Steel City RC Speedway was host to the 2019 1/8 World Championships in California, USA.
Travelling with my good friend Steven we arrived to the track for IPD, having raced the Pre Worlds earlier this year I was there only to help the team and keep an eye on track conditions.
It was evident very early on the track would have a unique and not ‘normal’ grip level, witnessing almost all cars traction rolling at some point during practice.
Our team had some optional parts to help combat high grip issues, quickly installing the new parts I was feeling prepared for control practice. During practice it was necessary to have a program to follow, with not much time I stuck with my original program ensuring we had engine packages ready for qualy.

Qualification – Unfortunately due to high winds we missed a day, meaning qualy was shortened from 7min to 4min, this meant trying to push the car as much as possible and trying not to flip. I was confident in the setup the Serpent Team achieved, still able to flip but much more controllable. We secured top 5 finishes in 4 out of the 6 rounds resulting in a 7th position overall and a direct spot in the Semi Finals at the end of qualification.

Semi Final – Having not had any pit stops or running on the track for more than 4min I was unsure what to expect for the 30min final. Starting from P3 we quickly bumped into 2nd position after a problem with car number 1, keeping the pace and having some really good pit stops from my partner Brioney we were able to finish the 30mins in 2nd position.

WC Final – Making any World Championship final generally for most is a goal in itself! We have all have seen and know that anything can happen in long 1 hour main final. Unfortunately the engine I used for the semi final was looking a little tired, considering my goal (to finish) I opted for a different engine that I had prepped during practice. The car was Prepped, Our strategy finalised, now the butterflies started… My first 1/8 World Championship Final!
The warm-up started, on the first lap I knew my clutch was set on the limit, although probably going to be ok I opted for the safe side, my mechanics adjusting the clutch, after this I knew maybe we wouldnÂ’t have the ultimate pace however my clutch wouldnÂ’t fail.

We started from grid position 4, an unfortunate first corner collision with my team mate pushed us down a few spots at the start, knowing we have 59min I was conservative with my driving hoping not to do a tyre change and making some time back. The engine I chose was for sure not as quick, combined with a super conservative clutch our pace was not as quick as others, without having the power I used more tyres! Completing a tyre change just after the 30min mark I set out to finish strong.
My fellow Aussie who was having a great race fell into some problems earlier on was making a charge back to the front, unfortunately while edging closer to me his car failed, running into the side of my car breaking a rear hub. My buddy Steven was able to get the car back to a driveable condition, allowing me to complete the race albeit 20 laps down in 4th Position.
The Main Final definitely had a high rate of attrition with multiple leaders having problems throughout. My father taught me from a young age to always try and finish any race, regardless of position.

Overall this race meeting has been more then memorable, I canÂ’t say enough about the Goodwine family, providing such an awesome facility for us RC racers to enjoy.
A big Thank you to my race team – Brioney, Steven, Brian and Big Pete
My new family, Team Serpent! Such a great environment to all work together and have fun while doing it. These results are OURS!

To all my sponsors and partners Thank You!

Jeff Hamon
Team Serpent