I´m on my Hols and Writing about Model Cars...

Well, as in an earlier post I mentioned that Rob could not stay away from RC cars on his weekend, well it seems I can´t stay away on my hols....

I am currently in a very hot Majorca and what do I find myself doing - BLOGGING!

I ask you, does any sane person do this when there is plenty of beer and women by the pool the drink/look at...God knows!

Sorry, no pics as the link here is very very slooooooooowwwww.... Have not got the patience to waste my holiday trying to upload pics...

Anyway, all from me until I get back...

Ben

Saturday Practice For Tibshelf National

Wouldn't you just belive it....after a week of scorcing temperatures and sizzling heat (The Sun, Mirror and most other papers ran stories on how "Becky from London fried an Egg on the bonnett of her Ford Ka..."(Interesting but I wonder if she could have done a full cooked breakfast!)), we get to the weekend of the National and whet do we get - torrential rain. Marvellous! What chance of getting the BRCA to move nationals to mid-week?

This week has been a little hectic to say the least! Not only have I been trying to get engines run in, run the shop and get ready for a national but I have also been trying to get ready for a holiday....I'm going to need a holiday just to recover from getting ready to go on holiday!

Tibshelf is an interesting track as it really requires a driver to show some 'balls' into the sweeping banked corner. This can be taken without lifting at all if the car is good enough and this can really make the difference in laptimes. Someone (sorry, can't remember who) once told me the key to Tibshelf is to run a short enough gear ratio to stop the engine from loading up around the banking, so the engine stays on the pipe and keeps pulling rather than dipping and then recovering. Wise words as most people concentrat on the straights (well the cat is really out of the bag now!!!!)

Well, in the little practice time we had the team were generally running really well. Kipper (aka Joe Hawnt) was looking good - a Martin Brundle style accident saw his front end in kit form (many thanks to Matt Blowers for helping Kipper to rebuild his car). Wayne Lander was struggling with an oversteering car at the beginning but seemed to get a handle on things as the day went on. Rich Draycott was again suffering with an oversteering car, we think we have got to the bottom of his problems - too much rear camber, but as he went out to test the changes someone upstairs pulled the plug and the heavens opened.....like I said, marvellous!

Me, my car felt pretty good from the go. We had to mess around with the new JP-Nova Rossi Plus 12-3 for the first 1/2 an hour. The thing just would not pull cleanly without getting hot. In the end a change to a number 6 plug, raising the head clearance and adjusting the clutch was all that was needed (took a while to figure all this out though!) Handling wise the car had too much steering to begin with, a few changes to the front dampening, roll bar and shock position settled the car down nicely.

Tommorow should be interesting as some of the usual suspects were not all that fast, no doubt they will be on the pace tomorrow but we will see.....

From RTR To Ready To Race - Special Feature by Chris Deakin

Chris Deakin, former Editor of Radio Race Car has been a good friend of mine for many years and has agreed to put some of his considerable knowledge down on paper! Thanks Chris - over to you!

These days there are so many great Ready To Run models on the shelves of your local Model Shop that it is very tempting to take them racing – and why not!! So here is a basic guide for new comers to our hobby with IC or engine powered cars, who want to take them from RTR to Ready To Race.
Firstly you should think about joining the BRCA, this is the governing body for all UK based RC racing. This will open the door to most tracks and clubs here in the UK, and will give you a much needed third party insurance should you damage person or property while you are having your fun, membership details can be found on their website http://www.brca.org/ .
Secondly make sure that you can actually race your Truck /Car at the track or club you have found, often they could have size, scale or in a lot of cases these days, noise restrictions!!!. So contact them first, now for the nitty-gritty – time to get the tools out – you have got them haven’t you….
Next, buy a good tool kit!!!!
Right, having got the tools you really need to clean your car/truck and check it over. There are a lot of good cleaning products on the market, I get mine from Ben Racing. Once clean go over all the fasteners and check they are tight, especially fittings which go in to metal, such as engine bolts etc. any grub screws you find in the driveline, diff out put cups etc. should be thread-locked, again there are a range products available.
Following on you need to check the installation and adjustment of your radio equipment, make sure your servos are fitted well, and their horns are OK, also the wiring is well located and secured. You can put a small amount of thread-lock on their fixing screws. If you have the budget it is wise to get a rechargeable battery for the radio receiver, plus a suitable field charger.
Next check the fuel system, make sure your fuel tube is in good condition, for a few pence you can replace it – always use thick wall silicone tube. While you are checking this have a look inside the fuel tank, make sure it is clean, and it has a good fuel filter, if not fit one, again they are only cheap. Also be sure to use a good quality fuel - Spark has always been good!
Now I know that a lot of people wash their air-filters and re-use them, I think this is a false economy. As it only takes a small amount dirt inside an engine to damage, so I always fit a high quality two-stage filter and replace the elements regularly – even during a race meeting if it is dusty. A new glow plus is also a must.
Final checks would be the security of the tyres on the wheels – soon fixed with the odd drop of super glue, and a check of the fitting of the bodyshell.
On race day make sure you have all your tools glow fuel, a fully charged glow heater, re-fuelling bottle, some spare crystal for your radio and of course your transmitter.
Good luck.

A Weekend Off - And he is STILL Playing with Model Cars!

We have all heard it - racers or people who work in the industry "God, I wish I had a weekend off from cars...." etc. etc..... But when we get a chance what do we do? Yep, you know it - play with model cars!

Rob Carlin who works with me at Ben Racing had this last Sunday off to do pretty much what he wanted - see the girlfriend, sunbathe, go out for a beer (or 10). Pretty much the world was his oyster - whatever he wanted to do the day was his, to spend however he liked.....what did he do? Bolted a brand new Sirio BX Masters 0.21 engine into his Kyosho MP777 ME and went straight down to the off road race track J28M1 to thrash the life out of the beast!

It's funny how you can become weary of car day in day out when racing but the minute you get the chance to spend a little free time what do you do - you end up doing the same thing anyway! Not quite sure how this works as I am guilty of exactly the same thing myself: I look forwards to a weekend off and by midday on the Sunday I am bored and wishing I was racing again.....I wonder what sort of hobby I would need other than model cars to stop this happening? Golf, no way.... Snowboarding, not a abd idea but there isn't much snow in Mansfield at the best of times.... God knows! Of anyone has any good ideas out there for an alternate hobby for people who work in the model car trade please let me know! I'm sure Rob's missus' and her kitchen table would appreciate the suggestions!

Wow - Adrenaline Rush with the Formula 1 of RC Car Racing!

Wow! I have just got back from a busy weekend at Crystal Palace pitting and supporting my team drivers at the BRCA 1/8th scale on-road championship and to see these cars rattling round this track at up to 70 mph certainly gets the adrenaline going - even when you are not even racing! Anyone who has seen one of these go will surely admit that these are the Formula 1 of the model car racing world!

The track is set in the shadow of the Crystal Palace swimming pool and athletics track and as such has a great atmosphere about it - with plenty of spectators passing by to see these beasts devouring the tarmac.

We arrived at midday on the Saturday and were greeted by the howl of 10+ cars circulating around the track, with the odd thump to signal that a driver had tried to take the corner onto the straight a little too close and ended up wrecking their car in what has become to be known as 'deadmans corner'!. Immediately we set to work helping all of the Kyosho Evolva drivers to get their cars dialled into the track. By the end of Saturday we were beginning to get down to the pace but there was more work to be done.

Sunday proved to be a difficult day - Dave Dixon made the final with his JP Racing powered Kyosho Evolva but had an off in the final that cost a lot of time.

It was really good to see the London boys again and all of our London customers - sometimes I think that you can leave it too long between meetings before seeing all of the lads again and having a laugh - especially if you have to find your way through London traffic on a Saturday morning!!!

After this meeting I am definately tempted to pick up a 1/8th car again and get racing with it! Every time I go to a meeting just to support a car I always get 'itchy thumbs' after a few minutes and find myself wanting to get racing again!

Coffee and Kits - When Jamie Booth dropped by!

Today world known driver Jamie Booth of Spire Model Distribution dropped for a coffee with the latest Hong Nor kit - the X1CRT UK Racer RTR In a previous post I mentioned that I though truggies were going to be BIG!

Well, it looks like I was right...more and more manufacturers are all hopping on the truggy bandwagon - and it's easy to see why (Take a look at Jamie doing what he does best!)


The attraction seems to be in that they are easier to drive than the buggies, can generally take bigger knocks without breaking and....mabye most impotantly of all...they look COOL! Take a look at the action shot above. It looks awesome!

Jamie has been telling me that he has been selling lots of these Truggy kits and sales don't seem to be slowing down despite the World Cup....so things are looking fantastic for the truggys!

Down at my local track - J28M1 Raceway there is plenty of racing going off for these truggys - in fact the truggys are not much slower over a lap than the rallycross buggies! They are easier to drive and and also the crowd seem to like them as well!

Watch out - There's a Pops About!

Well, where do I start? Over the last 2 months my Dad has been building his Kyosho Inferno ST-R ....well that's great I hear you say....what's so special about that. Well, after years of watching me run around the tracks of the world he is now having a crack. Thats right, a novice playing with the monster of a truggy that is the ST-R.

The build has gone really well - fitting it in between working and racing. The 'car' builds really well with no real danger spots for the builder. The instruction mauals are clear and to the point with the build order being logical.

To power this monster he has (well I decided) gone for a Sirio MX28-STI engine with matching pipeset. This engine should prove to be an absolute howler....mabye not the best choice for a first foray into nitro off road, but hey......mabye I need the excercise...(marshalling!).

This should be good, do a little pitting for once instead of racing....no doubt by the time he has completed his second lap I'll be itching to have a go on the sticks (or wheel). Or on the other hand I might enjoy a week or two away from racing....watching the Pops keep it on the track down at J28M1 racetrack.

A Month to Go...Getting Ready for the 200mm European Championships

It's funny - no matter how much time you feel you have to prepare for a race meeting you never ever have enough. Think about it - how many hours you spend testing, running in engines, stripping cars, re-building, looking for tenths, testing handling and set-ups and come the end of free practice there is always one or two things you have left to try. Or some area where your preparation was not as good as you thought.....

This week sees the start of my preparation build up for the 2006 European on road championships that is to be be held at the track of MACH, Heemstede, Holland. This is an awesome track with many areas to catch out the unaware or non-prepared driver. Also it is Serpent's home test track....should be fun!

This year I will be using the Kyosho V-One RRR WC Edition along with the JP Racing-Modified Nova Rossi Plus12-3.

This week sees the full strip and rebuild of the chassis in preparation for the Tibshelf BRCA National that is 2 weeks time - strange to start EC preparation with the getting ready for another meeting. Well, not really as this strip and re-build will identify any areas that need further work upon before the main event at the EC.