Round Two of the 2010 World Championship F1D Team Trials selection.
Two weeks had passed and all of the fliers recharged and with renewed vigour met back at the Bushfields Sports Centre Peterborough for Round 2 of the 3 scheduled . Externally the weather was quite cold however as previous years this fails to make a notable difference inside. The heaters & vents are shut off shortly beforehand providing a stable environment for these light models.
Access was allowed some 30minutes before our 10am start which allowed all to fill one side of the hall with our tables, kit and the models perched from their stands. Practice flying was well in swing within 30 minutes with fervent activity from all of the fliers aiming to trim the last seconds from their models prior to the first round.
It was Derek Richards who took the `bull by the horns’ with a brace of flights that were to push Bob Bailey to within one second over the two flights with Mark Benns putting in one good flight to rival the leaders.
Round two started promptly with Bailey & Benns launching on ever increasing torque levels to attain times around 10mins 45secs, Richards however was having none of it with a flight of 11minutes dead. John Shaw & Geoffrey Lefever were having their own private battle with John tipping the balance as Geoff battled with some model damage which was certainly affecting duration.
The Final round was set up to be a real humdinger, it was Bailey’s turn to fly early posting a superb 11min 6second flight inching himself ahead of Derek but only by 13seconds, Richards responded with a trademark high torque launch bouncing the ceiling just after the minute and settling to a respectable time but not enough to tip Bob who held out to win his second trials in succession. Meanwhile Shaw, Lefever & Clive King struggled to better their early rounds working tirelessly to the last few minutes of the event.
Congratulations to Bob Bailey for retaining his title with a full house and to Derek Richards & Mark Benns for sealing their team positions for 2010. The Final round is to be held early in the New Year where the fourth place (reserve team member) will be hotly contested as will the 2nd & third position. Thanks again to all who attended and special thanks to Peter Ing for being Contest Director for the day.
Top 4 placing after Round One
R. Bailey 100% (21.58- best 2 flights)
D.Richards 99.01% (21.75 – best 2 flights)
M.Benns 98.25% (21.35 – best 2 flights)
J.Shaw 81.63% (17.56 – best 2 flights)
G.Lefever 79.81% (17.32 – best 2 flights)