Hopbot's New RC18R Paint Job

Hey All,

I just wanted to share a picture with you of an awesome new paint job done by one of the original member's of BAPRCC, Hopbot. Check out his new RC18R Exotek Body:



Fantastic job, Hopbot!

To comment on his sweet new paint job, check out others, and learn painting tips and tricks, check the message boards here.

NorCal Hobbies Toys-4-Tots Race - Dec. 20-21

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share an exciting bit of news with you about an upcoming event that will benefit many kids this Holiday Season. Our good friend, John Hicks, at NorCal Hobbies had the following to say regarding this event:

Its that time of year again,and Norcal Hobbies will be throwing another Toys-4-Tots race this month. Norcal had a really nice participation last year for these races, and is hoping to have even better participation this year - all for a great cause. NorCal will have 2 seperate race dates for Onroad and Offroad.

The 1st date is Saturday Dec. 20th for the offroad portion of these races. Due to race conflicts with other venues,we wanted to make sure we have a greater chance of participation by all for this worthy cause.

The 2nd date will be Sunday Dec 21st for the Carpet portion of the Toys-4-Tots race.

Race fees are 15.00 plus a Toy for your 1st entry. 2nd entry is $5 and anything after is free! This will be a fun race that helps alot of children in need locally.Please mark these dates down and Norcal Hobbies hopes to see you all there.

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Recap: NorCal Hobbies, Nov 26 - Indoor Carpet Racing

The indoor carpet racing at Norcal Hobbies ROCKED! It was sooo fun! b-dog crossed the line a hair in front of me at the end! if it was an RC18-only class we would have had a fun battle ;)

The night was awesome, b-dog and pigiron - it was awesome hanging and racing with you. fabulous, it was awesome just seeing your crazy collection of rc's - that optima is the stuff! great racing guys, i am totally hooked on carpet racing, i hate to say it, but it is way fun! you had me saucin' up tires and worrying about my line - man, i might just turn into an on-road junkie yet... 18th scale first though!



we had a really good turn out and lots of racers recognize the baprc t-shirts (we need a banner for our pit area!). there were 4 rc18s (mine, pigiron's, and b-dog's with one exotek r18 that was sweet) and then 3 tamiya minis that easily had 3 laps on us all and were sort of tanks on the track. no matter though, we let them finish 1,2,3 and we all fought over the rest of the spots. hopefully more minis show up so they can move them to there own class as they have a little more heft to them and really do take you out in their desire to pass you. near the end we were finally getting a little more aggressive and the minis were laying off a little, but it was getting brutal for a while - like slash class without the slash's! over the course of the night i think each of the baprcc RC18s took fourth place once and all 4 of the rc18s had 22 laps at the finish, so it was really close racing (see the race results).

the coolest cars of the night were the world gt cars - man, these things FLEW. i mean they really flew! they were easily faster than the TCs (13.5 tcs were getting 35 laps, world GTs around 44, 12th scales were getting in the 50s). man, they were riding on rails, definitely a sight to see.



we started racing a little after 7pm and i didnt get home until about 12:30am... nice long night of racing! but we were all pooped at the end.

it was great finally dusting off that rc18 and i am so happy i converted to 18r from 18t. it was fast and stuck on the track and just felt awesome. thanks b-dog for letting me borrow your nightline body, when i get back from my trip, i'll have to spend the rainy days dialing in that little car ;)

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NorCal Hobbies, Nov 26 - Wed Night Indoor Carpet Racing

Hey All,

A few guys are talking about heading down to NorCal Hobbies this Wednesday evening for some indoor carpet racing. Most guys from our club will be running RC18R's, but any on road car can be driven there. What better way to kick off the Holiday Season?!

It looks like we'll have about 3-4 guys there for sure. If anyone else would like to come, you should definitely do so! We need some other club members faces to make some appearances!

I've got plenty of room in my car, so if anyone wants a ride, feel free to ask! You can check out the latest information about this in our message boards.


Hope to see you all there!
-Bryan

New Product: Protoform LTC-R Sedan Body

Proline releases new 1/10 TC body. This Global Body Spec ready race body is designed specifically for rubber tire racing whether it’s on a carpet or a paved surface racetrack. It was designed with slightly more steering ability than the Mazda 6 and Mazda Speed 6 body styles, yet a bit less aggressive than the Protoform R9-R body. To further aid balance and rear grip the wing mounting location that’s slightly more rearward. The LTC-R features two trim lines, one for IFMAR, EFRA, ROAR, JMCRA racing at the 115mm height as well as the BRCA’s 120mm height rule. The oversize rear wing helps performance on a poor-grip surface that’s commonly experienced in club racing but also incorporates trim lines for sanctioned style racing. Available in 2 different weights of genuine lexan and comes with protective film, decals and wing mounting hardware.

Courtesy of www.redrc.net

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.

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.

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:

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

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

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

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

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

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

5^th 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/

Recap: West Coast Touring Car King's Race @ Marin R/C 9/27-28

The Marin R/C West Coast Touring Car King's Race turned out to be an awesome 2-day event and thanks go out to all who set it up, and a big congratulations to those who placed in all classes!!

Recap provided by club member Justin "Catalyst" Bowden (Who placed 2nd in a stacked 17.5 class!! Congrats!):

"Thanks again to Jesse and crew who put on a really unique race format that was the most fun and best competition for any race I've personally been involved with! Those that missed the race really missed out. Competition was thick in all classes and even with money on the line, and talent in the entire field - there were no problems whatsoever. It was well organized, and everyone in attendance appeared to be having a great time!

Time Trials were a great idea and hopefully this becomes something done on the club level more often. It raised the bar for events to come and despite the competitive spirit of the racers, it actually seemed to build some comraderie between racers as we all stood and cheered each driver on.

Cash prizes were thought by some to possibly bring out the worst in racers but this wasn't even an issue. All those in attendance were serious but there were no issues in tech, no problems with attitudes on the track, clean racing, and even with a couple early computer glitches - people just rolled with it and kept in the spirit of having a good time!

Track records were shattered - and for me personally, I broke into laptimes I've never ran. Track conditions were excellent on Sunday and Jesse is a master of knowing how to get the right balance for fast lap times. Even in practice - seeing some of California's best put in insanely fast laps was quite the spectacle!

The apple crisp changed lives! It was great to see the racers being shown appreciation for supporting the local venue.

Congratulations to all those who made the podium! Jeremy was the man to beat all weekend in 17.5 and never fell of his pace. Lex had a seriously hooked up car and his line amazes me. He showed up with the crown and is a local King! EJ - wow what a main in 10.5...seeing you KJ and Jesse start with inches between you all for a few laps blew my mind! MiniMod ran strong all weekend and gave everyone serious competition and placed in both 10.5 and 13.5 to back up his TQ from the Time Trials.

Thanks again for offering such a great event with Special thanks to Jesse Stark, Christian and Marin R/C, Joe Nolasco with live webcam, sound, organization and all, Blake and 707paint.net for donating the awesome bodies, ABR for hooking up the baker to serve us up apple crisp, and a quick shout to Mendoza for being cool and watching his significant other fill in for the no show trophy girl!"

Videos of the A-Mains (courtesy of "ZoomZoomer" - www.rcracing.com boards):

10.5 Qualifier featuring KevinJ, EJ Evan and Lex Tyler

10.5 A-Main

17.5 A-Main

For more photos, check out this thread on the RCRacing message boards.

West Coast Touring Car King's Race @ Marin R/C 9/27-28

Marin R/C in San Rafael California is hosting their 2 day event the weekend of September 27th and 28th. This is a Touring Car only onroad racing event that is really going to be the premier race for this facility this year. Track Director Jesse Stark has been cooking up some new, never seen format options and fellow R/C enthusiast Joe Nolasco is working on entertainment with music and a earth shaking sound system.

What's new in this format? Well here's a statement from Jesse regarding how this race will be run over the two day weekend:

"When I starting thinking about the idea of putting this race together, my first thought was we need a 2 day race at Marin at some point this year because we need some sort of signature race. For the most part, the Marin track has really established itself and has had a steady amount of entries through out the whole year and I'm very thankful for all the racers who have been so supportive and I know I'm speaking for the guys at the shop also who appreciate the good racing we've been having too. I just wanted to do something different than the same old format I've been seeing for the past 15 years. I kicked around some ideas about having quarterfinals, semi-finals and mains like BMX or Motocross does and taking the top 4 of each heat instead of the usual "race against the 5 minute clock" we all use in RC now. Probably a little to much for me to handle something like that right now, but maybe down the road I will develop that idea into something. So until then I came up with this. We all have raced for trophies before, so I wanted to step it up to a money race. We all have done 3 quals and a main before, so I wanted to step it up to individual time trails."

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Here is the format:

Classes:
Stock 17.5 Sedan (Sportsman)
Super Stock 13.5 Sedan (Expert)
Spec Mod 10.5 Sedan

Saturday:
Open practice from 9:00am-11:30am

Individual Time Trials 12:00pm

First round of individual time trials will start at noon beginning with 17.5. Each driver will hit the track solo for 8-10 laps. We will take your single best lap time out of those laps. There will be a total of 2 rounds of Individual Time Trials for the 3 classes followed by 1 Round of Qualifying on Saturday

(i.e. - Let's say you are racing 13.5 and your single best lap time in the trials is a 12.7. That 12.7 might be 3rd fastest overall out of let's say 20 drivers on Saturday. You earned yourself a "3 seed". You will start 3rd on the grid in the first 2 rounds of qualifying. There will be 2 rounds of individual time trials. If you don't improve your lap time in the 2nd round, your single best lap time is what is seeded regardless of which round of trials it's from)

Whoever TQ's the Saturday Time Trials in each class will win a free painted sedan body donated by a premier painter on the West Coast - Blake Cannon from 707paint.net!!!

Sunday:
Open practice 8:30-9:50

3 total Rounds of Qualfying 10:00

The racers who show up on Sunday only will be seeded to the back for that 1st Round of Qualifying on Sunday mourning. There will be a re-sort after that round to update the Qualifying Heats.

After Qualifying is completed the Mains will be run based on those results.

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This will truly be a do not miss event in the bay area for 1:10 scale onroad Touring Car racing. Not only is the format unique but there is an added bonus...Ca$h Prizes to be paid to top 3 places in each class. Yes that's correct - Cash Prizes!!!

In addition there are some Sponsors for this race including the host Marin R/C, Schumacher U.S.A, 707Paint.net and NorCalRC.com.

For more information you can follow the thread on RCRacing.com or call the Marin R/C shop at (415) 454-0122‎.

Hope to see everyone out there!

-Catalyst

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Racing Report: GroundPounders Club Event - September 7th, 2008

The GroundPounders event on September 7th was a blast! I headed out very, very early on Sunday morning and met fellow club member Justin (aka: Catalyst) at his place to carpool up to Windsor CA, where the GP Club holds their monthly races. They put on quite a good event. Apparently, the turnout was one of the best in recent times with 118 entries! There were 21 different races with various on-road electric and nitro cars including: oval, touring cars and pan cars just to name a few - and of course, the featured Traxxas Slash race. There were three different jumps and roughly 16 slashes bumbling around the track! It made for fantastic entertainment for the crowd of people that had gathered throughout the day to watch the racing. The winner received an enormous trophy!The BAPRC Club had a strong showing. Marco (PigIron) took the win in Novice Oval, while I (Bryan aka "B-Dog") and Catalyst won the Novice Electric Touring Car and Slash B-Main (which bumped him into the A-Main) respectively. Everyone at the event was very friendly and helpful, which provided a great atmoshpere. All in all it was an awesome day of racing and we are all looking forward to the next one! Thanks again to everyone involved.

While there aren't a ton, you can check out the rest of the pictures here.

Off-Road Racing at NorCal Hobbies, Sat. August 9th - Track Opens at 8:00 AM (Un-Official Club Meet:)

Hey there all; a few of us (me, B-Dog, maybe Catalyst) are heading to NorCal Hobbies for their twice-monthly Saturday off-road racing. It would be great to have a few of us representing BAPRCC!

I'll be racing rookie class with the B44 and the Slash class. I'm guessing Cat will bring his Slash and J82, and B-dog will bring his Slash along as well!

The track opens bright and early at 8am and racing usually starts between 10am or 11am. i hear that this might be a really big turn out (some are predicting triple digits!), so if you plan to race get there early to secure a pit table (or bring your own). B-Dog will be bringing his table (a 6-footer).

If you are interested in racing or just watching the amazing drivers that turn out to at NorCal, reply in this post, it would be great to see you there!

-Hopbot (Michelangelo)

Track Report: NorCal Hobbies (Union City) & Hobby Town USA (Fremont)

I went out to NorCal Hobbies in Union City on Sunday and had a total freakin blast on the off-road track! I brought out my RC10T4 and Traxxas Slash, and got 'em dirty. The new track layout (yes, they've made some additional changes to make it more friendly to beginners and slash's) is awesome. Still a chance for some great hangtime, but they eliminated some of the crazy angles/jumps that sent many a car/truck on it's lid, or to the sidelines with broken parts and replaced them with something, more,...tame. Kudos to the crew who worked on the track. It's fantastic.

The Slash continues to be a very popular ride - it seemed like just about eveyone running off-road had one. I am truly amazed at how fun and durable these things are. Here is a short video of the new layout:



MoMo got to do some on-road driving thanks to a regular who lent her one of his cars! I didn't catch your name, but if you happen to see this, thanks a lot for that!!




Oh, and after the trip to NorCal, my GF and I drove by the parking lot of Hobby Town USA in Fremont, and low and behold, they setup a temporary asphalt track every Sunday (in the parking lot) - open to the public for free. All scales are allowed, both electric and nitro, and there were about 10 guys out there. Setup is usually between 10Am-12PM, and take down tends to be around 5-6PM, depending on how many guys are running. I grabbed a few pics to share with the group (below). For more pics from today's action, click here. Check out this video for footage from an on-road race put on by these same people.

Meet Up at NorCal Hobbies this Sunday, June 22

Looks like a few members are interested in heading out to NorCal Hobbies on Sunday. For the latest information on who is coming and when, keep your eye on the boards.

Should be great weather out there! See you all at the track ;)

Marin R/C Electric On Road Racing Report

Well it was a beautiful day and there was some great racing at Marin R/C in San Rafael, CA this last weekend. Being my first on-road electric Club Race I was eager to get onto the driver's stand and off the fence. It was a good field of about 40 entrants and there were 9 total classes. This included 1/10th Sedan, 1/10th Pan Cars, 1/12th Pan Cars, Mini's, and F103GTs in various motor and skill classes. It's an amazing setting right on the water and the facility is top notch with a full hobby shop on the property that has supplies for R/C vehicles, planes, and helicopters amongst other things and the staff there is quite accomodating.

Being the "new guy" was a little intimidating but I was quickly greeted by helpful racers and there were many laughs to be had on the driver's stand during the 1/18th scale and Mini races. The Expert A Main for 13.5 and 10.5 1/10th Touring Cars was extremely tight racing and exciting to spectate. Racers were in a train for several laps and the passes were amazing. The traction was great and on race day it was about 80 degrees with a nice breeze off the water.

I highly encourage folks to check out Marin R/C in San Rafael and they host Club Races every other weekend typically. It's a class act there and the setting is stellar! Hopefully next time I'm out there I will have some results to brag about...but until then it's been a lot of fun learning the ins and outs of racing on-road.

-Catalyst

RC drifting subculture in SF....

I came across this video not that long ago and just remembered to share it ;) It's amazing what different subcultures are out there. This is happening right here in SF! The video presents some nice coverage of the scene, but also the people pushing it - a little glimpse into the lifestyle of RC...

enjoy -- michelangelo