Payne ‘Top Qualifier’ at MonTech NYGP

Excelerate RC’s Ollie Payne is the Top Qualifier at the MonTech New York Grand Prix, the British driver just missing out on a 58-lap run in the fourth & final 1:12 Mod qualifier this evening at 360v2 RC Raceway in New Rochelle.  Finishing 4th last year, at this year’s 8th running of the Donny Lia promoted event Payne has been the benchmark from the get-go.  Opening qualifying yesterday with a TQ run, his only blotch of the four rounds would be a mistake in Q2 that led him to pull up early.  Upping the pace this morning in Q3, he secured the rocket round TQ honours in final round missing out on a 58-lap run by just 0.053 of a second.  Achieving his first 57-lap run in the final qualifier with the second fastest time, 5.6-seconds off Payne’s pace, it will be defending NYGP Champion Sam Isaacs who lines up P2 for tomorrow’s single A-Main.  The only other driver to register a TQ run in the TQ Wire 1:12 Modified class, Keven Hebert makes it three different manufacturers in the Top 3 despite his Xray stripping a gear early in the concluding qualifier.  Setting the fastest lap of the final qualifier but registering a DNF after his car spun out and he opted to pull it having crashed earlier and needed to be marshalled, 2024 NYGP winner Kemp Anderson will line up fourth for Awesomatix with Donny Lia completing the Top 5 on his Cerberus Racing debut.

Putting it to him that he had left his rivals scratching their heads, with a smile Payne responded, ‘It’s been pretty good.’  On his Q4 run he said, ‘The car seemed to be a little bit looser in the afternoon so I am hoping the earlier main tomorrow with help me a little bit.’  The reigning British National Champion continued, ‘I don’t know if it is because the AC comes on and the track cools down a little bit but I seem to be a little bit better in the earlier runs of the day when the grips a bit higher and the track is a bit more locked in, so early mains should help me out.’  On whether he planned any car changes for tomorrow he said, ‘No, I will probably just re-grease everything and freshen it up and make sure everything is good and try it in the morning (open practice).’  Asked about his big step up in performance over this time 12-months ago, he replied, ‘a different car has helped’.  Also securing the TQ in 1:12 Super Stock, a class of which he is the defending Champion, on that performance he said, ‘Yeh it’s great to get that TQ too and there will be not changes to that car for sure.’  He added, ‘Obviously it’s me and then Morgan (Williams) which means I am kind of not under a lot of pressure because we are team-mates and so on.  But I am pretty happy to TQ that too and we’ll both try get off to a clean start and go from there.’

Commenting on his final qualifier, Isaacs said, ‘I found a little bit more steering in the beginning so that was a little better of a run but it got too pushy as the run went on and I couldn’t keep up.’  On his game plan for the final tomorrow, the Awesomatix driver said, ‘I need to make some more pretty big changes on the car to try to get a seriously good amount of steering and then try to hang on to it.’  Asked if he was racing to keep second place or if he can challenge Payne for the win, the Maryland racer replied, ‘It certainly appear that way now, I mean Ollie is on a tear and that might be fastest run ever done on this layout so it will be hard to chase him down.  If I find something great in the car its possible but then there is the part about trying to pass him.’  He concluded, ‘It’s looking difficult at best.’

Explaining his DNF in the final quali, Hebert said, ‘I blew a bearing from the start really.  I did a warm-up lap and it had a weird noise and the bearing blew and stripped the spur so I couldn’t run many laps.’  Unable to get a feel for the changes made to his prototype X12, he added, ‘I’ll have to practice some more tonight and see if I can make progress cause I couldn’t tell there if it was better or worse.’  Starting third on the grid, the Quebec driver said, ‘I was kind of lucky cause Kemp crashed but I think my base is fast enough to be 3rd or 2nd.  I have nothing to challenge for the win but to be second I think is possible if I can get the car to where it was or slightly better.’