Nitro-methane engines ready now it’s time to go racing

When we announced our decision to drop the Go-Kart challenge in this year’s King of Clubs, participants, previous and new alike, had bemoaned the loss of the chance to go wheel to wheel racing with their rivals. But we promised a new and improved RC Challenge to make up for it and it definitely lived up to every expectations.

Remember how we mentioned that we will see these remote-controlled Mugen Seiki cars go flying from the dirt, I would say tarmac but then the RC challenge had happened on a dirt track created specifically for these Mugen Seiki MBX7s. Well those MBX7s didn’t just defied gravity, they also went flipping head over tails but yet, some had managed to carry on the race but most had needed a helping hand from the marshals to flip them upright or dump them back on the track for those who had went on a wild ride off the track.

If you head over to our Instagram page or our Facebook page, you would catch a few videos of what I meant when I said the cars were flipping and flying (remember to click "like" while you're there). Participants had a chance to practice their skills before going head to head with their competitors. Two representatives of each team go face to face with their rivals from another team in two different rounds, the third round will have the last remaining member of the team take part on a one-on-one challenge.

Points were awarded base on the order of each member’s finishing in their respective rounds, so instead of a time attack challenge like last year we have a race that resembles the motorsport racing that we watch on TV. A total of three laps were what the drivers had to execute and in between the three laps participants are also required to make a pit-stop. Tough? Yes, that’s how we test out of participants.

But how did we determine who won the races?

Well, this might not be a time attack challenge but we were still calculating the times each driver took to finish the race for two reasons. One was to impose penalty on drivers and two, we still have to decide who is the best in the RC challenge.

Toyota MR2/ MRS had scored a total time of 18.130 on Saturday, earning them the medal for the RC challenge with Antera only just 0.030 seconds behind them with a 18.160 seconds total time. On Sunday, it was Mini Owner’s Club Malaysia that took home the medal for the best times and teamwork with an 18.390. It was a landslide win for Mini with their closest rival Malat Bimmer coming in with a 19.090.

So we can’t decide now, do we want to go against the glamour and head on back to Shah Alam so we could have full on Go-Kart race next year? Or do we want to keep our location in Putrajaya just for the RC Challenge? We should start a vote!

Jerrica Leong