Archives for the month of: May, 2012
The race weekend of May 18-20 was a busy one in Texas. Mike’s Hobby Shop near Dallas hosted Round 3 of the popular RC Pro Texas State Series while 350 miles away in the Texas Panhandle the AKA Mid-America Championships were held at Amarillo RC Motocross. Both were well-attended, attesting to the vibrance of the region’s RC scene.
AKA Mid-America Championship
With former IFMAR world champion and countless-time national champion Mark Pavidis of AKA among the 119 entries, excitement was guaranteed. AKA’s soft compound City Blocks were the spec tire for the race. Strategic watering throughout the event rendered an excellent racing surface that held up beautifully over the weekend. The stage was set for some thrilling action.
FTW’s Mike Battaile and Jason Branham dueled all day Saturday for the TQ in open buggy and truggy, with Branham eventually securing both. In the meantime Battaile dominated both open short course classes and took the second starting spot for the E-buggy A Main.
On Sunday, Battaile took second in open buggy behind Pavidis, and Branham grabbed third. In truggy, Battaile and Branham would swap finishing spots, finishing 3rd and 2nd respectively while Pavidis took the top spot. Battaile continued the podium parade for FTW taking 2nd in E-buggy.
Click here for more event pics.
FTW Racing Components:
Battaile: FTW00029 Night Fox & FTW00030 Tactic for Team Losi 8ight 2.0, FTW Prototype Exabyte for 8ight-E 2.0
Branham: FTW Prototype Night Fox for Agama A8
RC Pro Texas State Series Round 3
Registration filled months in advance for Round 3 at Mike’s, as is becoming the norm for the RC Pro State Series in Texas. Around 170 entrants battled from early Saturday morning til the early morning hours of Sunday, as the state series format holds all quals and mains on Saturday.
In E-buggy, Jake Dellinger’s hot streak continued as he took the class TQ and win. Hunter Kinsey crossed the line behind Dellinger to take 2nd. Micah Smith took 5th in the class and recently crowned Intergalactic Buggy Champion Tyler Hooks took 8th.
Dellinger and Kinsey also had good runs in open buggy, taking 6th and 8th respectively.
Sportsman driver Robbie Williams grabbed another podium spot for FTW with his 3rd place finish.
A gallery of awesome photos of the event by freelanceshots.com can be seen by clicking here.
FTW Racing Components:
Dellinger: FTW00008 Night Fox fitted to Team Associated RC8.2e and RC8.2
Kinsey: FTW00008 Night Fox fitted to Intech BR5 Evo and BR5 Evo custom electric conversion
Smith: FTW00010 Night Fox fitted to Xray XB9
Hooks: FTW00029 Night Fox fitted to Team Losi 8ight-E 2.0
Williams: FTW00008 Night Fox fitted to Team Associated RC8.2
May 4-6 was another weekend of FTW success on the tracks both in our home country, the USA, and beyond. Considering the trajectory of Team FTW’s growth this comes as little surprise, but this past weekend the team took winning to new heights beyond the atmospheric confines of our comfortable planet and indeed beyond our home galaxy. More on this later. This week’s report begins at Wolfpack RC near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
VP POWERMASTER CHALLENGE
The first annual VP Powermaster Challenge was held at the widely acclaimed track at Wolfpack RC in Pearcy, Arkansas. When the dust cleared the hour was late and the photos were fuzzy, but they told the tale–FTW drivers were all over the podium again.
Jason Branham held point in the Pro Buggy A-Main until a mechanical failure rendered his brakes useless. Mike Battaile overtook him for the lead and the eventual win, while Branham managed to hold on to second despite his misfortune, thereby securing the 1-2 finish for Team FTW.
David Joor’s deployed his usual E-buggy mastery to take the top spot in that class. Mike Battaile took second.
FTW Racing Components:
Mike Battaile: FTW00030 Tactic for Team Losi 8ight 2.0
Jason Branham: FTW prototype body for Agama A8
David Joor: FTW00008 Night Fox fitted to Team Associated RC8.2e
PORTUGUESE NATIONALS
Round 3 of the Portuguese Nats was held at the Pista Ortigosa near Leiria, Portugal. FTW’s Ricardo Monteiro put together a fantastic race weekend and earned the third spot on the podium.
FTW Racing Components:
FTW00029 Night Fox for Team Losi 8ight 2.0
Photo Credit: RCGafa
INTERGALACTIC BUGGY CHAMPIONSHIP 2
The Nationals have nothing on IGBC. The Worlds have nothing on IGBC. If there were an interplanetary championship, it would also pale in importance relative to the Intergalactic Buggy Championship. Since 2011, each galaxy has sent its best drivers to RC Headquarters in San Antonio, Texas to compete for massive trophies and the title of Intergalactic Buggy Champion. This year’s competition was dominated as usual by Earthlings. This was especially true in the E-buggy class, where FTW’s Tyler Hooks drove from a 3rd starting spot in the A-main straight to the top of the podium, laying down 20 minutes of blazing fast laps. You heard correctly–IGBC’s E-buggy A-mains are 20 minutes long, punctuated at the 10-minute mark by a unique 5-minute “halftime” that affords drivers the opportunity to replace batteries and make any other desired changes to their cars, as well as engage in some good-natured trash talking.
Check out more pictures from IGBC2 by clicking here.
FTW Racing Components:
Tyler Hooks: FTW00029 Night Fox fitted to Team Losi 8ight-E
Team FTW’s collection of RC Pro Series plaques was yet again substantially augmented after round two of RC Pro’s South Division Series at Louisiana’s Finishline Raceway, thanks to awesome drives from Mike Battaile, Jake Dellinger, Brian “Smiley” Henn, and David Joor (ordered alphabetically). Special thanks to Eddie Doggett for the photos. Click here to see the full gallery on our Facebook page.
Results:
Battaile TQ’d pro truggy and took 2nd in Open 4WD SC. Dellinger took 2nd in Pro Buggy and E-Buggy after TQ’ing the latter class. Henn took the top spot in Open 4WD SC. Joor TQ’d Pro Buggy and won E-Buggy.
FTW Racing Components:
Dellinger – FTW00008 Night Fox body for RC8 fitted to RC8.2 and RC8.2e
Henn – FTW prototype SC body, FTW00012 Shock Towers, FTW00013 Fan Mount Kit, FTW00014 Ackerman Set fitted to Losi TEN-SCTE
Joor – FTW00008 Night Fox body for RC8 fitted to RC8.2 and RC8.2e
ftwrc 