In this edition of the JConcepts Friday5 we talk to long time Minnesota racer, Thor Ott!
1. When and how did you get started in RC?
We had just moved and a soon to be friend name Seth was at my neighbor’s house running his Tamiya Blackfoot. This was around 1986-87 and I’ve been into RC, planes, boats, 1/8 and 1/10 ever since and will be forever.
2. What is your favorite class to race and why?
All time favorite class was with my Losi XXXT MF2 (stadium truck class). Rear motor trucks were so much more fun. Now, any 2wd class; always the biggest and most competition. I truly believe in always racing against the best drivers; to me that’s the point of racing.
3. In your region you do quite a bit of racing on off-road carpet. So what advice do you have for off-road dirt drivers that are trying out carpet for the 1st time?
What people have to realize about carpet is everything happens faster and equipment, drivers, and setups are even a larger part of racing. I used to ask people for help with setups, equipment and etc. I realize this not the right decision. I commit to myself to learn everything about RC racing that I can. I’ve spent tons of time, money and now I’m better than I was 10-15 years ago. A few things I do for carpet are take some speed out of my servo, really work on smooth ESC settings, thick diff oil, and drag brake. I won’t go over 30% because I still race dirt and don’t want too many bad habits.
4. With the COVID-19 virus closing many tracks temporarily in the US, how do you plan to quench your thirst for RC?
For me with this terrible COVID-19 (is) effecting anything. It’s honestly been a nice break for me from racing. I’m a die hard racer and this is the first time in years that I’ve missed more than a week of racing. We are very fortunate to have many tracks here in Minnesota and I’m a huge believer in supporting local tracks. I’ve been around a long time and have seen many tracks close over the years. I’m also a RC nerd and have really enjoyed working on all my vintage cars. It also helps I have a 1/10 track in my backyard!
5. To date what is your favorite JConcepts product of all time and why?
Favorite JConcepts product? Well the collector in me is the JConcepts BJ4 Worlds Edition. It dominated the 4wd class for years!!
More recent product would be the F2 body. It’s often hard to find stuff that really truly works well on the track and looks fantastic in my pit or in my RC room!!