After winning the first two rounds of the South African Championships, the Mega powered Serpent drivers continued to dominate proceedings as they went to the third round of the series at the tight and tricky Durban track.
In 1:10 200mm the 720 showed its outstanding capability on a tight track, as Mike Wiseman TQ’d with his Mega powered example with his dad Dave Wiseman pushing him all the way qualifying 2nd fastest for an all Serpent front row.
Young Travis Carlyle continued his great year, using his 720/Mega combination to recorded the 3rd fastest time in qualifying heats.
The final saw a great dice between Mike Wiseman and Travis Carlyle, as they fought for the win with Wiseman coming out on top. Finishing second, Carlyle now leads the Championship with one round to go. Another local youngster, Shaun White, rounded off the podium, with a superb performance in the Final, and he has certainly lifted his pace with his move to the 720/Mega package. Overall it was a great result for Serpent in Durban with five cars in the top six placings.
1:10 235mm saw Arnold Vermaak, Mike White and Dave Wiseman all driving Serpent 835 battle for the TQ spot, with Wiseman edging out White and Vermaak to take TQ.
The final was a fight between Wiseman and White, as early leader Ian Corbett lost time with a fuel cut. White eventually won by a lap ahead of Wiseman with Corbett recovering from his earlier fuel cut to complete the podium. This class still provides some great racing to watch and it is great to see the skill involved in driving these 2 wheel drive cars.
The 1:8 class saw Mike Wiseman put his Mega DSII powered 960 into a clear TQ as he opened a 6.5 second gap on his nearest rival.
In the Final, the race was fought out at a furious pace with four drivers contesting the lead, with Mike Wiseman, Hein Kotze, Jacques Liebenberg and Wayne Joelson never more than a few seconds apart.
At the 20-minute mark, Kotze and Joelson came in to change tyres, which saw them lose time on Wiseman and Liebenberg who opted to run the full distance on one set. Liebenberg eventually dropped back a bit, giving Wiseman the win by over a lap at the end of the 45 minute final from Joelson with Liebenberg 3rd.
The fourth and finial round of the National Championship takes competitors to Johannesburg at the end of October.
