LeiLei Clair came along on Sunday, not only bringing the munchies, but also to take a few photo's of the event. You can check out a gallery of her efforts below, then leave a comment and let her know what you think!
Link to gallery
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Monday, 4 July 2011
A tale of Nitro and Muffins
Sunday was another of this summers hotter days, and saw the nitro faithful (and Crazy L) descend on sleep Clanfield for another day of high-octane carnage. Especially the Big Dumb Truck contingent, we like a bit of carnage! Good to see a few old and new faces around as well, Shaun Douglas was back and Levon Traut was with the buggy crowd to see what racing is all about, and increase the SA head count.
The track had been rolled since my last visit, having missed the Dirty Masters in June... I was at some crazy race in France where there was a big crash or something. Anyway, it was looking good, but was obviously going to get crazy dusty as the day wore on. Tyre choice was going to be interesting, especially if you went off line which if I'm honest is where I am most of the time. In the end I ran the first couple of rounds on soft compound Kamikazes, and the second two on super-soft Harikiris and couldn't much tell the difference. The Kami's where a little less edgy I think, but they were both pretty even, and come the final a few were trying small pin tires like Suicides with some success.
Four rounds of qualifying saw four 8 lappers in the bank... a first for me as I usually have at least one dud round. Rounds one, two and three saw me qualify third behind James Tatlow and Tony RC, a bad round four saw me fourth behind Tatlow, RC and Cameron Taylor who came alive once he got the right tires on the truck. Still, with only two of the four rounds counting I'd be going off the three spot come the 30 minute final.
Lunch was a high point of the day, Lionel 'Crazy L' having bought the wonderful LeiLei along with her home baked muffins, and mighty they were to. The brown-sauce and sausage were fantastic, but apple and cinnamon have to be my favorite. Much stuffing of faces and lewd comments followed, leaving everyone happy - possibly a bit too much in Byrner's case.
The final was probably the most fun I've had with an RC car. Close up front with Tatlow, Tony RC, Tony Bolwell, Cammers and me all pushing like crazy for the opening laps. I'd elected to go long on fuel, and try and get the Arrow into the 10 minute window and I knew with the pace we were running it was going to be close, most others would be running 7.30 stops.
Tony B was the first to drop out, his clutch bearings blowing about 11 laps in. Tony RC was next, his clutch bell coming loose after about 15 minutes. I'd pushed him for a while but couldn't live with his consistent pace on the small pin tires - it was obvious how much more grip he had.
That left Mr T way out in front, me and then Cammers who was charging. We had a titanic battle through to about 3 minutes from the end. The number two spot was swapped back and forth (especially after a quality T bone from Richie Hobbs whilst he was being lapped!), but sadly the crowd were denied a close finish when Cammer's steering servo blew after the quads.
The trouble for me was the hammer and tongs battle meant I was not where I needed to be fuel-mileage wise, and the tank went dry with a minute to go as I passed the pits. Some (semi-)quick work from Lee Warren got me back in, fueled and out for the final laps. Fortunately I had five laps on third placed man, so it was all good for second and more championship points.
The final result was JT in first by a couple of laps, me second and Cameron third having made enough laps over Adam Bailey in fourth to hold is place after going out.
A great days racing, big thanks to the Clanfield possie for making it happen, and everyone who's helped out with the track work. Awesome job guys. LeiLei for the muffins, Lionel for... well being the Original really, everyone who helped pit for me and the truggy boys for an awesome days racing.
More photos coming soon.
Oh yeah, someone had a new motor as well... but I promised not to say anything. Nothing to stop people leaving comments though. There's a box below if you feel like dobbing him in. I won't stop you. Although I am open to bribes obviously.
The track had been rolled since my last visit, having missed the Dirty Masters in June... I was at some crazy race in France where there was a big crash or something. Anyway, it was looking good, but was obviously going to get crazy dusty as the day wore on. Tyre choice was going to be interesting, especially if you went off line which if I'm honest is where I am most of the time. In the end I ran the first couple of rounds on soft compound Kamikazes, and the second two on super-soft Harikiris and couldn't much tell the difference. The Kami's where a little less edgy I think, but they were both pretty even, and come the final a few were trying small pin tires like Suicides with some success.
Four rounds of qualifying saw four 8 lappers in the bank... a first for me as I usually have at least one dud round. Rounds one, two and three saw me qualify third behind James Tatlow and Tony RC, a bad round four saw me fourth behind Tatlow, RC and Cameron Taylor who came alive once he got the right tires on the truck. Still, with only two of the four rounds counting I'd be going off the three spot come the 30 minute final.
Lunch was a high point of the day, Lionel 'Crazy L' having bought the wonderful LeiLei along with her home baked muffins, and mighty they were to. The brown-sauce and sausage were fantastic, but apple and cinnamon have to be my favorite. Much stuffing of faces and lewd comments followed, leaving everyone happy - possibly a bit too much in Byrner's case.
Tony RC and me. And a petrol can. (Crazy L photo)
The final was probably the most fun I've had with an RC car. Close up front with Tatlow, Tony RC, Tony Bolwell, Cammers and me all pushing like crazy for the opening laps. I'd elected to go long on fuel, and try and get the Arrow into the 10 minute window and I knew with the pace we were running it was going to be close, most others would be running 7.30 stops.
Tony B was the first to drop out, his clutch bearings blowing about 11 laps in. Tony RC was next, his clutch bell coming loose after about 15 minutes. I'd pushed him for a while but couldn't live with his consistent pace on the small pin tires - it was obvious how much more grip he had.
That left Mr T way out in front, me and then Cammers who was charging. We had a titanic battle through to about 3 minutes from the end. The number two spot was swapped back and forth (especially after a quality T bone from Richie Hobbs whilst he was being lapped!), but sadly the crowd were denied a close finish when Cammer's steering servo blew after the quads.
The trouble for me was the hammer and tongs battle meant I was not where I needed to be fuel-mileage wise, and the tank went dry with a minute to go as I passed the pits. Some (semi-)quick work from Lee Warren got me back in, fueled and out for the final laps. Fortunately I had five laps on third placed man, so it was all good for second and more championship points.
The final result was JT in first by a couple of laps, me second and Cameron third having made enough laps over Adam Bailey in fourth to hold is place after going out.
The Big Dumb Truck podium: L-R me, JT, Cammers (photo by Levon)
A great days racing, big thanks to the Clanfield possie for making it happen, and everyone who's helped out with the track work. Awesome job guys. LeiLei for the muffins, Lionel for... well being the Original really, everyone who helped pit for me and the truggy boys for an awesome days racing.
More photos coming soon.
Oh yeah, someone had a new motor as well... but I promised not to say anything. Nothing to stop people leaving comments though. There's a box below if you feel like dobbing him in. I won't stop you. Although I am open to bribes obviously.
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