The 1/8th Scale Tibshelf National

Hi Guys,

Sorry I have not posted on how we got on at the Tiby Nat until now (a week later). The shop has been hectic and I've found all I want to do when I get in on a night is veg and sleep. This cold that I seem to have picked up pobably doesnt help either.

Two weekends ago the final BRCA 1/8th IC round was held at Tibshelf. With a good weather forecast and all the usual suspects in attendence I was nervous about my chances to say the least!

The last time I drove an 1/8th car was at Tibshelf around 18 months ago. Since then I have been supporing the team at the National events but this is never the same as running yourself. Saturday practice dawned mainly dry but the main straight was still damp. This was interesting as two of the fastest corners on the track were damp. With a guessed set up we went out for the first laps.

It was immediatley obvious that the engine was not set well, so a few twiddles with the screwdriver and the beast is beginning to sound a little more like a beast, rather than a cow! At this stage the there was little point trying to sort out the handling as the track was still low in traction, so next we decided to change the two speed and the clutch to help the car launch out of the corner. By this time the engine was beginning to look more on pace and the clutch and gearing too. Bearing in mind this was a 8 month old engine on load from another driver (Cheers Jus!) I didnt have too great a expectations.

After luch break we started to work on the handling a little more. First we raised the front shocks one to cure the twitchyness that the car had, especially in a straight line - this cured that but now the car would push mid to exit of the corner. I little more droop in the front helped along with a stiffer rear anti roll bar but the car was still lacking that certain Vavavoooom. Haing a look at the front end I noticed I was still running the old geometry on the front of the car (this car was the Radio Race Car review car). I changed the front upper blocks to the 2005 spec ones - this resulted in a much more positive car that finished the corner nicely.

Being satisfied with the car at this point was OK, but I wanted more - I decided to fit a set of Enneti 32 shore tyres on to the car, thinkin gthis would give me more overall traction. The car was awesome! We had to soften the rear anti roll bar and also add a little toe in to the rear but otherwise the car was spot on. Roll on Sunday!

Sunday mornin and the first round of qualifying - I went back to my set up with Enneti 35 shore thres on as I wanted a clear round. Led most of the heat but Kev Brown just pipped me to the post by 0.2 secs. So after the first round of qualifying I was 3rd overall, not bad eh? This was to prove my best time of the day. In the 2nd round I decided to try the 32 shore set up that was so good on Saturday. The car was again good but very difficult to drive, the back end becoming lose very easily, in the 3rd round I dropped the gearing but left the set up the same. Again, the car was hard to drive with low speed oversteer but the time was the same as my first round time. For the final I decided to put my first round set up on but leave the gearing changed.

The final started well enough, Mark Green made an error 2 laps in with Kev getting slowed in the drama - this gave me enough room to squeeze through and build up a small lead which I kept until the 7 min mark. At this time I got caught up behind a backmarker and this allowed Mark to pull right up to me. Going onto the straight Mark got a good run and passed me in the sprint to the banking - I wasn't about to risk an accident at them speeds so I gave him the room he needed. After that he pulled away a little each lap and the race looked set to continue....until the 9.40 mark when I ran out of fuel. This broke the glowplug and lost me a lot of time.

After this I thought 'sod it' and gave it 100% to try to pull back some time, but the odd thing is that the car reacted to it and went quicker! I suddenly found the car came alive mid corner which was something I had been afraid to do before in case I went off and broke something. The next 15 mins were just pure enjoyment with a fastest lap of 11.59 seconds (OK, Mark did a 11.50 but I drive these things once in a blue moon!).

After 25 minutes my tyres were shot, and after drifting close to the edge of the banking on a number of occasions I understeered into the bank and broke the steering knucle. Game over.

Looking back on the meeting and the end result I am quite happy with my performance, I'm even more happy with the performance of the car - easy to drive, fast and stable too! This little outing night convince me to have a few more goes in 2007!

Does God Hate 1:8th Circuit Racing?

Bit of an odd question to ask on a model car blog....."Does God Hate 1:8th Circuit Racing?" From the evidence of the BRCA 2006 season it would seem that it is a resounding "yes".
At the start of the year we had Mendip where it absolutely hammered it down, then Halifax, Brooklands and many more followed....what is it with 1:8th? For example - blazing sunshine all week up to the Brooklands event and then BOOM - Rain.

This weekend is the final round of the BRCA championship at Tibshelf and guess what - it is hammering it down outside! Having spent the last week getting my Kyosho Evolva 2005 ready to race it isn't funny (well not for me anyway!) when this happens....

Usually driving in the wet requires a very different driving style to what is required in the dry. Smooth lines, if possible trying to avoid any oil line that has built up on the track with smooth braking and smooth acceleration is the trick! Often you will overstep the mark only to find you have to correct the car mid-corner to prevent an off track excursion!

You will also undoubtedly also need to change tyres. Normal dry tyres are next to no use in the damp/wet so special compounds of rubber must be used - I find that the Enneti Umidos are usually a good selection for most damp conditions!

Anyway, enough complaining from me, time to dig up some thermals and hope the weather holds off! I will be back asap with my next post to let you know how we got on!