The first round of the 2012 El Piloto Series #2 took place on July 14. The 1/24 BRM Megane slot cars will be used, once more, for this six race event. As most of our racers were already familiar with the cars running at 11 Volts from the first series of 2012, this time around, the track voltage was set at 12 Volts.
It is summer time and some of our regular El Piloto racers were enjoying some vacation time elsewhere, the good surprise was the participation of Stephen, one of our newest members, and Maxwell, Marty’s oldest son. We have known Max for at least two years but It had been at least six months since he was around, it was funny when he first spoke and we noticed a deeper tone in his voice — it was great to have him around.
In addition to Stephen and Max; Russell, Shawn, Marty and Ary also participated in the race, let’s get to it:
Heat 1: Shawn on yellow, Max on blue and Stephen on green. Shawn bolted out of the gate and was one lap ahead of the field by lap 16. Around the 2 minutes mark, the yellow Magane collided with the blue car and lost one of its headlight covers. Max and Stephen fell behind and by the end of the heat, Shawn had completed 67 laps to Max’s 65 and Stephen’s 62.
Heat 2: Marty, now on the yellow lane; Stephen on blue and Shawn on green. Marty had won the first El Pilot Series of 2012 and wants to keep his crown, him and Shawn exchanged the first place of the heat for its entire duration, in the end Marty finished one car length ahead of Shawn, both with 67 laps. Stephen found his groove and completed an impressive 65 lap heat, his second time, ever, racing the BRM Meganes.
Heat 3: Russell joins on yellow, Shawn now on blue and Marty on green; all seasoned El Piloto racers. Race started very clean with the three racing neck-to-neck. The tires on the yellow Megane started to loose grip and Russell detached from the pack by lap 30. Shawn raced very well on the blue lane, he set the fastest lap of the race at 4.261 seconds and added one lap between him and Marty by lap 59. The heat finished with Shawn completing 69 laps, Marty with 68 and Russell with 66.
Heat 4: Ary’s turn on yellow, Marty on blue and Russell on green. By lap 15, Marty was one lap ahead of the field. On lap 29, Russell had a de-slot and was now one lap behind Ary. Marty also had a great run on the blue lane and left the other racers eating dust, he didn’t beat Shawn’s fastest lap but got really close, turning a 4.267 seconds lap, he was the only competitor able to complete 70 laps. Ary completed 67 and Russell, 65.
Heat 5: Maxwell, back on track for his second heat, on yellow; Russell on blue and Ary on green. Russell and Ary exchanged first place a few times over until past the half-way mark, on lap 37, Ary passed and took the lead. Maxwell managed a very nice result despite the lack of traction on the yellow car, completing 62 laps. Ary completed 69 and Russell 67.
Heat 6: Stephen to complete his race on the yellow lane, Ary on blue and Max on green. Max and Stephen both raced a very well; Stephen had more control over the yellow car, and, finished the race one lap ahead of Maxwell. Max struggled with the track’s Senna Esse and completed 62 laps, Stephen finished 63 laps and Ary 68.
This is certainly an interesting series. Due to the nature of the 1/24 BRM cars, the longer they are ran, the hotter the motor becomes and loses some power, tires start to wear out and lose their grip, which may affect a racer placed in the later rotations; in the other hand, the track is not as rubbered-in the beginning stages of a race, which may also affect the cars performance and racers placed in the earlier rotations.
— All three cars will have new tires installed for round 2; till then.
The recorded race can be viewed here: https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/23988929