Hickerson took prototype SOAR truggy to victory at the FORCE Series round seven

0 Nov. 21, 2017, 10:23 a.m.

Main Photo: Hickerson took prototype SOAR truggy to victory at the FORCE Series round seven

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

Race Report from Soar Seiki USA:
www.dialedhobbies.com

SOAR Racing USA's Gene Hickerson and Mitch Zeck both score a TQ and apodium at Round 7 of the FORCE Series at River Rat RC Raceway with the SOAR vehicles and James Racing Tires.

First up was 1/8 Pro Truggy. Hickerson took TQ in both rounds of qualifying with the prototype 2018 SOAR Seiki 998T TD1-R Truggy. In the A-main, Hickerson took the lead 5 minutes in and never looked back to score his 2nd victory in a row at the FORCE Series since running the new SOAR truggy equipped with James Racing Pentangle Tires.

Expert Nitro Truggy A-main

Gene Hickerson - SOAR/James
Aaron Sikes - Losi/JC
Sebastian Vasan - Losi/Proline

Next up was 1/8 Pro Nitro Buggy. Mitch Zeck was able to take TQ in round 1with Hickerson finishing a close 3rd. In round 2, Hickerson missed TQ byjust 0.2 seconds behind Julien Oliveras to finish 2nd with Zeck in 3rd.That gave Mitch the overall TQ and Hickerson starting 3rd both with the 2018 SOAR Seiki 998 TD1-R buggies equipped with James I-Block Tires.In the 35 minute A-main, Both SOAR drivers choose James Racing I-Blocktires. Hickerson took the early lead and started to check out. Zeck worked his way up from last to 3rd before having a receiver pack fail, causing a DNF. A great battle ensued between Hickerson, Jordan Singletary, and Julien Oliveras for the next 25 minutes. With 5 minutes to go, Hickerson got stuck on a pipe and flamed out, handing a 1 lap lead to Oliveras who went on tow in. Hickerson rejoined in 4th but quickly worked his way back up to finish 2nd by just 0.07 seconds over Singletary in a very exciting photo finish.

Expert Nitro Buggy A-main

Julien Oliveras - AE/Proline
Gene Hickerson - SOAR/James
Jordan Singletary - Mugen/JC

Next up was the double A-mains for the 1/8 Pro E-buggy class. Patrick Rossiter took TQ. SOAR Racing's Mitch Zeck had the fastest lap times inboth rounds but was plagued with electronic issues and only managed toqualify 4th. In the A-mains, Rossiter and John Bernard JR both scored a 1st & 2nd, while Zeck finished 3rd in both mains after more motor and battery issues that caused a loss of power half way through both mains, taking himout of contention for the wins.