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Karlsen crowned OMK Fall Classic Series champion

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Aaron Waldron

0 Nov. 2, 2016, 10:04 a.m.

Main Photo: Karlsen crowned OMK Fall Classic Series champion

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report from XRAY:
www.teamxray.com

XB2C is OMK Fall Classic Race Series Champion

On Wednesday I attended the 8th and final round of the OMK / Way To Win - 2WD Fall Classic race series.

The race series has been run over 8 rounds on OMK's Astro track partially under the flood lights in the evening. Race format consists of open free practice and then 3 qualifiers and 3 finals.

Much like the previous round the track was once again soaking wet and in combination with the low temperature traction was really low.

Just like last time we decided to run my '17 Xray XB2 CE with the new Xray carbon chassis for added flex and traction as well as the 3-gear stand-up gearbox and ball diff from the XB2 DE. We also did some additional changes to add a bit more traction this time around.

After making some small adjustments to the flex of the chassis, a roll center change and installing a fresh ball diff my XB2 felt really good on the very slippery track.

I was able to once again win all 3 qualifying rounds to take the TQ of the evening.

In the 1st A-final I got off to a good start. I had some small bobbles on the very slippery track during the 5 minutes but ended up taking a convincing first win of the evening.

For the 2nd final I started out well and built up a small gap to the rest but unfortunately I caught a pipe after loosing traction and lost a lot of time as well as my lead. Put my head down and quickly made my way back into the fight for 1st. Stayed with the lead car for several laps as he drove really well and defended his lines making it very hard to pass. On what we believed to be the last lap I made a charge at the very last table top jump leading into the last corner and finish line and made the pass just centimetres before crossing the line to take the win.......or so we thought. We both stopped at the entrance to the pit as if the race was finished but then we suddenly realized we had crossed the finish line a few tenths of a second before the time was up. Unfortunately I realized this a little bit later than my opponent and as he charged off to a lead I couldn't close I had to settle for 2nd.

For the 3rd and last final I was determined to make up for the earlier confusion and decided to make a go for it from the very start. Pushed hard and made an almost perfect run to finish almost a lap ahead of the rest.

This was my 6th win in 6 attempts for the 8 race long series and it also meant I won the overall.

I want to thank my local club OMK for putting on the series, distributor Way To Win for the prizes and trophies, Steffen Larsen for being the man in charge and Niklas Bjorka Roos for time keeping and race announcement, as well as all the members making it out to race even though the weather has been really bad at times.

I've had a great time running the series this fall :)

Can't wait for spring to get here and a new and updated track :)

Results for round #8: