Category Archives: Race Reports

May 22 2017
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#THETourist, Race Reports, RC Tracks

Dominican Republic Race – Report Of Sorts

A year ago I came to the Dominican Republic for the first time. At that time, I had only known that they race RC on the DR for about a year, as someone had bought a car from me, and that then turned into me having a distributor on the island. RC racing is in it’s infancy on the DR compared to most of the places I have visited, and when I first visited I ended up convincing, and helping the local RC pioneers register in FAMAR, and then convinced the racers that they should go to the worlds. 1 more country successfully added to the RC Racing scene.

1 year later, I go back, and they have a permanent track built next to two 5 a side football fields, next to a big mall, in Santo Domingo, the capital. That means, they have plenty of potential new RC enthusiasts pass by daily. Location is everything. Not only that, these guys had fireworks, flame throwers, live music, sponsorship from Chevy, Redbull, local harware store, local paint store, etc.

Jurassic Park. For once my lame comment was actually accurate, as part of JP was filmed on the DR.

What I am trying to say is, if they can do this in the Dominican Republic, then there really is no excuse elsewhere. Yes, it can of course be easier in a country like the DR, due to the demographic of RC racers, compared to a European country, but the key is still the passion, regardless of social or economical stature.

Now for some pics from the event.

Truck Podium: 1st JQ, 2nd, Luis Garcia, 3rd Francisco Ortiz

Nitro Podium. 1st JQ, 2nd Carlos Sikora, 3rd Luis Jose

eBuggy Podium 1st JQ, 2nd Luis Garcia, 3rd Carlos Sikora

Dulce Weiss, 11 years old and 4th place in Nitro Buggy. The Dulcenator was impressive. DR’s Jessica Pålsson.

Driving down the motorway, we saw this guy going the same direction, but on the other side, against traffic…

Fuck iiiiit! This is the DR!

Semi drive through in the mountains. This guy’s light switch was a live wire that he pushed in a socket. #healthandsafety

My office. Getting work done, so I can chill. #liveyourlife

 

 

May 22 2017
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#rcgypsy, #THETourist, JQ THE World Tour, Race Reports, Travel Stories

Flamethrowers, Guitar Solos & Fat Whips

Yes we had flames and live guitar solos during the main…..

“It’s already 12 o’clock!” -David Infante

I threw some fat whips and then this happened.

The LosCocos team was back together. No coconuts this time!

In 2WD truck, I had to race the last main with one hand, and drink a 1 liter beer during the race. I obviously accepted the challenge, and won the race!

Dominican Ogio Bag

Finally, if you ever wondered what would happen if you hit a can of paint at full speed. This is what would happen. #yellowedition

Now it’s time to have my Dominican Birthday Party. I always miss my birthday because I am racing. I told the guys, that I’ll do the race, as my birthday present :-). More of a race report tomorrow. I’m out.

May 21 2017
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JQ THE World Tour, Race Reports, RC Tracks

DR Qualifying, Introducing Mormons To Porn, and Pineapple on Tacos

The race is held on a new track, right next to a big shopping mall. There are also two five a side football fields next to the track.

Running eBuggy and Nitro. Longwear medium tyres!

I met my first Mormons. These guys were from Nebraska and Arizona, on a 2 year mission in the DR. I had some questions for them, regarding all the restrictions and their beliefs in general. In addition to not being allowed to consume alcohol, coffee, or to smoke, they also were not allowed to have sex before marriage. Porn and sex in general are a big no no.

…so I showed them some porn.

Their minds were blown, and I managed to convert them to reality, and get them into RC Car racing.

On the track, I was pushing the limit

Other on track action included a bar. I’m not making this up.

Another thing I’m not making up, is these Al Pastor street Tacos with pineapple on them. That’s it, I’m moving to the DR.

May 14 2017
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Race Reports

Nordics/Bitty Contest/Euros Warm Up Day 3 – Observations

The track was just awesome! Apart from the jumps, some of which were quite silly, it was epic.

A real offroad track separates the men from the boys, both when it comes to setup in the pits, and racing on the track.

I hope we have more races on real offroad tracks in the future. Last years have been good in Europe!

I hope they don’t spoil it by over reacting and making it high grip and smooth by treating the surface. People will complain no matter what, just leave it. Fix the jumps, leave the track.

Boots and Ronnefalk were quite impressive. On a different level from the rest in the main.

Max Mört’s archrival Jessica Pålsson JUST beat him for the last bump to the main. Impressive by Jessica, and painful for Max.

We need LCQ at the Euros and Worlds, all the people that miss the main in the semis, get to race, but make it 2 or 3 spots that make it in.

Superpole is cool I think, maybe a few tweaks to the format, and then the announcer needs to be on it, so everyone knows what’s going on.

I am really depressed about being so much better at eBuggy. It seriously saddens me.

I am attempting to outsource my Savoya Battles for the bump up to other team members. Always a JQ there, can’t get away from it.

Why is there always a goddamn JQ in the way?

Dallas thinks he is so cool…..

….but he’s got nothing on Janne!

May 13 2017
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#Inspiration, Race Reports

Full Throttle

NeoBuggy just needs to film when Max Full Throttle Johansson punches it for 5 minutes on this track.

That’s about it, I’m really tired!

May 12 2017
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driving, JQ Europe Tour, Race Reports, RC Tracks, THECar Advice

Nordics/Bitty Contest/Euros Warm Up Day 1

When tax money is spent right…..

Practice, we talkin’ about practice! Today was a good day. Track is “motocross”, and I love it. It’s balls out, punch it, go fast, but it’s rough and loose, so you have to pick your lines carefully, and you have to hit each section at the right speed. That speed is fast, but it needs to be the right fast. And you can’t avoid all the bumps, you just have to power through them. Exactly the sort of surface I enjoy the most. It’s a case of, either you go fast, or you go slow. Medium will catch out you, and don’t let off if you get in trouble or it will end up worse, just smash the throttle. Like motocross, but safer.

I got both my cars really good, and I’m still basically using a standard bumpy track setup. Only minor changes from track to track, regardless of surface, really happy about that. Things to look at, swaybars, antisquat, toe in, droop.

Lee Martin is running both the JQ cars, nitro and electric, so I hope he will do well. It’s tough because he has very limited track time with nitro, and got the electric at the race, and with the track being “special”, let’s see how it goes tomorrow. Fingers crossed we get them how he likes his cars!

Real food at the track. That’s special!

So you are telling me I should put this red donut into the rubbery thing?

Infinity BLACK Edition

Carlos Duraes was forced to limit his manspreading to 1 meter.

That’s just ridiculous. Bigger than in America.

Max “Full Throttle” Johansson smashed the throttle and seeded 6th in Nitro! Amazing job! He also glues his tyres full throttle, so he needs protection.

You know how you told me to put that red thing in the rubbery thing? It was waaaay better.

Prittydesign

 

May 10 2017
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JQ Europe Tour, Race Reports, RC Tracks

Eskilstuna – Nordic Contest/Euros Warm Up

Another race! This time the Euros will be in Sweden. As long as I have been racing, there has never been a 1:8th scale Euros in Scandinavia, so this is going to be really nice. Above you can see a video of a lap from last summer, and below you can see a track walk by David Ronnefalk. The track is really nice, and it’s looking like the weather is going to cooperate. It should be a lot of fun!

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May 06 2017
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#rcgypsy, #THETourist, Race Reports

Best Birthday Present

It’s that time! Got the best birthday present. Trip to the Dominican Republic after the Euros Warm up. It is/was actually a TLR race, but it seems I am the best TLR representative available:-) I’ll take it. Time for some RC racing, JQ RC School, and a birthday celebration. Get the coconuts ready!

May 01 2017
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driving, Race Reports, THECar Advice

Rhein Main Warm Up Race – Setup and Driving

The Track

Very challenging this year, more so than previous years. This year it became very slippery on the black groove, but then it had patches of traction that unbalanced the car, and of course the carpet had traction. The layout is also strange, in the way that the timing and flow of the track seems off. It’s hard to get the right speed and be consistent, in both corners and jumps. You have to really go slow to go fast, and you have to be very precise. I like the track and look forward to this race every year, but at the same time, it can be oh so frustrating.

The Setup

I basically ran my NEO17 Setup except for going to 2 degrees anti squat by running the 1 insert hole up in the C plate. I also ran 12500-20000-4000 diff oils. In practice and qualifying I ran 30/27.5 but for the mains I went up to 32.5/30wt. I felt like in the A main my car was still too soft, and I should have gone up more.

The great thing about the BLACK Edition is how consistent it has been track to track. I am making little, or no changes, and I am competitive on all tracks and in all conditions.

My car was good, except for being too soft and not landing well in the main. I felt like it could have been better transitioning from no grip to grip, but I honestly didn’t know what to do about that. It didn’t really become and issue until the mains, and that was too late to start guessing, I just needed to try and drive around it by being smooth on the throttle and steering. Tyres could have been one thing, Keller was on AKA catapult, a tyre I never run, and he said the same, except for this track! I ran Impact.

The Race

In qualifying Darren Bloomfield was the man to beat, but it was still close. He was in control though, Hazelnuts would call up to him “+2”, and in a while “+4”, and Darren just controlled it from there I think. I qualified 5th, but basically we were all within 5 seconds or so, and I felt like for the longer mains I would be more competitive, so I wasn’t worried.

In the main the time the cars were down on the line was unusually long, and Darren flamed out. That was a shame, because instead of what I expected to be the 4 of us going for the win, it left 3, Keller, Neumann and me. We did have quite a good race, eventually Keller pulled maybe a 10 second lead as I battled with Neumann. At some point I broke away, and we were just driving 1-2-3 with a decent gap between all of us. Then around halfway in the race I found a good groove and clicked off fast laps, and Keller flamed out in the pits. Andy Kramer from LRP got him started quickly, and he still maintained his lead, but then he made a few mistakes, and I got to within just under 2 seconds behind him, but I just couldn’t do anything with it. He drove away from me a bit, and I made a mistake. Then once again, in the final moments, just after the last pit stop, I again closed in, to about 3 seconds, but then for the last minutes was caught up with back markers and completely lost my rhythm. I don’t think I could have caught Keller without him making a mistake, but if I could have stayed close who knows!

Driving

For the most part I did OK, and I was once again trying to push more than in the past few years. This resulted in mistakes in qualifying, but it also resulted in the fastest lap in the main, and me catching the leader during the race. I wasn’t able to be as consistent as I wanted. I would have 5 great minutes, and then something would happen to where I lost my pace, and it would take a couple of laps to re group, and then I would find the rhythm again. It’s not easy this racing thing! Looking forward to the Euros Warm Up now!

The reaction to seeing my ID, and learning my 2nd name.

Apr 30 2017
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Race Reports

Rhein Main Warm Up – 17th 2nd Place Finish.

Back from Germany! So nice, flew out Friday morning, made it to the 2nd round of practice. Then completed the race, and flew back still on Sunday, an hour and a half after the main finished. Perfect! Now it’s time to get some sleep, and get well from this very persistent cold I have. I’ll do a report tomorrow, but here are a few observations first:

  • Great race by Carsten Keller to take the win in Nitro. He made the least mistakes, and had the pace to where he still won with a flame out in the pits. Great job Carsten! On to the Euros warm up!
  • Keller’s team mate Chad Reed decided to race me in the closing minutes when I was lapping him. I don’t see me catching Keller anyway, but still…..
  • Jorn Neumann was impressive in eBuggy, winning both mains.
  • Bloomfield TQed both classes, finished 2nd in eBuggy, but flamed out on the line of nitro, and was never able to recover.
  • 1998 World Champion Daniel Reckward still making mains after 30 years?
  • The race conditions were challenging, from super cold to warm, dusty to slick groove, to traction on the carpet and coming onto and off the straight. Very challenging for setup, tyre choice and driving.
  • The Kilic brothers are getting fast and were impressive. Burak still faster, although lacking some race craft, Berkan still not quite as fast, but clearly more thought going into his driving.
  • The efficient and organised German organisers actually had us running ahead of schedule, so we had to wait a few minutes at one point.
  • The marshalling points at this track deserves it’s own blog post, they are so wrongly placed.
  • RCFox, Marc Kreisig in attendance, my new German distributor in the north, with Dirk’s RC Modellbau still taking care of business in Bavaria. RCFox will be attending and supporting JQ drivers at races in Germany.
  • Currywurst is the best!
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