The day after the 2015 1:10 Electric Nationals were over I took a two week vacation to Canada to hang out and do some testing as well as racing with the Tessmann family. The last weekend that I was there I was able to race the 2nd annual Battle at the Bend in Red Deer, Alberta. Friday was supposed to be Practice all day but as we were driving to the race coming from Medicine Hat we could see the storm that we were driving into. Once we actually made it to the Track it had stopped raining for the time being but you could see it had been raining pretty hard there before as there were a few large puddles on the track. The track crew had immediately started working on the track laying down peat moss to help soak up the water but unfortunately nobody was able to get to practice on Friday as the track was still super wet and tacky.
My D815 felt great the whole time as did the Pro-Line X3 Suppressors and my O.S. Speed, Both gave me the awesome traction and power to get around the track with no problems.
Saturday morning we showed up and had a vote whether or not they wanted to go straight into qualifying or do some open practice before racing. After all the voting finished they went straight into qualifying with an extended warm-up as the practice. Once cars and marshals got onto the track you could really see how soft the track actually was from all the rain the day before. Marshals would run across the track to get a car and make foot prints in the dirt. So it was almost like a new track every lap as the track got more and more foot imprints in the ground and making the track somewhat rough.
Qualifying went well for me in all three rounds. My car, tires and engine were all good allowing me to finish second in all three rounds of qualifying right behind Ty.
Sunday was much better for the track. The sun came out and the track was starting to dry out but still had a few damp spots in it. Luckily the Buggy Main was the last main of the day so when we ran the track was almost completely dry and the best it had been all weekend. At the start of the Main Ty and I were able to break away from the pack and then eventually he pulled away from me but neither one of us ever looked back from the spots we were in and at the end of the 30-minute Main I finished second and was able to finish on the lead lap which I was super happy about.
Overall the weekend and entire vacation was a success.
I’d like to take a second to say thanks to the Tessmann Family as well as all my sponsors (HPI Racing-HB, Pro-Line Racing and OS Engines) for all the help and support.
