Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Off-Road Racing Report: NorCal Hobbies 08/30/08

This last race day at Norcal Hobbies was absolutely awesome! I pitted with B-dog, which was a blast! Lots of people are recognizing the shirts now. We pitted just across the table from some nice guys who have seen the BAPRCC shirts up at Marin RC and had some great things to say about our on-road racer Catalyst - who is building quite a name for himself on the asphalt, go Cat!

The day was just phenomenal! Definitely the best race day I have ever had! I didn't get a chance to do my normal tear downs of the B44 and Slash during the week, so I wasn't feeling too confident when we arrived. I hit the track as soon as possible to practice and get the B44 and slash dialed - I raced Rookie and Slash classes again.

Rookie Class
With the B44, I managed to pull 1st place in the first rookie qualifier, and 2nd place in the second one. I ended up taking 1st in the rookie a main - a lap and a half up on second place! Man, that is the best I have ever done! Still not amazing lap times, but during the qualifiers John Hicks (the announcer) told me it was time to move out of rookie and race with the big boys, so I will be in 4wd mod the next time I race there. Wow, I am stoked! While my lap times are good for rookie, I need to shave off at least 5 seconds to even have a chance at the top 5 spots in 4wd mod, so I got a lot of learning to do! I'm just so totally happy, it's ridiculous ;)

Here's a video B-Dog took of the Rookie A-Main race:


Slash Class
With the Slash, I was feeling way better on the track compared to the last few times out - I'm finally learning to adjust my style and not drive it like the B44 all the time ;) Before the weekend and inspired by club member Badger, I took a lot of cans of Tamiya paint and painted over the stock Slash body - this grabbed a lot of attention on the track as it stood out and actually ended up feeling sort of CORR-style. thanks for the idea Badger!
IMG_4816


I managed a 3rd place finish with the Slash in the second qualifier, which felt great. That put me in the pole position for the B-main (we had lots of Slashes as usual, so we ended up with A and B mains) - I was totally happy with this as I usually have a pretty poor showing with the Slash.

B-Dog pulled in a second place finish in qualifying after making some suspension changes - he's really taken to the Slash class and has progressed quickly over the last few races. While some house transponder issues plagued him, he solidified a spot in the Slash A-Main! Congrats B-Dog!
Photobucket

The 1st and 2nd finishers from the B-Main would get bumped into the A-Main so that put the pressure on a bit as I really wanted to get bumped up. I tried to drive clean and stay away from any tangles on the track and it paid off - I finished 1st and got bumped into the A main! Man, i would have never imagined it, especially not with the Slash. Lot's of awesome drivers to contend with in the A-main, including B-Dog! I managed a 5th place finish with B-Dog coming close after me in 7th. I am stoked about this considering the talent in that race - watch out for Team BAPRC!

All in all, an amazing day! Once again, it was awesome pitting with B-dog. Club member fabulousRC was also on the track that day and Fullmetalgrave and Nacho2oo2 made it out to watch. We also added a new member, Darksoul, who races in the Slash class as well and is the guy to chat with if you are into large scale RC (1/8 scale and bigger)!

Watch out 4wd mod class, I'll be tearing it up from last place for a while ;)

1 comment:

B-Dog said...

Great Report!! Thanks Michelangelo!