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.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Mr Magoo goes Old Skool
So this week, with me having been to (RC) lazy-arsed to empty the car from TORCH on Sunday it seemed rude not to peel out of the office and head north for round 5 of the Summer Shootout. The track takes some finding on a first visit, but if you spot the Sea Scout building (really? Sea Scouts in land-locked Surrey???) you're in the right place.
Being a late arriver I wound up parked some way from the track, but spotting fellow Clanner Paul 'Berky' Berkinshaw I pitted with him, and just ran off the ground, in keeping with the old skool vibe.
So, what of the track? Well, a fairly small but fun looking circuit was on offer, along with a suitable rostrum. The track itself is all grass with a section of astro to protect the 'launch pad' onto the back straight and a couple of small astro covered kickers. The track has obviously taken a pounding, especially since the Fastrax GP had been run a couple of weeks earlier, and the weather of late hasn't been great for growing grass. There was a lot of dirt on show, but hey, it's off road and it all adds to the fun! It was also clear that my jet propelled 'Rango with it's high grip astro set up was going to be an interesting proposition, especially with the track being damp. Easy on the throttle then... sadly not my forte!
Neil runs and excellent meeting, not even a complete printer failure phased him! We managed to get in three rounds of four heats on quallifying (three of 2wd and one of 4wd), which saw me forth in 4wd. I'd made some subtle changes to the car over the evening and managed to dial in my driving a little and was actually starting to feel comfortable by the end of qualifying, the shock package was still to stiff though. Thinner oil is order of the day for the next visit. I was also running blue mini-spikes which weren't ideal. I think next time it'll be yellows, or possibly some DBoots.
Three finals were run, of 6 minutes or 14 laps duration. 2wd was up first, and some good racing was had with close battles up and down the field, especially in the A final. My final saw me finish fourth, having breifly held third at the start of the race. I just pushed too hard early on and made a couple of silly errors which cost me, settling down and getting a good flow going was key on a track that (unlike the astro track at TORCH) I couldn't attack.
All in all a brilliant evening, and a perfect remedy for a day of office stress. I'll definitelly make a return visit when time next allows. The next Shootout round is 5th July, and I can definitelly recommend it!
Monday, 16 May 2011
Time for some electric racing (at last)
Time for a weekend out from nitro action, and a trip to TORCH instead. The big question, what to run? Not the Mid-Rat, as that's sans electrics at the moment, and I didn't want to run the 'Rango this time out as it's too full on. I wanted something more relaxing, so the X-Pro had a chance to see the sun.
Rolling up track side it was good to see most of the Clanfield Massive in attendance, along with the RC-Lazy mob. Handy, as I had a few bits to pick up from Mr Crabb, giving him a chance to try out his swanky new credit-card-in-a-field thingamy-whatsit.
What was also obvious was that the TORCH track pixies had been hard at it since my last visit, as evidenced by a new large table top by the rostrum, and a couple of new ramps through the far chicane section. Could be fun for me, as the I've always had fun flying the X-Pro, I'm used to the control 4 wheel drive gives in the air and I miss it with two wheel drive. What was also obvious was the growing popularity of TORCH, with a very large turn out for a 'regular' club event. Good stuff but it did mean that the 'morning' envelope was going to be some what pushed.
With the rest of the Clanners running 4 wheel drive (we must finance Durango the number we have between us!) I was up first, running in heat three. The driver was definitely rusty, as the qualy was scrappy and all over the shop, 9 laps in 5:44 being a lot slower than my best. It was also obvious that with huge levels of grip and the new jumps the mid-motor brigade (X6, Vega, TLR22 and Cougar) were by far the best car to have, which I guess is all the more reason to finally get around to sorting out the Mid Rat.
Round 2, and disaster at the start. A stupid grip role, and lack of marshal, delayed me significantly at the start, and then to be honest I drove like a tit... fast at times but ragged and all over the shop. Aggression and the huge grip conspired against me and huge grip induce barrel roles were order of the day. In all honesty I'm amazed nothing broke!
For round three I want back to basics. A little more camber, slightly more ride height and 20g of weight in the rear end were order of the day. Out on track the car felt loads better, and I was starting to calm down and flow the track. I was still suffering with the excess grip, I like a car that slides and the dry, warm fuzzy felt meant that was never going to happen. Still a 9 in 5:21 at least showed me I could still drive a little bit.
Round 4 was more of the same, quick but inconsistent and a 9 in 5:33 after a couple of massive grip roll incidents, all of which put me mid field in the 'C' final. TQ was taken by the legendary Tony Evdoka with his Team Xtreme Vega Elite, which was on fire all morning running consistently quick 10 lap qualifiers and in real danger of sticking in an 11. He just needs to find another 5 seconds.
My final was a disaster, I got shuffled down the order at the start, and although I was quicker than the other cars over a lap, I just couldn't push through the traffic. The end result was 7th in the 'C', which was disappointing. I need to do some serious work on my 2wd driving I think... some new tyres probably wouldn't hurt either.
The 'B' final was entertaining, Simon Crabb and Matt Haskell having a great ding-dong scrap for second and third, Simon taking it in the end by two seconds with Rob Elems some way in front for the win.
The 'A' final was all about Tony E as he finished 4 seconds up on Phil Williams. The 'A' final was packed out with TLR 22', and it was interesting to see that only one 'conventional' rear-motored car made the A, Mark Townsend running his TRF. The mid-motor concept does seem to be the way to go on astro at the moment...
The 'A' final four wheel drive was up next, so it was time to cheer on the Clanners. Tony had recovered from a massive stack that had decapitated his Durango before round three (radio issues), and having gone down to a 7.5 motor was looking good. Dave O'Brien had works some magic on Tony's speedo and he seemed to be liking it. Cammers had looked fast and smooth all day and it was becoming obvious that Dave was really getting to grips with his Durango as well. Fastest of the lot however was Dan Brown with his Schumacher Cat, short of getting lynched at the start he was odds on for the win.
A good race ensued, with Dan duly taking the win from Cammers and Mark Andrews. Tony got fourth ahead of Chris Spencer-Smith with Dave sixth, having had an issue of some kind.
So, all in all a good day, proof that I need to get back in the swing of 2wd, and that I really should take a look at getting my Mid Rat up and running. TORCH is still coming on in leaps and bounds, and with the numbers witnessed yesterday are reaping the rewards. Great work guys!
Full results here courtesy of TORCH.
Rolling up track side it was good to see most of the Clanfield Massive in attendance, along with the RC-Lazy mob. Handy, as I had a few bits to pick up from Mr Crabb, giving him a chance to try out his swanky new credit-card-in-a-field thingamy-whatsit.
What was also obvious was that the TORCH track pixies had been hard at it since my last visit, as evidenced by a new large table top by the rostrum, and a couple of new ramps through the far chicane section. Could be fun for me, as the I've always had fun flying the X-Pro, I'm used to the control 4 wheel drive gives in the air and I miss it with two wheel drive. What was also obvious was the growing popularity of TORCH, with a very large turn out for a 'regular' club event. Good stuff but it did mean that the 'morning' envelope was going to be some what pushed.
TORCH's reputation is definitely on the rise!
With the rest of the Clanners running 4 wheel drive (we must finance Durango the number we have between us!) I was up first, running in heat three. The driver was definitely rusty, as the qualy was scrappy and all over the shop, 9 laps in 5:44 being a lot slower than my best. It was also obvious that with huge levels of grip and the new jumps the mid-motor brigade (X6, Vega, TLR22 and Cougar) were by far the best car to have, which I guess is all the more reason to finally get around to sorting out the Mid Rat.
Round 2, and disaster at the start. A stupid grip role, and lack of marshal, delayed me significantly at the start, and then to be honest I drove like a tit... fast at times but ragged and all over the shop. Aggression and the huge grip conspired against me and huge grip induce barrel roles were order of the day. In all honesty I'm amazed nothing broke!
For round three I want back to basics. A little more camber, slightly more ride height and 20g of weight in the rear end were order of the day. Out on track the car felt loads better, and I was starting to calm down and flow the track. I was still suffering with the excess grip, I like a car that slides and the dry, warm fuzzy felt meant that was never going to happen. Still a 9 in 5:21 at least showed me I could still drive a little bit.
Tony Evdoka's Vega Elite was on fire...
Round 4 was more of the same, quick but inconsistent and a 9 in 5:33 after a couple of massive grip roll incidents, all of which put me mid field in the 'C' final. TQ was taken by the legendary Tony Evdoka with his Team Xtreme Vega Elite, which was on fire all morning running consistently quick 10 lap qualifiers and in real danger of sticking in an 11. He just needs to find another 5 seconds.
My final was a disaster, I got shuffled down the order at the start, and although I was quicker than the other cars over a lap, I just couldn't push through the traffic. The end result was 7th in the 'C', which was disappointing. I need to do some serious work on my 2wd driving I think... some new tyres probably wouldn't hurt either.
The 'B' final was entertaining, Simon Crabb and Matt Haskell having a great ding-dong scrap for second and third, Simon taking it in the end by two seconds with Rob Elems some way in front for the win.
The 'A' final was all about Tony E as he finished 4 seconds up on Phil Williams. The 'A' final was packed out with TLR 22', and it was interesting to see that only one 'conventional' rear-motored car made the A, Mark Townsend running his TRF. The mid-motor concept does seem to be the way to go on astro at the moment...
The 'A' final four wheel drive was up next, so it was time to cheer on the Clanners. Tony had recovered from a massive stack that had decapitated his Durango before round three (radio issues), and having gone down to a 7.5 motor was looking good. Dave O'Brien had works some magic on Tony's speedo and he seemed to be liking it. Cammers had looked fast and smooth all day and it was becoming obvious that Dave was really getting to grips with his Durango as well. Fastest of the lot however was Dan Brown with his Schumacher Cat, short of getting lynched at the start he was odds on for the win.
Clanners on parade in the 4wd final
A good race ensued, with Dan duly taking the win from Cammers and Mark Andrews. Tony got fourth ahead of Chris Spencer-Smith with Dave sixth, having had an issue of some kind.
So, all in all a good day, proof that I need to get back in the swing of 2wd, and that I really should take a look at getting my Mid Rat up and running. TORCH is still coming on in leaps and bounds, and with the numbers witnessed yesterday are reaping the rewards. Great work guys!
Full results here courtesy of TORCH.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Clanfield Summer Series - Round 2
Sunday 8th May saw the second round of the Clanfield Summer Series 2011, which I'm running the Losi 8ight T 2.0 truggy in. Coming the week after the double-header National round at Herts meant a hectic week of rebuilding prior to the race weekend, but it got done and was all set on Saturday night ready to go on Sunday.
Saturday night saw a break in the current run of unseasonably hot weather, with very heavy ran and thunder storms. There was some worry that this would render the track unsuitable for running, but the Clanfield regulars new better. The track drains incredibly well, and with the rain stopping at about 0400 the track was in mint condition when the racers rocked up. The weather may have put a few racers off, but numbers made for three heats of qualifiers, one truggy and two buggy. Race format for the day was four rounds, two to count and thirty minute finals for all. A bargain for a tenner!
Round one qualifying went pretty well. With a damp/wet track I elected to stick a fresh set of LRP Harikkari's on, in Super Soft and these hooked up really well. I managed an 8 lapper, but was lucky as a small flip two laps from the end resulted in a snapped front shock standoff. I think titanium replacements are called for, as the standard Losi items seem to be made of cheese. A result of 8 in 5:41 was good enough for third in the round, behind Jimbo Tatlow and Tony RC.
With the truggy fixed round 2 went better, same set-up but a drier track and cleaner run netting an 8 in 5:28 for second behind Jimbo. tiny had a 'mare with traffic and wound up well down the order for this one. Dave O'Brien stepped up to third, posting his first ever 8 lap run at Clanfield followed by Adam Bailey, knocking on the 8 lap door in his last ever run with his Hyper ST... rumors abound of a switch to Losi in the near future.
Round three was my disaster round. Running quicker than round two having switched to a soft compound Kamikaze tyre, the engine came loose three minutes in ending my quali. It was good enough for fifth in round, but was guaranteed to be dropped. Tony took TQ in the round with a blistering 8 in 5:18, with Lee Warren second on his return to the track after a long absence coming in third, fractions of a second ahead of James T.
A brief shower damped the track down at this point, but the rain passed through swiftly only really effecting the buggy boys. In did give us time to consume some of the sausages Lee W had kindly stuck on the BBQ for us.
Heat four, and back on to the Harri's for me, the track being wet again. Second in round, a solid 8 in 5:23 the reward. A couple of stupid errors cost time, but an OK result. Tony RC is flying at this point, laying down a clean 8 in 5:10 for what must be close to a club record run. James T comes in third about 10 seconds back on me.
The final tally gives Tony and James 400 points, but Tony's blistering runs give him TQ and the big qualifying points. James is second, and I'm third, all of us comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. It should be an interesting final!
In buggy the Agama flock are all in action, Jon 'Little Bo Peep' Wolfe (!) taking TQ as usual with 'the' Fribbers in second and new buggy convert Mark Byrne in third. Mr B feels even better when he realises he's out qualified protoge Jamie Kerr, cue a small victory dance in the pits.
After a quick lunch break its finals time, starting with the buggy B. It's a bit of a scrappy affair with a number of mechanicals, not least Ben Elliot. Having qualified his Agama A8 Evo out of place he's flying in the final with the best part of a lap lead when his motor come's loose, and a front drive shaft gives up the ghost. Game over... and very hard luck as he was dominating at the point. In the end the top four who get the bump are Michael Daniel (Losi), Paul 'Berky' Berkinshaw (AE and nothing else), Jordan Young (first out with his Durango) and Neal Beagley (Kyosho).
Next up, truggy time. The start is typical truggy carnage. Tony and I get away clean, but Jimbo get's taken out multiple times and is the victim of some frankly atrocious marshaling. His car is ignored, marshaled pointing in the wrong direction and then marshaled onto the pipe. This drops him to last, well off the back of the pack and sparks a stunning fight back. Tony and I are duking it out for the lead, and I eventually get past Tony and pull out a gap which I hold for about eight minutes... before having a couple of messy laps (and some more dodgy marshaling, I mean how hard is it to put the car down pointing in the right direction?). This lets Tony and hard charging Jimbo through. The three of us have the race sown up at this point, but I get me head down and dig in to go after Jimbo... I can close the gap but I just can't quite get on terms with him. Then, he's out with about ten minutes left. His new LiFE receiver pack gives up the ghost and he has to retire. This leaves Tony an me to cruise on home first and second, Jimbo is in third as we've lapped the field so many times that they can't catch up. Losi domination in the Big Dumb Truck class. A great race and very enjoyable... a shame for Jimbo but I'll take the points thanks mate!
I can't say much on the A final buggys as I was marshalling not watching. I know there were cuts and mechanicals all over the shop, and that the final results were Les T (XRay) in third, Grant Fribbings (JQ) second with Francois Nerriere (Kyosho) first. No idea what happened to the flock, Jamie Kerr was first Agama home in fifth.
All in all another top days racing... thanks to all at Clanfield for the effort, especially Chris Spencer-Smith in race control. Top job chief. Also got to give props to my pit men, Berky in the qualies and Jon Wolfe and my mentor Mr Byrne himself in the finals. We'll all be back again in two weeks for round 3 and more of the same.
Cheers to Adam Bailey for the photos. Full results on the Clanfield website here.
Saturday night saw a break in the current run of unseasonably hot weather, with very heavy ran and thunder storms. There was some worry that this would render the track unsuitable for running, but the Clanfield regulars new better. The track drains incredibly well, and with the rain stopping at about 0400 the track was in mint condition when the racers rocked up. The weather may have put a few racers off, but numbers made for three heats of qualifiers, one truggy and two buggy. Race format for the day was four rounds, two to count and thirty minute finals for all. A bargain for a tenner!
Round one qualifying went pretty well. With a damp/wet track I elected to stick a fresh set of LRP Harikkari's on, in Super Soft and these hooked up really well. I managed an 8 lapper, but was lucky as a small flip two laps from the end resulted in a snapped front shock standoff. I think titanium replacements are called for, as the standard Losi items seem to be made of cheese. A result of 8 in 5:41 was good enough for third in the round, behind Jimbo Tatlow and Tony RC.
With the truggy fixed round 2 went better, same set-up but a drier track and cleaner run netting an 8 in 5:28 for second behind Jimbo. tiny had a 'mare with traffic and wound up well down the order for this one. Dave O'Brien stepped up to third, posting his first ever 8 lap run at Clanfield followed by Adam Bailey, knocking on the 8 lap door in his last ever run with his Hyper ST... rumors abound of a switch to Losi in the near future.
Round three was my disaster round. Running quicker than round two having switched to a soft compound Kamikaze tyre, the engine came loose three minutes in ending my quali. It was good enough for fifth in round, but was guaranteed to be dropped. Tony took TQ in the round with a blistering 8 in 5:18, with Lee Warren second on his return to the track after a long absence coming in third, fractions of a second ahead of James T.
A brief shower damped the track down at this point, but the rain passed through swiftly only really effecting the buggy boys. In did give us time to consume some of the sausages Lee W had kindly stuck on the BBQ for us.
Heat four, and back on to the Harri's for me, the track being wet again. Second in round, a solid 8 in 5:23 the reward. A couple of stupid errors cost time, but an OK result. Tony RC is flying at this point, laying down a clean 8 in 5:10 for what must be close to a club record run. James T comes in third about 10 seconds back on me.
The final tally gives Tony and James 400 points, but Tony's blistering runs give him TQ and the big qualifying points. James is second, and I'm third, all of us comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. It should be an interesting final!
In buggy the Agama flock are all in action, Jon 'Little Bo Peep' Wolfe (!) taking TQ as usual with 'the' Fribbers in second and new buggy convert Mark Byrne in third. Mr B feels even better when he realises he's out qualified protoge Jamie Kerr, cue a small victory dance in the pits.
After a quick lunch break its finals time, starting with the buggy B. It's a bit of a scrappy affair with a number of mechanicals, not least Ben Elliot. Having qualified his Agama A8 Evo out of place he's flying in the final with the best part of a lap lead when his motor come's loose, and a front drive shaft gives up the ghost. Game over... and very hard luck as he was dominating at the point. In the end the top four who get the bump are Michael Daniel (Losi), Paul 'Berky' Berkinshaw (AE and nothing else), Jordan Young (first out with his Durango) and Neal Beagley (Kyosho).
Next up, truggy time. The start is typical truggy carnage. Tony and I get away clean, but Jimbo get's taken out multiple times and is the victim of some frankly atrocious marshaling. His car is ignored, marshaled pointing in the wrong direction and then marshaled onto the pipe. This drops him to last, well off the back of the pack and sparks a stunning fight back. Tony and I are duking it out for the lead, and I eventually get past Tony and pull out a gap which I hold for about eight minutes... before having a couple of messy laps (and some more dodgy marshaling, I mean how hard is it to put the car down pointing in the right direction?). This lets Tony and hard charging Jimbo through. The three of us have the race sown up at this point, but I get me head down and dig in to go after Jimbo... I can close the gap but I just can't quite get on terms with him. Then, he's out with about ten minutes left. His new LiFE receiver pack gives up the ghost and he has to retire. This leaves Tony an me to cruise on home first and second, Jimbo is in third as we've lapped the field so many times that they can't catch up. Losi domination in the Big Dumb Truck class. A great race and very enjoyable... a shame for Jimbo but I'll take the points thanks mate!
Truggy A final podium: Losi clean sweep!
I can't say much on the A final buggys as I was marshalling not watching. I know there were cuts and mechanicals all over the shop, and that the final results were Les T (XRay) in third, Grant Fribbings (JQ) second with Francois Nerriere (Kyosho) first. No idea what happened to the flock, Jamie Kerr was first Agama home in fifth.
Buggy A final podium, the back of Berky's head and no Agamas
All in all another top days racing... thanks to all at Clanfield for the effort, especially Chris Spencer-Smith in race control. Top job chief. Also got to give props to my pit men, Berky in the qualies and Jon Wolfe and my mentor Mr Byrne himself in the finals. We'll all be back again in two weeks for round 3 and more of the same.
Cheers to Adam Bailey for the photos. Full results on the Clanfield website here.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Tempus fugit
Wow, over a month with out an update... must be slipping! Suffices to say that I haven't been slacking, and much racing has occurred. Buggy action at Slough, and Truggys at Clanfield (twice) and Herts for the Nationals. All adding up to lots of time wrenching and not so much blogging.
On the truggy front I've made major changes this season with a switch from my Associated RC8T CE over to the Losi 8ight T 2.0. In all honesty it's been a long time coming and three races in I'm more than happy with the move. The truck is fast out of the box, and so much easier to drive than the old car. Look for a review some time real soon. Results wise it's been a mixed bag, two races at Clanfield have seen a third and a second whilst I was fast at the Herts national (and bagged some silverware) but left feeling that I could and should have done better. There will be a write up from the latest Clanfield round coming later this week
I've also been evaluating a new engine for the chaps at RC Lazy which has so far proved to be a most excellent bit of kit. Hopefully there will be some news on that front real soon, keep an eye on their site. Oh, and please buy some stuff while you're there, they really are most excellent guys.
On the rallycross front we ran again at Slough, for the first time with what could be described as 'normal' conditions, after the madcap weather we've had so far this year. Some engine problems limited my performance, nut I seem to be getting better with the twitchy little things, and some tweaks to the shock package have really helped. I think I'm starting to get my head around the Losi, still some way to go but at least I feel I'm progressing.
Electric's taken a back seat this month with the nitro season in full swing, but this weekend should see a trip to the now even more improved TORCH track for a morning meeting. I'll be reverting to 2wd with the Might Ansmann ready for their all day event in a couple of weeks, should be nice and relaxed after some hectic nitro events over the last month.
So, stay tuned. I'm back in a blogging frame of mind. There's rumors to be spread, mates to drop in it and hopefully some nudity and controversy ahead. Actually, probably not much nudity thinking about it.
On the truggy front I've made major changes this season with a switch from my Associated RC8T CE over to the Losi 8ight T 2.0. In all honesty it's been a long time coming and three races in I'm more than happy with the move. The truck is fast out of the box, and so much easier to drive than the old car. Look for a review some time real soon. Results wise it's been a mixed bag, two races at Clanfield have seen a third and a second whilst I was fast at the Herts national (and bagged some silverware) but left feeling that I could and should have done better. There will be a write up from the latest Clanfield round coming later this week
Big changes this season; Losi truggy and secret engine!
I've also been evaluating a new engine for the chaps at RC Lazy which has so far proved to be a most excellent bit of kit. Hopefully there will be some news on that front real soon, keep an eye on their site. Oh, and please buy some stuff while you're there, they really are most excellent guys.
On the rallycross front we ran again at Slough, for the first time with what could be described as 'normal' conditions, after the madcap weather we've had so far this year. Some engine problems limited my performance, nut I seem to be getting better with the twitchy little things, and some tweaks to the shock package have really helped. I think I'm starting to get my head around the Losi, still some way to go but at least I feel I'm progressing.
Electric's taken a back seat this month with the nitro season in full swing, but this weekend should see a trip to the now even more improved TORCH track for a morning meeting. I'll be reverting to 2wd with the Might Ansmann ready for their all day event in a couple of weeks, should be nice and relaxed after some hectic nitro events over the last month.
So, stay tuned. I'm back in a blogging frame of mind. There's rumors to be spread, mates to drop in it and hopefully some nudity and controversy ahead. Actually, probably not much nudity thinking about it.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Rango Tango @ TORCH
Another weekend, another trip to the races. Electric 10th again this time, but a the Might Ansmann was taking a back seat as Sunday 27th marked the first outing of my Durango DEX410R. Simon Crabb of RC Lazy , now official Tresrey stockists, had sorted me with a new Gainabull bodyshell, so with fresh paint and room for the electrics at last it was off to the races!
The morning dawned bright, dry, and rather nippy. Still a good crowd had turned out including the massed 'Rango runners from Clanfield in the shape of Chris Spencer-Smith, Tony RC, Jamie Kerr and myself. We pitted together in the shade of the RC Lazy love bus, Simon Crabb and Mark Townsend running the usual track side shop as well as racing Rango and Tamiya respectively. They were joined by the ever understated Rob 'Holywood' Raisey for the morning, arriving a little later than most. Some swine changed the clocks and forgot to mention it to him by all accounts.
The circuit had been quite substantially changed again since my last visit a couple of weeks earlier, now featuring an excellent table top, a roller/kicker arrangement and a small high speed ramp arrangement. The surface had also been smoothed out, and the pipe-work re-laid to create a superb layout offering both high speed and technical sections, and an excellent chicane onto the back straight, which proved tricky to get right but rewarded when you did.
Out for practice and the car was feeling pretty good, the blue compound Schumacher mini-spikes hooked up well, although I was glad to be running 2wd fronts, I think anything else would have been monumentally pointy!
Much hillarity was had at the extreme amount of negative camber Chris was running, some where in the region of -10 degress. It may have worked for him, but it did look some what odd it has to be said!
Four rounds of qualifying saw me going through a good progression of results, starting with 9 in 5:22 in round one and ending with 10 in 5:22 by round four. I was getting dialed in to the car, and some minor set up tweaks were also helping. Still there's a lot more to come, especially once I get more used to how quick these four wheel drive missiles are!
Chris was running very well on his first outing with his DEX410, running consistantly and gradually removing the camber from the back of his car. Tony RC seemed to be having something of a 'mare, only running just ahead of me. Star of the day though was definitely Jamie, he was looking fast and smooth, actually beating out local hot shoe Steve Brown in round 2. Simon Crabb must have been having a bad day, ending qualifying behind me... hope it was nothing to do with the shell I'd sprayed up for him!
Simon, Tony, and I had qualified down in the B final (oh the shame of it). At the warble we all shot off for a couple of laps of close racing before Tony broke, Simon finally got it together and shot off into the distance and I started driving like a cock.
Chris had qualified into the A main (much to his surprise) along with Cameron running his Losi. A mass brawl at the first corner reduced the field some what, Mikey Scott's Durango and Cammers being knocked out on the spot. Jamie ran a strong second, splitting the Tamiyas of Steve B and Rob for the first 8 laps, until a bad lap dropped Jamie down to third and promoting Rob to second at the line. The A final was fast and furious, the bone dry astro allowing the four wheel drive cars to lay down all the power they had.
We stayed on afterward for some practice and testing (or dicking about, which ever you prefer), and to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. Track man Martin along with Mark made some extra tweaks to the layout, which we all tried out and agreed improved the track even further.
I seem to say this at the end of every report, but the TORCH club and circuit just keep on getting better. Big thanks to all involved, it great to see your efforts paying off.
The morning dawned bright, dry, and rather nippy. Still a good crowd had turned out including the massed 'Rango runners from Clanfield in the shape of Chris Spencer-Smith, Tony RC, Jamie Kerr and myself. We pitted together in the shade of the RC Lazy love bus, Simon Crabb and Mark Townsend running the usual track side shop as well as racing Rango and Tamiya respectively. They were joined by the ever understated Rob 'Holywood' Raisey for the morning, arriving a little later than most. Some swine changed the clocks and forgot to mention it to him by all accounts.
The circuit had been quite substantially changed again since my last visit a couple of weeks earlier, now featuring an excellent table top, a roller/kicker arrangement and a small high speed ramp arrangement. The surface had also been smoothed out, and the pipe-work re-laid to create a superb layout offering both high speed and technical sections, and an excellent chicane onto the back straight, which proved tricky to get right but rewarded when you did.
Out for practice and the car was feeling pretty good, the blue compound Schumacher mini-spikes hooked up well, although I was glad to be running 2wd fronts, I think anything else would have been monumentally pointy!
Much hillarity was had at the extreme amount of negative camber Chris was running, some where in the region of -10 degress. It may have worked for him, but it did look some what odd it has to be said!
Four rounds of qualifying saw me going through a good progression of results, starting with 9 in 5:22 in round one and ending with 10 in 5:22 by round four. I was getting dialed in to the car, and some minor set up tweaks were also helping. Still there's a lot more to come, especially once I get more used to how quick these four wheel drive missiles are!
Chris was running very well on his first outing with his DEX410, running consistantly and gradually removing the camber from the back of his car. Tony RC seemed to be having something of a 'mare, only running just ahead of me. Star of the day though was definitely Jamie, he was looking fast and smooth, actually beating out local hot shoe Steve Brown in round 2. Simon Crabb must have been having a bad day, ending qualifying behind me... hope it was nothing to do with the shell I'd sprayed up for him!
Simon, Tony, and I had qualified down in the B final (oh the shame of it). At the warble we all shot off for a couple of laps of close racing before Tony broke, Simon finally got it together and shot off into the distance and I started driving like a cock.
Chris had qualified into the A main (much to his surprise) along with Cameron running his Losi. A mass brawl at the first corner reduced the field some what, Mikey Scott's Durango and Cammers being knocked out on the spot. Jamie ran a strong second, splitting the Tamiyas of Steve B and Rob for the first 8 laps, until a bad lap dropped Jamie down to third and promoting Rob to second at the line. The A final was fast and furious, the bone dry astro allowing the four wheel drive cars to lay down all the power they had.
We stayed on afterward for some practice and testing (or dicking about, which ever you prefer), and to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. Track man Martin along with Mark made some extra tweaks to the layout, which we all tried out and agreed improved the track even further.
I seem to say this at the end of every report, but the TORCH club and circuit just keep on getting better. Big thanks to all involved, it great to see your efforts paying off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)