Mario Ficco – 2015 Snowbirds Spec-GT

T.Q. + Winner

CRC’s Gen-X 10SE with Rocket Fuel power take the win!

Denver driver Mario Ficco dominated the Spec-GT class with his CRC Gen-X-10SE (#1801). A solid T.Q. and wire-to-wire win.

From his pole position, Mario went unchallenged driving away from the competition with an error free drive. His very stock Gen-X 10 SE maintained excellent corner speed giving him the edge he needed to secure T.Q. and the win.

The weapon

Ficco’s CRC Gen-X 10SE (#1801) with Rocket Fuel (#3705) battery pack. Add some World GT tires (#2300 and #2302), a bit of driver and it adds up to a victory!

Ficco in the post race interview explaining to the world how to stay cool under pressure!

F1 at the Birds

The CRC WTF-1 set the top 2 lap times in the A-main of F1. Brian Wynn hot lapped the field with Mario Ficco setting the second fastest lap time. Only some unfortunate “board meetings” stopped the CRC duo from taking the win. In the A-main, a full 60% of the field chose the CRC WTF-1.

Six CRC drivers in the F1 A-main

CRC WTF-1 drivers in the A-main. A great blend of talent from around the World; 3 Japanese, 2 Americans and a Brit! From left to right; Yugo Nagashima, Kazuki Endo, Brian Wynn, Hayato Ishioka, Mario Ficco and Mark Burgess. (Looks like we have to get the UK driver to wear black next time!)

1/12th Modified

The World Champion CRC Xti-WC car was well represented in the A-main with 3 drivers placing the Xti-WC in the final. Hayato Ishioka, Yugo Nagashima and Andew Knapp also used CRC Pro Cut tires to achieve a solid result.

After a rough start, Hayato ran third but slowly closed in on the first and second place cars. With one lap to go, it was a race between the 3 of them. In the chicane leading onto the straight just 30 feet from the finish line, there was a huge crash as all three drivers went for the win. As the cars headed down the straight toward the finish line, Ishioka’s CRC ride was in the lead, but the young Japanese driver had an issue. The problem? He was sliding on his roof toward the finish line in the lead. Unfortunately for Hayato, the second place car powered past to take the win. Regardless, a great result for the CRC team drivers with Hayato taking second, Yugo 4th and Andrew Knapp 5th. All three cars in the top 5.

CRC 1/12th Modified A-main drivers

Hayato used the Xti-WC with just a couple options. The #3276 front cross brace was used on the high bite of the Snowbirds along with the #3359 graphite front shock mount. Hayato used the stock shock mounting positions, however in place of the plastic shock mount he used the #3359 top deck to further stiffen the chassis.