5th PLACE, 353 LAPS, 107 KILOMETERS, ENDURANCE RACE...

On October 4th, the Caster sponsored; Hardcore race track, in Flamborough Ontario, hosted a race that proved to be the ultimate test of skill, and a buggy's durability. The 5 HOUR ENDURANCE RACE!!! The manufacturers with representation at this race were Caster, Mugen, Losi, Kyosho, Jammin and X-Ray.

Representing Caster for this race, were 4 of the 7 team members from the Canadian Caster race team. Myself, Bryan Cote, Derek Rafuse and Brian (Gump) Belanger.

In the weeks leading up to this event, we discussed strategy and prepared our buggy. There were only 2 of us that had ever competed in an endurance race before, but never a 5 hour one!!! It was almost unthinkable to drive a buggy for 5 hours, but we did it, along with 7 other teams!

After the completion of 300 minutes (5 hours), we had burned almost 2 gallons of fuel, and logged 353 laps, which equated to a mind numbing 107 kilometers, given the length of the track! If that's not amazing enough...WE NEVER BROKE A SINGLE PART ON THE ZX-1.5R!!!

The winners (a team run by good friend, and Mugen sponsored driver, John 'Chewy' Bakker) checked out from the start, and never looked back, and left the rest of the field to duke it out. The field was very tight from 2nd to 5th place, with only 6 laps separating us from 2nd place, and 4 laps from 3rd. There were many exciting position changes throughout the race.