JQ Products Road Trip in USA

I am known for being “slightly”disorganised when it comes to planning things. Things kind of just happen in my life. That's why I have been quite surprised, even myself, with the level of planning and evaluating of options that I have managed to do as far as my new company is concerned. I actually had a business plan and budget, and after one year, I can't believe how accurately I have been able to follow my plan that I did a year ago! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that if I mess up due to being disorganised, it will have serious financial consequences, not limited to only myself, so I got to keep focused.

However, some things don't change, and when I headed to USA for a 2 weeks of RC related fun, I realised, as I sat down in my rental car, that I didn't even know where I was going! What made things infinitely worse was, A: my phone didnt work, B: I couldn't get my GPS to work. I knew the general direction I was supposed to head in, and after asking someone for directions to the freeway, I just started driving. Then at some stage I managed to get the GPS to work, and found the address of my hotel, and I was all set. Next day I went to walmart and got myself a prepaid phone, and things were looking good again. One great thing about LA is, most things are so easy, freeways are simple to navigate, food is easy to find, pre paid phones are easy to find, WHATEVER one needs, it is super easy to find. I was just thinking about that because had I been somewhere in Europe, or Asia, and I didnt plan a bit better, then I would probably not have had everything dialed within 24 hours of landing.

Part 1: Thunder Alley Gas Champs

First stop was the already legendary Thunder Alley track, which I had only seen in pics and videos. It looked smaller in real life, but it looked fun. I hadn't raced in USA since the worlds in 2008, so I was really looking forward to racing over there again. I wanted to see if I could make the A without practice, or if I the level was too high. Once again I had 2 extra cars with me, and two local racers had contacted me about racing them. One was Ricky Rodriguez, who raced in the intermediate class, and the other Chris Marralle who races sportsman. That was good as now all buggy classes were covered. Thursday was the first day of practice, and that's when Ricky and Chris finished THE Car's and headed to the track for the first time. Here's some of their first laps with THE Car, with the stock set up.

One of Chris' first runs.

One of Ricky's first runs.

They both did surprisingly well. To be honest, I knew THE Car would be ok for them, but I did think it would need some set up changes first. So I was happy first impressions were good. Here's Chris' first thoughts on THE Car.

As for the race itself, it was a bit of a mess for me. I had weird engine troubles throughout practice, and actually borrowed an engine for the race, thanks Josh! Then I didn't have holeshots to run, which were THE tyre to run so I was a bit disappointed about that. But I did make the main, so that was good. For the last main Josh lent me some M2 Holeshots and they were really good. I did quite well in that main until my engine fell out. And that pretty much summed up my week end. But there were reasons to be happy, first of all, I made the main eventhough things didn't really go very well, and second of all, both Chris and Ricky made their respective A mains. Chris was actually on joint TQ in sportsman, something he has never even been close to doing before from what I heard. So that was really great!

The race had a different format, and there were double A Mains. I was 10^th overall I think after both mains, having had great battles with Brent Thielke who only stopped once in the 20min mains, while I stopped twice. There was a great option section where drivers could chose to go inside or outside, and everyone went outside as it was faster, but I actually managed to pass Brent by going inside there, as probably the only person at the event, and that was probably the highlight of my race. I liked that. But he did get me in the end in the overall I think.

I forgot to take a picture of the option, I am such a professional reporter.

But check it out in the video. Crossing over was BANNED.

Chris had issues with his tyre glueing skills, and a broken steering link, and finished 8^th overall. That sucked as he had the speed maybe even to win, but overall he had a very good race! Ricky had one flameout, and finished 3^rd in the other main, and finished 4^th overall.

Part 2: I thought Chico was closer....

After the Thunder Alley race, I was supposed to go to Chico to discuss the US Distribution with Kendall Bennett. He owns the world famous A Main Hobbies, and also runs Swift Distribution, who will distribute JQ Products in USA. Now I don't know why, but I always thought he was within a few hours from LA, and I had promised him I would visit, and we could go and do a car test at a local track. Well, when I actually bothered checking, and found out it was a 9 hour drive, I felt like kicking myself. Luckily Peter Martin went with me, so I didn't have to go all that way alone.

Everything went well up in Chico, and can confidently say, that of all the options available, I got THE best distributor for a RC Racing car in USA. I don't think any racers need to worry about parts availability. If someone is running THE Car in the US next year, I hope they aske their local shop to get an account with Swift, so THE Parts are available locally in as many areas as possible.

For THE Car test RC Car Action's Jason Sams showed up and did a feature on THE Car. The coverage can be found HERE.The test car was really beat up for the test, but I was happy with how it performed, even in the state it was, and everything went well. That was such a relief! Thank god Peter went as he was down in pit lane for most of the time making sure everyone got to drive it. Thanks a lot Peter.

Part 3: JBRL at Revelation

After the short trip to Chico and back, JBRL at Revelation was next. This was another track I had only heard about, and seen in videos, and I knew I would love it, and I did. Loose, with burms, bumps and jumps. Just great for racing.

It rained before the race. Actual rain in CA. But the track was dialed. Here's proof it rained:

I managed to qualify ok, in 6^th place, but I felt I had more speed than that. The A Main was 20min, and I was really looking forward to battling it out with Drake, Pavidis, Amezcua etc. I got a decent start, and had great first few laps. I had made some changes to my car for the main and it was great. I went to max antisquat in the rear and it now had so much forawrd traction it was stupid, and it tracked well in the bumps. I think more antisquat helps for big bumps, at least with my driving style. I drove up to second, and I was excited to see how I could match Drake's speed, but unfortunately I will never know, as Amezcua took me out. I flew over the burm on the middle of the track and lost a lot of time, and dropped down to 8^th place. But to look back on it, I should actually thank him, because he indirectly made THE Car look good. Because I then got pretty pissed, and started driving really well, and caught and passed everyone eventually getting into second place, and building up a 10s lead on 3^rd place. Drake was already long gone. Then during my last pit stop, my engine flamed out, and I lost a lot of time, dropping me down to 3^rd, where I finished.

In intermediate, Ricky was once again racing THE Car, and this time, he was on it. His car looked really good, even better than mine I think, and he managed to WIN! That was great. THE Car's first win in the USA. Great job Ricky!

My test slaves did well!

I did ok too! Check out "THE Punt"

Welcome to America indeed!

A big thank you to everyone that helped me during my stay! Even Amezcua. Just don't do it at the worlds!