Ilievski crowned Australian stock touring car national champion

0 Nov. 9, 2015, 7:36 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report from XRAY:
www.teamxray.com

XRAY T4 dominated the 13.5 Australian National Championships

This year’s 2015 Australian National Championships were held at the Whalan Model Car Club in NSW. The track hadn’t seen much action over the past couple of years as the previous club folded, however WMCC did a great job bringing the track up to scratch to host this year’s Australian Nationals. The event drew numbers of 100+, bringing the best drivers from around Australia in all classes.

Friday Practice

With the weather playing games the previous day, there was a good chance of rain hanging around. The cooler temps resulted in a faster track. Friday practice would set the seeding for qualifying. The day was set out in timed heats counting your fast 3 consecutive laps. Having been to the track previously, I had a set up on the car that I knew was fast and easy to drive in the cooler temps. In the morning I opted to use the new PSS shock system which was an amazing change for the car. By the end of the day I was able to set the second fastest time- setting me up for 2nd for qualifying.

Saturday Qualifying

Arriving at the track on Saturday the weather was totally different to the previous day and the hot temps unsettled my car. As the rounds progressed I had to chase set up for the changes in temps. Qualifying was to be determined by best 3 out of 6 rounds counting. Due to the tough field of competitors and chasing a suitable set up, I was only able to achieve three 3rd place finishes.

Sunday Qualifying/Finals

With 4 different drivers in Stock 13.5 having a TQ the previous day top qualifier was still up grabs. The cooler temps played to my favour in the morning. The car was fast and perfect, but whilst leading the round I had a mind blank and hit a curb which set me back to 3rd place. TQ went to Tony McMahon, a fellow XRAY team mate. He was able to put together 2 fast round to take the TQ. With the tough field, having three 3rd place finishes would put me 5th on the grid.

The first final started great and I made it into 3rd place during the first lap. Unfortunately I clashed with a fellow competitor resulting in a roll over and a tweaked car. I decided to pull the car off to save my tyres as we were only allocated 1 set for the 3 finals. The first final went to my fellow XRAY team mate, Damien Zarb.

The second final produced some great racing and by the first lap I made it into 3rd place behind Tony and Damien. Tony pulled away at the start of the race to a 3 second lead from Damien and myself. After a great battle with Damien I made it past him and started to chase down Tony. I wasn’t able to close the gap in time which saw Tony take the win and me finishing second.

The title was up for grabs in the 3rd final. By the time we reached the second corner I noticed the top 2 drivers came together and opened up the field which gave me a clean run through the pack alongside fellow XRAY team mate Justin Rediex. We both went off with a 4 second gap to the rest of the field and after a great race with Justin I could see the finish line drawing closer. I knew I had to coast it in to take the National Title for the second consecutive year.