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| Race report by Paul Lemieux |
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| The 4th annual IIC was held last week at the Rivera Hotel and Casino located in the middle of the famous Las Vegas strip. There was a great feeling of history being back close to where the race started at the Stardust a few years ago. When I showed up everyone was eager to race and have a fun week in Vegas. |
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| Practice: |
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| Things started out well in practice for Team XRAY. I was up to speed fairly early in practice and so was Drew Ellis in the 13.5 foam class. This was nice and we were able to help the rest of the team. By the second day of practice, Travis Schreven was up to speed and Euro Ace Alexander Hagberg was right there also along with XRAY Europe teammate Niclas Nilson. |
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| Qualifying: |
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You will have to excuse me because since I was racing myself, I may not be able to give a full report on all classes.
In 13.5 foam, Travis and Drew were super fast all week. Of course there were rounds where they had troubles but their wasn't ever a doubt who the two fastest cars were, and at the end of qualifying that is how they were. 1 & 2.
13.5 Foam Sedan
1) Ellis, Andrew XRAY T2'008
2) Schreven, Travis XRAY T2'008
3) Haynes, Mike |
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In the 10.5 class there were a handful of guys that looked really good. Travis Schreven was super fast and so was Kevin Hebert. In qualifying those two battled it out (along with Ray Darroch) for TQ. In the end it was Travis with his XRAY T2'008 coming through and TQing the class with Kevin Hebert in 2nd and Ray Darroch in 3rd.
10.5 Foam Sedan
1) Schreven, Travis XRAY T2'008
2) Hebert, Kevin
3) Darroch, Ray |
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In Mod Rubber it was looking to be the "Mark and Victor show" early on in qualifying and that is how it went for two rounds. However, in round 3 it was young Alex Hagberg who stepped up the pace to be 2nd at the time, then in the final round of qualifying it was myself who put in a great run to grab the TQ spot. The top 4 in qualifying were less than 2 seconds apart.
Modified Rubber Sedan
1) Lemieux, Paul XRAY T2'008
2) Rheinard, Marc
3) Wilck, Viktor |
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Mod Foam looked to be a good class for me right from the get go. When I put my car down it was immediately fast, so I was concentrating on making it easy to drive. With the rising speeds of brushless motors, that part seems to be a new task at every race. I held TQ through qualifying with some good runs but I never did have a great drive to put it out of reach. By the end of qualifying the top three went to me (TQ), Kevin Hebert (2nd), and Mark Reinhard (3rd).
Modified Foam Sedan
1) Lemieux, Paul XRAY T2'008
2) Hebert, Kevin
3) Rheinard, Marc
These are the Top 3 after all four and final rounds of qualifying in all classes.
Congratulations to all A-main participants! |
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| Mod rubber finals |
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I started on the pole of this one and got a jump to secure the spot with Mark and Victor staying very close. After a few laps I hit the sweeper and pushed wide, allowing Mark and Victor to pull into the lead as I battled with my teammate Alexander (who I ended up hitting...sorry Alex). Mark now had a comfortable lead on Victor with me a short distance behind Victor. With about 2 minutes to go Mark made a mistake which allowed Victor to take the lead. Time was now beginning to dwindle down and Mark made his move coming on to the straight. The move was not dirty but I am sure that it was a little stronger than Mark had intended and it caused Victor to drop to 3rd and that is how we finished: Mark, me, and Victor crossing the line in very close succession. It was a fun race to be a part of. Congratulations Mark.
Mod rubber final results
1.Marc Rheinard
2.Paul Lemieux [TQ] XRAY T2'008
3.Viktor Wilck
4. Andy Moore
5.Alexander Hagberg XRAY T2/008
6.Mike Blackstock
7. Hupo Honigl
8.Juho Levanen
9.Rick Hohwart
10.Jilles Groskamp |
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| 10.5 foam finals |
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It was Travis who jumped out front and got a pretty good lead early. I believe that Ray had worked his way into 2nd place by the 1min mark. Travis then bobbled and that let Ray and Kevin by. From then on it was the two of them, Ray leading with Kevin trying to run him down. On the last lap Kevin was doing everything to try and get by Ray but in the process Kevin made a mistake and that let Travis back into 2nd place. Congratulations Ray.
10.5 foam the final results
1.Ray Darroch
2.Travis Schreven [TQ] XRAY T2'008
3.Keven Hebert
4.Andrew Ellis XRAY T2'008
5.Darran Shank XRAY T2'008
6.Goop Dienes XRAY T2'008
7.Kevin Bottoms XRAY T2'008
8.Richard St. cyr
9.Lex Tyler
10.Jeff Cuffs |
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photos copyright RC50.com
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| 13.5 rubber finals |
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This class was very competitive all weekend with many drivers fast enough to win. I missed alot of this race but from what I remember Mike simply drove the cleanest final to win. I think that there were faster cars on the track but Mike's consistency and great driving gave him the win. Congratulations Mike.
13.5 rubber final results
1.Mike Haynes
2.Martin Crisp
3.Josh Hohnstein
4.T.J. Bradley
5.E.J. Evans
6.Stephen Sobottka XRAY T2'008
7.Dave Ehrlich
8.Bill Sydor
9.Tony Fiorella XRAY T2'008
10.Niclas Nilson XRAY T2'008 |
| 13.5 foam finals |
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Drew Ellis jumped out front early with Travis in tow; the two T2'008 cars pulled away from the rest of the field in a hurry. Travis got up to Drew and made a decisive move to take the lead. At that point Travis never looked back and Drew would have to settle for a comfortable 2nd place. Great job guys!
13.5 foam final results
1. Travis Schreven XRAY T2'008
2. Andrew Ellis [TQ] XRAY T2'008
3.Jeff Cuffs
4.Mike Haynes
5.Stephen Boice
6.Eric Anderson XRAY T2'008
7. Kenny Lambert
8.Josh Hohnstein
9.T.J. Bradley
10.Bill Sydor |
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| Mod foam finals |
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At the tone I got a good jump on second qualifier Kevin Hebert. There was a pileup in the first corner behind us which gave us both some breathing room from 3rd place. With 2 minutes down I was able to pull into a comfortable lead, so Kevin was now looking in his rear view mirror as Andy Moore was looking to capture 2nd place. But Kevin drove great. From there I cruised home with a very comfortable lead, Kevin finishing in 2nd place with Andy rounding out the Top 3.
Mod foam final results
1.Paul Lemieux [TQ] XRAY T2'008
2.Keven Hebert
3.Andy Moore
4.Rick Hohwart
5.Juho Levanen
6. Hupo Honigl
7.Josh Cyrul
8. Viktor Wilck
9.Mike Blackstock
10. Marc Rheinard |
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| The entire Team and I would like to thank XRAY for the great car (T2'008) and of course I would like to thank Trinity for the power. |
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Scotty and the IIC crew did a awesome job, and I can't wait for next year! Thanks to everyone who was there and to everyone who has read this.
Paul Lemieux |
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| All photos copyright Joel Navaro |
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