Chris Banham wins 2014 North Island Champs

The New Zealand 2014 North Island Champs took place at the Taranaki Radio Control club. In the Nitro Buggy class Chris Banham managed to TQ 5 out of 6 qualifiers to take the overall TQ and also in the Nitro Truggy class he pretty much dominated the qualifiers by taking 3 round wins which in turn also gave him the overall TQ for the finals. Following the semifinals Chris than would also take the pole positions for the finals of both classes.

The start into the Buggy final went well for Chris but a rich carburettor setting meant his pit crew had to adapt the planned 9 minute stints a bit after Banham ran out of fuel in the beginning, having him loosing one lap on the field. Once he put the hammer down Chris started to catch his competitors car by car eventually handing him the win in the 45 minute final in front of Perry Field and Jonathan Thompson.

In the 45 minute Nitro Truggy final disaster stroke for pole man Chris who suffered a flame out while controlling the field and having a 20 second lead on the number 2 driver. At the end he ended the final in 5th place while young local Gage Peter took the win from Jonathan Thompson and Jonathan Coluccio.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]