I'll be honest, I love writing. I also love writing about RC cars. I'm no journalist, but I can type some hot air like no one's business. While race reports are generally a snooze fest, this one is hopefully the exception. Probably not, but let's hope.
June 3rd would mark round 3 of the Seattle RC Racers outdoor asphalt series. With all the rain in the PNW over the past 6 months, the prospect of getting any of the first 3 or 4 race dates in looked like a long shot at best. Yet, here we are, in between rounds 3 and 4 without a single rainout (one delayed race). The racing gods took pity on us, thank goodness.
Now, a little about the track:
(This layout was from round one, but you get an idea of the lay of the land.)
SeaTac RC Raceway is a permanent, currently unsealed asphalt track located at North SeaTac Park, just south of Seattle, WA. It was conceived, organized and built by the Seattle RC Racers club, with generous help from the SeaTac parks and recreation department. This track is part of the public park, so the beauty here, is that the track is open all day, every day. This track is world-class. No other way to put it. The surface has good grip, the islands are permanently painted with forgiving curbing, not to mention the smoothness of the racing surface as a whole. The kicker, and I feel like this is an amazing feature, is it has no barriers. This takes some getting used to, but parts breakage is virtually zero, along with the extra concentration it takes to get around a track without a divider keeping you from swapping out into oncoming traffic. It's a track that we as Northwest racers have dreamed of for years, maybe decades. It's now a reality, for for current and future racers to enjoy. Truly epic.
Qualifying:
The club uses an IFMAR-style qualifying setup along with the "qual-points" system, taking your best two of three qualifying rounds to determine the order for the Mains. If I had to describe the grip level for most of qualifying, I'd have to call it "confused". The ambient temp was hovering around 65 degrees most of the day, so it wasn't chilly by any means. This is "Southern Alaska" we're talking about, mid-60's in spring is heaven. The problem was the sun was hidden by pesky clouds all day, so the track never really got any heat built up. As frustrating as that may be to some, it's what I love about outdoor asphalt racing. No two race days or even races are the same. Truly a challenge as a tuner and driver. Bring it on!
To be honest, the the #OGTC has been more of an "A-Main" car than a "qualifying" car. The TC4 so far just hasn't shown the raw speed needed to take the front row on the grid, but it's extremely consistent. I'm able to repeat good lap after good lap, which during the Main is essential. I'm able to challenge for spots in traffic where others might struggle. Nonetheless with some consistency, I was able to take P3 on the grid for the A Main. It was going to be hectic with a full field including a bump up from the B Main. The key here is to get a clean start, give the race a few corners to settle in, then get after it.
Mike Boyle was on another level with his Maclan-powered ARC R11. With great power, a killer setup and great driving, he was hard to beat, taking the pole by nearly half a lap. Taking P2 was Mark Brown, driving a modified Tamiya FF04 front wheel drive chassis. The key with these FWD cars is there is no weight limit. While most struggle keeping up with the 4WD cars, Mark found a setup that was on the edge, and a line that was deadly-fast, nearly taking the TQ. Needless to say, my work was cut out for me in the main.
Throughout the day I was making changes to the car and my driving line, in a effort to close the gap to Mike. The conditions threw me for a bit of a loop early, with grip being lower than I anticipated. I'm not huge on making tons of changes to the car on race day. I'd rather concentrate on driving than fiddling with a setup that was drivable in the first place. So, with the grip getting better throughout qualifying, I worked on tightening up my lines and doing what I could with my throttle finger and steering wheel. Setup changes were minimal for the most part, save for a caster change and a rear toe change.
The Main:
Going into the Main, I knew Mike's car would be hard to catch, so I concentrated on Mark Brown's FWD sitting just ahead of me in second. Throughout the day, Mark's car was dialed on a level I hadn't seen from a front drive car on a long time. Much of it, however was Mark's driving. While the car looked great on track, it was on a knife edge from the start of the day. In order to extract every bit of speed, Mark drove a super tight line, hardly lifting to keep corner speed and momentum pegged. While this made for an amazing qualifying effort, racing this way is always tough. It's one thing to lay down a flying lap with a specialized line in qualifying, it's another to do it while going door to door with another car in anger. Over drive it, and the car would traction roll. This is what I was banking on.
Gridded up on the back stretch, I knew I needed to keep up with Mark in the opening laps to keep some pressure for second. If he had a gap, I figured he would get in a groove and would check out. I wanted a +1 day, 3rd place just wasn't happening.
At the start, I got a good jump, and immediately had to check up to avoid Mark, with his FWD bogging down at the hit. With Mike, Mark and myself safely around the first complex of corners, we started to gap the rest of the field. For the first two laps, I tried to keep things close with Mark and myself. The hope being that if/when Mark would make a mistake, I'd be there to capitalize. Sure enough, on lap 3, coming thorough the center infield complex, Mark's car got tipsy and traction rolled. Being right behind, I was able to make the pass for second, and would keep the position for the remainder of the race. I just didn't have the speed that the others had, so consistency was key. With clean laps, I was able to keep my gap to third all the way to the finish. Stoked.
I tend to run my races based on situations, not just flat out for 6 minutes. I try to minimize mistakes and run fast, clean laps. This may be conservative for some, but for me, I get solid results, and when the opportunity presents itself, a win or two. This last weekend was a prime example of racing based on the situation. I got the pass I wanted for second, and while I had a clear track to make a run at Mike for first, I knew that it just wasn't realistic. His laps were consistently quicker by a couple tenths per laps with ease. If I really pushed it, I might've been able to run my lap times closer, but then I'd be running the risk of making a mistake, like Mark had done earlier. I was happy where I was, I ran a clean race, and crossed the line in second. On a day when I wasn't at my best, to finish on the podium was bitchin'.
Even though I didn't take the top step, there were a ton of positives to take from the day. Firstly, even on an off day, setup and driving-wise, I was still competitive enough to take a podium spot. Secondly, the main was a solid driving effort from start to finish, with easily my most consistent race to date this season. Looking at the results, my top 15 laps (average) were within only 1 tenth of a second from my fast lap. That difference was best of the class for the entire day. I was really proud of that. I wasn't the fastest, but clean laps put you in position to succeed, regardless of the class.
The Rest:
Believe it or not, there was other classes actually running as well. So much for an un-biased race report....
In Stock Touring, Sam Forbes was the man all day. He set TQ, and ran away with the win. Each week his XRAY looks more sorted, and the Maclan power was more than enough to pull away from a competitive field.
In Modified Touring, Korey Harbke was at the head of the class throughout quals and the Main. Fresh off his Reedy Race 7th overall in Mod, he wasted no time showing the club how he's become one of the top On-Road racers in the country. It's amazing having racers like him at the track every week. Not to mention one of the nicest dudes you will ever meet. Truly someone to learn from.
Modified 12th scale has been growing each week, and with the track still struggling for early season grip, they do a surprising job getting after it. Stuart Mason made it happen as usual, taking TQ and the win. Come summer, this class is going to be one to watch.
Formula One had another full field, which has been great to see. Normally a niche class, F1 has seen a resurgence of late Nationally. Locally however, it's always had a strong following. Mark Tveten, one of the longest-running supporters of the class, made quick work of the field, taking TQ and the A-Main honors. This is another class that will see increased numbers as the summer season arrives and grip comes up. Should be fun to watch!
You really don't realize how much you appreciate things until you step away for awhile. It's so much fun being back with the club, racing on this amazing track, and above all, being competitive. This hobby has meant so much to me over the years, and after taking some time away for the past few years, it's like re-discovering the passion I have for RC racing. It's been so bitchin' racing with everyone again. Here's to many more race days like this!
Peace and Fast Laps
-JRoy386
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