we’re now coming to the end of the 6th month of this year, the end of the NanoTrax Drivers’ Championship Points (Season 2) and the beginning of Season 3 so that means, we’re due for a new layout on our main racing circuit, F1R. yesterday we spent several hours installing ‘Zig Zag’ (named by Joom! ;-)). Doug, Olaf and Dylan stopped by for their first test run in the evening, each trying to decide which is the best car to handle its new challenges. this past sunday, we held our final race of Season 2 in the lounge on F2L and it was an intense, 2 main race that ended with a win by ‘yours truly’ in the Ferrari F40. i finally was able to best Robby DV but it came on a circuit that is difficult to tune for. F2L’s tiles are hard and vary in texture causing inconsistent car handling which turned out to be an advantage for me and the local members. Olaf dropped into Main B along with Hugh, Doug & Dylan but was able to grab a spot in Main A by winning the Main B. Main A was feverish, high speed competition including myself, Robby, Ian, Vincent and Olaf. i’m sure everyone’s eyes were burning as there’s no time to blink when racing on a quick circuit with no straights. everyone was in a rush to bounce after the race, so no pics but here’s the report. be sure to check out pics of Olaf’s custom painted Aston Martin Racing DBR9 on the nanotrax forum.
Club Race Results for June 27, 2010 (Season 2, Week 26)
Main A Final (30 Mins):
1 – Q’on / Ferrari F40 (278 Laps)
2 – Robby / Ferrari F40 (276 Laps) +15pts
3 – Ian / Aston Martin Racing DBR9 (256 Laps) +11pts
4 – Olaf / Audi R8 (246 Laps) +8pts
5 – Vincent / Chevrolet Corvette C6-R (224 Laps) +6pts
Main B Final (20 Mins):
1 – Olaf / Audi R8 (175 Laps)
3 – Dylan / ENZO Ferrari (166 Laps) +5pts
2 – Hugh / Lamborghini Reventon (142 Laps) +5pts
4 – Doug / Lamborghini Gallardo (119 Laps) +5pts
— Top Qualifier = Q’on / Ferrari F40 (5.44secs)
NanoTrax DCP Standings
Olaf = 247 pts - Season 2 Champion!
Ian = 196 pts
Marlowe = 174 pts
Vincent = 166 pts
Dylan = 116 pts
Erwin = 50 pts
Marc = 36 pts
Robby = 35 pts
Hugh = 31 pts
Doug = 25 pts
Brian = 15 pts
Calvin = 11 pts
Boris = 5 pts
Tony = 5 pts
Johnny = 5 pts
there’s been very little interest in racing in the lounge for a long while… it took a while to figure it out, but as i pulled apart the layout and prepared to install the next, i finally saw it: with the same flooring as F1R, F2L was too similar in look and feel. it was like F1R’s little brother who just couldn’t live up to the feats of the elder. what it needed was its’ own ‘personality’. with this in mind, i decided to go ‘retro’ and installed the black tiles, giving it a unique surface. the black tiles have been in warm storage, and therefore have become very hard and smooth. this of course forces one to tune differently for optimal handling. at first, i couldn’t figure out what was happening when driving on the new layout but after installing a soft suspension setup on my F40, i could see that the sweeping curves forced it to ‘power slide’ its way around the circuit. i could hear the diff working hard and feel the ‘slide’ as it hit the tighter corners. this is exactly what F2L needed! Hugh, Tony, Boris & Dahm stopped by for a few practice races and were instantly excited about the new look and feel. 3 days of creating my latest masterpiece for the moment it could bring joy to those who appreciate it – that makes every drop of sweat & every second spent worth it = life is good.
originally, we planned to close the shop today since the last time we changed the layout, it took 8 hours. this was obviously because there were only 2 people (myself & Calvin) who worked to do it and we did it all at once. this time, we had F1R cleared to a bare floor before closing the shop, so the only thing left was to lay down the lining, rocks and clean the floor. Vincent came thru at our normal opening time to help out so we wrapped up everything by 3pm. we opened the shop with a new layout in place and invited members in for ‘practice & beer’ to celebrate. i’m proud of all the work we do here as its more than a ‘normal’ mini-r/c circuit; its a work of art and there’s nothing else like this in the world. i believe our members take pride in that as well and appreciate the opportunity to enjoy this hobby in such a unique place. in the midst of turmoil throughout the world, at least at nanotrax, they can find ‘joy’.
we all took our test runs on ‘Strata’ until closing time, discovering that we’ll have to prepare ourselves for high speed and chaotic collisions that will make our club races very interesting for the next 3 months. i figured it was time for an upgrade to the Mazda 787b, so i threw on some PN Racing ‘Double Star’ Aluminum Wheels and an X-Power ‘Hot’ Motor, just so i can be ready for Olaf in the next club race… he’s outta control! i’ll post pics of the new look soon on the nanotrax micro r/c forum, join us there for more ‘dNaNo discussion’ and more. see ya next time! ;)
welcome to the new year which to me is just another day but we marked its arrival with the installation of a new layout on NanoTrax F1R Showroom Circuit. Calvin arrived @ 8:40am to help with the project and it took just over 8 hrs to complete. by 5pm Ian stopped by and we all took our first runs on “Patchwork“. its a complete turnaround from “Art Deco“ with more narrow lanes, tight curves and long straights. this week’s club race should be interesting since the layout is ‘fresh’ and no one has any advantage outside of racing experience.
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at the end of year and beginning of another is always a good time for reflection: the 1st quarter of 2009 saw the birth of nanotrax and my move into a new line of ‘work’. previously, i was in web development and nanotrax became a new passion that i shared with Joom (my wifey!). the 2nd quarter saw the grand opening of the shop and an unfortunate and tragic accident that put everything on hold temporarily. during that time, my son (Nalani) was also stolen from me by his mother who vowed to never let me see him again. very trying times, but life is as such and we continued to move on. 3rd quarter saw the opening of our online shop and a burst of interest from around the world that has allowed us to maintain and prosper. customers from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Holland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, France, Norway, Finland, Spain, Italy and the USA have all caught ‘dNaNo fever’ and we’re happy to be first place they look to find what they need to enjoy their hobby. also, it saw my son (Paris) and my mom visit and get to see what i do on the daily – in person. the final quarter of 2009 confirmed that NanoTrax had finally built a place that would attract excellent racing with our “Special Race” Tuesday. that was an exciting event and i look forward to having many like it in the near future.
i expect this year should bring unexpected but hopefully pleasant events that help us to enjoy our hobby and life in general. i’ve come to appreciate the little things and i’m thankful for every breath i take. i’m not perfect and i’m not always good but i’m brutally honest, fair and i put 100% into what i do daily. i’ve built this business with my customers and everyone who loves this hobby in mind. i’ve invested all i have including time, money, blood, sweat & tears. i won’t get financially rich doing this, but that’s no matter, as no amount of money can buy the happiness i get every day when i open the front door – the entrance to NanoTrax.
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
the 2nd floor circuit hasn’t been getting much attention since the installation of ‘Art Deco’ on F1R so i took a few days to update the layout on F2L to increase interest and brighten the room. its a bit more technical than previous layouts but once you find the racing line, its a pretty quick run as well. if we have less than 5 drivers, we’ll hold the club race on F2L from now on. otherwise, there’s not much to report on at the moment, but you can jump in on our discussions @ the NanoTrax dNaNo & Mini-Z forum and help make our community the #1 place to meet and greet others who are discovering 1/43rd scale indoor racing. i post race reports, new products and tech updates you won’t find on the blog so visit and register to participate! i’m now waiting for the next dNaNo release… what will be next??
