PDNR - Penrith District Nitro Racing Inc.

Track is set up and ready for Autumn Round 10!

🏆 AUTUMN CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆
2024 Autumn Championship points have been updated.

💥 NEXT EVENT 💥
Autumn Round 10 – Tuesday 23rd July
➡️ Register now at pdnr.org.au/me

Classes Available:
BYO
Short Course Truck
EP Tourer – Open
EP Tourer – 21.5
Nitro Tourer
1/8 GT
GTE
GT8 Limited

And don't forget about our Toyo Tyres Australia test drive trucks!

Typical Time Schedule:
• Track setup from 5:00pm (help is appreciated)
• Registration from 6:00pm
• Open Practice (after track set up is complete)
• Drivers Meeting 7:00pm
• Racing from 7:15pm (spectators welcome)
• Racing concludes around 10:30pm

🧡 SUPPORT PDNR AS A MEMBER 🧡
This year we are encouraging everyone to show their support of PDNR by being a member. Sign up or renew your PDNR membership online: pdnr.org.au/member

🎥 LIVE STREAM 🎥
Make sure you let your family and friends know that they can follow the action on the live stream:
Facebook: facebook.com/pdnracing
YouTube: youtube.com/pdnracing
LiveRC: pdnr.liverc.com/live

🥧 PDNR CANTEEN 🥧
The PDNR canteen is switching to Pies and Sausage Rolls for the next few weeks. We will also have cold drinks, tea & coffee. Please support the canteen as it's a valuable source of funds for the club.

🚨 SPONSORS 🚨
We would like to thank the following class sponsors for their support throughout 2024! Visit pdnr.org.au/sponsors for more information and special offers!

Sydney Helicopters
Kennards Hire
SpeedyRC Online Store
Walter RC Hobby
Smokem
East Coast Hobbies
FLY DRIVE Hobbies
Plaig Bearings

Please make sure you mention "PDNR" anytime you are dealing with any of our sponsors – it's important for them to know that their involvement with PDNR is appreciated!

QLD Titles: Good luck to all PDNR racers taking part in the RCRA IC On-Road Nitro Racing QLD State Tites being held this weekend at England Park Raceway (QRCCRA).

The 30 minute 1/8 GT Final is starting shortly. Watch the live feed/timing at: qrccra.liverc.com/live/

🏆 AUTUMN CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆
2024 Autumn Championship points have been updated.

💥 NEXT EVENT 💥
Autumn Round 9 – Tuesday 16th July
➡️ Register now at pdnr.org.au/me

Reminder we have the School Holidays Kids Class available tonight!

Classes Available:
BYO
Short Course Truck
EP Tourer – Open
EP Tourer – 21.5
Nitro Tourer
1/8 GT
GTE
GT8 Limited

And don't forget about our Toyo Tyres Australia test drive trucks!

Typical Time Schedule:
• Track setup from 5:00pm (help is appreciated)
• Registration from 6:00pm
• Open Practice (after track set up is complete)
• Drivers Meeting 7:00pm
• Racing from 7:15pm (spectators welcome)
• Racing concludes around 10:30pm

🧡 SUPPORT PDNR AS A MEMBER 🧡
This year we are encouraging everyone to show their support of PDNR by being a member. Sign up or renew your PDNR membership online: pdnr.org.au/member

🎥 LIVE STREAM 🎥
Make sure you let your family and friends know that they can follow the action on the live stream:
Facebook: facebook.com/pdnracing
YouTube: youtube.com/pdnracing
LiveRC: pdnr.liverc.com/live

🥧 PDNR CANTEEN 🥧
The PDNR canteen is switching to Pies and Sausage Rolls for the next few weeks. We will also have cold drinks, tea & coffee. Please support the canteen as it's a valuable source of funds for the club.

🚨 SPONSORS 🚨
We would like to thank the following class sponsors for their support throughout 2024! Visit pdnr.org.au/sponsors for more information and special offers!

Sydney Helicopters
Kennards Hire
SpeedyRC Online Store
Walter RC Hobby
Smokem
East Coast Hobbies
FLY DRIVE Hobbies
Plaig Bearings

Please make sure you mention "PDNR" anytime you are dealing with any of our sponsors – it's important for them to know that their involvement with PDNR is appreciated!

📸 More Happy Snaps from the 2024 Winter❄️Champs 📸

Thanks again for all the support and having some fun with us!

📸 Winter❄️Champs Photos 📸
Check out some of the great photos from the 2024 PDNR Winter Champs!

🏆 Winter❄️Champs – Winners are grinners 🏆

Thanks to everyone who took part in the 2024 PDNR Winter Champs. We hope you had a good time and went home with some nice memories from your time at PDNR.

Congratulations to all the podium finishers and award recipients.

Nitro Tourer – Presented by Matrix Racing Tires
🥇 Brayden Stanley [TQ] (Infinity)
🥈 Tate Firth (Infinity)
🥉 Michael Stone (XRAY)

1/8th GT – Presented by SpeedyRC Online Store
🥇 Rick Seymonsbergen [TQ] (Hong Nor)
🥈 Anthony Wasson (Serpent)
🥉 Logan Rintoul (XRAY)

1/8th GTE – Presented by Senesi Motorsport
🥇 Cameron Kendall [TQ] (Serpent)
🥈 Rick Seymonsbergen (Hong Nor)
🥉 Ross Lalic (Serpent)

1/8th Open – Presented by Blitz
🥇 Ryan Reynolds (Mugen)
🥈 Tim Moylan [TQ] (Mugen)
🥉 Cameron Kendall (Serpent)

1/12th Scale 13.5 – Presented by Hobbywing Technology
🥇 Tim Rhodin (Awesomatix)
🥈 Greg Brooks (XRAY)
🥉 Baden Macdonald (Awesomatix)
Dave Reston [TQ]

F1 – Presented by Bezerk
🥇 Ross Lalic (Serpent)
🥈 Dave Reston [TQ] (Schumacher)
🥉 Dan Maher (Schumacher)

Short Course Truck – Presented by Toyo Tyres Australia
🥇 Tate Firth (Associated)
🥈 Scotty Ernst (Associated)
🥉 Clinton Mackenzie (Traxxas)

ISTC Modified – Presented by PowerHD
🥇 Braden Stanley [TQ] (ARC)
🥈 Jeffrey Mackey (Awesomatix)
🥉 Tim Moylan (Mugen)

ISTC 13.5 – Presented by EZ Power
🥇 Marcus Askell (Awesomatix)
🥈 Lincoln Codd (Mugen)
🥉 Michael Stone [TQ] (XRAY)

ISTC 21.5 – Presented by Exalt RC
🥇 Logan Rintoul [TQ] (XRAY)
🥈 Adam Frankish (Mugen)
🥉 Dan Maher (Schumacher)

ISTC Junior – Presented by Sydney Helicopters
🥇 Tye Moylan (Mugen)
🥈 Zac Bardetta [TQ] (XRAY)
🥉 Jay Refalo (XRAY)

Front Wheel Drive – Presented by ARC
🥇 Tim Moylan (Mugen)
🥈 Anthony Gullota (Schumacher)
🥉 Chris Mitchell [TQ] (Awesomatix)

If you have any feedback or suggestions on the event please let us know!

Sunday at the Winter Champs was electric. Four ISTC classes (including Juniors) plus Front Wheel Drive with just shy of 100 drivers on the start grid. As has been the case all weekend the weather threatened at times, with qualifying shortened to two rounds, before misty rain eventually called a halt to proceedings midway through the second round of finals. Here's our wrap-up of the day's action and a few photos to whet your appetite while we process a bunch more.

SYDNEY HELICOPTERS ISTC JUNIOR
Zac Bardetta was the one to beat during qualifying, leading an enthusiastic bunch of 12 junior drivers to line up in front of Jay Refalo and Mya Refalo. Come finals time, Tye Molan was unstoppable, getting to the front from P7 in both the finals that were completed to be the Junior Champion. Zac Bardetta grabbed second on the podium with an excellent P2, Jay Refalo rounding out the top 3 with Mya just off the podium in 4th. We loved seeing both new and experienced Junior drivers going at it, including first-timers, and second-gen drivers alike.

ARC TRC FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
Front-wheel drive always delivers exciting racing, and today was no different – drivers taming the 13.5-powered Fronties to put on quite the show. Western Australia’s Chris Mitchell (the voice of Saturday’s racing) was the man in qualifying, grabbing the front spot from Anthony Gullota. Tim Moylan was fast too and would threaten from 3rd on the grid. Moylan, Gullota and Mitchell would go at it in A1, Moylan sneaking across the line for a solo last-lap win. In A2 Gullota put up the defensive drive of the weekend as Moylan threw everything at it, Anthony holding him out to get the win – but lost the overall to Tim’s faster A1 time. Chris Mitchell took the final step on the podium to take some silverware back home to WA.

EXALT ISTC 21.5
A big 29-car field in 21.5 made for tight, competitive racing and a big battle for A-main starting spots. Logan Rintoul grabbed TQ with a fast run in Q2, Dan Garcia picking up Q1 to start second ahead of Darren Ibbotson, Dan Maher and Adam Frankish. Phil Carpenter took a big win in the C Final, before Bruce Seaton did likewise with a lights-to-flag B final win. That left us with a helter-skelter A final, Logan Rintoul peerless in A1 and with the fastest winning time grabbing the overall ahead of Adam Frankish after Adam’s powerful A2 win. A pair of top-three spots put Dan Maher on the podium just ahead of Michael Martinez.

EZ POWER ISTC 13.5
Cristian Silva opened up with a Q1 win, before Michael Stone went faster, just edging Silva out to top qualify after two rounds. 26 cars made for a hard-fought qualifying, Marcus Askell grabbing a top three spot but with plenty of speed behind him. Brett Wilson took a big C final win, while Chris Mitchell made up for missing the main with a fast B final victory. The A final was a ripper, Stone leading away but Askell always nearby. When Michael clipped a kerb and spun, Marcus was through to a lead he would not relinquish. Lincoln Codd got the better of a ferocious battle with Alex Ilievski, and the recovering Stone also nipped past Ilievski to be third at the flag.

POWER HD ISTC MODIFIED
Simon Nicholson kicked off with a Q1 win, only three cars finishing in a rough opener. Q2 was a cracker, Brayden Stanley and Jeffrey Mackie trading fast lap times, and Nicholson nearby. Brayden did enough to ensure he’d start up front with Nicholson ahead of Mackie. The weather, of course, prevented the highly anticipated second and third mains, but in A1 it was one-way traffic for Stanley. A guy who grew up racing at PDNR is staking a claim at the front of the Australian Mod Tourer field and took a comfortable win. Nicholson put on a big defensive drive, Mackie searching for a way by on almost every corner before eventually sneaking through around half-race distance. Nicholson stayed in touch until a late-race failure put him out and promoted Tim Moylan to the podium – rounding out a big weekend for the Moylan clan.

That’s a wrap on the biggest-ever Winter Champs to be hosted by PDNR. Huge thanks to all who helped prepare, host, cook, clean, set up, pack down – and to the racers who came from far and wide. Big shout out to Scotty Ernst and Chris Mitchell for bringing their voices to the show. And finally, the sponsors who helped put this event together. It’s a long list, but we’ll name them all here:

Sydney Helicopters, FlySky, RC Maker, Penrith City Council, Campbelltown Hobbies, Brisket Boys, Mach-1, Kennards Hire, Toyo Tyres, Senesi Motorsport, JSpec Stickers, Speedy RC, Matrix Racing Tyres, Power HD, EZ Power, Exalt RC, Smoken, ARC, Leisure Coast Aluminium Windows & Kitchens, XRAY, Mob Boss Graphics, Seiko, KTM, Total Tools Penrith, Mountain Culture, East Coast Hobbies, Model Engines, Hara Racing, Blaxland Hot Bread & Café and RC Race Media. Big, big love to them all..

See you in 2025!

Winter Champs: Welcome to Sunday!

The 16th hosting by Penrith District Nitro Racing of the long-standing Winter Champs is underway with an amazing first competition day now in the books.
After rain threatened all week, it was a mainly fine Saturday, just a light mist adding excitement to the GT final – the last race of the day. It was a big 92 entries across 8th GT and GTE, 8th Nitro, 10th IC Tourer, F1, 1/12th 13.5 and the wildly entertaining Short Course Truck class.

BLITZ 8th SCALE
The mighty 8th cars battled gamely on a track layout not quite allowing them to stretch their legs. Some incredible lap times though, and a down-to-the-wire 20-minute A final. Tim Moylan had earlier swept qualifying and looked for all but the last three minutes like the final would be the same. That is until the hard charger ran out of front tyres and lap times started to drift. Ryan Reynolds had been ever-present and closed inexorably – the two nose to tail going into the final lap. Reynolds swept by for the win, Moylan second and Cameron Kendall rounding out the podium.

BEZERK F1
Qualifying in Bezerk F1 was all-out between the fast-starting Ross Lalic and then Dave Reston who went quick in Q2 and quickest of all in Q3. The 9-car all-in A final was a ripper – Lalic jumping to the lead early before dropping back through the field and promoting Reston and Dan Maher. Ross put on a charge, fighting back to the front around the 10-minute mark and too strong from there, Reston and Maher the top three.

HOBBYWING 12th 13.5
As Chris Mitchell said during commentary, there’s something about the Penrith track and 12th racing – and once again this year we saw an incredible race. Greg Brooks and Dave Reston fought out qualifying, Dave grabbing TQ from Brooks and Mark Wallin. The triple A main series had it all. Reston led A1 before Mark Wallin charged to the front, Brooks 2nd. In A2 Brooks found the lead early, winding back the clock for a big front-running drive, Baden Macdonald closing right up on the final lap. Going into A3 that left us with five drivers in the mix, Tim Rhodin standing tall to take A3 and the overall after a three-way tie-break helped him jump Brooks and Macdonald.

MATRIX NITRO TOURER
Qualifying was a Brayden Stanley sweep, Michael Stone and Tate Firth battling behind and Alex Koussas fourth. The 20-minute A final threw up another enthralling race, Stanley running an extra fuel stop and with a tumble in pit-lane at his first stop promoting Firth to the lead. Brayden was not to be denied however, throwing down over the next 15 minutes, irresistible pace proving too much. Tate was ever-present, to finish second, Michael Stone rounding out the podium.

SENESI MOTORSPORTS GTE
The big GTE cars were sensational today, offering some of the most spectacular action and tightest racing. Cameron Kendall swept qualifying and went on to win A1 and A2 to wrap it up in two…but that barely tells the story. A1 was an all-in-brawl, Kendall fending off Ross Lalic, Anthony Wasson, Logan Rintoul, Rick Seymonsbergen and Steve Vallette – with all of them running near the front at different times. A2 was a straight knock-down drag-out fight between Kendall and Seymonsbergen – Rick fending off Kendall until deep in the race before the TQ man proved too strong. A3 was Rick’s flag-to-flag, with Ross Lalic’s 2nd enough to grab the final spot on the overall podium.

SPEEDY RC 1/8 GT
After taking Q1 Rick Seymonsbergen took the brave decision to sit out the rest of quali, but it proved fast enough to fend off Cameron Kendall and US visitor Scotty Ernst. As the flag dropped to start the 20-minute final, so did the rain start dropping from a cloudy sky, the misty rain enough to blow out lap times as the big GT cars drifting and lap times blowing out by up to 10 seconds at times. Seymonsbergen had it on a string, his car control fun to watch as he opened up a 1-lap lead. Behind it was Kendell, Ernst and Anthony Wasson battle in the drying conditions. It all got a little crazy in the last few minutes, Rick the winner ahead of Wasson and fast-finishing junior Logan Rintoul.

Mia Thomas had earlier run away with the B final, Brian Ruttley and Seth Holborrow joining Mia to bump into the 10-car A final.

TOYO TYRES SHORT COURSE TRUCK
What happens when you line up 17 Short Course Trucks for six heads-up races on a track littered with jumps? Delightful carnage! It was wildly entertaining, and the battle for the overall win going to the wire between Tate Firth and Scotty Ernst – Firth too strong over the last couple of races, Ernst in second. Clinton McKenzie’s Tonka-painted SCT wrapped the podium – but the smiles went right through the field.

Winter Champs action continues Sunday with an all-EP lineup – four touring car classes plus front wheel drive the order of the day. Fine conditions overnight have us primed for excellent track conditions Sunday morning.

Lots more photos to follow over the next few days.

Winter Champs: Good morning Saturday!

Winter Champs: Friday practice will be remembered as a testing and challenging day. Mother Nature tried her best to spoil our fun, but thanks to a dedicated and motivated team of members and racers, we persevered and dried the track after each downpour.

Practice continued under lights late into the night until all drivers were satisfied they had extracted all the potential performance of the race cars.

Saturday is the first of two race days, along with our family fun day featuring Little Big Rigs Sydney and Herbie #53 Variety Bash car, plus some more surprises!

Gates open at 6:30am
Drivers Meeting at 8:00am
Qualifying from 8:30am
Finals from 1:00pm
Presentation 5:30pm

The heat listing and detailed schedule has been posted on the webpage: pdnr.org.au/winterchamps

Winter Champs: Thanks to a huge effort by dedicated members and racers like Tim Duggan the track is almost dry again!

Fingers crossed we don’t get any more showers and we can get some more practice in today.

Massive thanks to everyone for chipping in and helping today.

We will stay late and continue practice under lights for anyone who wants to do some practice laps!

Winter Champs: Update as of 11:30… 😭

Winter Champs: Update as of 11:00am track is open!

Winter Champs: Update as of 9:00am – it’s all hands on deck to get the track dry as quickly as possible. The sun is out and it’s probably another hour or so before the track will be dry enough for some cars!

Winter Champs: Happy Friday! Update as of 6:30am the track is wet and will take some time and assistance to dry.

If anyone can bring a blower to help it would be greatly appreciated!

Winter❄️Champs: When a pocket knife just won’t do… can anyone guess which PDNR member used a circular saw to open a box of screws?