Here's a short race recap from Vegas.
We had a total of 4 Motonica cars at the event, or 10% of the field. Track conditions were fair and improved throughout practice and right into qualifying. In the first round I set the fastest time with a 16 lap 5:10. I am pretty sure this is a personal best for me and compared to my qual time from last year, about 7 seconds faster. I sat out round 2 and helped all the other guys out. In round 3 my clutch developed problems in warm up but I was still able to drive at the same pace as I did in round 1, but ran out of fuel on the last lap…due to the clutch.
After 3 rounds of qualifying, I was second, and the remaining 3 Motonica cars were all in the B, including Rich Taylor in the BQ position, Mark-Ben Klein and Arno Mardirossian. In the B, Rich led early but developed problems, Mark also developed problems, but Arno moved up the standings, finished second bumping into the A final, and even led a few laps.
The A Main started well for me as I was able to hold my position and move into the lead within a couple of minutes. My motor then went lean (bottom end) and I suffered a flame out. We re-fired and got back out but flamed out a couple more times before calling it a day. Arno kept his car on the track and finished 5th.
Overall the cars worked well. This was Rich’s first time with a Motonica and he beat out over 70% of the field. Arno did not get any Friday practice and managed to bump into the A. Mark looked really good in qualifying. My fastest lap of the weekend was 18.9, which is pretty good for that layout given the less than sticky conditions. Had the motor stayed lit, I think I had a good shot at winning, but that’s racing and that’s how it goes sometimes.