Serpent USA Team drivers Mike Abraira and Tim Potter both enjoyed success over the weekend in Round 2 of the 2008 Florida State Series. Driving Serpent\'s S400 at Village R/C Raceway in West Palm Beach, the pair took were victorious in the both the Expert and Pro classes.
Mike, who was racing in the Expert class had a hard fought qualifying but still managed second spot for the A Main. When the tone went off, he took the race lead and never looked back, his car being exceptional allowing him to cruise home for the win.
Tim, who was representing Serpent in the Pro class which is run in a Reedy format of 6 “Heads Up” rounds, took two wins, two seconds and overall fastest run to finish in the number one overall spot.
Round 2 of the six race 2008 FSEARA Series got underway on the Friday with initial practice. The S400 hit the track with a solid starting setup. Mike’s suggestion of going to shorter front upper links was the perfect addition to the setup the team were at. All the cars were running switched the rear gear diff which for the most part was a positive change. Friday\'s practice times showed the S400 was very competitive for the following two days of racing.
On Saturday, the track was hot reaching 110+ (F), but the traction was high. Everyone struggled with the amount of traction, but the base setup of the Team Serpent USA cars was good. Mike took to the track and came back with two very fast runs, both of them putting him second on the grid for each of his classes. Tim\'s first run in Mod also netted second, after leading for 4 minutes the car lost all velocity. This run brought to light the main problem of his weekend. The rear belt stripping. It appears when running the gear diff, without the ability of slippage; it tears through the rear belts. Running a 4.5 Novak, he only managed to figure out how to get a full run out of a belt - set it extra tight and soften the brakes. AJ Dipirro put in a solid run, and he put his car 6th in the A after the first two round of qualifying.
On Sunday, the cars were very good, and Tim added another win to his totals, ending up first in the Pro Mod class with 2 wins, 2 seconds and fastest overall time. Mike won the Expert 10.5 class, and finished second in the Sportsman 13.5 class. Mike had an epic battle with one of the fastest young local racers, and at about 5 minutes in, while defending his lead, dotted the car, and fell back to second. AJ was in line for a podium spot, and had a ball cup failure; his car was one of the best on the track for the final. Female S400 racer Denise also got the car to her liking for the B final in Expert class, but had a tire come unglued. Tim also TQ’d and won the “Fun” class, Vintage Trans Am.
Overall it was a great weekend for the Serpent S400 with 3 class wins and 2 Class TQ’s.
