Australian IC Titles – 2012
Peter Jovanovic Jr – 1:8th & 200mm Champion 2012
The Event
The best of the best arrived at the England Park Raceway in Queensland for a week of on-road racing at the highest levels in the country. With close to an equal split of 1:8 and 200mm tourers the 100 strong entry list had all the big names in the sport attending. The facility is the best in the country yet the track has aged since the 2006 worlds and for those that arrived early and raced the club meeting on a hot 31 degree Celsius day witnessed the effects of temperature contracting and expanding and the enormous bumps that were forming in the middle of the day like tectonic plates and forces creating Brendale’s very own great dividing ranges.
Track Conditions
The track’s inconsistency created huge challenges for many drivers and their mechanics to adapt and tune their car suspension setups. Those that remained rigid in their car setups struggled and those that were willing to change seemed to come to the fore. Fortunately towards the finals an evening’s rain cooled the track and ironed out a lot of severe bumps that could have caused more attrition and mechanical failures and the scene was set for some of the greatest on-road racing in Australia.
Ranking
While it was undisputed that our top 5 drivers would make it into the top heats, the absence of a current national AARCMCC ranking lists invoked a decision to use a ranking system of several rounds and the average of each driver’s three fastest laps was implemented using the IFMAR flavour of rules. This was to allow for fairer seeding of interstate drivers so race directors and organisers who were unfamiliar with names could assess their performance based on actual lap times.
Overall, the ranking system added more track time but created a false sense that the event had already begun. Most drivers appreciated the extra track time and the expected carnage of having 15+ drivers on track did not occur as drivers were in good spirit, courteous and allowed space and room for each other to get their 3 laps in. This set a great tone in amongst the garages and the atmosphere was set for a great event.
200mm – LAB-C02
Free practice
Welcome news was that after Free Practice, three Capricorn RC drivers occupied the top 4 positions, two local drivers, Chris Watchorn and young driver Luke Sinanian were all within 4 seconds of an impressive start by Victorian Ricky Vocale. 5 of the top ten drivers after free practice were all driving Capricorn RC cars and a popular compliment from the drivers in the garages was the team support provided equally to all the CapricornRC drivers by Peter Jovanovic Snr and Capricorn RC Australia. Parts, advice, support and morale was high as anyone who drove a CapricornRC car felt part of the team and this added to the level of performance for all involved.
Qualifications
Day 1
Peter Jovanovic Jr pulled out from finishing in the first couple of rounds, focusing on tuning for the challenging track. Adaptation to the bumpy conditions was a key to success, on day one while MTX5 local runner Jeff Hamon laid down an impressive 18.2 second fastlap and overall 32 laps, the Capricorn RC Australia team were tuning PJ Jr’s car to suit the conditions and on round 3 Peter Jovanovic rose to the occasion on the cool of the afternoon track pushing the fastlap down into the 18.1′s and edging closer to 33 laps, edging closer by .5s on the TQ position. Chris Watchorn missed out on 32 laps by .7 and young drivers Luke Sinanian and Chance Karlsson set respectable qualifiers and were in the top 6 in the early rounds as the “Big Boys” ramped up their game to make their presence felt.
Day 2
The first round of qualifying was set to be the fast round and to no surprise, Team Capricorn RC Australia pounced at the opportunity and dare I say… “Grabbed the Goat by the horns!”. Peter JOvanovic set a blinding pace dropping into the 18.0′s and pushed into 33 laps with an impressive 33/10:13.510. When asked what he thought, he replied, “It was hassle free, everything ran smoothly, the car performed perfectly and I am feeling very relaxed…” Peter Jovanovic Snr and team principle added, “The LAB-C02 gets better and better…”
End of qualifying rounds
With Peter TQ, there were 4 CapricornRC drivers in the top ten. Chris Watchorn 5th, Andrew Bardetta 7th and Luke Sinanian 10th. Four other drivers in the top 15 would move onto the semi finals directly, John Tayton, Chance Karlsson, Ashely Seward and Ricky Vocale making 7 Capricorn RC cars in the Semi-finals and one in the A-Main, Peter Jovanovic, TQ.
Semi Finals
Rain overnight delayed the start of the Semi finals but also cooled the track and contraction ironed out bumps. With the Semi-B race ready to start and a short delay, the track was still a little greasy and driver control would be tested. Capricorn RC Australia supplied Luke with a older E01 Hard Tuned WC Edition engine and he was mixing it with most of the modified engines while running AT platinum fuel. Local track knowledge added to the performance and while he had a bad fuel stop early and struggled in the first half, the strategy for a strong car in the latter half paid off with some consistent lap times and his first ever A-main National ranking. John Tayton also in Semi-B was faster on track but suffered from a flame out and a questionable penalty. While his times were faster than those of the other heat, the second two in the B-Final made it through and he unfortunately fell off the A-Main grid.
Chris Watchorn dominated the Semi-A and the remaining Semi final field with a 92/30:15.130 and 18.3 fastlap placing him on the stage with the best in the country. A series of poor performances and bad luck in previous state and national meetings, but he was now on point, well prepared and performing to his true potential and lead the rest by an impressive 4 laps with his LAB-C02.
Authors note: For those of us who race with Chris and know the quality of driving skill he has, it was a most pleasing and deserving result…“About time mate!!”
Ricky Vocale and Andrew Bardetta made a good start to their semis, Ricky suffered from an incident on track losing valuable time and fell off the finals grid. Andrew also suffered from an incident and it abruptly ended his chance of making the A-Main grid, both drivers were in good standing to make the A-main and this was the deciding factor that opened the door for Luke Sinanian to sneak into the the final A-main spot. Both Andrew and Ricky were genuinely glad for Luke, their misfortune opened the door for their fellow Capricorn RC youngster to make his first national A-main and re-enforced that the Capricorn RC Australia drivers are an extended family that support each other.
200mm Final
With the misfortune of other team mates Luke Sinanian’s event had already exceeded expectations and his car was setup with a soft clutch to preserve tyres and allow the “big boys” the freedom to pass without fear of close running altercations, this strategy paid off and he finished the race with only one driving error in 8th position 129/45:09.
The quality of the top 5 was nothing short of outstanding on the challenging bumpy track, within the first few laps as drivers settled in, Peter Jovanovic and local runner Jeff Hamon set a blinding pace ahead of local Jason Dorn and NSW driver Aaron Lee with Chris Watchorn in hot pursuit. The Capricorn LAB-C02 with Peter Jovanovic took the lead early in the race and headed the field with a single tyre strategy and slowly began opening a small but comfortable gap, taking it to the finish line with an outstanding result for both driver and car.
For many it was considered a boring race, but for the top 5 drivers, it was a spectacular demonstration of driving skill and high performance racing model cars. To create consistency where bumps would launch the tourers into the air and maintain very low deviations enforces the level and quality of modern 200mm cars and without question the Capricorn RC cars were resilient and outstanding and any rumours of fragility were quashed at England Park Raceway.
PJ Race Summary
Location: England Park
Laps: 142
TotalTime: 45:00.422
Fastest Laptime: 18.206
Average Laptime:19.017
Average Speed 56.36 Km/h
Standard Deviation: 1.278s
Event results
Click here – 200mm Final results
200mm Top 5 Graph
1:8 Scale
Day1 – Keeping it short and sweet
While the field of 1:8 runners was predominantly Mugen based, three LAB C801 drivers were in the same qualifying heat, Ashley Seward, Kyle Hazel who came home from Italy and Chris Watchorn. Peter Jovanovic was in the top last heat.
The first qualifying round saw the three Capricorn RC drivers fill the top 3 positions. The first round conditions were ideal, Ashley just missed 34 laps by .3 seconds and the three were all within a 6 second margin. After round 2 Ashley opted to switch from a 2 stop to a 1 stop strategy, warmer temperatures and thinner air prompted the decision to join the other two Capricorn RC drivers driving 5 minute intervals. On round three Ashley posted his first 34 lap round moving him into provisional 4th overall. Chris Watchorn and Kyle hazel were in close pursuit as the rest of the field were closing in fast, all three were well within the semi final standing.
In the top heat, lone Capricorn RC runner Peter Jovanovic was mirroring his 200mm strategy, developing and bettering the car for the last of the rounds in the cool of the afternoon. On round three he posted the fastest lap of 16.802 seconds, also driving a 5 minute pitstop interval and smashing out a consistent 35 laps to move his LAB-C801 into the TQ position.
Day2
The morning run was the chosen round and in 4th round, Ashley Seward was on track for 35 lap finish when a racing incident closed the door and lost him vital time to capitalise on the conditions but still managed to improve his qualifying time by 2 seconds. Chris ran out of fuel on lap 33 and just missed his 34 laps, but later in round 6 made his presence felt with a strong 34/10:04.438 heat.
Peter Jovanovic seemed to find another gear and in the morning and drove his LAB-C801 closer to an elusive 36 laps and bettered his fastlap with a 16.798, re-enforcing PJ Snr’s comment that the car gets better and better. Late that afternoon on day 2 in the final round of qualification, Peter Jovanovic demonstrated the LAB-C801 capability on track with an incredible 36/10:15.744 and outstanding fastlap of 16.442 and TQ.
Sub-Finals
While I was pitting for Ashley Seward, one of the highlights of the event was the Semi-Final B, where Ashley Seward, Chris Watchorn and Clayton Hughes put on a performance that I will remember for years to come. It was the cleanest and closest racing I’d seen for years, with no more than 5 seconds between them for the entire 30 minutes. Chris, Ash and Clayton were setting a blistering race pace and the two LAB C801 drivers were swapping the lead in pitlane and on track, while Clayton Hughes was lingering a couple of seconds behind them, ready to pounce. Lap after lap the timing system switched the two Capricorn RC drivers with the Serpent of Clayton never far away.
Towards the latter part of the semi, Ash and Chris made minor driving errors losing no more than 5 seconds and that’s all it took to swap the top three positions allowing Clayton Hughes who was finishing strong to pounce and cross the line first. Stepping away from pitlane I was certain that all three would make the A-Main after a magnificent performance, with Andy Bishop also coming through to the A-Main 1 lap behind, all four drivers of the Semi-B bettered the leader in Semi-A.
Trevor Connor pitman for Clayton Hughes quoted:
“You could throw a blanket over the three of them for the entire 30 minutes!!”
2012 Australian 1:8 Final
With three of the four LAB C801 cars in the final the first ten minutes became a blur as Ashley Seward’s thrust bearing retainer was not tightened and flew off, leaving the drivers stand and performing an emergency replacement that needed additional adjustments, by the time we had him back on track, looked up at the timing system the field were all in close formation 39 laps ahead. Regardless, Ashley set off to get some laps in the final, he retired early as it was highly unlikely we’d catch or pass any of the other cars and he chose to conclude his event.
Chris Watchorn was the only driver outside of the top two drivers with a sub 17 lap of 16.936. Losing only couple of seconds here and there while allowing the leaders through, his final position, 5th place is very much indicative of the quality of racing on track. Under any other circumstance, his drive would have been a podium finish and it is an understatement to think that 4 laps behind Peter is anything short of a remarkable finish… Well done again mate!!
Meanwhile, at the front… Peter Jovanovic continued with his immaculate driving, demonstrating the performance potential of the LAB-C801. Driving from the front with Jeff Hamon in hot pursuit, he didn’t falter for the entire 153 laps, his car danced around the high 16s and low 17s for the entire race with father Peter Jovanovic Snr cycling through the pitstop intervals without any dramas. Everything came into play and the recurring quote from Peter Jovanovic Snr echoed once again… “It gets better and better…”
Laps: 153
TotalTime: 45:06.049
Fastest Laptime: 16.700
Average Laptime:17.686
Average Speed 61.44 Km/h
Standard Deviation: 1.477 s
Results
Special Thanks
A very special thank you to Andrew Shapland who supplied these great images that he shot on a Canon 5D and 400mm lens. Awesome work mate and thanks for allowing me to make help capture and bring to life some of the spectacle of the event to this report!!
*PLUG* C/- True Blue Mobile Mechanics. *PLUG*
HD – Capricorn RC Video
1:8 Final Graph
Disclaimer
While this report is not intended in any way to be misleading, it is written by Luke Sinanian’s father, it is very much biased in favour of Capricorn RC Australia, the World Wide Capricorn RC community, the LAB-C02 & LAB-C801 cars, EO1 engines, Capricorn RC tyres, AT Racing Platinum fuel and the support of www.capricornrc.com.au. Video Equipment was supplied by TPD Media and produced and edited independently by Harry Sinanian as a non-commercial production for the Capricorn RC World Wide Community.
capricornrc.com.au – October, 2012.
