Known mostly for his 1/8 Nitro Buggy expertise Adam Drake is no stranger to electric powered R/C cars. Like most of our “founding fathers” of R/C Drake started with electric and quickly grew with the nitro scene. As the 1/10 gas truck class took off and become one of the largest classes raced. Then as 1/8 Nitro buggies got more and more reliable he became an industry leader and has become an icon world wide for the class. Drake recently won the 2013 ROAR Fuel Nats with TLR’s 8ight 3.0 buggy.
So who better to spear head TLR’s latest 8ight 3.0e buggy then “The Drake!?” Drake teamed up with Tekin electronics a few years ago and we’re going to take an in depth look at Drake’s 2013 JBRL 1/8 E buggy championship winning ride!
Adam has quite a few years under his belt running the 1/8 E-buggy class and generally chooses between the 2050kv and T8 Gen2 1900kv motor. Now running our latest Gen2 T8 motors he rarely takes out the 1900kv motor noting “it’s super smooth and never lacks power.” Driving his Gen2 T8 is the Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc.
Drake clearly takes advantage of the 8ight 3.0e buggies wire routing guides to route his wires from the esc to the motor along with his sensor cable. All tied together tight and clean. This is important to take the load off the Rx8’s solder posts and motors solder tabs during impacts. Taking the time here will help guarantee long term reliability.
Another key instillation tip here is the switch mounting. A small drop of CA glue is all it takes to mount the switch to the esc housing and secure it. Note that Drake runs his switch where “On” is forward in case of a collision. A hard front impact will keep the switch from being turned off with inertia caused by those impacts…Pro!
Again clean wiring, zip ties to hold the A B C motor wires together for neat and safe routing. Note the Hitec HV servo. The Rx8 Gen2 provides a true HV Bec pushing out 7 amps easily handling the Drakes servo power requirements.
Adam showed consistency is what wins championships. Look at these results:
Round 1 @ Thunder Alley Raceway TQ, Round 2 @ Palm Desert Raceway Qualified and finished 2nd,
Round 3 @ Revelation Raceway TQ and finished 2nd, Round 4 @ ARC Raceway TQ’ed and won,
Round 5 @ Chula Vista Qualified and finished second, Round 6 @ Thunder Alley Raceway TQ’ed and won, Round 7 @ Pro-Line Qualified 2nd and finished 3rd, Round 8 @ Hot Rod Hobbies TQ’ed and won!
Adam is always a contender in any class he throws a car down into. On top of being fast and consistent The Drake is always willing to lend a hand with any of his sponsors products. If you see him at a race in the pits, make a point to say “hi” and meet one of the greatest r/c racers of our time.