> News

WC 1/8 onroad USA 2011: Paolo reports (10/05/2011)

By:: Reporter
Linked to:: Serpent 966 1/8 scale 4WD EVO, Serpent 966 -TE 1/8 scale 4WD, Serpent 966 -TE v2 1/8 scale 4WD, IFMAR 1/8 onroad WC 2011

It's not easy to write a race report when actually a race did not go as you planned. You may think that since you did not won, or at least be on the podium, is hard to report about it, the possible excuses, the blames, etc.

This could be somehow easy, but actually the most difficult part is to analyze and understand chronologically what happen, why it happen and what to do in order to improve.

Many things happen at a World Championship event........ Wait a minute...I could actually go on an write a manual about the WC experience, but i don't think is the proper time. I will rather describe shortly the Worlds from my point of view....

The Miami Worlds was a great event. The organizer made a great effort to have a World Class facility available. The atmosphere was really nice and actually was really cool to see so many Serpent banners. The orange color gave a nice touch!

My event started off quite ok, even if my tires were not there. The progression of the car was really good during the practice days. The 966-WC pieces have changed the car in a positive way giving more setup options making the car even more complete.

My speed was good, i was very competitive. During the first 3 qualifies my car was good but not great, or at least not as good as Monday. For the last qualify i recheck my notes and i actually made the car exactly like Monday afternoon. This was actually the correct move because with a slower track i was actually the fastest car. This actually put me on 7th spot.

I was really confident for the semi, actually I did a small adjustment to make the car more consistent. This is very important for a long event especially because this way you can reduce tire wear.

The semi was going as planned, I was cruising in second place, always close to the car in front of me but not stressing the car, the engine or tires. Second place was enough to get my spot in the final but.... my engine quit. I lost 4 laps in the process of restarting the car. I drove my best and push to the limit in order to come back. I actually was able to finish 3rd but my time was not enough to be able to transfer. Unfortunately this was the end of my event. It was really a shame because i felt i had a good chance to be on the podium.

The good news is that my Serpent 966 never failed on me. The car was super fast the whole event, easy to drive. I am very pleases with my car.

I will like to thanks my sponsors for the great products and the support: Serpent, Desoto Racing, Novarossi, Ko Propo, Matrix, Team Titan, Avid, Byron Fuels

A Special Thanks to Rick Pinard, my mechanic and fastest pitman of the event, for putting up with me for 2 weeks.

Last but not least i will like to thank my father for his presence and advises, specially after not being to a race together in a few years.

Happy Racing and until next time

Paolo
Team Serpent