1/5 Unlimited Superbike Results:
1) Dwayne Lawler
2) Lito Reyes (Top Qualifier)
3) Ian Francisco
4) Craig Kaplan
5) Kevin Hicks

Here are my notes on the race:

Quick off topic: on the car ride down to LA from San Jose I was wondering why was I even here, why am I traveling 300 miles to play with toys when I could either be with my family or doing something useful like working for Greenpeace or the Salvation Army, etc. Oh well just food for thought.

Friday night Lito texts everyone about the grip levels being insane. I couldn't sleep well even after the 6 hour car ride - just too many thoughts racing in my head.

Saturday morning during practice the grip on the track was nice so I felt comfortable with any tire choice for the weekend. The barriers made the track super narrow compared to Fremont so I was very careful not to brake late and slow down when approaching the walls.

Five minutes into practice my bike thermally shuts down with my motor and ESC running at 170C. (Mind you this is the same exact motor and ESC I ran at the Fremont race w/o problems). In Q1 it thermally shut down again four minutes into the race. In full panic mode I was ready to concede the weekend because my spare bike only had a 10.5T motor in it but I decided to run it anyway just to set a time. Just need to figure out how to get another motor and ESC for Sunday. But turned out ok since I was able to set much more repeatable lap times and ended the day with me and Dwayne as the only two drivers to do a 17 lap run.

Given the amount of bike flips luckily my only casualties of the day were a loose rider head and a cracked wobbly front rim which Wyatt helped me to diagnose.

Sunday Lito dominated Q4 to win TQ with an amazing 18 lap run so we were setup for great triple A-Mains. Seeing his bike run on Saturday as a track marshall I knew it was only a matter of time before he strung an entire run of fast laps.

The A-Mains were push start. It was nerve racking to say the least (my empty stomach didn't help). Kevin yelled out to "enjoy it" but I could easily feel my left palm gripping onto my transmitter too tight. But that's when you know it's a big race. . . I accelerated very lightly for my start. I mostly ate Lito and Dwayne's dust during the mains. At one point I was dicing with Lito which was really fun. I think he made a few mistakes early on so he wasn't able to fight with Dwayne for a well deserved 1st place. When Dwayne lapped me in A2 it confirmed that I need more practice (or a miracle!) to catch up to all the socal guys next year. Anyways I was able to settle into a groove and generate up enough buffer to take 3rd overall.

Along the way I had some really nice battles with Wyatt, Kevin, and Bruce. Several corners we were mirroring each other like tandem drift battles.

I was asked what it was like driving an R/C superbike. I compare it to trying to take care of a cranky baby. If you upset the bike just one bit then it will snap back at you. The power to weight ratio and grip ratio is immense. One sharp blip of the throttle or brake at the wrong time will upset the balance of the bike therefore ending your nice lap (especially the first few laps while the tires are cold). There are tons of sensory input your brain is processing just to enter and exit a corner cleanly (crash bar drag, lean angle, tire adhesion, angle of attack) It really is more difficult than it looks.

Looking back on the weekend I still felt like I put on one of my finest performances. I put an almost bone stock SB-5 Pro (just front brake kit and ZH front brake mount) and 10.5T motor on the podium.

Thanks to Kevin and Larry for their special support over the weekend and thanks to GLARCRC for hosting the event. Oh and did I mention the great food spread by the race organizers?? In-N-Out burgers, chips, sodas, Krispy Kreme donuts. . . SU-PER OFFI-CIAL!!!!

As far as my opening off topic comment is concerned: I may not have spent quality time with the fam or solved the world's problems but I did get a chance to spend the weekend in the presence of good friends and that's what matters. Even some of the people who I have just met this year it seems like I've known them for a very long time. So I guess I have answered my own question.