interstate visitors arrive earlier in the week. On the Friday afternoon when I arrived, there were many people there practising and set up ready for the weekend.

To ensure our best chance of getting through our flying programme for the weekend, we scheduled to start racing quite early (at 8 am), meaning people were turning up to setup their planes in the dark.
The first class we ran, this being a team trial, was F3D, one of the priority classes for the weekend. We managed to get through the five minimum required rounds very early.

After a short break, we commenced flying F3E and Q500 to give the competitors of F3E, a chance to charge batteries between rounds, which worked quite well and kept a good flow for the event.

We managed to get through the eight rounds of combined F3E & Q500 by about the middle of the afternoon, meaning we could bring forward the AMPRA meeting. We had to discuss some items of business for AMPRA. AMPRA (Australian Miniature Pylon Racing Association) is the Australian body for pylon racing. This event was the AMPRA Championships, which we hold once a year, normally in June, but due to COVID, this had been delayed from last year.

The next day we started early again. First up, we had to finish the remaining three rounds of F3D, making up a total of eight rounds. This done, we had completed the required racing for the team trials.

It was still early in the day, so we had time to run a good eight rounds of F3T. This class is always great to race and we had a good mix of Victoria and Queensland flyers flying this event.

F3T all finished up in the early afternoon after a short break for lunch. Presentations were made and we started leaving the field about 2:30 in the afternoon.

In general, it was a great event. It was excellent to have competitors from interstate, including Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria.

We saw some fantastic racing. In particular, some very tight racing between Beau Murphy and Lea Hocken, with Beau coming out on top with some excellent times. It was also great to see some good results in F3E.
Quickie 500 was competed only by Victorians and as usual, Jim Orenshaw came out on top.

The Warrnambool club did another great job of hosting, and we all very much appreciated it. Everyone pitched in and helped with pylon judging and timing. A great weekend had by all.

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Beau Murphy
2nd Leigh Hocken
3rd Tyler Mees

Fastest Time: 54.55 Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 6

Class – F3E

Places:
1st Tyler Mees
2nd Tony Singleton
3rd Trevor Pearce

Fastest Time: 56:27 Tony Singleton
No. of competitors: 6

Class – F3T

Places:
1st Andrew Wall
2nd Steve Hughes
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 60.51 Andrew Wall
No. of competitors: 6

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd James Hurley
3rd John Schmidli

Fastest Time: 94.49 Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 6

Season Championship

FA1

1st – Leigh Hocken 
2nd – Brian Steele
3rd – Tom Wetherill

F3T

1st – Glenn Matthews
2nd – Jim Orenshaw
3rd – Andrew Davies

Q500

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – James Hurley

Next Race

The next race meet will be on March 26-27 at Rick Townsend’s model airfield.
Classes being raced will be F3D, F3E & Q500.

 

Report & Photos  – John Schmidli

Please note: We are looking for people willing to write event reports or photograph the events. This is important and valuable to pylon racing in Victoria, Australia and Worldwide as this site has a vast readership.

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event. Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits. If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

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Event Report – Warrnambool Nov 2021

Finally, the VMPRA was able to go back to racing and back to the Warrnambool Model Aircraft Club. What a fantastic club facility they have there. The field was beautifully prepared, the club put on great catering and the help was incredible. 

Saturday was a little wet particularly in the morning and early afternoon so after completing 4 rounds of Q500, we held the AMG. After that, the weather had clear enough to fly 4 rounds of F3D,

Sunday, the weather was more stable and with an early start, we completed 8 rounds of F3T, then the balance of the Q500 and F3D rounds. All in all, it was a great weekend and the welcome return to pylon racing in Victoria.

We look forward to returning to this club for our world champs team selection event in Feb 2022.

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Brian Steele
3rd Tom Wetherill

Fastest Time: 56.77 Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 6

Class – F3T

Places:
1st Andrew Davies
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 61.04 Andrew Davies
No. of competitors: 6

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Gary Whitbourne

Fastest Time: 98.18 Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 6

Season Championship

FA1

1st – Leigh Hocken 
2nd – Brian Steele
3rd – Tom Wetherill

F3T

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Glenn Matthews
3rd – Jim Orehshaw

Q500

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – Gary Whitbourn

Next Race

The next race meet will be a World Champs team selection event at Warrnambool on Feb 26-27, 2022.
Classes being raced will be F3D, F3E & Q500.

 

Report  – John Schmidli

Please note: We are looking for people willing to write event reports or photograph the events. This is an important and valuable to pylon racing in Victoria, Australia and Worldwide as this site has a vast viewership.

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event. Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits. If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

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Event Report – Warrnambool

Our last event prior to the Convid-19 shut-down was at Warrnambool on Feb 29 – Mar 1.

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Barry Murphy
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 56.24 Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 7

Class – F3T

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Marcus Guss

Fastest Time: 65.46 Andrew Davies
No. of competitors: 8

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd Cameron Sexton
3rd Robin Gray

Fastest Time: 93.40 Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 6

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

FA1

No change in position for these three.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Brian Steele
3rd – Glenn Matthews

F3T

No change in position for these three.

1st – Brian Steele
2nd – Andrew Davies
3rd – Jim Orehshaw

Q500

Jim Orenshaw remains in first place and Gary Whitbourn has moved up to 2nd from 3rd place displacing Allan Swift.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Gary Whitbourn
3rd – Allan Swift

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

Because of Cancellations and Postponements due the the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, keep an eye on your emails and the calendar on this site.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Report  – John Schmidli

Please note: We are looking for people willing to write event reports or photograph the events. This is an important and valuable to pylon racing in Victoria, Australia and Worldwide as this site has a vast viewership.

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

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Event Results
Season Championship
Event Calendar

Event Report – Warrnambool Nov, 2019

The event was at Warrnambool on Nov 16-17. This field was in absolutely perfect condition with the club having recently upgraded all their facilities and the weather had been very kind with very green pastures and hay being cut everywhere.

Thanks to the Warrnambool Club for hosting this event and we look forward to revisiting you at the end of Feb 2020.

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Andrew Davies
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd Brian Steele

Fastest Time: 63.39 Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 6

Class – F3T

Places:
1st Glenn Matthews
2nd Brian Steele
3rd John Schmidli

Fastest Time: 64.00 Andrew Davies
No. of competitors: 8

Places:
1st Mike Kellet
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Gary Whitbourn

Fastest Time: 96.27 Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 8

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

This was the first event for the new 2019-2020 season championship.

FA1

Andrew Davies and Brian Steels remain in 1st and 2nd places respectively. Leigh Hocken has displayed Beau Murphy for 3rd Place.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Brian Steele
3rd – Leigh Hocken

F3T

Brian Steele and Andrew Davies have moved up a position each leaving Jim Orenshaw in 3rd place after not competing at this event.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Brian Steele
3rd – Andrew Davies

Q500

Jim Orenshaw remains in first place and Gary Whitbourn has moved up to 2nd pushing Allan Swift down to 3rd place.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Gary Whitbourn
3rd – Allan Swift

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

Warrnambool Feb 29 – Mar 1.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Report  – John Schmidli

Please note: We are looking for people willing to write event reports or photograph the events. This is an important and valuable to pylon racing in Victoria, Australia and Worldwide as this site has a vast viewership.

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

Event Results
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Event Report – Warrnambool, May 2019

Below are the results and championship standings for the recent Warrnambool event

If anybody has any photos they would like to contribute to the gallery and/or would like to add an event report, please email them to my usual address email or the below.

Further to this, for future events, I’m needing contributions in the form of an event report and photos, as I need to pull back for doing this.

Daniel & Andrew all set for the world champs in August.

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Leigh Hocken

Fastest Time: 57.52 Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 5

Class – F3T 

Places:
1st Brian Steele
2nd Jim Orenshaw
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 68.91 Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 7

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Allan Swift

Fastest Time: 93.83 John Schmidli
No. of competitors: 5

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

FA1

This was the final round of F3D for the 2018/2019 season championship.
So a big congratulations go to Daniel Arapakis. This is the 3rd time he has won a season championship.

1st – Daniel Arapakis
2nd – Leigh Hocken
3rd – Andrew Davies

F400/F3T

No change for 1st and 2nd positions, but Gary Davidson has popped back in 3rd place again.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Jim Orenshaw
3rd – Gary Davidson

Q500

No change for the top 3 positions.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Allan Swift
3rd – John Schmidli

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

Munro F3T & Q500 only. June 29-30, 2019

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Report  – John Schmidli

Please note: We are looking for people willing to write event reports or photograph the events. This is an important and valuable to pylon racing in Victoria, Australia and Worldwide as this site has a vast viewership.

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

Event Results
Season Championship
Event Calendar

Event Report – Warrnambool Dec, 2018

Below are the results and championship standings for the last event for 2018 which was held at Warrnambool. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend and therefore there are no photos or report.

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Leigh Hocken
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 58.32
No. of competitors: 8

Class – F3T (For the first time for the VMPRA)

Places:
1st Andrew Davies
2nd Brian Steele
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 68.19
No. of competitors: 7

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd Allan Swift
3rd Mike Kellet

Fastest Time: 96.49
No. of competitors: 4

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

FA1

1st – Daniel Arapakis
2nd – Andrew Davies
3rd – Leigh Hocken

F400/F3T

This season championship will be a combination of F400 & F3T. As of the November 2018 Munro event, all future races will be to the F3T rules.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Jim Orenshaw
3rd – Gary Davidson

Q500

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Allan Swift
3rd – John Schmidli

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

Camperdown February 2-3, 2019

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Report  – John Schmidli

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

Event Results
Season Championship
Event Calendar

Event Report – Warrnambool 2018

It was a rather smaller than usual group of us that turned up at Warrnambool for a weekend of pylon racing. The Saturday was a stunning sunny day with light winds. With the smaller number of participants and a great group of the local club members helping out, we got through 5 rounds of each class by the end of the day.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Unfortunately, Sunday was not to be as kind to us. With only 3 rounds of each class left, Q500 started the day’s racing and during the first race, the wind picked up resulting in some damage to planes on landing. This and the fact that the NATs were only a couple of weeks later, meant that the plug was pulled on racing for Sunday.

Check out the event photo gallery>>> 

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 56.66 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 5

Results

Class – F400

Places:
1st Brian Steele
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 66.25 – Glenn matthews
No. of competitors: 6

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Tom Wetherill
2nd Jim Orenshaw
3rd Gary Davidson

Fastest Time: 94.21 – Tom Wetherill
No. of competitors: 6

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

We now only have AMPRA left for this current season championship.

FA1

Brian Steele is in 1st place and Leigh Hocken continues his surge to the top being on equal points but in 2nd place due to events attended being less. Glenn Matthews has now dropped to 3rd place.

1st – Brian Steele
2nd – Leigh Hocken
3rd – Glenn Matthews

F400

No change at the top 3 positions for F400

1st – Brian Steele
2nd – Andrew Davies
3rd – Glenn Matthews

Q500

Again, no change for the Q500 championship standings.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – Gary Whitbourn

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

The next event is at AMPRA on June 9-11 at Munro

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report and Photos  – John Schmidli

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

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Photos
Season Championship
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Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Warrnambool 2017 – Event Report

The VMPRA was back racing in Warrnambool, a regional city on the West Coast of Victoria. The Field was in really good condition and the club was sporting some new structures in the form of a new club house and shed. The new club house was yet to be fitted out, so the guys from SA & NSW were allowed to set-up camp in there.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Travelling to Warrnambool on the Friday was a wet affair although conditions at the field where dry enough for setting up camp and to carry out some practice flights.

Saturday was off to an early start and once setup and was completed, we started with F400. Five rounds were completed and by lunch.

Next up was five rounds of FA1. The full Australian F3D 2017 World Championship team were present for this event so we got to see them in some of their final practice and preparations before heading off to Sweden in late July.

By the time  the FA1 racing had finished it was getting late. We started Q500 with a healthy field of 9 pilot and managed to complete 2 rounds before low light started to become a problem. After stopping for the day, the drizzle set in.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much the weather for the whole night and most of the next day resulting in no racing on the Sunday and pulling up stumps after lunch.

FA1 & F400 classes had a result but Q500 with only 2 rounds completed, was a non-event. It was a pity as we had a good turn-out with Pilots from SA, NSW & VIC.

While waiting for the weather to improve on the Sunday morning, a reporter and photographer from the Warrnambool Standard interviewed the World Champ Team plots and took some photos for the news paper.

Check out the event photo gallery>>> 

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Ranjit Phelan
3rd Shaun Jacobsen

Fastest Time: 57.85 – Daniel Arapakis (New fastest time for the season)
No. of competitors: 10

Class – F400

Places:
1st Shaun Jacobsen
2nd Beau Murphy
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 65.77 – Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 9 

Class – Q500

Non-Event – Only 2 rounds flown before being washed out.

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

We now only have 2 more events left for this season’s championship.

FA1

There was not change for the top 3 positions but Daniel has now closed the gap to Leigh down to 5 points from a previous 12 points.

1st – Leigh Hocken
2nd – Daniel Arapakis
3rd – Brian Steele

F400

Like FA1, there has been no change for the top 3 places but the gap at the top 2 positions is 2 points. Only 5 points covers the top 3 positions.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Barry Murphy
3rd – Jim Orenshaw

Q500

No change for the top positions as all 3 receive 1 attendance point after this class was washed out.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – Gary Whitbourn

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

The next race on the calendar is back at Munro on May 20th -21st.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report and Photos – John Schmidli
Additional photos – Tom Wetherill

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

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Photo Gallery
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Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Warrnambool 2016 – Event Report

Warrnambool located on the south-western Coast of Victoria and at the western end of the Great Ocean road, is world famous for it’s spectacular oceanic coastal views. Home club to the Hocken family, Koroit is a humble club amongst farm land with great facilities and very well maintained grounds.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

As usual Friday arrivals consisted of pilots and teams travelling from afar and were greeted with perfect Autumn conditions of mid 20’s and light winds.

The usual campers of Axons, Steeley’s, Murphy, Arapakis’ settling in for the afternoon and evening grazing with spits roasting and beers flowing. Well into the evening, festivities continued with perfect star filled night skies. In the morning, we woke up to misty rain and cold winds.

The field of competitors for Formula 400

Flying didn’t start until late morning due to the wet weather conditions. The usual race format of F400, Q500 followed by F3D was to be flown.

A field of 11 F400 pilots challenged the sky’s with Shaun Jacobsen in fine form with opening rounds in the 60’s putting loads of pressure on the rest of the field. Great to see the South Aussies at the event with 4 pilots flying in this class. Brian (Iron-man) Steele finished with the most cuts for the weekend which is certainly uncharacteristic and Leigh Hocken recording the fastest time of 64.95  seconds. Nevertheless Ranjit Phelan and Baz Murphy finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively after 1st place getter, Shaun Jacobsen. Well done to all pilots.

- Long time pylon racing friends, Jim Orenshaw and Gary Davidson (LtoR) with Gary's El Bandito F400 model.

Q500 always slated for a few laughs and a bit of sledging on the start line saw some brilliant flying and sub 100 seconds times by the three top place getters. A mix of experience and newer pilots to the racing scene challenged each other with each pilot flying at their best.

Jimmy (Tiger) Orenshaw taking out 1st place again, now in a really good position for the season championship just nudged in front of Tom Allen who came 2nd with Jarrod Jacobsen finishing 3rd dueling Dannmann’s Dad (Andrew Arapakis)for the weekend. 

Local lad and winner of F3D class - Leigh Hocken and his VooDoo pylon racer.

F3D with a 10 pilot entry was great to watch. The first up race was with good mates Shaun Jacobsen and Dannmann. Shaun opening up with a personal best, WELL DONE Shauny! Dannmann having looked forward to this weekend, unfortunately hit #2 pilot on his 3rd race with uncharacteristic model issues which saw him finish well down for the weekend. Leigh flew a brilliant race with his average for the event of 60 seconds and Shaun finishing 2nd in his second ever F3D race. He flew very consistently and was closely followed by a veteran of pylon, Baz Murphy, having got all his times in.

With only one event to go at Munro before the great race at AMPRA which is being held at Coolum QLD. This will be the first event for the team selection trial for the 2017 F3D World Championships to be held in Sweden. Good luck to all pilots!

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Shaun Jacobsen
3rd Barry Murphy

Fastest Time: 58.97 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 10

Class – F400

Places:
1st Shaun Jacobsen
2nd Ranjit Phelan
3rd Barry Murphy

Fastest Time: 64.95 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 11

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd Tom Allen
3rd Jarrod Jacobsen

Fastest Time: 95.87 – Mike Kellet
No. of competitors: 6

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

The following is how the season championship stands currently.

FA1

1st – Daniel Arapakis
2nd – Barry Murphy
3rd – Leigh Hocken

No change for the top two positions, but Leigh Hocken has moved up to 3rd position, displacing Glenn Matthews.

F400

1st – Brian Steele
2nd – Glenn Matthews
3rd – Shaun Jacobsen

No change for the top two positions, but Shaun Jacobsen has moved up to 3rd position, displacing Jim Orenshaw.

Q500

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – Andrew Arapakis

For Q500, again there was no change for the top 3 positions.

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Season Fastest Time

There was no new fastest time recorded at the Warnambool event

FA1 – Leigh Hocken – 57.38

F400 – Leigh Hocken – 61.75

Q500 – Daniel Arapakis – 89.59

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report – Anonymous
Additional information: John Schmidli
Photos – Andrew Arapakis & Tom Allen

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my/our perspective and reflects how I/we have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

 

Warrnambool 2015 – Event Report

The annual VMPRA race was held at the Warrnambool Club’s field on the weekend of 28 – 29 March 2015.  The event has been on the VMPRA calendar for well over a decade and the club has been very supportive of pylon racing.

Warrnambool is located on the Southern Ocean, and historically this has meant cool and windy conditions…and fast times.  This year a storm front passed through the area on the Thursday prior to the event giving the area and the flying field a good watering.  The weather then improved throughout the weekend.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Pilots that arrived on Friday were treated to sandwiches and tea/coffee and sweets – the hospitality was provided by Toni Axon.  It was a very civilised way to start the weekend and there was plenty of time for practice flights. Late in the afternoon, Tom Jacobsen and the dedicated group from South Australia arrived. These guys are truly passionate about their pylon racing and they helped bolster the numbers as a number of the VMPRA regulars had family and business commitments.

Saturday dawned overcast and cold, with occasional rain showers. The course was set up and racing got underway by mid-morning. The schedule was to follow the usual VMPRA plan – VIC F400, Q500 Sport and FA1, with the target of completing eight rounds for each class. As usual VMPRA procedure, racing was over 10 ½ laps.

VIC F400 was first up and this class attracted eight entries.  Four rounds were flown on Saturday and Shaun Jacobsen set the early pace, ending up with a best time of 64.88 for his DKT powered AR-6. Shaun was chased all the way, wing tip-to-wing-tip, by an inspired Jim Orenshaw. Jim had found a new prop that gave more speed and he finished the day with his best time of 65.51.

Four rounds of Q500 Sport was the next class to see action and this class attracted seven entries. John Schmidli set the early pace in the first round, however, he was not able to maintain consistency. John’s regular team-mate, James Hurley, had other commitments this weekend and Gary Davidson stepped in to help out. James York was debuting an impressive new Banshee and John Yanni also had a new model. David Axon had recruited Barry Murphy (apparently bribed by offers of sandwiches and tea) as a mentor and caller for the weekend – in the absence of Brian Steele. George Angelov was back in action as well with help from Gary. However, their efforts were in vain, as Tom Wetherill bagged some good scores in the 94 second range to finish ahead at the end of the day.

FA1 was the next class to be run and this class also attracted seven entries. Leigh Hocken, a member of the host club, member of the Australian F3D 2015 Team and local hero, set the pace on the first day with a string of 59 second times.  His best time coming in Round 5 with a brand new model.  At the end of the day, Tom Wetherill was second with best times in the 61 second range and Daniel Arapakis was third with a best time in the 62 second range.

On Sunday, the weather continues to clear and beanies were replaced with sun screen.  The first event was to complete the final four rounds of VIC F400.  Shaun Jacobsen continued to show the way and finished first overall with a score of 394.4.  Another win for SA!  Glenn Matthews finished second with a score of 421.2.  He was followed 0.5 seconds behind by Jim Orenshaw.  Cuts incurred during chasing Shaun caused him to drop back in the results.  Times on Sunday were slower than the previous day.

The remaining four rounds of Q500 Sport were flown next. There was plenty of very close racing as well as some bumping and sharing paint in flight – fortunately no loss of models occurred.  Although the times were also slightly slower than the prior day, Tom Wetherill finished in first place with a score of 578.9.  John Schmidli was second with a score of 610.0 and James York, who had started to dial in his new model, finished third with a score of 668.8.

The last event for the weekend was to complete the final three rounds of FA1.  Leigh ran a new model in preparation for the 2015 World Championships and blitzed the field with a best time of 57.44 for 10 ½ laps.  He ended the weekend in first place with a score of 354.9.  Daniel Arapakis stepped up the pace and posted a personal best of 59.2.  He finished second with a score of 369.9.  Tom Wetherill was third with a score of 377.6.

Attrition during the weekend was low overall.  However, Gary Davidson bore the brunt of any misfortune.  He had an impressive engine blow-up, creating a new ventilation system for his MB, as well as losing an F400 model.

In summary, a great weekend of racing and special thanks go out from VMPRA to the host Warrnambool club for use of their facilities, their hospitality and for their members who worked the course and served in the canteen.  Thanks also to Glenn and Nerida Matthews for running the timing system, to Toni and David Axon for working as starters, and the VMPRA members who worked the course during the weekend when they were not racing.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results – FA1

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Daniel Arapakis
3rd Tom Wetherill

Fastest Time: 57.44 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 7
Course – 10.5 Laps

Results – F400

Places:
1st Shaun Jacobsen
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 64.88 – Shaun Jacobsen
No. of competitors: 8
Course – 10.5 Laps

Results – Q500

Places:
1st Tom Wetherill
2nd John Schmidli
3rd James York

Fastest Time: 94.03 – Tom Wetherill
No. of competitors: 7
Course – 10.5 Laps

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

The following is how the season championship stands currently.

FA1
So now our AUST junior team representative has jumped up to the top position having displaced Glenn Matthews down to 2nd place.

1 – Daniel Arapakis
2 – Glenn Matthews
3 – Andrew Davies

F400 – Results
Glenn Matthews has jumped up to top position displacing both Andrew Davies & Brian Steele down to 2nd and 3rd respectively.

1 – Glenn Matthews
2 – Andrew Davies
3 – Brian Steele

Q500 – Results

Tom Wetherill has moved up another place from 3rd to 2nd with John Schmidli remaining in top place.

1 – John Schmidli
2 – Tom Wetherill
3 – James Hurley

Full Championship Results>>>

Next Event

Unfortunately the Quickie/Sports event at Bacchus Marsh has had to be cancelled. Therefore the next event will be Cohuna on May 16-17, 2015

Check Out Complete Calender >>>

Event Report – Tom Wetherill.
Additional content – John Schmidli
Photos – John Schmidli and Tom Wetherill

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my perspective and reflects how I have experienced this event.
Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.
If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

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