2008 Northern Territory Nitro Buggy Championships

Knauth clean sweeps the 2008 Northern Territory Nitro Buggy Championships, on a very rough demanding circuit. After 6 rounds of hard fought qualifying races, it was Tony Knauth HN X1CR - RB that took the Top Qualifier spot for the 1 hour A Final, as well as the FTD (fastest time of the day in qualifying) and fastest lap at 33.549 secs. The A Final was always going to be hotly contested with all 10 drivers quite capable of taking the NT1 honours, and the drivers didnt disappoint putting on an awesome display of talent for the crowd. Knauth got out to an early lead with the holeshot closely followed by Gavin Newman driving a Nova Rossi powered Xray XB8 EC, Newman took over the lead for a number of laps only to run into some issues early on, Marc Christianson Losi 8 - OS was the next driver to take it up to the leader, battling hard for a number of laps Marc was able to take the lead from Tony, but couldnt get away and then running into some mechanical dramas pulled out of the race on lap 16. Neil Ingram the number 2 qualifier running consistently in the middle of the pack, made a break for it to get onto the leaders tail and take the race lead for about 20 laps, with Tony holding a consistent margin to the leader, there was still a long way to go, with fuel stop strategies and consistancy playing a big part. After a super smooth pit stop on lap 40 Knauth was able to take back the lead from Ingram, but Neil putting up a good fight was able to get back within a couple of seconds from the leader until lap 50 where a flame out cost him dearly, letting Knauth get away putting 2 laps on the field. The flying Phillip Ciccone MBX5R - OS - VP Pro, running a clean race was there to take advantage of Neils demise moving into the number 2 spot, holding a steady gap to the leader and with a 2 lap buffer back to third place Neil Ingram. The top 2 spots were pretty much secure with less than 20 minutes remaining with a 2 lap buffer between Tony and Phil, but the final podium spot was still very open with Tim Nicol MBX5R - OS pressuring fellow team mate Neil Ingram all the way to the end. With a slick last fuel stop from pitman Mark Sikyr and a faultless run to the finish from Knauth, and a flame out on the last lap from Phill Ciccone, it was the RB WS7 L2G powered X1CR of Tony Knauth taking the 2008 Northern Territory Nitro Buggy Championship honours finishing on 94 laps, 4 laps ahead of Phil Ciccone on 90 laps and Neil Ingram holding off Tim Nicol for a well deserved third place with 85 laps.

NT1 - Tony Knauth

NT2 - Phillip Ciccone

NT3 - Neil Ingram

A big congratulation to all the competitors, for putting on a brilliant show of Nitro Buggy action.

A - Final Highlights