Baja5b @ The RC Tracks at Milestone MX Raceway

Saturday, September 6th

Check out the pics and results from another day of fun and excitement at Milestone MX Park!!
Thank you to everyone for making it a fun RC day (..albeit a rather HOT one). Special thanks to GBE, Team Phatdad and Larry Cross for making it all happen!

Race report by Scott G.

Race #6 at the RC Tracks at Milestone MX Park had 21 competitors turn up ready for some 1/5th scale racing action. The points battle was further heating up with Rodney Ketcham at the top of the list being chased closely by Scott G, GBE’s Rick Linn, Dave Groon, and HPI’s Andrew Hilman.

The “Gabe Brown Engineering” (Team GBE) sponsored event got underway with two 10 minute qualifiers for each of the three races. Team Phat-Dad’s Rodney Ketchum was on fire in his second qualifier and was on pace to take the wind out of Rick Linn’s sails until a few mistakes saw his 22 lap pace drop to a 21 lap qualifier with a few incidents on track. Rick Linn would have to settle for second qualifier position as a smooth as silk run laid down by GBE’s Dave Groon narrowly edged out Rick for the TQ spot. Scott G, was on both their heels qualifying in third, and Team Phat Dad’s Rodney Ketchum occupied the 4th position.
With the 3 Mains set there was plenty of time to tune and prepare the cars. The C main would be 10 minutes, the B main would be 20 minutes, and the A main would last 30 minutes.

The C main had 3 drivers, with 2 that would transfer to the B main immediately following. Unfortunately none of the three drivers were able to get their 4x4 machines to finish the duration of the main.

The B main had 7 competitors all with sights on the 2 transfer spots to the A main. Consistent driving by  Gabe Brown, and AC Goins landed them the two transfer spots to the A Main, barely edging out Team PhatDad’s Moto Ishibashi. The battle between Gabe and AC was very close from start to finish. The 1st half of the race saw an intense driving battle between Derek Butterfield and Jonathan Sanders for the top 2 spots, both unfortunately suffered mechanical issues, which made the exciting battle for 3rd and 4th between Gabe and AC now the battle for 1st and 2nd. The lead swapped several times during the duration of the show, but in the end it was Gabe on top, barely edging out AC by 6 short seconds!

The A main saw some of the closest racing to date. Team PhatDad’s Rodney Kethum jumped out with the early lead negotiating the traffic securing himself the top spot for the first few laps. Rodney seemed to be driving away from the pack until he suffered from a mechanical issue. He refused to give up, and kept his car going to secure as many valuable points as possible to retain his series points lead. A quick trip to the pits had him back, but out contention loosing several valuable laps. Rodney would have to settle for 4th place in the end and hope his points lead would remain intact.  Team GBE’s Dave Groon suffered the same fate and lost 6-7 laps while making repairs. Rick Linn was again the man of the hour, fresh off his last A Main win, his confidence level was through the roof, and his consistency and speed on the track was second to none.

HPI’s Satoru Terada was running between 5th and 3rd until he too experienced a few issues. HPI’s Andrew Hilman seemed to be making several trips between the pits and the track with unknown issues. Scott G. was quietly plugging along behind Rick Linn throughout the duration of the main hoping Rick would make a mistake, as Rick seemed to just drive away from everyone. Rick came around to Lap Scott G. about 41 laps into the show, Scott politely pulled to the side and let the “Miracle Man” fly by. Three corners later the unthinkable transpired, Rick had landed wrong off a jump and found himself upside down in the infield with his Baja not running. Team GBE’s Gabe Brown frantically worked to restart the Baja. Just as the car was fired back up and under way Scott G was passing making up his lost lap and taking the lead. That lead would be short lived, as Scott made a critical mistake in turn 2 landing him upside down in the middle of the road. Rick Linn would have the speed and smooth driving to easily overtake Scott to regain his lead and never look back. Dave Groon was working hard behind these two guys to make up as much ground as possible, and secured his position in 3rd on the podium. Scott gave everything he had to try and match the pace of Rick Linn, but today wasn’t his day, he would have to settle for 2nd position. GBE’s Rick Linn was on rails, and earned another well deserved victory and some valuable points in the GBE Summer thunder Series.

With only 1 race left in the GBE Summer Thunder Series, and some healthy prizes on the line, you can count on some very close and intense racing action. September 20th will be the day where the USA’s 1st organized Baja5B racing championship series will crown its inaugural winner… who will it be? Stay tuned to HPI’s website for a full story, or get out to Milestone MX park and see the final event and results unveiled in front of your very eyes.

4 more races until BAJA NATS! (...and 4 open practice days)

Milestone Ranch MX Park
12685 Holly Street
Riverside, California 92509
www.milestonemx.com

For race information contact Larry Cross at (800) 266-7745, www.quarterscalemotorsports.com

The RC Tracks @ Milestone Ranch MX Park 2008 Schedule

Sep
20 Race
28 Open practice

Oct
4 Race
12 Open practice
18 Race
26 Open practice

Nov
1 Race (This is the last Race event before the 1st Annual HPI Baja Nationals)

November 8th and 9th - 1st Annual HPI Baja Nationals

Race Day Schedule:
8:00 AM Track opens
10:00 AM 1st Qualifier

Milestone Ranch MX Park entry fee $10
Race Entry Fee $25
Open Practice fee is $15

AMB transponders required
If you do not own one, transponder rental is available at the track for $20

ROAR membership is required and available at the track

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