25/05/2026
Summer Series Round 2 race report by Lee Baldry:
Yesterday, Sunday 24th May, the Nene ran Round 2 of our Summer Series; attended by a well-stacked field of Nitro and Ebuggy racers. The sun was out in force and the track was in great shape, thanks as always to the Nene Team. Some unavoidable Committee shortages meant some new faces in race control learning the system; with a few bumps in the road ironed as we went along. Nothing stops the Nene Team and thanks again for everyone's patience.
Quick out of the box in Qualifying was our very own Leigh Bond in Ebuggy (Tekno), with a number of racers kindly lending their cars to newbies to try their hand at giving him a run for his money! Leigh was chased hard throughout qualifying by Jason Hornby (Kyosho) and Joshua Stuckey (Agama), making for a fantastic two-legged final in prospect: Joshua taking eventual pole position.
Nitro saw Lee Baldry (Agama) take an unexpected pole spot, to be chased by Paul Driver (LSOR) and a slightly unlucky Mark Higgins (WIRC), who found a few issues impacting his usual pace.
The 27deg C temperature saw a few worried faces around overheating risk in the finals: but the barbeques, drinks and atmosphere helped allay this! Out of the gate Leigh Bond again demonstrated his pace, winning EBuggy Leg 1 by 12s from a hard-charging Jason Hornby. Paul Markham (Agama) having an excellent run to come from behind and close to within 4s and Joshua unlucky to suffer a car problem.
Leg 2 Ebuggy saw Joshua Stuckey return to form, taking a dominant win from Leigh and Jason. Overall combined results and Leigh come out on top, with well-deserved podiums for Jason and Joshua. Great racing throughout the field!
In nitro, Mark Higgins got a blinding opening lap to seize the initiative from polesitter Lee, and rapidly set about consolidating his lead. Sadly it wasn't to be, as electrical gremlins stopped his charge in the second stint. Bad lucky Wiggsy! From there on, Lee and Paul diced it out, with Lee eventually building a small lead. Sadly Paul also ran into issues, leaving Lee to complete the final stint largely unchallenged. However the eventfulness continued; with Lee running out of fuel just 10m past the finishing line, to take the win!
Congratulations to all racers, and thanks once again for supporting the Nene.
Next weekend we'll be having a work party so if you can lend a hand we are planning on putting up some new fencing, general track repairs, weeding and painting - the usual type of stuff!
This is all in preparation for Nitro X Cross visiting us 6th and 7th June for the next two rounds of their ever-popular Summer Series. Few places might still left so head on over to their website to snap them up; in what promises to be yet more great racing at the Nene!
