HPI Challenge Qualifying!
Main
Page | Concours | Main
Events | Awards Presentations | Big
Thank You's!
When the HPI employees arrived at the American Honda location early Saturday morning, we expected to see the Hobby Shack "Blue Crew" and a few racers with their canopies set up for a day of racing. What we didn't expect to see was about 100 racers already setting up their pits and more coming every minute! Asking around, it seemed that the earliest racers got their pit areas around 6 AM!
Hobby Shack set up the track, and with the number of late entries (about 70!) plus registration just to see what racers showed up, the first races didn't take place until about one PM, and it was decided that with the number of racers and the late start that we would run just two qualifiers instead of the scheduled three.
The first thing that took place was the Concours Competition, which took place at the same time as the required driver's meeting. Click here to see the results of the HPI Challenge Concours Competition, which was very hard to judge!
Electric RS4 Mini
After
the driver's meeting and the Concours, the first class to race was the
Electric RS4 Mini class, featuring two heavy favorites: Southern California
racer Frank Killam and Swiss driver (and HPI Challenge European Champion)
Marc Pfenninger! In the first round, Marc showed the rest of the field
how quickly he could leave them behind, and basically put on a clean driving
demonstration for 4 minutes! Marc set a TQ time that wouldn't be touched
by anyone for the rest of the weekend, although Frank Killam did his best
to get as close as possible!
Marc and Frank qualified right next to each other, with the rest of the field stretched out behind.
Electric RS4 Sedan
The
next class to start racing was the Electric RS4 Sedan class, with 90 drivers
signed up in this class alone! This was the most popular class to sign
up in, and equaled the number of total entries we've had in previous races!
The most popular Honda/Acura bodies appeared to be the '98 Honda Accord
bodies, but there were almost as many Acura Integra and '94-'97 Honda
Accord bodies on the track.
The
early fast guys to watch were Shawn Ireland, Bill Martinez and Thad Garner
(all HPI racers), as well as Frank Killam, Charlie Barnes, Henry Szeto,
Tong Ling Kang, Chris Yung and a few other racers who stayed on pace with
the HPI racers. With 90 drivers, the competition was fierce, but as clean
as it could be. There were plenty of tight spots on the track, and spectators
quickly learned what areas to watch for the best crashes!
After
a couple of very close heats with all the fastest guys in one race, the
TQ at the end of qualifying was Thad Garner, with Bill Martinez ready
to pounce from the second spot on the grid! Charlie Barnes (in his first
race weekend with the Pro 2) was third, and Shawn Ireland next to him.
All the fastest Electric Sedan drivers did 20 or 21 laps, and it looked
like the A Main would be a tight race!
Nitro RS4 Mini
The
first Nitro class to race was the Nitro RS4 Mini class. This was the smallest
class to enter, but the good thing about the Nitro Mini racers is that
they are really into their cars and really enjoy running them! Watching
all the smaller Nitro cars running around at speeds near the Nitro sedan
cars, on a smaller footprint, makes for some exciting racing! The early
TQ after the first round was Jamie Schoolcraft in his purple and black
Nitro RS4 Mini, but HPI engineer Ito arrived the second day with his Nitro
RS4 Mini and demolished Jamie's TQ time by more than two laps! Ito didn't
run in the main event, however, so it looked like Jamie could clear off
a space at home for a trophy!
And don't worry, Nitro RS4 Mini racers, we'll have Ito's secret setup online very soon! :-)
Box Stock Nitro RS4
The
next Nitro class was our inaugural Box Stock Nitro class. Our racers in
Europe have been running this class all year long, but this was the first
time we would have a chance to see how popular the class would be in America.
The basic rules were very simple: box stock Nitro RS4, RTR Nitro RS4,
or Nitro RS4 2 kits were the only kits allowed, and everything must remain
stock, even the shock springs! The only modifications allowed were the
tires (and HPI tires were allowed) and the body (any HPI Honda or Acura
body was allowed). This made the field very even and promoted a "driver's
race", rather than a race to see who could spend more money on their
option parts! We want to see this class take off, and we're glad we had
three full heats of Box Stock Nitro RS4 racers!
Out
of the gate early to a great qualifying run was Peter Sergeant of England,
our HPI Challenge European Champion in Nitro Stock. Peter won the HPI
Challenge UK series, went on to win the European Finals, and looked like
he was on target to do very well at this race as well! Also on pace was
Daniel Trnka (who had bought an RTR Nitro RS4 just for this race) and
Mark Rebeck, and it looked like it would be a close race in the main event,
with Peter in the TQ spot!
Nitro RS4 Open
The
Nitro Open class was packed almost as full as the Electric Sedan class,
with nearly 80 racers signed up to do battle with their decked-out racing
machines! With the tight track layout and short straight section, power
wasn't really a required element, however, and it took some racers a little
while to figure out they wouldn't need all the horsepower in their cars
around the whole track. The fastest guys were the ones who went steady
and kept their lines clean, curving around the other cars that were spinning
out or upside down. At the end of qualifying, it came down to who was
more consistent, not who had the most power, which is the way it should
be for racing!
Our
HPI Challenge European Champion in the Nitro Racer class, Alex Fernihough,
easily made it into the top ten with the help of his father Alan, plus
one of the A Main qualifiers for Box Stock Nitro, Daniel Trnka made it
into the A Main of Nitro Open with his 99% box stock RTR Nitro RS4! All
he changed was the springs!
Super Nitro RS4
Two
full mains of Super Nitro cars wrapped up each qualifying round of Nitro
cars, and gave the spectators their money's worth! Not that anyone had
to pay to watch, but it made the time standing around the track very fun.
The large cars on the tight track provided plenty of action to keep everyone's
attention, and at the end it was Orlando Sherman in the top qualifying
spot, with Frank McKinney a few seconds behind. George Gonzalez and
Lito Reyes, from R/C Car Action and R/C Car, respectively, also both made
it into the A Main, promising a fun shootout between the magazines!