At one level, the first day of on-track action didn’t deliver too many surprises. For Marcus Kaerup to finish the day as top seed for Wednesday’s 2wd qualifying, right ahead of Michal Orlowski, is no surprise. The pair finished in that order at the recent eBuggy World Championship, both were fast in the warmup here in April, and both are among the most talented on the plant. No surprise there.

Kouki Kato’s third-quickest seeding run was perhaps a little less expected – at least for some. The Japanese driver has made big strides over the last two years and has played himself well into contention here this week. Unexpected? Not so much if you’ve been watching closely.

Elsewhere in the top ten it all feels close to normal –Aydin Horne, Lachlan Donnelly, Davide Ongaro, Davey Batta, Bartosz Zelewski, Tom Rinderknecht, and Clement Boda the rest of the fastest ten. All normal? It feels that way, until you look a little closer at who’s on the outside looking in.

Rivkin, Champlin, and Haatanan are 11-13th, Ronnefalk 15th, Schimmel 29th, Phend 49th. All of those are unexpected.

So too, for different reasons, are the performances of a couple of junior drivers. Daniel Pole has been outstanding today, driving beautifully right through open and controlled practice sessions to sit 16th fastest. It’s been an impressive drive for the young Brit in conditions so unfamiliar to him. He’s the fastest of the whole UK team. Unexpected, but a sign of things to come? Watch this kid over the next five years (and the next two days).

The irrepressible Dylan Toia, the NZ wonder, has been similarly impressive, seeding 32nd in a class he’s hardly ever driven – the Kiwi usually found behind the wheel of an 8th buggy, and more often seen in stock classes when he ventures to 1/10th scale races. Unexpected, but welcome.

Toia is not the only regular Stock/spec class racer to be going well. Doug Larivier seeded 24th, Nate Sutherland 31st. Unexpected? Perhaps not, there’s no doubt about the talent that pair possess.

Apart from Daniel Pole, who might just about be the find of the meet so far, the track has been the other hero on this opening day. The subject of an extraordinary amount of work from the Hills Off Road RC team, and track-building master Craig Laughton, it’s been universally praised as super fun to drive, just the right level of challenge, and the perfect canvas on which to paint this week’s Championship battle. For those who know the club and Craig well, it’s not at all unexpected.

From a manufacturer's standpoint, it looks at the end of day 1 to be advantage for Team Associated. Seven of the top ten and Marcus Kaerup looking ominous, the US-based winner of the World Championship on 34 previous occasions, must go into qualifying feeling confident. Schumacher, in the hands of Orlowski and particularly Rinderknecht, has looked in the mix, Orlowski topping CP1 and just a tenth back from Kaerup in CP2. Of the “big 3” that leaves XRAY who you'd have to think might feel under some pressure. Bartosz Zalewski looked strong in CP1, drifted a little in CP2, but was still well clear of his teammates. David Ronnefalk is back in 15th, Chase Lemiux in 25th, Brennan Schimmel 29th, Phend even further back. It’s far too early to write off their 2wd chances – but it might take a big night of wrenching tonight and some setup breakthroughs to get on terms with their rivals. That, too, is perhaps unexpected.

All the signs are there for a World Championship for the ages. The track is brilliant, both in terms of the layout itself and the surface that grooved up and gave more grip than anybody expected. There's that word again.

Controlled practice this afternoon, though ultimately counting for little, was absorbing.

Some are riding high after a bright start. Others, uber-talented champions included, are on the back foot.

There are still so many stories to follow, to unpack, and to write over the next two days of 2wd competition. That’s just how World Championship races almost always turn out, and in a sense, we’re back to where we started – a fascinating mix of the expected and unexpected that have defined day 1 here at Hills.