i wasn’t expecting today to turn out the way it did. i suppose that’s how life is – one minute you’re under a dark, rainy cloud and the next the sun is beating you down like a stepchild – wait…. anyhow, let’s just say today turned out well, the best turnout of all club races this year with 9 drivers qualifying for a position in the final. Joe came in with his family, Olaf brought two friends and the rest of the gang came to play, but we all struggled to get good qualifying times on F1R, now running clockwise in the last month of this layout. we all discussed how the surface felt rather slow and all agreed the WD-40 we’d been using as a traction compound was ultimately making the circuit slick and so, its now banned as a traction compound at nanotrax. nonetheless, we had a very competitive qualifying session but since i was the only one that got in real practice this week in the new direction, i took the top spot @ 9.13 seconds. this -of course- is meaningless in the final, the qualifying actually sorted out who would be in the Main B fighting for a spot in the Main A. Olaf & Slim immediately fell to Main B due to a car change during qualifying along with Joe and Yerky (sp). Joe and Olaf graduated to the Main A and it was a close one to say the least.

Main A began and after only a few laps, i lost a tire and moments after that, had to change from an under performing battery which dropped me down to last place. Olaf had taken charge but quickly lost the lead to an inspired Hugh, dashing ahead with Dahm and Ian close behind. Joe was struggling to keep pace and his problems only continued as his car setup contributed to tire troubles that eliminated him as a factor. i quickly got back into the game and slowly moved thru the ranks, battling for most of the race to catch Hugh and finally moved into chasing Olaf. Ian lost pace after having to make a battery change late in the race but was still close behind Dahm and Hugh, the three separated by only 2 laps. i was pushing hard and grabbed the lead from Olaf but lost pace on a crash and mistakes that left me trailing by 2 laps. Olaf felt me breathing down his neck and with a 2-lap lead, he felt it best to make a battery change and that was my chance. i caught him during his break and took the lead in the last 2 minutes. thereafter, i kept pace just behind him to insure the victory. this was definitely a tight, gut-wrenching, intense race for all participants and that’s the way we like it, the competition is real and loads of fun. if you’re in the area, we hope to see you in to watch or to participate and around the world, i hope you’ll have the chance experience micro rc racing the way we do @ nanotrax! here are the final results:

Championship Points (Season 3): Ian = 173pts, Olaf = 143pts, Hugh = 99pts, Dylan = 85pts, Calvin = 67pts, Robby = 40pts, Slim = 15pts, Vincent = 15pts, Ek = 10pts, Doug = 10pts, Ryan = 8pts

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its hard to explain these kinds of days where just about everything goes as planned and even those things that didn’t got worked out well.  Sunday, March 14th was our Season 2, Week 11 Club Race but it was also the first day of the Grand Prix, Formula One (F1) Racing Season.  i’ve been a fan of F1 for some time now, but as everyone who follows F1 knows, this season is special so we wanted to mark it with an F1 Party @ NanoTrax.  you can’t have a full race party without race queens so we got those and called in the guys who all came ready for a heated mini R/C battle on F1R.

i ran the MOTUL Autech Z today with an X-Power ‘HOT’ Motor since many of the members have stepped up the speed with their own high performance power plants.  i took the TQ spot with a 10.41sec fastest lap with Vincent and Marlowe taking the next 2 spots in the grid.  Johnny was ‘the rookie’ in the group but he qualified well and stood his own for his first club race.  Vincent was in often over the past week preparing and he obviously came to win, jumping out to a big lead right out of the gates.  my performance was extremely inconsistent for the first 48 laps so i stopped in for a quick battery change.  Vincent changed about the same time which allowed Marlowe to storm into the lead.  as i jumped back into the fray, i chased Marlowe down during a series of laps that saw me post a 10.29sec fast lap and take the lead.  Vincent made his move, going on a run to take 2nd place and Marlowe dropped to 3rd to finish the race.  Ian, Brian and Johnny grabbed 4th, 5th and 6th spots while Erwin caught a DNF with recurring tire troubles in our 30-minute final.  we now have a new championship race leader – here’s the official results and current championship standings:

Results for Season 2, Week 11 – March 14, 2010

TQ = Q’on / Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 Class

Main A Final (30 Mins):
1 – Q’on / Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 Class (140 Laps)
2 – Vincent / Corvette C6-R (138 Laps) +15
3 – Marlowe / Corvette C6-R (137 Laps) +11
4 – Ian / Aston Martin Racing DBR9 (129 Laps) +8
5 – Brian / Porsche 917k (107 Laps) +6
6 - Johnny/ Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 Class (105 Laps) +5
7 – Erwin / Ferrari FXX (14 Laps – DNF) +5

NanoTrax Driver’s Championship Points Standings
Marlowe = 119 pts
Olaf = 118 pts
Vincent = 101 pts
Dylan = 76 pts
Ian = 73 pts
Erwin = 38 pts
Calvin = 11 pts
Brian = 15 pts
Marc = 10 pts
Doug = 5 pts
Johnny = 5 pts

if you haven’t noticed, things have been very busy @ the online shop as we’re clearing inventory for new Mini-Z related items so visit now for ultra low prices on chassis sets, option parts and accessories while supplies last!  new items added included a wide range of tires from X-Power and money saving combos you won’t find anywhere else.  i’m currently testing new wheels and ribbed tires from X-Power – see photo – when available, they’ll appear in stock at the shop.  thanks for everyone who either e-mailed or commented on my last post, its good to know someone’s reading me.  until next time, enjoy mini-r/c to the fullest!

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today we had our first busy practice at NanoTrax.  6 cars on the track handled by guests, members & one NanoTrax girl.  from noobs to skilled drivers, we all felt good about meeting a new challenge and enjoyed the day racing on F1R.  for a more detailed account, check out the race data output from our Kyosho Lap Counter (Home Edition).  our most recent club member, Chris, jumped right into the action with his Porsche 911 GT3.  after seeing the performance of Joom‘s dNaNo, he was set on getting the same one with all the trimmings.  i was surprised at how quickly he got a handle on driving but maybe he just had a good teacher? ;-) … finally, our friend Charlie Siribodhi (President of RCCA & owner of Pattaya RC Powerboat) came by to drop off some needed parts and visit NanoTrax for the first time.  tomorrow, we’re planning to start race day at approximately 2pm with 1 hour of practice before qualifying begins at 3pm.  this is the official beginning of our racing season where members will begin to collect NanoTrax Driver’s Championship Points.  we’ll also begin dNaNo & Mini-Z Sprint Heat & Collector’s Competition as well.  for more details, visit the NanoTrax Forum to participate in the discussion.  remember, even you have already logged into the blog, you have to login to the forum separately to post or reply.  use the forum password recovery link to reset your password if you’re having problems logging in… or just send me an email for personal assistance.

วันนี้เป็นวันแรกสำหรับวันที่ซ้อมเล่นรถ ของทุกวันวันศุกร์  ก็ดีใจที่มีลูกค้าสนใจและเข้ามาร่วมทำการซ้อม ก็มีทั้ง Member และลูกค้าใหม่ ทุกคนก็สนุกและรู้สึกดีที่ได้ทำการท้าทายกับผู้แข่งท่านอื่น เราก็ได้ทำการบันทึก เกี่ยวกับวันที่เล้น ถ้าสนใจก็เข้าไปดูได้ที่ รายละเอียดการแข่งขัน สำหรับร้านของเราก็มีชาวต่างชาติที่มีการติดตามทางเว็บของทางร้าน มาตลอด เมื่อเข้ามีโอาศมาเมืองไทย เขาก็เข้ามาเล่นที่ร้าน  เมื่ออาทิตย์ที่แล้วนี่เอง คือ Robby DV มาจากประเทศ Belgium เค้าได้นำรถของเข้ามาเล่น คือ Mazda 787 เหมือน ของพี่ขวัญ แล้วพอถึงวันที่กลับประเทศเขาก็ได้ ซื้อ Ferrari F40 กลับไปฝากเพื่อนที่นั่นด้วย แล้วเมื่อไม่กี่วันที่ผ่านมา ก็มีMemberใหม่เพิ่มอีก 1 คน คือ Chris ได้ชื้อ Porsche 911 GT3 เหมือนของ จุ๋ม ตอนนี้ทางร้านก็มี Member เกือบ 10คนแล้ว เรารู้สึกดีใจมากที่มีหลายท่านก็รักการเล่นรถเหมือนกับเรา   เรารู้สึกมีความสุขเมื่อได้เห็นพวกเค้าเข้าเล่นที่ร้าน สำหรับท่านที่ยังไม่เคยเข้ามาเล่น หากได้มีการผ่านมาที่พัทยา  ทางร้านเนโนแทร์กยินต้อนรับ และยิ่งช้วงนี้หน้าฝน หากท่านต้องการเล่นกีฬาในร่ม ก็ขอเรียนเชิญท่านที่ร้าน เพราะที่ร้านเรา แอร์เย็นสะบาย มีทั้งอาหารและเคื่องดื่มอีกมากมายไว้ลองรับทุกท่าน หากท่านต้องการถามเส้นทางหรือ รายละเอียดเพิ่มเติมก็ติดต่อได้ที่ – joom@nanotrax.net

click here to discuss this & other topics on our newly skinned R/C forum… the version posted inside the shop will have both thai & english. our in-house snack menu is under development and i’ll post that when its finished. our interior designer has already begun the 2nd floor lounge & the main showroom should be ready sometime next week – more updates coming soon!