yes, its been quiet around here and that reflects the general conditions of things in Pattaya at the moment. the economic slowdown, the strength of the Thai baht and the weakening of normally very strong currencies around the world has severely reduced traffic and sales @ nanotrax and many other local businesses. we’re lucky to see many of our regular customers returning and doing their best to support the shop. while things are a bit rough, we’ve done our best to cut costs while maintaining high quality service on and offline. a big thanks to our customers around the world who have reached out and continued to support our shop from thousands of miles away. because of that, we continue to bring you the latest in items that will hopefully enhance your experience with this hobby we all care so much about. we haven’t seen a new body for dNano since the Chevrolet Corvette C6-R was released in February and dNano fans have been longing for something new. X-Power has answered the call with a new, handmade shell designed to fit the (DNC502) Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Chassis. the Limited Edition Reventon Type Shell is now available @ our online shop. additionally, the new XP Screwdriver for dNano has been added to our long list of available parts and accessories. for those on a budget, this is definitely an interesting, economical option for working on your moving chassis.
racing still continues weekly @ 5pm (Sundays) and with Robby, Erwin and Vincent back in town, expect to see some high speed, heated competition on both circuits in the coming weeks. for race reports and other topics, visit our dNano forum. have questions or concerns? e-mail the webmaster!
Joy & Nax from Channel 5′s Travel Note visited the shop as reported last month and they sent the video to us for posting @ YouTube. it’s in Thai, but i’ll get around to adding english subtitles here soon. if you haven’t heard me speak the language, this is only my 2nd time doing so in an interview and the 1st time on national TV -- enjoy ;)
come on… 300 million USD & 15 years of development resulting in 2.5 hours of action packed 3D and you think i’m not gonna post about it? Avatar is an absolutely stunning movie which will almost certainly go down in history as one of the best visual experiences ever released for public consumption. Calvin, Joom and I went to see it at Central Festival Mall (Pattaya Beach) last night and from opening to closing credits, time just flew by. yesterday was Calvin’s last day @ NanoTrax and it was rather slow with only a few visitors and a couple of members stopping by for a few practice laps. he hooked up his Perfext KT-18 Transmitter with the new PRO Fit Steering Wheel from R246 which just came in a couple days ago. i don’t think anyone will be confused about who’s transmitter that is now ;-) …as for dNaNo news, the rumor is that the Corvette C6-R will be the next released in the series and specs are almost identical to the Mazda 787b. i’m not sure when it’ll arrive but you know i’ll let ya know. this sunday’s club race will also be the date for our 2009 NanoTrax Driver’s Champion Award presentation so if you’re in the area, stop by to congratulate our inauguaral season champion, Olaf Stuermer. we’ll have club racing as usual along with complimentary draft beer for members, food and all day happy hour for visitors. hope to see you all there…
today was completely full from the time i opened my eyes to the moment i switched off the lights in the pit station. our first order of business was to ship orders, then visit Pattaya R/C Powerboat for the 1/8th Off Road Buggy Party Final. we witnessed the world champion Atsushi Hara dominate the field, winning by 3 laps in a grand final including some impressive drivers on an absolutely massive race course. the weather cooled off a lot for the final and it was obvious from the many drivers who had engine problems. we then returned to the shop to prepare for our sunday club race but there was immediate action in the form of practice races. we had a few guests who rented cars and mixed it up with members for a few heats and by qualifying time, we only had 4 drivers remaining – 3 of which were pushing for championship points. RobbyDV, Olaf, Marlowe and myself ran 2 qualifiers and a final that provided compelling evidence that all dNaNo are not created equal. the Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 Class with Robby at the helm is a dominant force and while i expected the Porsche 911 GT3 to come back with a bang, it was more like a ‘poot’ in the race today. Olaf has pretty much solidified his position as the 2009 NanoTrax Driver’s Champion and Marlowe has shown marked improvement with his McLaren. here are the results, check the pics in the gallery for highlights.
NanoTrax Club Race Results for 12/13/2009 Top Qualifier = Robby DV / Nissan Fairlady Z GT500
Final Results:
1 – RobbyDV / Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 (97 Laps) +20
2 – Olaf / Aston Martin Racing DBR9 (86 Laps) +15
3 – Marlowe / McLaren F1 GTR (83 Laps) +10
4 – Qon / Porsche 911 GT3 (81 Laps)
2009 NanoTrax Drivers Championship Points
Olaf = 100 Pts
Dylan = 70 Pts
Daw = 70 Pts
Erwin = 55 Pts
RobbyDV = 40 Pts
Gary = 25 Pts
Marlowe = 15 Pts
Slim = 15 Pts
Vincent = 10 Pts
First = 10 Pts
Darren = 5 Pts
Marc = 5 Pts
we had heavy traffic in and out of the shop today, 90% of whom were visiting for the first time. if you’re looking for family fun in Pattaya, NanoTrax is slowly becoming a new destination for just that. our normal rules require all customers who rent cars to be at least 12 years of age but today, we had 3 kids 6-11 years old who got their first taste of dNaNo racing. it’s a pleasure to see families enjoy time together here so we had a good time entertaining them. i’ll try to take more pictures of the kids in the future, i think they’d like to see themselves on our website. just as a general rule, all visitors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian becuz we serve alcohol and we aren’t interested in becoming a hangout spot for kids skipping school.
Peter from EasyKart, Brian from Rodeo A-Go-Go & Matt came by to wrap up their motor sports day with a few runs on both F1R & F2L. it was their first time as well, but they quickly got the hang of it and competed in a few 3-minute quick races. as you can see, mini r/c (radio control) racing is for children of all ages ;-). for the past few days, i’ve been busy adding the entire inventory to the online shop and attempting to install additional payment options. unfortunately, i’m having some issues integrating PayPal but i should have that resolved shortly. the layout at the shop should be integrated with the design here within the next 72 hours so i’m hoping that adds a bit of professionalism to the look (personally, i’m kinda tired of looking at that standard wordpress template). last but not least, for web developers and site owners, we’ll have an affiliate program where you can get a commission for referring sales to the shop. be sure to take advantage of the 900ThB worldwide shipping promotion which expires August 29. why wait for 3-4 months when you can have the latest dNaNo and/or Mini-Z options on your doorstep within 7-10 business days? only while supplies last…
as promised, i’ve produced a video tour of the shop and dropped it on our YouTube Channel. feedback is always appreciated and to give feedback here on our blog, you’ll need to register. once you’ve registered, you can post comments here and participate on our forum (message board). some people have asked why we don’t have a way to buy online? our shop is located in Thailand and there are minimal online sales options for Thai businesses (there is no “Paypal Thailand”). 2nd, our dNaNo sales are currently restricted to Thailand. outside sales could interfere with agreements between Kyosho and other retail outlets. if you want to buy anything from NanoTrax, you have to come to the shop OR send me an email to work out a purchase. if there are items you are interested in, contact me now as i’m currently working out our next shipment from distributors. enjoy the tour, i’ll be back in a couple days with another update.
