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USA: Apolaro takes the Florida State Title with 720-09 (08/04/2009)

By:: Reporter
Linked to:: Serpent 720 -09 1/10th scale 200mm

Serpent takes the 2009 Florida State Series Championship in the Sedan class.

This past weekend was the 7th and final round of the series and I decided to just run Sedan and finish what I started. I had already missed one race, so I needed to attend this final race. I had a very large lead in the points as I have TQ'd and won most of the races. All I needed to do for this race was basically just register and I would be fine.

I did not go to any of the practice on Friday and went late on Saturday. I missed all the practice on Saturday and one of the qualifiers. My sedan is always so good I figured I could show up and be OK. Well for the first time in a long time I showed up and my car was horrible. I ran, what would be my first qualifier, and the car was spinning out all over the place. To top if off I also ran out of fuel. This was starting to look like a bad weekend that was going to be a lot of work. I already had won the series and really did not want to work that hard, but I did what I could with no track time.

Meanwhile, I think Tosolini was TQ and I was with a run that I did not even finish. For the last run of the day I made some chassis changes and some changes with the pipe/header combo. My car was still very hard to drive, but I could handle it for 5 minutes. I was able to finish with fuel and ended up on top with the TQ for the day. It was not my person best and my car still needed a lot of work, but somehow I managed to take TQ from Tosolini for the night. All the racers know that this TQ will be no good tomorrow, since this track is always faster sunday morning and especially for the racers who can run very early.

Sunday was hear and I was hoping that the changes to my car would help me to better my time. Tosolini was up first and he had everything going his way. A cool track, only 4 cars in the race and he and his car were great. He took the TQ by 5 seconds. All I could do was wait and see if I could better him. I would be up about 40 minutes later and the sun just started coming out. Tosolini was able to go about 3 tenths faster in the cooler conditions than his previous runs. With the sun coming out I was getting worried about my chances. Just before my race there was a computer problem and the program got delayed for another 30 minutes or so. I went out for my run and was doing my best. The car was easier do drive, but the changes I made gave the car a bad push and it was to much and I could not go fast. I was about 3 seconds off the TQ and than had a problem with back markers that wrecked in front of me. This put me back a couple more seconds and I qualified 2nd for the main.

The Main was here and I changed the motor and also again the set up, in hopes for a better package. I started the warm up and the motor was giving me problems and not shifting at all. We tried to get it close, but the car never got right. At a last attempt we backed off the 2 speed so much that it shifted too early, however the race was starting so we had to run it like that. At the start of the race Tosolini and myself took off and left the field, then Tosolini started to pull on me a little and was about 3 seconds ahead. Then I got hit by a back marker and he gained more ground. By the half way mark I was a lap down and was hoping my car would get better. With the tires getting smaller the car got a little better, but still no mid range with the shift point. I was able to get my lap back with Tosolini having a problem and we were now on the same lap and he was right behind me. We were doing some close racing and he made a pass on me. Now with a few minutes to go I was able to make a pass on him and now we were nose and tail. With about 2 laps to go I made a mistake and went wide. He got on the inside of me and he went for the pass going onto the straight and got by. This would be how we finished. It had been a while since I raced like that and it was a blast. Wish I had done a better job of preparing my car and maybe went to practice, but in the end it was all good. I ended the season with the overall Championship for the 2009 season just by going and had a great time with friends.

Special thank to the Forgass organization for having such a great series with all kinds of talented racers. Also to the Homestead crew for the great race and to all the racers that attended the series.

I would also like to thank my sponsors that have supported me through the seasons; Serpent, Serpent America, Xceed, Maxy's Fuel, Novarossi World, Twister Tires USA, ATS, Paintin Pete and Parma. It is with the support of these people/manufactures that I am able to race and be competitive at the highest level.

Thanks to David Larry here is a link to some photos of the event:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dlarry62/FORGASS200809Race7AtHomesteadRCRaceway

Till next race,

DJ Apolaro