International Sedan slam!

Radio Control Car Action, Mar 2003 by Bess, Stephen

Every two years, the world's fastest, most competitive drivers gather to compete for the most prestigious title in RC racing-the IFMAR World Championship. IFMAR trophies are the RC equivalent of hockey's Stanley Cup, baseball's World Series trophy and soccer's World Cup, so it shouldn't come as a shock that the 2002 1/10 On-Road IFMAR Worlds featured almost 100 drivers from 14 countries. Cincinnati's Tri-State Auto Racing Club played hosts in 2002.

QUALIFYING- FASTEST SEDANS!

After Monday's open track practice and opening ceremonies, the three days of qualifying began on Tuesday. The track was prepared well and the weather was great, so the 200mm and 235mm cars were amazingly fast. Lap times were around 24 seconds for the 235mm cars, but the fastest laps of the day came from the 4WD 200mm touring cars! Their traction advantage allowed them to run nearly a full second per lap faster than the 2WD 235mm cars-- impressive, considering that the 235mm cars use big-block .15 engines and super-wide rear tires. Qualifying was set at 10 minutes (which brought pit stops into the mix), and IFMAR starts were used with each driver on his own clock. MAR qualifying mandates that every car be released several seconds after the previous car to spread out the field and to allow every driver to lay down the fastest laps possible.

* 235mm Michael Salven and his Serpent teammates dominated the qualifying. Serpent's Impact chassis almost exclusively supports the 2WD 235mm racing class, but one car of a different brand competed in the event-STS's Mad Dog. Imported by CRC Racing and piloted by CRC drivers Josh Cyrul and Frank Calandra, this car made a strong showing. After four qualifying rounds, Michael Salven had posted four 26-lap performances with a best of 26/10:09.16, and Josh Cyrul was only 4 seconds off the TQ pace at a 26/10:13.61. Ralph Burch Jr. of Serpent USA placed third, and Britain's Mark Green and the U.S.'s Marty Barnes rounded out the top five.

* 200mm This was by far the most impressive class to watch, especially on the 260-foot-long back straight. On the back straight, the 235mm cars were consistently radar clocked at around 60mph, and the 200mm cars hit around 55mph, yet they were, on average, 0.5 second faster than the 235mm cars; this must mean that the 200mm cars were faster in the turns.

Associated's Nitro TC3 dominated. With six

Nitro TC3s in the top 10, Associated's shaft-- driven vehicle was by far the fastest at the event. Barry Baker piloted his NTC3 to a mind-boggling 26/10:04.27 TO, and Serpent's Michael Salven was a mere 3/10 second behind at 26/10:04.52. Mark Pavidis and Billy Easton drove their way into the third and fourth spots, respectively; Serpent's Mark Green filled the fifth.

FINALS

* 235mm The 235mm final was a nonstop ride on the adrenaline express, as Josh Cyrul and Brian Berry battled it out for an hour and held nothing back. At the starting tone, Cyrul grabbed the holeshot with Berry in pursuit and the rest of the field battling for third. After only 10 laps, TQ Michael Salven had mechanical problems and fell out of contention. During tap 30, the final places were set (though not in this order): Cyrul, Berry, and Juliuss Kolff were in first, second and third respectively. Cyrul led with his STS Mad Dog, driving with surgical precision from laps one to 137. After a slightly longer than usual pit at lap 137 (6.5 seconds), Cyrul fell to second behind a charging Berry.

Berry, who had driven consistently enough to hang right behind Cyrul for 137 laps, took advantage of his lead. He managed to creep away from Cyrul, stretching his fuel mileage until he was forced to pit four laps later with only 2 minutes to go in the race. Knowing that Berry's vehicle did not require a full tank to make it to the end of the race, his pitman (his father) pulled off a brilliant splash-and-go that took 5 seconds off Berry's lap time. He shot out of the pits at full throttle, fractions of a second ahead of Cyrul. The final eight laps were awesome, as Cyrul chased Berry and, with 40 seconds to go, cranked off the fastest lap of the race. Berry nevertheless managed hold the lead and cross the line 3 seconds ahead of him to thunderous cheers and screams for the two racers who had provided one of the most exciting IFMAR finals-if not the most exciting final- ever.

* 200mm The 60-minute final began with TQ Barry Baker taking a quick lead, but a mere five minutes into the race, he smacked his car into the boards before the straightaway and was knocked out of the race for good. Although Baker's pit crew fixed his car, he missed nearly 20 laps and was too farout to recover.

The real battle was between Associated's Mark Pavidis, Trinity's Josh Cyrul and Serpent's Michael Salven. Salven quickly took over Baker's lead, but he broke, and he fell out of the race completely near the 40-minute mark. From lap 82 until the finish on lap 151, Pavidis held first while fending off Josh Cyrul in yet another aggressive, adrenaline-pumping match. Whenever Cyrul appeared to be gaining on Pavidis, he was forced to pit for fuel or made a tiny mistake that cost him time; Pavidis continued to drive flawlessly to the win. In an unbelievable, deja vu finish, Pavidis crossed the finish only 3 seconds ahead of Cyrul.