During my Chinese New Year holidays, AI (My Mechanic), my Dad and I traveled all the way to Florida to race at the Winternats. This year, the race was extremely competitive because many top drivers from Europe also attended. We were hoping to arrive earlier to use the State race as a warm up but due to weather, we arrived a day late at the State race. With only the one final qualifying left before the finals, I decided to only race the 1/8 class at the state race. Unfortunately I did not finish qualifying so I had to start from the “E” Main to bump up. To keep things short, it was very tiring and I was really sore but managed to bump all the way up to the “A” Main. I did not run the “A” main due to some issues but was happy to get ALL that track time before Winternats.
When Winternats started, I felt good about things. My sedan set up was hard to find as AI and I tested many things but could not find the best set up. My 1/8 was fine and I felt good about the car. After 2 rounds of qualifying, in which I did not finish well due to issues, I only manage to sit just outside the A Main for Sedan and for 1/ 8, at the bottom. The final 3 rounds of qualifying were cancelled due to rain out so I was again ready for the “Iron Man” climb. In the 1/8, I managed to climb from bottom main to the B Main and during the Saturday B Main finals, moved up to 3rd behind Ralph and DJ early in the race and felt pretty good about things until my flame out, DNF. In Sedan B Main, started 8th but lead the race 2 laps up with less than a
minute to go when my receiver battery ran out, another DNF. I was a bit disappointed not making the A Mains in both class as I drove well and the Mugens felt great! But… we all know this is racing and these things can happen. I had a lot of fun at the Winternats, great to see fellow Mugen drivers and lots of fun hanging with the Serpent guys. AI, my Dad and I also had a great time at Chuck E Cheese one night, now I’m back to school until the next race.
