Recently, HPI staff hit the velodrome near HPI Racing HQ to settle a score: which is faster on an Olympic-level cycling venue, a professional race car driver on a purpose-built race bicycle, or an electric 1/10th scale replica race car?
Our friends at Falken invited HPI to the Derby Arena velodrome in the center of Derby, England, to take up the challenge and find the answer to this pressing question!
This velodrome is HUUUUGE! With a 250m (820 ft) racing line, it fits 3 entire basketball courts (or 12 badminton courts) inside, plus room for several bike racks at one end!
The racing driver was none other than Peter Dumbreck, British racer for the Falken Tire endurance racing squad. A Nürburgring Nordschliefe specialist, Peter broke the production car lap record at the famed "Green Hell" earlier this year, ironically driving an electric car!
Peter's latest race machine is the brand new BMW M6 GT3 endurance racer, which he's taken up after driving Falken's Porsche 911 GT3 R (Type 991) and 911 GT3 R (Type 997) for many years. At this year's Nürburgring 24hr, he helped drive the M6 GT3 to an impressive 8th place overall in its first attempt, the third BMW overall!
Now, all this is racing experience is truly impressive, to be sure...but how will it help him against the HPI Racing brushless-powered RS4 Sport 3 FLUX fitted with the Falken-liveried Porsche 911 GT3 RSR body?
With up to 11.1 volts of power on tap (when using a 3S HPI Plazma LiPo pack), the Sport 3 can hit well over 70 mph (113 k/ph) with enough space...but with the Sport 3 fresh out of the box and almost no track tuning to make it an extra challenge, we stuck with the 7.4 volt 2S HPI Plazma batteries - still a good challenge for Peter, who we expected to hit 30-35mph at full speed.
With the corners of the wooden-surfaced track never truly flat and angled up to a daunting 42 degrees, everyone needed some practice time to get used to this unusual surface!
Long-time RC hobbyists may remember the days of the "Insane Speed Run" challenges at the Encino Velodrome outside of Los Angeles, California - this legendary outdoor velodrome is the same size as the Derby Arena track at 250 meters (820 feet) but the Encino track rises to "only" 28 degrees in the corners, with the ultra-specialized, one-off custom cars hitting well over 80mph (129 k/ph)! You can just imagine what speeds a properly tuned oval car could hit in the steep corners of the Derby Arena!
Peter had never ridden on a velodrome before, and we'd never driven one, either, so everyone had some time (and coaching) to get used to the unique requirements of this very individual driving surface.
So, who do YOU think won? An out-of-the-box RS4 Sport 3 FLUX or a pro sports car racing driver? Have a look at this video to see if you can figure it out!
Here's the video on the HPI Racing Facebook page!
UPDATE!! Here's the full race video from Falken!
