Las Vegas, Nevada

The 2011 IIC was once again proving to become the “Carpet Worlds” with drivers from all over the world in attendance. Atsushi Hara, Mark Reinhard, Naoto Matsushura, Juho Levanen, Ronald Volker and many others were in attendance.

Qualifying had begun early and it was clear that if you weren’t using Tekin you were down on power.

Long time Tekin team driver Kenny Lambert would dominate the 1/12 17.5 Non timing class with his Tekin powered CRC car. Kenny Tq’d every single round of qualifying in dominating fashion. Tekin would be the esc of choice in this division also with the majority of drivers powered by Tekin Rs’s.

Atsushi Hara dominated the Tekin sponsored 17.5 Super Stock TC class taking every single round of qualifying simply besting his own runs each round. Tekin also powered over half of the field with drivers such as Mike Haynes, Brad Johnson, Ty Tessmann, Magnus Vassmar, and Larry Fairtrace all using Tekin RS’s to give them the edge.

In Expert World GT Hupo Honigl would be fast right out of the gate taking the first few rounds of qualifying. Josh Cyrul and Randy Pike would but their heads together and come up with a few minor esc setups changes to give Josh an edge for round 3. The setup changed was in fact too good that Josh would need to alter his setup to take advantage of the added power for round 4. Josh would do just that and take the overall Tq in the class. Tekin would be found in over 75% of the A final.

Larry Fairtrace would lay down the only 48 lap run in qualifying with his Tekin powered TOP 1/12 car. Early on Larry’s car was so fast that it was often scrutinized but as always found to be expertly setup proving that there is no replacement for a good setup and excellent driving. Tekin would once again dominate the top 10 driver’s cars. Tekin RS esc’s found their way into 7 of the top 9 driver’s car who made it into the A main after qualifying!

World GT 13.5 Non ramping would be have some of the tightest qualifying with the top 8 being separated by less than 5 seconds! Again more than half of the field chose Tekin Rs’s to power their cars into the A main.

This would give the Tekin RS/RS Pro 5 Tq’s out of 8 Expert classes!

MAINS

First A main of the day would have Tekin Powered Kenny Lambert starting from the Tq position in the 17.5 1/12 Non Ramping class. Kenny would control the pace right from the tone. Kenny was over a full second faster than the field. This would give him a bit of room right from the get go and allow him to lead the race. Within 3 minutes Kenny would begin lapping traffic. A few close calls would allow Peter Robinson to close the gap but Peter would make a few mistakes and not have the best luck going through traffic. Coming from the bump spot TJ Bradley was a man on a mission getting up to 3rd place. In the end Kenny would lead from tone to tone giving him the Tq and victory. Tekin Rs’s would be in 2 of the top 3 cars.

13.5 1/12 A would have Tekin powered Larry Fairtrace starting from the 1 position. From the tone Larry would tap a board in turn 2 dropping to 4th right away. This would allow Pete D’agnolo and others to fight for the top spot. Once the drivers would settle into a rhythm Pete and Hupo would be no further from each other than about 10 feet while going through traffic. On the move was Mike Blackstock having received some setup help from Randy Pike. Mike would have the fastest single lap of the main with a 9.8 with only 3 other drivers dipping into the 9’s. Mike would catch the leaders and manage to make the pass for the lead after a mistake from Hupo and Pete both. Tekin would power 9 of the top 10 in the A main. Congratulations to Mike Blackstock for the win. Later it was found that Tq Larry Fairtrace’s car would have loose pod screws. This would explain the odd handling of Larry’s car early on. Tough break as Larry’s car was the fastest car on the track.

Super Stock 17.5 TC was up next. Starting from the Tq position Tekin powered Atsushi Hara would pilot his Hot Bodies TCX with Keven Hebert in close proximity. This was one of the most exciting races of the weekend with the super clean start and the fact you could throw a towel over the top two pro drivers. Kevin would experience some fade around the 2 minute mark later suffering a major failure near the beginning of the straight away with smoke pouring from beneath the body, touch luck as Kevin’s car looked excellent. Behind the top 2 would have Tekin powered Mike Haynes going at it with Martin Crisp from Canada. Atsushi Hara would lead from start to finish taking the Tq and win! Again Tekin Rs/RS Pro’s would power 7 of 10 cars in the A main. Congratulations to Atsushi Hara and the entire group of Tekin powered races for providing the crowd with one of the best races of the weekend.

Expert WGT 10.5 was up next. Tekin powered Josh Cyrul would start from the pole position with his CEFX car. From the tone Josh was leading with some contact being made by the rest of the racers. Ej Evans would go from 5th to second in the first few turns with Mike Blackstock in tow. As the race settled down Josh would begin lapping the field at the 3 minute mark. Josh was out in front and gone. Hupo would put on a valiant charge finishing 2nd with Mike Blackstock 3rd. Tekin RS/RS Pro would once again power over half the field with 7 of the top 10 drivers in the A main. Congratulations to Josh Cyrul for a dominating performance!

As with any race there is always a heartbreak story. This would be the class for such a story. Tekin team driver Monte Hess would start from the 4th position with his Tekin powered Xray. Fred Kellner would take advantage of Tq Patrick Morehead’s mistake and take over the lead. Monte Hess would put on an early charge and catch and pass the leaders around lap 4 and simply begin walking away with the race. Monte would regularly run low 11 laps and build up a nice lead over a straight away in length. Monte began going through traffic and had a few near tragic incidences with back markers coming within an inch of some of the cars! The entire Tekin group was on their feet as Monte dogged and ducked under back marker after back marker. Coming down to the last 30 second Monte had a few touches with other cars that allowed Fred to catch up a bit. Coming in for the win on the last lap Monte tapped a board trying to keep it tight at the same time having just passed another racer! This bounced his car back and allowed Fred to sneak in and cause a drag race to the end. At the time it was called that Fred won. Looking at heat sheet online shows Monte taking the win (http://bit.ly/mQcoHH ).

We hope to get some clarification shortly. Regardless of the outcome it was simply heartbreaking to watch. Congratulations Monte! You deserved the win with such a great drive!

-words by Randy Pike