In this edition of the JConcepts Friday5 we talk to North Dakota team driver, Marco Moreno!
1. How did you get started in RC? Was it racing right away, or did you bash vehicles before you found out about the RC race scene?
I got started in RC when I was 10 years old and my father brought me home a Tamiya Boomerang when items from RadioShack like the Super Lobo were popular. After taking on a curb at full speed with it, and not really knowing much about the vehicle to fix it, my next trip into RC was the Losi XX-4 when it first released ,but there wasn’t any formal racing in the area, so it was regulated to a fun basher. I got into actual RC racing when parking lot racing was starting up with the Team Associated TC3 and Losi XXX-S.
2. What classes do you enjoy to compete in today? Is there another class you would like to see comeback or increase in popularity so you could compete in it as well?
I am a fan of anything 4wd off-road including 1/10 and 1/8. I often joke that if you are going to have a tire on your vehicle, it actually should be doing something and not just be along for the rider while the other ones are doing the work! I have really enjoyed seeing the increase in popularity of 1/10 4wd buggies and look forward to seeing it continue to grow. I am lucky that my local club FMRC Raceways has an outdoor location that can accommodate 1/8 turf racing, and have really been enjoying doing this, and look forward to seeing this grow more. It has been great to see JConcepts supporting this class with tire offerings for it. Having owned a couple of vehicles I used for bashing, I would love to try 1/5 off-road racing.
3. In your area you compete in a lot of off-road carpet racing. Some racers can struggle to glue carpet tires due to their harder compounds, so what are some tips you can share to make this task easier?
JConcepts’ gluing bead has really helped in making this a lot easier to do versus old style designs. A big thing I always like to stress to those gluing tires is make sure you prep your surfaces properly, use tire bands, and most of all take your time so you actually glue the tire to the wheel and not yourself to the tire! In addition to this, JConcepts offers a nice line of pre-mounted tires which are great even if you are used to gluing your own tires.
4. Which JConcepts product is your favorite to date, and why?
I really like the JConcepts Satellite Tire Rubber Bands due to how the grips are on the bands as well as how nice the material stretches. This makes it easy to do adjustments of the bands versus other ones I have used in the past where the grips were very small and the material was very stiff.
5. Name one thing people might be surprised to learn about you.
My Favorite movie is “The Crow”.