Mini-Z Shopping Mall Race

[herman]

pls post names/ mini-z racer username on the photo's... would like to put the faces to the names...

[Z_408]

Second time back to the mall was an experience. All aspects of the set-up went pretty well. I even had time to get the lap timing system going early to test and see if it was working properly. And the timing worked perfect during practice. Twelve o’clock rolled around and time for racing. All the cars were on grid, horn went off and we were racing. Only one small problem, one of the teams was not counting. I had to then re-boot the system and try again. I tired everything I could think of to get the system back up. I finally figured out that somehow the tile floor was interfering with the RF loop. I then placed the loop on the track and we were back racing. The only problem now was that there was a little bump before the timing system, which made is more exciting for the fans. As the cars went by they jumped a little. It was fun to watch. We ran five one hour mains to determine the winner.

The first main went down to the wire with Team 2 (Perez, Jaime, Fraz) winning by just four laps. Hernandez kept his team in the hunt with consistent fast laps. He was running a mod AWD and was certainly the fastest car on the track all day. The first race came down to who was more consistent on the track. At this point most teams did not really have a strategy yet. Teams 1 through 7 were separated by 101 laps. Winning team had 376 laps.

First main results.

In the second main, Team 2 had problems early on and was fighting from the back of the pack most of the race. Team 3 (Tony, Stephen, Randy) knew that if they did not win the second main it would be very hard to win the last three to finish on top. With that in mind they took over lead from Team 4 (Hernandez, Art B, Hello Moto) once Hernandez had to go in for a battery change. The AWD was faster but it required more battery stops. From lap 85 to the end of the main, Team 3 did not look back and easily won by 14 laps. Team 4 once again came in third. Team 5 (Steven, Oscar, Art M) showed improvement in the second main but could not run down Team 4. Winning team had 383 laps.

Second main results

Team 2 restored the order in the third main. It was not easy though. There was a very close race between Teams 2, 3, and 4 with many lead changes. Hernandez put down the fastest lap so far in the day, 7.80. This was the closes race so far with Team 2 winning by just 9.70 seconds. Team 2 at this point put up the most number of laps, 388. Every team by now has stepped up their lap count and the racing was getting very close. Teams 1 though 7 were now only separated by 64 laps.

Third main results

In the fourth main Team 3 evened things up at two a piece with Team 2. They were now knotted and the final main would decide the champion. Early on in this main, Team 4 looked to be the clear winner. Hernandez put them out in front early and his team put up consistent laps to keep the lead late into the race. Team 4 had the lead until lap 346. The modified AWD needed a battery change and a new driver. At this point they had a 7 lap lead and it was going to be up to his team to hold on for the victory. However with Steve Perez and Stephen chasing you down, it would be a hard task for anyone. Perez and Stephen eventually ran down Team 4 and Team 3 won by 13.98 seconds. Team 3 now had the highest lap count with 389 laps.

Forth main results

In the last main, Hernandez was determined to get his team a main victory and he left it all on the track. He put down some the fastest lap of the day in the last main. Team 3 came out fast and lead every lap except for 20 laps. The last main was the best main of the day. Every team got faster on the track in faster with their pit/driver changes. At lap 269 Stephen came in for Team 3’s last driver change. That driver change put him into second place with 18 minutes to race. Perez was on the track for Team 2 and his team decided to let him just come in for a battery change and do a back to back driving stint to finish the race. Now imagine 15 minutes left and you, in this case Stephen, have a small two lap lead over Perez with an eternity to drive (15 minutes). We had a good sized crowd gathered now and the pressure was on. Which ever team won this last main was going to be the mall champion. The gap was bouncing around at 1 or 2 laps the whole time. There was complete concentration and the crowd was getting into it. In the end Stephen’s youth might have played a role in the victory. Team 3 now put up the most laps of the day with 395 laps.

Fifth main results

Thank you to all the racers that came out and raced. You all deserved to win. I would also like to thank Joel Johnson won sent a great raffle prize, and ASF car. The winner was a seven year old boy. I would like to thank PN for send raffle prizes. Iron man of the race was Mike aka GoFast. He teamed up with his 7 year old son and his son’s 7 year old friend. This meant that Mike did most of the driving. Good job Mike, rest your arm. I will get the lap times up soon.

Official Results

1st Place: Team 3 Stephen Bui, Randy Luu, Tony Truong 48 pts
2nd Place: Team 2 Steve Perez, John Frazier, Jaime M 47 pts
3rd Place: Team 4 Jonanthan Hernandez, Art B, Hello Moto 40 pts
4th Place: Team 5 Steven Huynh, Oscar Y, Art M 32 pts
5th Place: Team 7 Binh Do, Alan A, Layman Reid 26 pts
5th Place: Team 6 Mike Ma, Adrian, Matthew 26 pts
5th Place: Team 1 Eric Vasutin, Ken Brumblay, Hung Nguyen 26 pts

[atallfunguy]

great write up binh,

endurance racing ROX !!

[bcpzx3]

ok binh, i read it. So your time wasn't put to waste now.

[Gofast]

Binh,

Thanks for organizing the event. My teammates really enjoyed it. So did I. As a newbie, I see this as a way to engrave the hand-eye coordination into the deep region of the brain. Looking at the times I think my 2 teammates ran some decent laps too. They are already asking me the date for the next one! Let's do a 2-man so they can have their own team!

[phea]

Nice long write up on the endurance race.... I have to say that this event had more people racing and watching than last years endurance. Although we had some lap timing problems, I want to give Binh props for thinking on your feet at the last minute and saving the endurance race by putting the lap timer on top of the track. It seems like after these big events, everyone wants more racing and different styles like a 2-man team. I'm sure alot of people have developed new strategy's for next year and found out my team's secret to our victory. Don't worry I got a few new ones for next year as well. I want to thank everyone for coming out to race and support our Mini-Z community.

[Z_408]

Originally Posted by phea

Nice long write up on the endurance race.... I have to say that this event had more people racing and watching than last years endurance. Although we had some lap timing problems, I want to give Binh props for thinking on your feet at the last minute and saving the endurance race by putting the lap timer on top of the track. It seems like after these big events, everyone wants more racing and different styles like a 2-man team. I'm sure alot of people have developed new strategy's for next year and found out my team's secret to our victory. Don't worry I got a few new ones for next year as well. I want to thank everyone for coming out to race and support our Mini-Z community.

You did some clutch driving.........

[Z_408]

A few more pics.

[Z_408]

some more.....

[bcpzx3]

http://247media.smugmug.com/gallery/...81355167_6hyhT