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Victor Peláez reports the fourth round of the National Championship CAPA track in Madrid (08/09/2010)

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Reporter-2

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Serpent 733-EVO 1/10 scale 4wd, Serpent 733-TE 1/10 scale 4wd


The fourth round of the National Championship took place in the track of CAPA in Parla, Madrid. On Friday, like always, drivers had free practice. Despite having run a race the previous weekend, the track had very low grip, so we had to make lots of changes to the set-up of the car. Additionally we had to challenge the high temperatures that we were having.


On Saturday qualifiers started early in the morning. Temperature continued to be very high so presumably the first round would be the ideal one to score a time, since the track had the best conditions. As the day went on surface warmed up making  it very difficult for the engines to performed at the same rate. Fortunately for me I managed to TQ the round one second ahead of Rodrigo Pahissa. As predicted, form here onwards nobody could improve the heat times so my direct place for the final was pretty secured. Only had to fight to keep TQ.


Also with Serpent Hugo Santos qualified on third position with Iñaki Pahissa on fourth.


Sunday was the big day and if I managed to win I could still retain some options to win the championship. Unfortunately things started the worst way possible. I had some trouble with my clutch on the warm-up which forced me to ask for extra time to fix it. This meant that my TQ position was no longer an advantage. I had to start from last position. Nevertheless the start was pretty clean with no crashes, plus the car was feeling awesome with big tires. As laps went on I gained more and more confidence, reaching third position before the fourth minute of the final and second after the first refueling.


Now the gap with Rodrigo who was on fist position was of 10 seconds. His pace was very fast and constant so I decided to wait a while and save some tires. Fortunately for me Rodrigo made a mistake and that left me the door open, managing to overtake him. For the last 10 minutes of race the gap between Rodrigo and myself was of 3 seconds with Rodrigo chasing on me. Once again luck was on my side. Rodrigo had to retire after the last refueling due to fuel entering his receiver. This left me alone in the lead for the last 5 minutes of the race, driving save to the checked flag.


Hugo Santos had a perfect race until he had a small touch with another car. Thanks to Hugo we could find the perfect set-up for this particular track. Without his help this win couldn't have been possible.


Till next time,

Victor Peláez