THEQuagraine

Keenan White ran my loaner buggy in the DR, here is his report:

This last weekend was our RC Fest held at DRC Speedway in the capital city of Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic this by far being the biggest race ever here. The DRC Speedway is a high traction, smooth, small track with metal modular jumps. It is located on the side of a shopping mall in the biggest city in the Caribbean. The race was well promoted in the biggest newspaper in the country as well as on the radio and organized by the owner Luis (Mad Max) Garcia. For this race Luis had arranged for Joseph Quagraine to attend ,this being his second time racing in the DR.

The Opportunity

JQ and I where in contact as he had some questions about the north coast of the island where I live and was interested in enjoying a few days here prior to his big European tour. He asked me if I would be interested in trying a JQ Black Edition for this race, The Rental Ride that other drivers had used at The Neo Race and then in Germany at a race a few weeks ago. I was a bit nervous about saying yes because I have driven Mugen cars since the MBX4 days only briefly driving a C hub car during the Jammin Days from 2005 -2007. I thought about it and said I have nothing to lose I am not sponsored by anyone but my wallet and said sure why not. All I needed to do was put my receiver and transponder in the car and race.

The Rental Ride

Friday before the race I met up with JQ and picked up The Rental that I would be using he explained that it was last used in Germany on a completely different track and I might have to change shock oils and some settings. This was not a new car at all it had seen a bit of use so it had normal wear that any other car would have plus it had seen a few different drivers before me. I decided that I will try the car as is tune in the engine and if i needed to change anything I would.

Practice

Saturday Morning was practice I got to tune in the engine then run about 4 tanks of practice trying different tires on the track . I found the car very neutral and easy to drive it was doing everything I wanted on the high speed corners low speed 180s and jumping . I found it easy to drive and decided to just adjust for less droop for the first qualifier and nothing else THE Car was good as is IMHO. I did break a right front arm during practice but this was completely my fault as I was trying to throw fat whips like JQ and landed short on the metal jump and metal obviously won that battle. JQ gave me a right arm and within 15 minutes I was back practicing and was very impressed how easy it was to wrench on THE CAR. I had very limited practice as I was running 5 classes and had to get my other cars ready as well.

Qualifying

Qualifying started at 1 pm and it was interrupted by rain and by the time my Nitro buggy qualifier came around the track was still a bit slick at the beginning but I was still able to put in a 4th place finish for that round of qualifiers so I was happy and looking forward to a drier track the next round . Unfortunately that never happened as the rain came and qualifying was canceled but I would be starting 4th on the grid so that was good enough for me.

The Final

The 45 min final was to be the final race of the day earlier in the day I decided to change the clutch bearings and the center spur gear of the car (it was a bit worn and did not want to chance it ). Once again THE Black Edition is well thought out and I found it easy and fast to wrench on. 6pm the 45 min final started up to this point with the other 4 classes I ran I had over 2 hours of actual race time on the track (note to self never run 5 classes again its too much). Start of the final I jumped out front and grabbed the Hole Shot !! I was Pumped but a few errors put me back a few spots after a few laps so I calmed down and focused on hitting my lines. The car was great it was doing everything I wanted this track had a few low speed 180s that I was able to get the car on the inside of these turns under other drivers opening up passing opportunities.

The car was great it was doing everything I wanted this track had a few low speed 180s that I was able to get the car on the inside of these turns under other drivers opening up passing opportunities.

On the high speed sweeper I was able place the car where ever I wanted at speed .Jumping was great no problems with any of the jumps THE Car handled everything I threw at it. While I was doing this I had made my way up to the driver in 3rd position who was also driving a JQ but not the B.E. and we started swapping positions back and forth for about 15 minutes the battle was on. At the 27 min mark disaster struck for me as I landed wrong off one of the bigger jumps and crashed into the fencing surrounding the track this caused a rear shock end to snap I was heart broken. I ran off driver stand replaced the shock and got back on the track after 4 minutes but it was too late my race was over I still managed to finish the race and salvage an 8th place.

The Conclusion

I am very impressed with this car at how easy it was to drive also the fact that I really did not change anything on the car and was able to be competitive with it with only about 4 tanks of actual practice. I am a racer that all my cars are rebuilt between our races and know exactly what my car has done to it so I went into this race completely blind with THE CAR and it done well. I was also happy that beside breaking the shock end the car finished the final with very little preparation by me.

I am very impressed with this car at how easy it was to drive also the fact that I really did not change anything on the car and was able to be competitive with it with only about 4 tanks of actual practice.

I got to finally meet Joseph and spend time with him and found him one of the coolest guys I have met in RC, he is very smart and passionate about his product and I really admire what he is doing. He went out of his way to help everyone take pictures answer questions and be a great ambassador for RC. I really believe that JQ has hit the ball out of the park with THE Black Edition THE Car is good JQ has sold me on it and I will be making the switch and race THE Car and help promote JQ Racing to my best ability. I admire what he is doing and will support him as much as I can. It will only get better from here . Thank you Joseph for the opportunity to try something new!

All I have to say is AYLYD?

Keenan K White