lately, its really all about the various faces that walk through the door and almost none of them familiar.  i’m not sure where all our members went but after Songkran, the shop got quiet and has stayed that way since.  i’ve had to re-evaluate our presence in Pattaya and some have suggested a move to Bangkok.  the tourist crowd here is here for… let’s say ‘something else’, the locals have limited discretionary income and ex-pats like myself are often distracted with many concerns that eclipse their desire to kick it at a boutique mini R/C shop.  nonetheless, i still enjoy the shop and i’ll enjoy it while it lasts… life in Pattaya isn’t exactly normal and an usual place like Nanotrax should probably be in a more ‘normal’ place to attract necessary support but we have some time before a decision must be made about ‘the situation’.

we have visitors from Bangkok and some closer to home who visit occasionally to buy parts and marvel at the biggest tiny R/C shop in the world.  they’ve graciously given permission to post their pics on my blog and i don’t want to disappoint them so i’ve posted them just below.  Joom’s had much more time to do nails for the ladies who visit, you’ll note its her work – not mine – in those photos.  the most notable recent visitor is Greg Degani, 2002 IFMAR Off-Road Buggy World Champion and winner of a recent race meet @ Pattaya RC Powerboat, the location of the 2010 Worlds.  he did a few laps with my McLaren (by X-Power) dNano and recorded some nice times considering it was his first run in micro R/C.  speaking of the McLaren, we received disappointing news that the current run is the last so if you haven’t ordered one yet, only Yellow remains available and it arrives on Tuesday.  the good news is many other items including Mini  Z Auto Scale Collection items and optional parts for Mini Z AWD are still available so stop by our online shop for the latest info.

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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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just as i was thinking traffic thru our shop was slower than Iceland lava flows, we’re hit on Sunday with a pleasant breeze of new & old members, new & old visitors, F1 racing and a club race with enough participants to complain about the traffic on F1R.  Boris and his Uncle Tony from Holland joined us recently and made their first appearance in a club race.  Olaf, Ian and even the mysterious Marc returned along with Hugh with IPad in hand.  BKK Will stopped by to enjoy some of my wife Joom‘s wonderful cooking and take a short spin in a rental before heading back to Bangkok in his chauffeured limousine (well, its a pathfinder driven by a very patient Thai dude… but, its quite luxurious).  after a few practice laps  and qualifying, the final began at ~6:25pm.  though i was top qualifier, it goes to show the fastest driver isn’t always the winning driver.  for a while, there was a battle brewing for 3rd place but Marc was out of practice and Ian took command to round out the top 3.  this is the first official club race of May and i’m sure it’ll only get more competitive.

Club Race Results for May 9, 2010 (Week 19)

Main A Final (30 Mins):
1– Olaf / Audi R8 (155 Laps) +20
2– Q’on / Ferrari F40 (151 Laps)
3– Ian / Aston Martin Racing DBR9 (133 Laps) +11
4– Marc / Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (128 Laps) +8
5– Hugh / Mazda 787b (102 Laps) +6
6– Boris / ENZO Ferrari (96 Laps) +5
7– Tony / Audi R8 (72 Laps) +5
— Top Qualifier = Q’on / Ferrari F40 (9.47secs)

NanoTrax DCP Standings
Olaf = 186 pts
Marlowe = 143 pts
Vincent = 134 pts
Ian = 117 pts
Dylan = 92 pts
Erwin = 44 pts
Marc = 18 pts
Brian = 15 pts
Calvin = 11 pts
Hugh = 10 pts
Doug = 10 pts
Boris = 5 pts
Tony = 5 pts
Johnny = 5 pts

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