AE takes 4 at the Team Associated Gold Coast Indoor Masters

Last weekend I went to Gold Coast RC Raceway in Queensland, Australia, for the Team Associated Gold Coast Indoor Masters. This year was the fourth year for the event, but only my second year in attendance, so I was looking forward to competing again.

The indoor clay track was in pretty good shape as usual, which always means very close racing. Having entered three classes, 2WD mod Buggy, 4WD Mod Buggy, and 2WD Short course, I (along with some help from my dad) was pretty busy in between races cleaning tires and keeping batteries charged.

In 2WD Short Course, my SC5M setup was pretty much spot on from the start so we didn't change a thing all day. This truck is really consistent and I was happy with good results managing to TQ. Finals went well with only a couple little mistakes along the way, so I managed to wrap up this class with wins in A1 and A2.

2WD Mod Buggy was a similar story. The B5M felt a bit squirmy in Q1 but we did not change anything because on this surface, grip gets better as the day goes on. I still was able to take the first qualifier. In Q2 the car felt really good with heaps of grip. I managed to TQ for the A Main with a couple more good runs. A1 was a good race which I was able to win with only a couple of small "bobbles' along the way. In A2 the car felt even better and another win let me take my second class win for the event.

This was my first time racing 4WD Mod Buggy. Since my B44.3 was only finished the week before the event, I did not have a lot of time to try different set ups. I decided to run the kit set up with an extra shock spacer in each shock. The car was great!

I was really happy to TQ in my first 4WD buggy race and looked forward to the final. A1 got off to a good start but a little mistake let Chris Sturdy past me. I managed to re-take the lead and the racing was really close until I was able to pull away in the last few laps for the win. A2 was another really close race. I made a good start but another error on my part left me in second, but the car felt great and I was able to recover and pass Chris to take the win in A2. This allowed me to take my third class win for the day.

I was a bit worn out from running three classes in a day, but I'm glad I did. It was a great event with some close racing in all classes. Between my Associated team mate Dave Ruddell and myself we managed to win four out of a possible five classes with Team Associated cars.

Products used
#70006 RC10SC5M Team Kit
#90000 RC10B5M Factory Lite
#9063 Factory Team B44.3
#322 Reedy LiPo 5300mAh 70C 7.4V Shorty

Thanks to Alex Bernadzik for this report.

Team Associated - Champions by Design