Well... It's Over

This past weekend the inaugural Can-Am RC Challenge for Charity race was held in the Seaway Mall in Welland Ontario, Canada. It was a rousing success to say the least. The unique venue of racing in a large bustling shopping mall gave great exposure to the RC hobby in an all new way. Many shoppers were able to witness top-level RC racing for the first time in their lives. Event organizer Mark Freshette succeeded in creating tremendous interest in those who stopped to watch the event unfold. The 156 entries raced hard during the 3 day event in classes ranging from Tamiya Mini and F1, to Vintage Trans Am as well as more traditional carpet on-road classes. The big winners were Jason Cramer, winner in 13.5 Foam Sedan, Wayne Vince winner and TQ in 10.5 World GT as well as 13.5 1/12th GTP class. Martin Crisp TQ’ed 1/12th GTP and went on the TQ and win 10.5 Rubber Sedan class as well. An invitational Celebrity Race was held with a number of professional race car drivers, local business owners and Protoform’s own Dale Epp. Racing with Tamiya Mini’s, all the “celebrities” invited to race were actually holding an RC radio for the first time in their lives. Dale Epp slowly motored through the carnage to a 4th place finish. The event was sponsored by Tamiya Canada, Protoform Race Bodies, LRP, Reedy, APS/Speedmind RC and Orca Racing. A portion of every entry fee was donated to Niagara Children’s Center to aid their work with handicapped children.

Mark Frechette and all the Crew would like to thank everyone for coming to the race. We hope you all had a good time. A big congratulations goes out to Mackenzie Guilmette of Welland for winning the ready to run Tamiya Mini in the weekend long raffle. Also, thank you K&D Action Photo for posting some stunning photos of the event on several forums. some of them being at www.wnyrc.com. Thank you to the Seaway Mall for letting us have this event in the mall. The location worked out just as we'd hoped. With all the spectators, it was awesome to see racers interacting with the crowd and answering questions. We'd also like to thank all the sponsors for pulling together and supporting the race. There is already some whispering going around about the next event. Keep an eye out in Xtreme RC Car Magazine for an article on the race in a future issue. As pictures and video come in, I will try to upload them to a page linked at the top right of this page.

Thanks again to all from the Can-Am RC Challenge Crew

2009 Race Classes & Rules:

• TOURING CAR 17.5 - Foam Tires

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • ROAR legal 17.5 brushless motors & ROAR rules apply / 27T ROAR brushed allowed

• TOURING CAR 10.5 - Foam Tires

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • ROAR legal 10.5 brushless motors & ROAR rules apply

• TOURING CAR 13.5 - Rubber Tires

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • ROAR legal 13.5 brushless motors & ROAR rules apply

• TOURING CAR 10.5 - Rubber Tires

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • ROAR legal 10.5 brushless motors & ROAR rules apply

• 1/12 SCALE 17.5 4 cell

  • 8 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • ROAR legal 17.5 brushless motors & ROAR rules apply, 27 Turn Brushed motors allowed
• -1 cell LiPo with 13.5 Brushless is legal.

• WORLD GT 13.5

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • ROAR legal 13.5 brushless motors & ROAR rules apply, 19 Turn brushed motors allowed
• - 1 cell LiPo with 10.5 Brushless is legal

• VINTAGE TRANS AM

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • Tires and motorsas per VTA rules, see link
• • VTA rules apply and are available at http://www.usvintagetransam.com/ *

• TAMIYA MINI

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • Tires and motors as per TCS rules, see link
• • Canadian TCS rules apply (rules @ tamiya.ca) / Orion 2400 Lipo allowed

• TAMIYA FORMULA 1

  • 6 Minute Qualifiers & Mains
• • Tamiya tires & black can motors
• • Canadian TCS rules apply (rules @ tamiya.ca) / Orion 2400 Lipo allowed
• * Any difference between the rules on the VTA website and the downloadable .pdf form from their site, please follow the one that is the most recently updated. The date of last update should be at the top.

Track & Pit Notes

• • Race to be held at the Centre Court of the Seaway Mall – 800 Niagara Street, Welland, Ontario (click here for maps)
• • Jack The Gripper compound only!!

• • Pit tables, chairs, & power will be provided
• • Bring your own extension cords & power bars
• • If there are not enough entries to make a heat, that class may not be run

Local Accommodations

Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel

Comfort Inn

Entry Fees and Forms

• • $35.00 CAD ($30.00 US) for first class, $20.00 CAD ($15.00 US) for each additional class
• • $5.00 from 1st class entered goes to the Niagara Peninsula Children's Centre

• • ENTRY DEADLINE is Sunday, October 11, 2009

• •After deadline, $70.00 CAD ($65.00 US) first class and $40.00 CAD ($35.00 US) additional classes
• ENTRY FORM  ( .pdf format ) ENTRY FORM  ( .xls format )
• • Please send full payment and entry form (before deadline) to: Jim Huppunen 302 McAlpine Ave. S.  Welland, ON, Canada L3B 1V2

ENTER BY EMAIL (entry fees paid for via mail)