Last weekend the 2024 Motorama took place once again at Harrisburg, PA at the PA Farm Show Complex.
This two day event not only featured multiple segments of RC racing, but also full scale racing, car shows, fighting robots and much, much more.
That meant one of the great benefits of attending this race is that RC is showcased in front of thousands of spectators who are at Motorama taking in all the sights and sounds.
Focusing on the RC off-road event, this race was for 1/8 electric off-road vehicles only with six classes to compete in and it brought out 374 entries!
While most of the main exhibits for Motorama started up on Saturday, the off-road race program revved up on Friday as a round of practice was held followed by two rounds of seeding. Then the opening round of qualifying was held after that which completed just past 10pm local time.
On Saturday three more rounds of qualifying kicked off shortly after 8am. To determine the top qualifying position for each class, only a driver’s best two runs would be used for their final qualifying position. So if a driver was able to TQ three rounds then they would lock up the top qualifying position for their respective class. The top 10 drivers from qualifying were automatically locked into the AAA mains. The top three drivers from the lower mains would bump up so that meant a total of 13 drivers in each main event. Since every class ran AAA mains if a driver were to take 1st place in two of the mains then they would lock up the win for the weekend.
Leading the charge for the team was JConcepts/Tekno pro driver Ryan Maifield. He competed in both the Expert 1/8 Electric Buggy and Truggy classes at this race, and as always Ryan was one of the fastest drivers all weekend long. In the truggy class Ryan dominating all rounds of qualifying as he set the TQ time in every single round! In A1 of truggy he got off to a rough start as he found himself in 3rd place on the opening lap. By lap 4 he would slide up to 2nd place as he continued to click off consistent, fast laps. By lap 9 he would take over the lead for good as he crossed the finish line in 1st place! In A2 he would lead the pack from tone to tone to take the win and the title for the weekend!
Team products used:
- 3125 – Green compound Reflex 1/8 truggy tire
- 3185 – Green compound Ellipse 1/8 truggy tire
- 0453 – S15 1/8 truck body
- 3369 – Mono 1/8 truggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
In the e buggy class he got off to a hot start in the opening two rounds of qualifying as he was the fastest car on the track! For rounds three and four he would finish 2nd overall, and after a tie breaker was applied he would start 2nd overall for the AAA mains. In A1 Ryan would put pressure on the leader as it was a race to finish line in the short five minute main, but when the tone had sounded he would finish where he started in 2nd. In A2 it was another close battle, and by lap five he would take over 1st place. A sight bobble would drop him back to 2nd, and two laps later another mistake dropped him down to 3rd pace on lap eight. Ryan would put the hammer down and throw down his hero lap on the final lap to finish 2nd overall. In A3 Ryan would take over 1st place on lap three then cruise on to finish in 1st place, but after the scores were added up he would finish 2nd on the podium.
Team products used:
- 3121 – Green compound Reflex 1/8 buggy tire
- 3184 – Green compound Ellipse 1/8 buggy tire
- 0431 – S15 Tekno EB48 2.0 body
- 3369 – Mono 1/8 truggy wheels
- 5010 – Tekno NB48 2.1 Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set
- 2992 – Radial NMB Bearing Set for the Tekno NB48 2.1
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Next year’s Motorama has already been announced for February 15th and 16th in 2025 and we can’t wait to compete there again next year!
Photo credits: Scotty Ernst, Motorama, Adam Drake