Friday, October 31, 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!


From all of us at BAP-RC, Have a fun, happy, and safe Halloween!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Off-Road Track Review: Norcal Hobbies' New Layout

Hey everyone,

I headed out to Norcal Hobbies last Sunday for a few hours of practice. I focused on improving my driving with the B44 and was excited to see the new track layout. IT IS AWESOME!

new layout pano oct. 26

The track has amazing flow! By the end of the day I was able to push it hard and get in the rhythm and it felt great! The front of the track features a nice big table top jump that wont break (as many) cars. just after that there are a series of corners and a hairpin that leads into a corner table with a single mini jump just after it. Kevin Jelich (the track's designer) apparently hits that table wide and clears it and the mini jump, I tried it and its a pretty tricky thing to pull off cleanly.

After another tight turn there is a double and then a turn into a long step-up leading into another high speed double, then a hair pin into the back straight. This progression is super fun once you get the flow!

The back straight is very fast with an elevation change about half way through and a slow climb after into a chicane area. Hitting full throttle on the back straight is awesome and super fun to watch as the cars bump over the elevation changes and slow hard for the end turn into the chicane.

Another fast, tight turn takes you into a set of doubles then a wide turn back to the front table jump.

The track is now being run wet so I ran my M3 holeshots. they worked great! Tire wear is good but only as the track stays wet. When it starts to dry, it gets slippery and the tires start to wear faster. I will try the harder R3 compound next time around to see if the wearing is better. During races they lightly water before every heat so hopefully I can make it a couple of race days with one set of tires (right now I am about one race day and maybe one heat on a single set of tires).

There are a lot of jumps, but no car breakers like we've been used to. I love the crazy air from the other layouts, but there is enough action on this track that I didnt miss it at all. Also, they took a lot of the infield piping and cut it in half so Slash trucks and biggues wont get stuck on them. Even my B44 had no trouble getting out of a jam if I miss-jumped and ended up off the track.

Awesome track, Kevin Jelich and crew have done it again!

Any thoughts? Join the discussion!

-Hopbot

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

ROAR Region 12 Race @ Ripon 10/25 - 26


For those of you who don't know, there is a BIG race coming up this weekend for on-road RC enthusiasts. Ripon will be holding a ROAR Region 12 Race on October 25-26. A few of our Club Members will be out there participating in this awesome 2-day event.

Good Luck, gentlemen!!

For more information about this event, check out this thread in our message boards.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

New RC World Record: 161.78mph!

The world speed record has been broken yet again. Nic Case has done it again! From Schumacker Racing ...

"Nic Case drove his stretched Schumacher Mi3 “streamliner” straight and true down the Rockingham drag strip to set a brand new world record for top speed achieved with an RC car this Saturday. He posted 155mph on his first run to shatter his previous record, and his second run extended the new record to an incredible 161.78mph!

The International Speed Challenge event hosted by the Rockingham drag strip and race directed by Billy Weeks was a well attended entire day of high speed running on a world class surface. Using ROSSA rules and speed record standards, the event attracted many top names in RC drag racing and speed running to try their hand in a controlled and official atmosphere. David Akers even “crossed the pond” with a great showing from the UK to make it a truly international event.

Schumacher USA Sales Manager Shawn Palmer narrowly missed wins in three classes, and took second place by less than 1mph with his Fusion 28 RTR nitro sedan and his CORE lipo and Speed Passion powered Mi3.5 Race touring sedan."

To check out pictures of this incredible vehicle, GO HERE.

Friday, October 10, 2008

MeetUp: NorCal Hobbies - OffRoad, Saturday 10/11

Hey All,

Looks like we have a decent number of club members headed out to NorCal Hobbies this Saturday for some off-road action. To see whose coming and let everyone know if we should expect to see you there, check the 'boards.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Weekend Trip: Lakeport Hobbies Raceway; Nov 15-16

Hey Everyone,

The Club is currently planning a weekend get-away trip to Lakeport Hobbies in Clear Lake!! They recently completed construction on their slick looking indoor offroad track, and have invited us up to participate in one of their Sunday race programs. This facility runs every Sunday - Rain or Shine!Needless to say, we are all excited to check out their facility! To find out more about this trip, check out our message boards.

If you are interested in coming, the more the merrier! This invite is open to everyone - even those of you who check out this site, but for some reason haven't "officially joined The Club"! :)

Check out this thread in the 'boards for additional information about Lakeport Hobbies.

You can see more pictures and video of their facility and events by going to http://www.lakeporthobbies.com/

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Recap: Mini-Z Shopping Mall Race - Inside Line Racing

Our friends over at Inside Line Racing have provided us with a re-cap of their recent Mini-Z Shopping Mall Enduro Race that took place on Sept. 20, 2008. Here is what Binh from ILR had to say:

"Second time back to the mall was an experience. All aspects of the set-up went pretty well. I even had time to get the lap timing system going early to test and see if it was working properly. And the timing worked perfect during practice. Twelve o’clock rolled around and time for racing. All the cars were on grid, horn went off and we were racing. Only one small problem, one of the teams was not counting. I had to then re-boot the system and try again. I tired everything I could think of to get the system back up. I finally figured out that somehow the tile floor was interfering with the RF loop. I then placed the loop on the track and we were back racing. The only problem now was that there was a little bump before the timing system, which made is more exciting for the fans. As the cars went by they jumped a little. It was fun to watch. We ran five one hour mains to determine the winner.

The first main went down to the wire with Team 2 (Perez, Jaime, Fraz) winning by just four laps. Hernandez kept his team in the hunt with consistent fast laps. He was running a mod AWD and was certainly the fastest car on the track all day. The first race came down to who was more consistent on the track. At this point most teams did not really have a strategy yet. Teams 1 through 7 were separated by 101 laps. Winning team had 376 laps.

First main results.

In the second main, Team 2 had problems early on and was fighting from the back of the pack most of the race. Team 3 (Tony, Stephen, Randy) knew that if they did not win the second main it would be very hard to win the last three to finish on top. With that in mind they took over lead from Team 4 (Hernandez, Art B, Hello Moto) once Hernandez had to go in for a battery change. The AWD was faster but it required more battery stops. From lap 85 to the end of the main, Team 3 did not look back and easily won by 14 laps. Team 4 once again came in third. Team 5 (Steven, Oscar, Art M) showed improvement in the second main but could not run down Team 4. Winning team had 383 laps.

Second main results

Team 2 restored the order in the third main. It was not easy though. There was a very close race between Teams 2, 3, and 4 with many lead changes. Hernandez put down the fastest lap so far in the day, 7.80. This was the closes race so far with Team 2 winning by just 9.70 seconds. Team 2 at this point put up the most number of laps, 388. Every team by now has stepped up their lap count and the racing was getting very close. Teams 1 though 7 were now only separated by 64 laps.

Third main results

In the fourth main Team 3 evened things up at two a piece with Team 2. They were now knotted and the final main would decide the champion. Early on in this main, Team 4 looked to be the clear winner. Hernandez put them out in front early and his team put up consistent laps to keep the lead late into the race. Team 4 had the lead until lap 346. The modified AWD needed a battery change and a new driver. At this point they had a 7 lap lead and it was going to be up to his team to hold on for the victory. However with Steve Perez and Stephen chasing you down, it would be a hard task for anyone. Perez and Stephen eventually ran down Team 4 and Team 3 won by 13.98 seconds. Team 3 now had the highest lap count with 389 laps.

Forth main results

In the last main, Hernandez was determined to get his team a main victory and he left it all on the track. He put down some the fastest lap of the day in the last main. Team 3 came out fast and lead every lap except for 20 laps. The last main was the best main of the day. Every team got faster on the track in faster with their pit/driver changes. At lap 269 Stephen came in for Team 3’s last driver change. That driver change put him into second place with 18 minutes to race. Perez was on the track for Team 2 and his team decided to let him just come in for a battery change and do a back to back driving stint to finish the race. Now imagine 15 minutes left and you, in this case Stephen, have a small two lap lead over Perez with an eternity to drive (15 minutes). We had a good sized crowd gathered now and the pressure was on. Which ever team won this last main was going to be the mall champion. The gap was bouncing around at 1 or 2 laps the whole time. There was complete concentration and the crowd was getting into it. In the end Stephen’s youth might have played a role in the victory. Team 3 now put up the most laps of the day with 395 laps.

Fifth main results

Thank you to all the racers that came out and raced. You all deserved to win. I would also like to thank Joel Johnson won sent a great raffle prize, and ASF car. The winner was a seven year old boy. I would like to thank PN for send raffle prizes. Iron man of the race was Mike aka GoFast. He teamed up with his 7 year old son and his son’s 7 year old friend. This meant that Mike did most of the driving. Good job Mike, rest your arm. I will get the lap times up soon."

Official Results:

1st Place: Team 3 Stephen Bui, Randy Luu, Tony Truong 48 pts

2nd Place: Team 2 Steve Perez, John Frazier, Jaime M 47 pts

3rd Place: Team 4 Jonanthan Hernandez, Art B, Hello Moto 40 pts

4th Place: Team 5 Steven Huynh, Oscar Y, Art M 32 pts

5th Place: Team 7 Binh Do, Alan A, Layman Reid 26 pts

5th Place: Team 6 Mike Ma, Adrian, Matthew 26 pts

5th Place: Team 1 Eric Vasutin, Ken Brumblay, Hung Nguyen 26 pts

For more information about Mini-Z's and Inside Line Racing, check out their site:

http://www.insidelineracing.com/