Sousa brothers won nitro classes, Ciccarello topped E-Buggy at 10th annual Canadian Indoor Off-Road Shootout

0 April 20, 2016, 12:49 p.m.

Main Photo: Sousa brothers won nitro classes, Ciccarello topped E-Buggy at 10th annual Canadian Indoor Off-Road

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Photos and results from Canadian Indoor Off-Road Shootout:
www.cioso.ca

Last weekend, the tenth annual Canadian Indoor Off-Road Shootout - Canada’s longest-running 1/8-scale off-road race - was held at the Chesterman Power Products Tillsonburg Indoor Track in Ontario. Here are the race recaps from the premier class winners Derek Sousa and Paul Ciccarello.

Race report from Derek Sousa (via Facebook):

Great weather, amazing friends and an awesome time. The best drivers across Canada and some of our great American friends made the trip over to Tillsonburg 2016 for the 10th Annual Canadian Indoor Offroad Shootout. First off, a big thanks to John Bakker and the rest of the Eat Dirt Crew for all of their tremendous work all the weekend. Joe Scully for his spot on program and keeping things running smooth every day of the event along with Jay Cristiano who helped out on Sunday with the mains. I had so much fun seeing all my friends again as it has been a while. This community is amazing and filled with tremendous people. Thank you to all of you who support me at the races it is much appreciated.

Buggy

In Nitro Buggy practice went well for both me and Mark equipped with our Mugen MBX7R vehicles. He was running his new LRP .21 Engine and just trying to get it tuned in as the day went by and by the end of the day in was in prime condition. In qualifying I was able to take the TQ in Q1 and Q2 on M4 Holeshots the first one and X4 Holeshots the 2nd. For me I felt the X4 were easier to drive. In Q3 Mark took the TQ on M3 Holeshots. In the main I was able to start on pole with Mark behind me and Abiye Birku in the Xray in 3rd. The grueling 45 minute main was under way and both me and Mark made a early mistake and we both got tangled up and Associated's Eric Deschenes jumped up to the early lead. After some laps went by me and Mark were able to jump back up the top 2 and try and build a gap on the guys behind us. Everyone was running a good pace all weekend including Mugen's Jérôme Treignier who bumped up all day and was moving through the pack. As I was trying to get by some cars at around the 3 minute mark, I collected with someone and broke the rear axle and would get a DNF. Jerome would also break after his and another collided. For the main though I decided to run M3 Holeshots which seemed a all around comfortable but fast tire for the main. With Mark now out front he was able to lead the rest of the main event and hold on to a comfortable lead. After issues last year he was able to regain his focus and take the 10th annual buggy title. With Paul Ciccarello in the new Serpent SRX8 taking 2nd and quick Abiye Birku in the Xray taking 3rd. Congrats to all in the main, also was great to see George Stilly running strong in 3rd for a bit, he's still got it!!

Truck

In Truck their was some great racing all weekend. In Q1 I had a DNF with a mechanical issue and speedy Eric Deschenes in the new AE T3 took the TQ. Although in Q2 and Q3 and I was able to grab the TQ and take the overall on M3 Holeshots. In the 45 minute main I got a great start and was able to run a clean race from there and was able to get a comfortable gap by the end of the main and take the win in the class. TLR driver Aaron Inwood would take 2nd and Xray's Pete Elphinstone Jr in 3rd. Congrats to all in the main.

E-Buggy

In the electric buggy class always proves to have close racing and this year was no exception. In qualifying Mark was able to grab the overall TQ and start on pole for the Triple A-Main format. In the first main Mark ran X4 Holeshots but with the track changing it made it really difficult to drive and Mark struggled a lot so he took a 6th and Leonard Schinzano won the first one. In the 2nd main Mark and my dad changed the setup a bit and went back out and got 2nd behind Paul Ciccarello in the Serpent. Before the final main the power was going out in the facility and did so multiple times so long story short Mark's batteries didn't finish charging. The 3rd main was underway and we were just hoping it was going to be enough for the 8 minutes. With less than a minute to go Mark's car began to slow down and we already knew the power had depleted but at the time he was running in the lead and had good pace. So it was Paul Ciccarello who took the overall win and the 3rd main who ran flawless all day, Leonard Schinzano 2nd and Rick Redmin in the Hotbodies 3rd.

A big thanks to my family for everything they do for without them none of this is possible. From getting me to the races, setup and support they are my number one backbone. To Tim Long at Mugen for everything he does ensuring we have a dialed in car at the races. Daniel Adams at Pro-Line for the hooked up rubber. Tommy Porfirio at VP Racing Fuels for the fuel for the weekend. Until the next one.

Race report from Paul Ciccarello (via Facebook):

Great weekend for myself and Team Serpent at the 2016 Canadian Indoor off-road shootout! I qualified 5th in both Ebuggy and nitro and finished 2nd in nitro buggy with the new SRX-8 and 1st in Ebuggy! Both of my cars were great all weekend. I had some great battles on the track and good times off the track with all of my friends. Adam Johnson was able to TQ etruggy and come home with a 2nd, and in ebuggy 4th. John Ben Catricala was on the the arrive-n-drive program with my etruggy and finished 3rd! Hope to be back again next year!!

Nitro Buggy