| Qualifying
Under PN Racing rules, 3 rounds of 8-minute
qualifiers are used to determine the qualifying order
based on the fastest overall time. A driver must qualify
in the top 8 positions in that class to make the A-main,
any lower and you are seeded into the lower mains.
This year’s qualifying did not disappoint, and
the racing was very close in all the classes with positions
swapping all the way up to the last minute.
In 2WD Stock, there was a 3-way battle in between Lex
Tyler (California/Reflex), privateer extraordinaire
Chad Nelson (California) and Jacob Feinstein (Texas/Reflex).
These three racers swapped postions throughout every
round. The top qualifying position was not decided until
the last round, where Chad Nelson barely edged out Lex
Tyler for TQ. Stephen Bui (California, ILR) also put
in a flawless run landing himself the 3rd qualifying
spot.
AWD Stock was another close battle between Jonathan
Hernandez (California, ILR), Alberto Carvalho (Portugal/Reflex)
and Uri Valde (Spain/PN Racing). Alberto and Jonathan
battled constantly for the top spot until the last qualifier
where Jonathan was able to drive a clean race and secure
the number 1 spot on the grid. Alberto Carvalho and
Uri Valde rounded out the top 3.
F1 Stock had the Mini-Z Iron Man, Bill Crotty Jr (New
Hampshire) who was running all six classes lead the
way from start to finish. A lap back, Joe Chen (California/Reflex)
and Chad Nelson rounded out the top 3.
2WD modified had a familiar battle for all of you who
follow Mini-Z racing as mentor Cristian Tabush (Texas/Reflex)
and protege Jacob Feinstein battled for the top spot.
The two Reflex drivers were on a much faster pace than
the rest of the grid, capturing TQ and 2nd by a wide
margin. Jacob beat Cristian's time in the third and
final round of qualifying to secure TQ.
AWD Modified Qualifying?
Pan Car was just as exciting as Stock. The crowd was
very evenly matched and very fast. In the first round
of qualifying, we saw Jacob Feinstein and Chad Nelson
duke it out for 8 minutes to claim the top qualifying
spot. Jacob barely managed to sneak by Chad with a fast
43 lap run for TQ. In the second round, Chad Nelson
improved on his previous run and edged out Jacob for
the top qualifying position. That TQ run didn’t
last long, as Reflex's Cristian Tabush blistered the
track record by nearly a lap in the next heat, securing
the top spot for the time being. In the final round,
Jacob Feinstein and Chad both lowered their times, but
could not overcome Cristian's TQ run of 44 laps in 8:03.
The Mains
Boy, was there some great racing on Sunday!
The race format for the main is similar to other scales
with triple A-mains run for all of the classes except
for F1. Each main is 10 minutes long, and the winner
is the driver with the best 2 results. In the event
of a tie, the tie breaker is not the third result, but
rather the fastest main time.
2WD Stock
As usual, the best racing was in 2WD Stock. This is
the most popular class, and the cars are very evenly
matched. The first A-main was a 10-minute battle between
Chad Nelson and Lex Tyler. Lex was a little bit quicker
in the infield, but Chad had the horsepower advantage.
Lex tried hard to find an opening to pass Chad, but
could not make it happen. In the end, one-too-many mistakes
dropped Lex a bit back and Chad secured the first A-main
win. Lex finished in second, followed by Jacob in third.
The second A-main saw Chad traction roll on the first
lap. Lex inherited the lead where he would defend perhaps
the best battle of the whole weekend. Jacob Feinstein
came from fouth position and glued himself to the back
of Lex's car. The Reflex duo battled for 8 straight
minutes, inches away from each other. Lex made his car
wide and blocked his line effectively, and Jacob could
not find a way around his teammate. In the final minute,
Jacob made a small mistake which allowed Lex to pull
away for the A2 Win. Jabob and Chad followed in second
and third respectively.
Going into the third A-main, Chad, Lex and Jacob each
had a chance for the overall win. On the buzzer, Lex
hitched up into the second position behind Chad. Jacob
made a move past third qualifier Stephen Bui, and the
top three pulled away from the pack. A mistake by Chad
allowed Lex into the lead where he checked out and never
looked back. Chad and Jacob battled it out for a while,
but everyone settled into their finishing positions
halfway through the race. In the end, Lex Tyler brought
in the A3 win for the overall title with Chad and second
and Jacob rounding out the podium.
AWD Stock
Top qualifier Jonathan Hernandez won the first and
second A-main in convincing fashion checking out early
and never looking back. The battle was between Alberto
Carvalho an Uri Valde for second.
Alberto finished second in the A1 and Uri finished
second in A2. In the last main, whoever finished ahead
would secure second overall. As the buzzer sounded,
Alberto led the race from the inherited pole. Shortly
after Alberto made a mistake and after getting a bit
tangled with traffic, it allowed Uri to inherit the
lead and bring home the A3 win and second place overall.
Final standings were Hernandez, Valde and Carvalho.
F1 Stock
The only A main that was run once was F1. From the
start, TQ Bill Crotty checked out and never looked back.
Joe Chen, who perhaps had the fastest car of the weekend
had trouble in the second corner and went nearly a lap
down after the first lap. Chen managed to work his way
back to second, but with Crotty threatening to lap him.
After Chen let Crotty go, they proceeded to battle closely
for about half of the race, with Chen regaining his
lap at the final moments.
In the end, the final results were Crotty, Chen and
Nelson.
2WD Modified
The 2WD modified saw pole sitter Jacob Feinstein win
in convincing fashion. Jacob managed to lap the field
several times in A1. Tabush had trouble early on and
fell back through the grid. From the back, Stephen Bui
drove smooth and consitently to finish 2nd place in
A1. Uri Valde rounded up the top 3.
A2 saw Reflex's ace, Jacob Feinstein build a huge gap
and lap the field several times again. This race was
almost a carbon copy of A1 with Tabush falling behind
early and Bui sneaking up on the field finishing second
again. Valde rounded out the top 3.
With Feinstein securing the overall win after the first
2 A-mains, he sat out the final main. Now on pole, Tabush
again had trouble in the first couple of laps dropping
him back early on. Bill Crotty Jr came out of nowhere
and battled Uri Valde for the lead. Uri made one to
many mistakes, allowing Stephen Bui to work his way
into second and Bill cruise away for the not-so-easy
win.
The final standings were Jacob Feinstein, Stephen Bui
and Uri Valde.
AWD Modified
At the tone, TQ TJ Macabuhay and Cristian Tabush pulled
away from the pack. TJ managed to pull a bit of a gap
over second place, but a couple of bobbles allowed Tabush
to inherit the lead. TJ's car was quite a bit faster
than Tabush's which allowed him to close the gap fairly
easily and pull away. TJ ended up lapping the field
and taking a comfortable win in A1. Rounding out the
top 3 were Tabush and third qualifier Jonathan Hernandez.
In A2, we saw TJ bobble early on and Tabush take the
lead. Once again, TJ ran down Tabush and pulled away
for an easy victory and the overall win. Hernandez managed
to work his way into second, with Tabush rounding up
the last podium spot.
The last AWD A-main, Tabush pulled out into an early
lead. A blown front differential bearing dropped Tabush
out of the race allowing Hernandez to inherit the lead.
Fourth qualifier Bill Crotty charged hard and battled
with Hernandez for the position. With 1 minute left
in the race, Hernandez's batteries dumped allowing Bill
to pull away for the A3 win. This last A-main win allowed
Bill to secure 2nd in the overall standings. Hernandez
dropped to 4th place, which meant that he and Tabush
were tied for 3rd overall. Per PN rules, the tie breaker
is the fastest main time, and Tabush edged out Hernandez
in A1 by 3 seconds earning him the final podium spot.
Final standings were TJ Macabuhay, Bill Crotty Jr and
Cristian Tabush.
Pan Car Modified
The fastest cars of the weekend were the 2WD modified
pan cars. Pole-sitter Cristian Tabush took the holeshot
on the first lap only to make a mistake early in the
second lap. This allowed Jacob Feinstein inherit the
lead and check out. The final results for A1 were Feinstein,
Tabush and Nelson.
A2 saw Tabush take the holeshot once again, but he
found himself almost a lap down after an early mistake
on in the first lap,. Chad Nelson took the lead with
Feinstein and Grant Matsushima in tow. Grant managed
to make his way around Jacob and gave chase to Nelson.
During the next few minutes of battling, Nelson and
Matsushima swapped the lead back and forth. Eventually,
both cars tangled and Feinstein pounced on the opportunity
to take over the lead and check out.
Matsushima and Nelson battled for the rest of the main
with Nelson eventually finishing second and Matsushima
in third.
With the title already decided, newly-crowned Pan Car
Champion Jacob Feinstein once again sat out the A3 main.
Off the start, pole-sitter Cristian Tabush took the
hole shot and never looked back. Nelson and Matsushima
battled for the second spot, ultimately leading to Nelson
in second and Matsushima in third.
The final overall results for Pan Car were Feinstein,
Tabush and Nelson.
Last words...
Once again, Mr. Philip Ng hosted a top
notch Mini-Z World Cup. Having attended every single
World Cup final since its inception, I can honestly
say that every year the racing gets more competitive
each time and proves that 1/28 scale racing is here
to stay.
Every year, we see more and more talented racers raise
the bar in the world of Mini-Z. Last year, we saw the
Europeans nearly sweep of all classes with only one
American driver managing to bring home a crown. This
year, the Americans proved that they are back on top
when it comes to 1/28 scale by winning every class.
Reflex Racing USA demonstrated that their development
of the 2WD chassis is second to none, winning every
2WD class in convincing fashion. The guys from Santa
Clara, CA. at Inside Line Racing proved that they are
the current AWD masters, and once again Bill Crotty
Jr. proved that he is the top F1 driver in the Mini-Z
world, taking home his second F1 title in two tries.
For 2009, it is rumored that the finals will be in
Barcelona, Spain. The Europeans will undoubtedly re-evaluate
their set-ups and defend their home turf, while the
challengers from around the world bring their A-game.
See you all next time, wherever it may be.
|
The Reflex Crew looks on at one of the
races
Mr. Ironman Bill Crotty Jr. - Bill ran
all 6 classes!
Joe, Lex and Rui being, well themselves...
Jacob daydreaming about 2 WC's!!!
Alex from TRP picking on Anson Ng
Daniel R. came all the way from Austria.
View of the pits
Our friends from ILR
The Spanish Crew
MC Joe Chen
Can you say World Champions?
Reflex relaxing before the trophy presentation
Jacob talking set-up with "The
Professor" Jesus Sanchez, from Mexico
Reflex's Cristian Tabush chatting with
team drivers Lex and Alberto
The whole crew from RC Kenon, home of
PN Racing
4-time Mini-Z World Champion autographing
a shirt...
ILR and Reflex. We took all the hardware
;)
Spain trying to recruit Bill Crotty
so that they could claim more trophies
The best father-son Mini-Z duo in the
World! Congrats and thank you guys!
2WD Stock Winners
AWD Stock Winners
F1 Winners
2WD Mod Winners
AWD Mod Winners
Pan Car Mod Winners
|
