HO World

June Championship Race 2006

Open Stock Class – Amateur

Restricted Open - Expert

AMATEUR DIVISION:

First race of the summer and we begin our second season with the amateurs competing in Open Stock competition and the experts running the Restricted Open class. We are limited in the number of participants available because of prior commitments with high school graduations and other family events of the summer.

In the qualifier for the amateurs, starting on red would be Bobby Alipio, Koa Remigio starts on orange, Larry Cadiz begins his run on blue and Derrick Wong would go on yellow. At the start Koa is still the man as he takes the first heat with a 37 total, followed by Larry and Bobby with 31 and Derrick closes with 30. In the second, Derrick takes a hard wall shot and shocks his car into submission when his magnet clip dislodges. Bobby charges hard and passes Koa, who is struggling on white. After two, Bobby is leading with 69, Koa drops back to 66, Larry survives gutter yellow with 58, and Derrick hits the pits with 39. The competition is fierce in the third as Bobby tries his best to extend his lead as Koa navigates on gutter red. After three, Bobby leads by five over Koa, 102 to 97, Larry follows with 89 and Derrick is back with 65. The fourth heat spells doom for Koa and Derrick as both of their cars slow down and die during the heat. Bobby extends his lead to 135, Koa holds off Larry, 126 to 116, and Derrick finishes with 83. In the fifth, Derrick is still in the pits, while Koa heads for the pit after only 7 laps, making it a two-car race between Larry and Bobby. Bobby takes advantage to extend his lead to 172, Larry takes over second with 144, Koa totals 133 and Derrick is stuck at 83. The last heat and Derrick is back and taking no prisoners as he pushes hard to up his total. At the flag, Bobby is top gun with 207, Larry is second with 177, Koa is next with 140 and Derrick finishes with 113.

MAIN EVENT:

In the main event, Bobby decides to start on red the hardest lane to navigate, Larry picks blue to go on, Koa chooses white to start and Derrick sits on yellow. During the five-minute break, Koa and his head mechanic made the right adjustments and now his ride is fast and faster. After one, Koa is first with 96, Derrick is next with 87, Bobby survives red with 80 and Larry is on his fender with 79. In the second Bobby finds his zone as he posts a 95 on the field. Koa struggles on red and his lead is only one over Derrick, 178 to 177, Bobby hangs close with 175 and Larry stumbles back with 148. Koa strikes back in the third with a 101 run and extends his lead to 279, Bobby slingshots past Derrick, 271 to 254, and Larry battles back with 231. In the fourth, Bobby and Derrick are on the gutters and Koa puts the pedal down as he posts a 104 on them. After four, Koa extends to 383, Bobby is next with 354, and Derrick leads Larry, 320 to 312. In the fifth, Koa slows down on gutter yellow allowing the others to climb back. Koa still leads with 465, Bobby is next with 446, Derrick follows with 406 and Larry finishes with 379. In the last heat, Koa makes a statement with his best run of the night with a 107 total. Koa takes the checkered flag with 572, Bobby is second with 532, Derrick follows with 498 and Larry finishes with a 462 total. Koa is the first to lay claim to the title of amateur champion.

(l-r) Koa(Champion), and Bobby(2nd

)

EXPERT DIVISION:

Tonight only three experts are in the house and this gives an opportunity to three amateurs to step up their game in the highly competitive RO racing arena. Taking the challenge will be Derrick, Koa and Bobby from the amateur ranks. These guys have been practicing a little with their RO cars and now is their chance to see how well they will do against the experts.

In the qualifier, Bobby would go on red, Rick Ortegero starts on white, Jon Suzuki begins on green, Troy Costales sits on orange, Koa would start on blue, and Derrick starts on yellow. At the start, Troy and Koa are out first and this competition is interesting since Troy is Koa’s mentor in HO racing. At the beep, the teacher is only one lap ahead of the student, 43 to 42, Jon is next with 39, Bobby survives gutter with 30, Derrick cruises in with 29 and Rick suffers car handling issues with 25. In the second heat, Koa and Derrick are dueling for speed, as both amateurs are tearing up the track. After two, Koa is leading with 89, Troy hangs close with 86, Jon follows with 80, Derrick climbs back with 74, Rick battles back with 64 and Bobby suffers pit issues with 48. The third heat becomes an aerobic event for the marshals as cars are crashing and burning all over. After three, Koa now leads by one over Troy, 126 to 125, Jon is hanging around with 117, Derrick is next with 104, Rick is holding off Bobby, 90 to 83. In the fourth, Troy is in his comfort zone and posts a 47 on the field. Troy overtakes Koa, 172 to 166, Jon follows with 161, Derrick totals 131, Rick finishes with 121 and Bobby charges hard with 118. The fifth heat has Koa on gutter red and he starts to feel the pressure as Troy and Jon make their move. At the beep, Troy is leading with 215, Jon slips by Koa, 205 to 196, Derrick closes with 167, Bobby drafts by Rick, 156 to 152. The last heat and Troy is pushing to be the man as he cranks off a 45 with Koa closing with 43. Troy is top gun with 260, Jon holds off Koa, 244 to 239, Derrick survives with 202, Bobby is next with 196 and Rick is done with 189.

MAIN EVENT:

During the break, drivers are working hard to tweak and fix their cars because of all the crashing and burning in the qualifier. Can anyone knock off Troy from the podium is the question to be answered tonight. Troy’s ride is in top form and he is wearing his lucky white shirt, so the challenge is present. Troy picks yellow to start on, Jon would start on blue, Koa selects white, Derrick starts on red, Bobby charges on orange, and Rick begins on green. In the first heat, Koa suffers car problems and needs help in repairing his ride but his mechanic is racing and has no time to stop for consultation. Wes Chong offers assistance and Koa is back in the game. After one, Jon leads Troy, 113 to 106, Bobby hangs close with 98, Derrick slips by Rick, 77 to 75, and Koa finishes with 62. In the second, Troy is focused and passing cars like crazy as he posts a 115 on the field. Troy leads with 221, Jon falls to 216, Bobby is next with 196, Rick overtakes Derrick, 168 to 163, and Koa is gaining with 152. In the third, power is fluctuating as rolling blackouts have been happening on the island because of electrical system shutdowns. Cars are slowing down and stopping for no reasons, making driving interesting and challenging. Troy maintains his composure with another 115 to extend his lead to 336, Jon falls back to 309, Bobby holds steady with 279, Rick holds off Derrick, 260 to 259, and Koa is charging hard with 257. The fourth heat, brings car problems for Bobby after a hard wall shot and he heads to the pits, meanwhile Koa is flying around as he posts his best total for the night with a 116. After four, Troy is extending his lead over Jon, 429 to 415, Koa flies into third with 373, Derrick drafts by Rick, 354 to 349, and Bobby falls down to 334. In the fifth, marshals are yelling someone has lost a front-end assembly and to his dismay Koa heads to the pits, Rick also suffers car and controller problems in this heat. After five, Troy is leading with 542, Jon is second with 508, Derrick is now in third with 450, Bobby follows with 428, Koa drops back to 384 and Rick totals 349. Last heat and Troy is sitting pretty to win another title, all he has to do is finish and avoid the crash and burn scenario. At the beep, Koa is back with a vengeance and he is pushing hard to make a difference as he takes top heat honors with a 115 total, Troy and Jon battle hard and end up tied with 111 totals. At the checkered flag, Troy is the man with 653, Jon is a distant second with 619, Derrick is a solid third with 535, Bobby follows with 516, Koa charges hard with 499 and Rick finishes with 420.

Many thanks to Kanoe, Kelsey, Ron, Ransan, Larry and others, who helped with the turn marshalling in this event, since it was their first RO race and cars were literally flying around and off the track at times. Many of the drivers were trying their best to stay on but the speed and handling of these cars are quite challenging at times. Hopefully all of the marshals will have their fingers and hands healed by the time we do this again in July.

(l-r) Derrick (3^rd), Troy (Champion), and Jon (2^nd)