Mr.Losi,
yes, bearings do blow, but I wouldn't expect it at the very first race with a stock motor.
To be quite honest, the car has a few issues I don't like:
1.) The issue with the front shock shafts being too long
2.) The shock eyelets pop off REALLY easy
3.) The set screws are a joke, because of the way too soft plastic they are threated into. They don't hold their settings during a race.
4.) The spur gear bearings
5.) ALL screws and turnbuckles started rusting before I even had a chance to run the car for the first time. This doen't affect performance, but heck, the car looks older than my 2 year old Yokomo.
Well,maybe I'm just spoiled by my Yokomo, but I think Losi needs to fix this stuff to live up to their reputation.