Team Serpent development driver Billy Easton reports from Space Coast RC in Florida and the Lead Finger Anniversary Race: This past weekend was the first annual LFR race at Space Coast RC in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The facility is the largest indoor track in the state of Florida. They use red clay and prep it with grape soda and sugar. The traction is pretty intense and the layouts are always a blast. Angel and his crew did a great job keeping the track up and the race program going. They have an onsite chef to cook all different types of food and keep the racers from starving all day. There were around 200 entries for the event and 21 or so heats. It was a typical IFMAR qualification format with two qualifiers and a single A final. There were a fair amount of sponsored drivers in attendance, Paul Wynn, Ryan Eckert, Daimon Birkowicz, Jeremy Harris, Jadar Lopez and a few others. This track has been the home of a lot of the testing and development of the Serpent SRX-2. I have several race days at this track to develop the car for durability and also performance. This was the largest race I have entered thus far.
Qualification
As qualification set off, my first round was going well until my tires went away about three minutes in. The car became difficult to drive and I began making to many mistakes. That round, the top finisher was Paul Wynn with his AE B4.2. He drove a smooth five-minute qualifier with minimal troubles. The second round came around and I opted for a longer lasting tyre (harder compound) and my car was on point for a fast time. Although the track was a little dusty I posted a good time and was able to take overall TQ for the event. It was nice to be on pole, as the car was working well and it never hurts to have a good outing with such a new car.
Final
After waiting what seemed to be all day, finally our race was up. I changed up the set-up for the final to something I thought would be more drivable for the final. We were very lucky to have the track blown off just before our final. This gave us a premium track for the five minute final. At the sound of the horn, my car felt really good. It was stable and fairly easy to drive. The changes numbed out the front end and although it was a little slower in the corners you could run lap after lap with no troubles. I was able to pull away from the tone and steadily put a gap between me and second place. The finishing order was myself, Paul Wynn, Daimon Birkowicz, Ryan Eckert and Andy Darby. Thanks to all my sponsors for the great products and support. Serpent, Proline, A-Main Hobbies, Hitec, Protek, Reedy, LRP, PT Racing Oils, Arrowmax. I also want to give a shout out to RC Racing Action Shots photography. They did an awesome job covering the photos of the event.
Billy Easton
Source: Serpent
