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METRO MASTERS '09 Shock horror! RC-MINI loses stranglehold on the Masters! 
| Andy Cooke - 2nd, Tom Huggan - 1st, Bruce Rollins - 3rd
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This years Metro Masters has been run and won, and I’m happy to say, not by anyone from rc-mini. The rc-mini tent is usually full up with around 10 drivers. This year was disappointing with only 4 occupying space in the tent. Most had “other commitments” … oh well, we don’t need them, we can manage just fine on our own. Well I thought that, but the atmosphere was sadly lacking, there was a bit less fun than usual.  | Tim channels the spirit of Frankie Tang, and still only gets 6th place...
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TFTR had done another deal with the devil to provide some fantastic weather, although next year ask for 25C instead of 35C thanks. TFTR also did a great job of running the race meeting. They were so efficient that we’d finished our 5 qualifiers by 4pm on Saturday, this allowed me to make it to the pancake parlour in time for the breakfast menu! They also had some great BBQ food on tap as well, I spied many a weiner being eaten in the rc-mini tent by Tony P, Jye and Jay.  | This is Doug on a Tuckerbox - Non-Aussies will have no idea why this is funny to us.
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Qualifying … well what can I say. Tom Huggan was in a league of his own being the only driver on 18 lap pace, I believe he missed out on the 18 lapper by only 0.7 of a second. Also he was the only guy doing laps in the high 20’s, everyone else was in the 21’s and slower. Tom was running the new M05 chassis in long wheelbase form. After I threw an insert in my first heat I sat back and enjoyed watching the best guys cutting some laps. Cookies car looked very smooth, as did Kirby Mastermans, but Toms M05 looked super dialed, no traction rolls, no oversteer, no understeer, no hopping, just a perfectly flat and fast M05 chassis. This was the best handling M05 I have ever witnessed. It also helped to have a fine steerer in control. Toms consistency went as low as 0.16 over the weekend, some great driving there Tom! Most of the rc-mini crew weren’t doing so well. Cookie did a great job qualifying in 3rd. Jay did an excellent job of qualifying in 7th – excellent because nobody has seen him at an r/c meeting for 6 months and he just shows up with no practice and makes the A final. Myself, I had to hang my head in shame qualifying in 8th, my worst effort in 8 years. Tony P … well we’re thinking of banishing him from the rc-mini tent, not only did he miss out on making the A final he couldn’t even BQ, he qualified a lowly 12th. And to think, last year he was a lap quicker than everyone else, oh how the mighty have fallen.  | This is how you throw an insert, and a qualifier, and make your Mini sound like a V8
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As far as qualifying goes, honourable mentions need to be made for Kirby Masterman in 2nd, Shannon Fitzsimons in 4th, Bruce Rollins in 5th and Dave Bain in 6th – good stuff! Sunday was finals time with the best 3 out of 5 counting. I was amazed to see Cookie winning the first final … Toms car must suffer from morningitis because in the next round he was on form, doing the first 17 lapper of the day and winning by over 4 seconds. Bruce Rollins and Dave Bain followed also on 17 lap pace. The 3rd final saw Tom stamping his dominance on the event yet again, beating Cookie by over 4 seconds. Final 4 and Cookie evened the score, managing to win by just 0.1 of a second over Tom. Tom must have been pushing really hard though, cutting the fastest lap of the meeting on a 20.637. With 2 final wins each it all came down to the last final, it was between Cookie and Tom. Tom pulled out a great lead and kept extending it to take the last final by 5 seconds and the overall win.
Final results were: 1st – Tom Huggan, 2nd – Andy Cooke, 3rd – Bruce Rollins Just out of interest, the fastest lap at last years Masters using Sport tuned motors was Tony P on a 21.93, this year Tony P’s fastest lap with the Hobbywing 13 Turn brushless system was a 21.799. This tells me 2 things, that the brushless motor isn’t that much faster for Tony P, and that Tony P needs to pull his finger out as he is over 1 second per lap slower than this years Top Qualifier. Since the introduction of a control brushless motor and also lipo battery packs the mini class has grown rapidly, some saying it is the premiere class. The competition is closer and tougher than ever before. Next year should be even better....
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