VTA points week #5

I know it's almost time for VTA points week #6, but having been traveling a lot lately has gotten me behind on a lot of things that need to be done, and updating this was way down the list of things to do.

Week #5 was the first week the car was running the LiPo with the Novak 21.5 BL motor. I keep it on the down-low too, keeping the car covered and talking about the 27t running strong for the first qualifier :) I smoked the first qualifier and was on a 26/5:08 pace (which was only about 6 seconds behind the TQ pace for that qualifier) until I was passing John who unintentionally boarded me and I lost about 3/4 of a lap due to being boarded in the corner with the slowest marshal at the track. It's not that he wasn't doing his job or wasn't paying attention, he's just larger, older, and moves a little slow (but damn can he drive a 12th scale!). Wound up with a low 25 lapper, not bad, but not great.

Second qualifier is what I'll call karma coming back as I rapidly came up to pass John in this qualifier, and just like qualifier #1 we tagged, but this time it was he that wound up on the losing end. It was a great qualifier, but I somehow traction rolled the car in the sweeper (shades of every test with a lipo in the Kawada), which threw me off for a few laps, but I wound up with a 26/5:10 or so and was the third fastest qualifier for the class.

I had some balance issues in the main due to fiddling with my radio - I moved the EPA for the throttle and brake up to 120% because I can't get the thing to stop even with full brakes applied. Well, that change really altered how the drag brake got applied and I lifted to avoid the back of someones car going into turn #1 and the car locked up the rears and spun sideways, getting me tagged. Three traction rolls through the race later and I'm still challenging Bob's Mustang for third when he makes an unforced error and I take home third, which puts Bob and I into a tie in the points series.