Hebert and Schinzano split buggy titles at Canadian International Championships

0 Aug. 4, 2015, 6:19 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Sutton Aviation Raceway, which is located in a circus tent just outside an airplane hanger in Ottawa, Canada, hosted the fifth annual Canadian International Championships over the weekend. The electric off-road race began on Friday evening with the beginning of Modified buggy qualifying, continuing through Saturday with a triple A-Main format on Sunday that inverted the A2 grid to make things interesting.

In the premier 1/10-scale buggy classes, Mike Brown earned Top Qualifying honors and with them the first starting spot on the grid for both 2WD and 4WD.

Brown made an early mistake in A1 of the 2WD class, which opened the door for Keven Hebert to make a last-lap pass on Alex Miller for the win. Dave Henry used his starting position from the inverted A2 grid to its full advantage, holding off pressure from Hebert to win A2 while a late mistake from the on-road racing champion allowed Brown into second. In the third A-Main, Brown made a mistake on lap two and Hebert pressured Miller into a mistake. The A3 win for Hebert secured the title over Miller and Henry.

Brown led most of the first A-Main in the 4WD division, though a stalking Leonard Schinzano dove to the inside in the final corner to steal the win. Brown struck back in A2, holding off Abiye Birku and forcing the championship to the final round. Damian Lamy scored a runaway victory in A3, earning third overall, while Schinzano out dueled Brown to take the title.