Mini Speedway Season 6 OLPS

Season 6 for the HFAY series begins July, 2008. We are looking for a couple more guys to add to the mix so if you are a driver and want to participate in a World-wide race series, let me know.

The rules for the new season have changed and are more liberal for the electronics with a Spec motor to even things out. Basically, you can run any board including the new 2.4 version. The Spec motor is a 70 turn PN Racing motor that is actually intended to slow the class a bit. Should be interesting. I ordered 5 of the new motors which will cost $10. I’ll have them soon if you want to get in some practice before the races start.

Note also that this series is not just for Kyosho Mini-Z rc cars. iWaver, Firelap and xMods are also welcome. Check the rules to determine what you will need to compete.

We will be running the April HFAY races at the shop on the weekend of April 25,26 and 27. I am flexible at this point but I’d like to nail this down before too long.

We also have the opportunity to run the May event on the same day. It will require changing the layout which takes about 30 minutes and, of course two more races but then we’d be done for the season. Otherwise, we will need to run an event in May sometimes. As a heads up, I will be out of town from May 10th through the 23rd on a trip.

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Mini Speedway March OLPS

Originally uploaded by gasmith

We had 8 people driving on the day of the last OLPS race. It is great getting more participation in our Mini-Z racing!

The How Fast Are You Online Points Series races for March 2008 will be held on Sunday the 16th at 1PM. As usual we will run two different races on the same track layout. One clockwise and one counter-clockwise. I will set up the track no later than Wednesday the 12th fro practice. Let me know if you want to run some laps before Sunday.

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We had the Season 5 races for the OLPS at Mini Speedway today and had a super time. It was just Michael, Dave and I again so we are still looking for more participants who would like to race really fun, detailed, scale race cars. The commitment to the OLPS series is fairly minimal with just one day a month being required and just 2 x 8-minute races but the ability to compare your skills to those around the world doing the same kind of racing is fantastic! If you don’t know what I am talking about check out the How Fast Are You? website for more info or shoot me a note to greg@minispeedway.com.

Anyway, on with today’s report!

Dave had been to the track recently for the open house and while it was a different track layout he seemed to be getting more consistent especially considering he is running an MR-01 in Speed Racer trim! The car is narrow, tippy and exhibits some rear wheel hop. The only mod he’s done is to add some sticky tires. After today’s race he is talking about an MR-02!

Michael was going well too and he and I had some laps that were door handle to door handle. A few more practice sessions and that Ford GT will be competitive!

So, in the end, I took the day in both races. Race 3 was about what I expected but made a boo-boo when I decided to use my HFAY Spec motored chassis for Race 4 instead of the trusty Stock Ford GT. My HFAY car is still a Ford GT but with just a bit different setup including the HFAY Spec motor. The problem was tires. I ripped them of the rim several times and it cost me about 10 laps or so. I wanted to use the HFAY motor because if I drive it right it is faster and I am at the crossover point from the Stock motor to the HFAY In practice I was running faster laps sometimes with the HFAY motor but consistency suffered so that I was running about the same number of laps with either car.

I did notice that for races 1 and 2 last month I was the fastest Stock motor driver although a couple of guys did not have a motor listed but it is pretty clear that I need to get my HFAY car and driving skills up to snuff.

March’s track looks fast and I plan to have it set up several days before the race for practice so come on and race with us!

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Last Friday, February 15th was the Open House in the 4-story building where I have the Mini Speedway track. The building is filled with artists, musicians and crafts people as well as my RC plane manufacturing biz, plus the Mini Speedway!.

The official hours were 6PM to 9PM but we had people until at least 11PM.

In addition to a slightly larger than Wide-L layout for people to try running 2-minute races. We had Groovesquad Live, a local improvisational electronica band, Lena, a local artist who painted live and John Shlick, my partner in Schlick Cycles showing our excellent Performance Cruiser bicycle.

In addition I had my Pole Camera setup at a 12 foot height, just a few inches short of the ceiling to take remote photos from on high. Here are a few.

Here you can see Lena’s painting in progress.

A view with part of the track and a couple of MR-01s running. I had a Kyosho ECO motor in one and used a Firelap transmitter in the other with the throttle limited to about %50 which made the car the same speed as the ECO. Decent speed for folks who have not tried RC cars before.

more of the track.

My son, wife, me mt buddy Steve and John Schlick from Schlick Cycles.

The Overland Demo Course. Thought I had some pix with vehicles but I guess not.

My 9-year old daughter demoing a Mini Cooper. She was a great spokes person showing people how the cars work and getting the transmitter in people’s hands. Thanks, Syd!

John Schlick showing one of our Schlick Shark frames. We also had a couple fo complete bikes set up including one on a wind trainer for folks to try.

A shot of Lena in action.

Over all we had a couple of hundred peole come through. It was an interesting crowd as many of the people were in the building to see specific artists but I think a lot of them came away with a better understanding of Mini Speedway and RC car racing. Hope we get a few of them to become regulars. I gave out first race free cards so I hope to see some of those come back!

Mini RC Size Comparison - Left to Right

A-Tech Leo-x
Mini-Z Monster
Mini-Z Overland - Toyota (with Beast tires)
Mini-Z Overland Pajaro - (Stock)
Mini-Z Ford GT
Epoch Toyota

Here are some closeups

A-tech Leo-X and Mini-Z Monster

Radline Master series Destructor and Mini-Z Monster

We’ve chosen the date for the OLPS races a bit earlier this month so those of you who want to participate have enough advanced warning. The date is Sunday February 24th, 2008 at 1PM. If you want to race please let me know in advance by emailing me at greg@minispeedway.com

Dave, Michael and I had a great time at the January race and the February track looks challenging and fast. Check it out!

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The building our Mini Speedway shop is in, known locally as The Nut Factory owing to one of its previous incarnations, is having an open house on Friday, February 15th, 2008 from 6PM to 9PM.

Mini Speedway will be participating with Open Track Time, entertainment from Groovesquad Live, a local improvisational electronica musician, specials and giveaways and, if all goes well, a fantastic local artist.

In addition to the Mini Speedway shop being open several other artist tenants of the building will also be participating.

Check out the Mini Speedway contact page for a map to the building.

Dave K, Michael D and I did the first 2 races in the Season 5 OLPS today. What a blast! The 8-minute races seemed to go by much faster than the 5-minute Time Trials I’ve been running. I guess the competition makes the time fly!

I liked the layout and felt it flowed well and was nice and fast.

I never got my car with the HFAY Spec motor running as consistently as the Ford GT I’ve been running for the Time Trials so I used the GT for these races. After the races were over I worked on the HFAY Car some more including changing the wheelbase to 94mm and the body to the NSX GT and found that it is already faster than the Ford so watch out next month!

Race 1 saw me with the win, Michael 2nd and Dave 3rd.

Race 2 still had me on top with Dave and Michael swapping positions.

I’m already looking forward to the February races and may set up the track for some practice soon. Meanwhile, I will leave the January track set up for a few more days and run it a few more times. Next month’s track looks a bit more challenging.