Bay's Leonard shines at Remote Control Nationals
Ross Leonard was the toast of the Hawke's Bay contingent at the 2020 Large Scale Remote Control Speedway Nationals in Palmerston North last weekend.
An experienced motor racing exponent, Leonard, won the 1/4 Scale Sprintcar class and the 1/5 Scale Midget class at the Goodlass Excavation Flaxbowl Raceway-hosted nationals which attracted more than 30 cars, half of them from the Bay. A quick glance at Leonard's motorsport CV and it's easy to gauge where he gained the necessary experience from to help him succeed in this discipline.
Leonard was a Meeanee-based speedway racer for 22 years, 15 of those in superstocks, he raced karts for four years and remote control planes for two years. Leonard has been involved in remote control car racing for 10 years.
This was the third consecutive year Leonard has won the Midget class.
"I was really hoping for a top three finish with the Sprintcar so I was stoked to win the class," Leonard said.
"When I got home my wife reminded me about how much time I spend preparing and making stuff for the cars. I enjoy the engineering side of the sport a lot as well and I'm planning a new Sprintcar build with some new ideas now," Leonard explained.
There was a Hawke's Bay trifecta in the 1/5 Scale Dirt Modifieds class with Ayrton Smith beating clubmate and Australian champion Kenley Brown in a four-lap run off for the title after they tied on points. Ryan Hurndell beat Benheim's Bevan Burney in a four-lap run off for third after they tied on points.
Results:
Sprintcars: 1nz Ross Leonard (Hawke's Bay), 2nz Ben Chadwick (Levin), 3nz Josh Gubb (Wairarapa).
Midgets: 1nz Ross Leonard (Hawke's Bay), 2nz Willie Vosloo(Wellington), 3nz Josh Gubb (Waiararapa).
Dirt Modifieds: 1nz Ayrton Smith (Hawke's Bay, 2nz Kenley Brown(Hawke's Bay), 3nz Ryan Hurndell (Hawke's Bay).
