Race Report
I was one of the lucky first batch buyers and finally, finally got a chance to race at my local indoor astro track, MMR Direct in Minneapolis. Equipped with: Tekin Gen2 6.5t (no fan), HW 120a ESC (no fan), SMC shorty pack, Schuey mini spikes yellow front and rear. Geared at 21t pinion, stock spur. Pretty much the stock/manual setup. The results were staggering. I am a very poor driver, usually finishing last or near last. The layout was pretty technical with a high risk triple in the middle with a three foot landing area. I drove much harder than normal due to the D413's reported durability. There must have been six or seven times that I said, “Oh, that's broke”. Cartwheels, nose plants, pipe plants, etc. Didn't break anything. Temps were: speedo 110s, motor 110s after 4 minute quals and around the same after the 8 minute main. I ended up on the podium in third place and it was probably the best day of racing I have ever had. The guys at the track were drooling over the buggy, especially that center gear diff. The thing flies beautifully and I was really impressed with the high speed turning and lack of traction rolls. I had my B44.2 ready to go as my backup if anything broke. The old B44.2 was pretty lonely.
Hats off to Hot Bodies. What a fantastic design.