Today was the second weekend that Junior Racing was run at Hobby Planet's 1/32 track.

For those of you familiar with the other race results from Hobby Planet, there are some important notes to explain the slow speeds and low lap counts for these races. The heats were limited to two minutes, two minutes off, round robin style. Also, the track power was turned down to 10 volts, from a regular of 16 volts. This will be the standard format for the Juniors.

It should also be noted that there are no hard guidelines for what cars can be run, with the exception of open-wheelers. These became a definite no-go after Kendra picked up an A1GP, got the tires trued, and with no additional magnet was turning ~6s laps consistently with no problems.



Qualifying was done in regular 3-lap fashion. All drivers qualified, then broken down into races featuring four drivers each. So with seven drivers present, the slowest three ran their own race, then the fastest four ran their race.


Race 1 featured Kendra's Skodia Fabia WRC, Zach borrowing a store Porsche Boxster, and Benjamin with an older Scalextric NASCAR.

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps
Kendra 12.120 42
Zach 10.190 41
Benjamin 14.330 35

Kendra ran a clean opening run to put her up five laps over Zach, but when her car hit orange lane it slowed dramatically and gave him a bit shot at closing the gap. A few off-track excursions cost Zach his shot, though, and Kendra took it by less than a full lap (she was heading toward the second straight hairpin, he was just about to cross the scoring bridge). Benjamin did his best to keep up, but was having a ton of fun even without competing for the win.



Race 2 had Alex's just-purchased Porsche Boxster (it only had the tires trued), Nicholas's Opel Vectra, Mitch's borrowed store Boxster, and Darius's Scalextric MG Lola. (Come to think of it, all of the cars were Scalextric cars!)

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps
Alex 7.860 52
Nicholas 9.080 49
Mitch 9.700 46
Darius 10.060 44

Qualifying set the tone for the race, and the qualifying order was the final order! Alex had trouble early with his car's braid splaying out over the course of a couple of offs, and that cost him a lot of time as the problem was examined. He ended the first heat five laps behind Darius, and in last place. However, from there forward Alex drove his Boxster masterfully, displaying a skill that might see him being pushed from Junior racing to the more experienced Friday races! Darius's lead looked like it might hold up, and Nicholas was starting to close the gap, when he entered the third heat and halfway through had a guide wire disconnect. Darius had to swap to a borrowed Boxster to finish the race. Mitch was having his first go at racing, and came off a few times, but kept it going strong when he wasn't having trouble. Alex and Nicholas entered the last heat on the same lap, but Nicholas had a few troubles and Alex gained a lead that he kept to the end. The close results are proof of how close things were!



The Junior drivers showed a nice degree of calm and some of them displayed a good amount of skill that has me believing in the future of the sport!

The Junior racing had a really good turnout of nine racers this week. As usual, we ran two minute heats with the track at 10V power, and had the racers separated by qualifying order into two races.


First Race

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps
Jared 8.100 49
Matthew 10.333 43
Danielle 9.076 43
Angel 13.259 42
Alex 11.729 40
This race was the rookies' race, all five drivers having not raced on the track before today. They turned in nice performances, having not had any real experience. Alex was consistent with 10 laps on each lane with his borrowed Audi TT. Angel did a decent performance with a borrowed old Scalextric BMW M3 Rally Car (despite his pre-race jitters, he was only a lap out of second!). Danielle did a nice job with her Mercedes SLK Safety Car but had a few problems with the car's length. Matthew and Jared both used the track's rental Porsche Boxsters, and had good runs with them. Matthew finished just half a lap ahead of Danielle. Jared looked like a natural, despite having some problems on the infamous blue lane.



Second Race

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps
Alex 8.028 64
Kendra 7.070 63
Darius 6.913 61
Nicholas 8.633 54
The old adage is indeed true. Speed is nice, but consistency is better! Both Kendra and Darius had their new A1GP cars, which they'd been practicing with before the race and had running really good, as you can tell from their qualifying times. Alex had his winning Porsche Boxster back out again, and Nicholas tried to have a go with a 1/43 scale Batmobile. The early favorites were the A1GP cars, but both Kendra and Darius had some problems handling the speed at times and Alex snuck by to take a close victory! Nicholas gave it his best go, but the Batmobile didn't seem to respond well to race conditions.


At this rate, Alex will definitely have to be kicked up to the Friday night races!




A note for you guys who might be interested. The A1GP cars run brilliant out of the box on the lowered power. Just true the tires, break them in, and they run like a charm with the stock magnet. This is a pretty good "intermediate class", because the cars go a decent speed, are reasonably easy to handle but can still get out of hand if you aren't careful, and they're fun to drive.

All of the juniors are improving each week, and they are showing that they are definitely the future racers! They have a great time racing and they are all willing to help each other when needed.

It was another exciting day of racing for the Juniors Class this week! We were back to running everyone with their own car, since only one driver didn't have their own car. As usual, it was two minute heats with the racers divided into separate races based on qualifying, running the track at 10V.


"B Main"

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps Car
Kendra 8.144 49 USA A1GP
Dylan 8.017 48 Audi TT
Matthew 8.576 43 Porsche Boxster
Jared 7.840 39 Porsche 956C
Justin 8.524 39 Porsche Boxster

Kendra had some problems during qualifying, but had very few such problems during the race, and turned out a 49-lap performance to win by one lap over Dylan. Jared had some handling problems with his Spirit of America Porsche 956C, and it had a few other problems during the race. Matther looked good in his second race for third place, and Justin did admirably as a rookie racer.


"A Main"

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps Car
Alex 7.541 62 Australia A1GP
Nicholas 6.920 59 French A1GP
Darius 6.544 55 Australia A1GP
David 6.851 53 NASCAR #97

The race started bad for Alex as his car wouldn't start, a problem with the handle preventing him from going for a few laps. Nicholas and Darius put up a good race with their A1GPs, but were unable to match Alex's consistency. David rounded out the finishing order, having run with a car he'd never raced before in just his second race.


The A1 cars are going well for the kids, and it looks like Alex is definitely the guy to beat!

We had a small turnout for the Juniors racing today, just five drivers. However, they kept things tight and exciting! Hunter and Kaydra was a new racer, and Alex was the returning "champ".

This week the heat times were set at 2:45, with 2:00 between heats.

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps Car
Alex 6.707 82 Australia A1GP
Danielle 8.554 79 Porsche Boxster
Justin 7.820 71 Porsche Boxster
Hunter 7.861 70 Porsche Boxster
Kaydra 10.406 56 Porsche Boxster

Things got off to a good start for Danielle with her personal pink Boxster, leading by a lap over Alex after the first heat. Alex put the heat on after that, and a few mistakes by Danielle gave him the breathing room to take a three-lap win despite having problems with his brushes in his third heat. Justin and Hunter gave it a go, but their inexperience showed as they each had a few offs that cost them precious time. Kaydra was running on the track for her first time, and drove a little conservatively to compensate.

Alex is looking good for continuing his streak of wins in the Junior racing.

Those Juniors just keep getting better, before you know it they will be beating the veteran drivers.

Seven racers showed up for the Juniors Sunday, and the races were split into 4 and 3 drivers. For qualifying and the first heat, power was down at around 10v, but it was turned up because this was too slow to about 11-11.5v. Heat times were 2:25.


"B Main"

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps Car
Nick 8.059 65 Australia A1GP
Hunter 8.347 58 Scalextric 1970 Mustang 302
Matthew 9.368 57 Porsche Boxster

Nick was a little slower with the qualifying this week because he'd gotten a magnet added to his car prior to the race and was still feeling it out, but he was quick in the race. Hunter had a new Scaley Boss Mustang he'd gotten just before the race, a car with a big weight disadvantage, but he learned it quickly and got better as the race went on. Matthew ended up third, just dropping behind Hunter in the end with a couple of mistakes.


"A Main"

Driver Name Qualifying Final Laps Car
Alex 7.310 78 Australia A1GP
Marcus 7.756 64 Slot.it Mercedes Sauber
Dylan 7.267 61 Audi TT
Jared 7.086 48 Slot.it Porsche 956C

Alex continued his winning streak, taking his A1 and leaving the field behind. Marcus was running his first race, and as the youngest driver there he turned in a good performance to take second with his dad's car. Dylan put in a good performance for third. Jared qualified with his brother's Audi, but had to race his own car, the Spirit of America 956C, which is a little tail-happy even at lower speeds.


The junior racers provided some great, close racing. Even considering how low the power was for the first race, when you add their results to the second race, there are five drivers in the 57-65 lap range. Alex broke away with his experience and a good car, and Jared lagged behind because he had a car that worried him. With no power issues next week and each of the drivers learning, the racing should be even closer!

I have to say it was a lot of fun to see my little man Marcus racing in his first race. I have to point out that other than a little cheering on and help from mom to keep him on the stool, he did all of the trigger pulling himself. And I have to add that "youngest" is a bit of an understatement. He's only three! Lots of years ahead of him... I would like to thank everyone at the shop, it was fun for my family and the young men that ran in the juniors are great kids. I believe that to be a reflection on the parents. Thanks and we will see you all soon... -Marcus's Dad...