Xray Dominates IIC 2018

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By Tyler Hooks
LiveRC.com

Press Release from XRAY:
www.teamxray.com

Race Report by Alexander Hagberg: 

The 2018 edition of the world famous IIC event was held once again at the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Our XRAY team was represented by some of the best RC America racers, as well as a couple European additions! The track layout this year was fast, yet challenging, and grip levels came up rather high as the qualifiers started. 

In the modified class, I was on pace early on, and could fight for the TQ in each round. I eventually lost out on the TQ in the rocket round by 1.4s, after some small mistakes. 

An important new feature to this year's event was triple A finals for everyone! This changed this around a bit from the single main system that had been used since the first edition of this race, 13 years back. 

On main day, I had switched from an aluminium flex to a solid aluminium chassis - and I could instantly see that it was the right thing to do. My car carried loads of corner speed while still being easy to drive. I really felt that I had an advantage going into the finals on the Sunday. In A1 I could cruise to victory after an early mistake from Ronald. A2 was a much tougher challenge. I knew that I had to drive aggressively from early on to try and stay with Ronald and possibly force an error. A minute or so into the final, Ronald hit a dot which meant that I could dive on the inside. I had the inside line coming up the front straight, but we came together just before the turn. Luckily I came out first, and could take the lead, which I held until the finish line - I was extremely happy to have taken my first IIC win in the touring car class! 

I am proud not only of my win, but of the team effort this week. I feel that we worked really closely together to find a good set-up. This can be clearly reflected in the modified result - as XRAY had 4 cars in the top 5! Well done Jan Ratheisky on the 3rd place, Paul Lemieux on the 4th, and Drew Ellis in 5th! 
Modified Results: 

1. Alexander Hagberg – XRAY T4 
2. Ronald Volker 
3. Jan Ratheisky – XRAY T4 


In the 1/12 modified class - I found a good setup at the end of practice, which I only fine tuned for the rest of the event. My car was really easy to drive, but with lots of grip and steering. I was able to take a convincing TQ, which I converted into a win after the first two A-finals. The aluminium chassis was the best choice, as usual for these conditions, but in the end, I settled for the EU front end. I have to compliment my HW/Sunpadow power package as well, which definitely gave me an edge at this high speed track. 

1/12 Modified Results: 

1. Alexander Hagberg – XRAY X12 
2. Kevin Hebert 
3. Andrew Knapp 

In the TC super stock class, qualifying was an extremely close affair. Our team driver Jan Ratheisky showed great pace all week, but unfortunately, he had some tough luck in the Q4 "rocket round" which demoted him to 4th on the grid. Jan eventually moved up to 3rd after the finals, but I know that he had potential for more. Drew Ellis and Luke Pittman also made the A-final for our team! 

Super Stock Results: 
1. Brandon Clements 
2. Ray Darroch 
3. Jan Ratheisky – XRAY T4 

In the TC 21.5 class, our fellow Canadian Luke Pittman did a stellar job, TQ'ing the race in a great fashion. Unfortunately, Luke ran into some issues with traffic in both A1 & 2, which would cost him the win. Darren Shank came in a strong 3rd for our team! Marc McGurren and David Panter also made the A-final for XRAY/RC America! 

Stock Results: 
1. Armand DeForest - ? 
2. Luke Pittman - XRAY T4 
3. Darren Shank - XRAY T4 

Jan Ratheisky took his X1 car to a great TQ and victory in the Formula class! Jan won the first two A-finals from tone to tone and didn't put a wheel wrong all day! 
F1 Results: 

1. Jan Ratheisky – XRAY X1 
2. Andrew Knapp - CRC 
3. EJ Evans – ? 

I want to thank all XRAY and RC America team drivers for their support and great work during the week! It's been a blast as always - until next time! Last but not least, I would like to wish our team the best of luck at the Indoor Champs in Cleveland this coming weekend! 

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