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| The 2012 Winternats was once again held at The Fort in Fort Myers, Florida. This year was the 36th annual running of the unofficial start of the nitro season. The Fort is one of the most demanding tracks in the world due to its high bite and very fast pace. The margin for error is very small, and the consequences for mistakes are usually painful! As always, the Red Cup crew did a great job running the race. It was nice to see a great turn out this year with participants from South America, Europe and other areas. There was good representation from many different brands, with factory support from several European brands looking to take the win at The Fort. |
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In attendance from XRAY were RC America drivers Ralph Burch, Paul Lemieux, Mike Swauger, as well as many more support drivers from all over the US. Drew Ellis also made the trip, providing support for many of the XRAY racers at the event, and great pit work for Ralph and others. A strong local showing from the Florida crew, as well as many racers from the west coast had a large XRAY team in attendance once again. It was great to see team members from all over the country get together to take on the competition and the track!
Practice went as expected with Ralph, Mike and Paul putting down some quick times. In addition, the team worked with some of the newer XRAY racers to get their cars dialed in for this challenging track. |
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| Qualifying: |
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Ralph Burch had the strongest NT1 through qualifying, with Paul and Mike close behind. Ralph and DJ Apolaro exchanged TQ position with each round, besting each others efforts through the two days of qualifying. In the final round, Ralph completed the only 34 lap run in sedan to secure TQ with his Max Power'ed Xray NT1, with Paul, Mike and Gianni Giorgio completing the direct A main qualifiers for XRAY.
1/10 Touring Top 8 after qualifying
1. RALPH BURCH XRAY NT1
2. D.J. APOLARO
3. PAUL LEMIEUX XRAY NT1
4. MIKE SWAUGER XRAY NT1
5. SCOTTY GRAY
6. RONALD VOLKER
7. RINO LINO
8. GIANNI GIORGIO XRAY NT1 |
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In 1/8 Open, a similar mix battled at the top for TQ honors. Mike Swauger held the early TQ after round 1. Strong runs in round 2 moved Ralph and Paul's RX8s into 1st and 4th place, with Mike's 1st round time keeping him in the 3rd spot. Ralph retained the TQ spot through the remaining rounds, finishing with a 37/7:07.17 in the final round to hold off Paul who had the only other 37 lap run of the weekend.
1/8 Open Top 8 after qualifying:
1. RALPH BURCH XRAY RX8
2. PAUL LEMIEUX XRAY RX8
3. FLAVIO ELIAS
4. OLIVER MACK
5. D.J. APOLARO
6. MIKE SWAUGER XRAY RX8
7. MARCO VANNI
8. SEAN LUE |
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XRAY also had a strong showing in the 1/8 Masters class with 7 of the top 16 drivers using the RX8. With quick times on the 2nd day of qualifying, Skip Starkey and Mike Stack moved into 2nd and 3rd spot, with Chris Fowler in 8th.
1/8 Master top 8 after qualifying:
1. JOAQUIN DESOTO
2. SKIP STARKEY XRAY RX8
3. MIKE STRACK XRAY RX8
4. RANDY COLVIN
5. BILLY BOWERMAN
6. DON JONES
7. ART CARBONELL
8. CHRIS FOWLER XRAY RX8 |
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| Finals: |
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| 1/10 Sedan: After a slow stand and bobble, Ralph dropped from his TQ position to third, with DJ and Paul moving to the front. These three separated from the field over the first 15 minutes, exchanging the lead during fuel stops. At the midway point, DJ had a lengthy stop for a tire change, leaving Paul and Ralph to battle for the rest of the race. Up by 4 laps on DJ and even more of the rest of the field, these two maintained their pace with Ralph making up ground on Paul in the final 10 minutes closing the gap to less than 2 seconds as the both approached their final pit stops, until mechanical issues ended Ralph's race with only a few minutes to go. Paul finished clean to claim the victory. Congrats to Paul on his win using his Max Power'ed XRAY NT1. |
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| 1/8 Open: Unlike the 1/10 main, Ralph had a great start from the TQ position, and lead from beginning to end. His Max Power'ed RX8 was locked in, and he was able to quickly put a gap between him and the field before the first fuel stop. Paul also had a good start but had some problems with his car and had to retire early from the race. After a rough start and getting caught up in an early wreck that shuffled him to the back of the pack, Mike Swauger was working hard the move back to the front. Surviving the early incidents with the RX8 was still working well, Mike was able to move through the field by the midway point of the final. Finishing almost 5 laps up on the rest of the field, Mike secured 2nd on the podium with Ralph being crowned the 2012 1/8 Open champ. |
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| 1/10 Touring Final: |
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1. PAUL LEMIEUX XRAY NT1
2. D.J. APOLARO
3. TOM ERIK HAAVERSEN
4. RINO LINO
5. RAFAEL ANGULO
6. GIANNI GIORGIO XRAY NT1
7. RALPH BURCH XRAY NT1
8. SCOTTY GRAY
9. RONALD VOLKER
10. MIKE SWAUGER XRAY NT1
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| 1/8 Open Final Results: |
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1. RALPH BURCH XRAY RX8
2. MIKE SWAUGER XRAY RX8
3. MARCO VANNI
4. D.J. APOLARO
5. PAOLO MORGANTI
6. TONY RICE XRAY RX8
7. SEAN LUE
8. FLAVIO ELIAS
9. OLIVER MACK
10. PAUL LEMIEUX XRAY RX8
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| 1/8 Masters Final: |
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1. JOAQUIN DESOTO
2. SKIP STARKEY XRAY RX8
3. PAULIE B
4. BILLY BOWERMAN
5. ART CARBONELL
6. CHRIS FOWLER XRAY RX8
7. DON JONES
8. MIKE STRACK XRAY RX8
9. DAVID LARRY XRAY RX8
10. RANDY COLVIN |
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Thank you to all of the sponsors for making this race possible and to Jim Rice and the Red Cup crew for their time and hard work for the event. Thank you to all of the RC America team members and XRAY customers that travelled to the event and help make this the great time that it is!
Thank you for David Larry and the Red Cup crew for providing the pictures and results info. |
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