Doverbashers Forum: Doverbashers Forum -> DB interclub Day 2/11/08

Following the weather on the saturday i was debating on whether i was gonna attend this one, but im glad i did here is why:

After checking metcheck all Saturday evening for the forecast to be fairly sunny, i decided to pack up all my gear into the car, and go to Novarossi as after my recent luck with RC had been for the last month or so, i hadn't been able to drive my car for a while and the RC bug was itching real bad, but still i had no engine for the hyper ST so i took my dad's losi 8T now he has had this truck for almost a year and he only finished the break in at the hop farm, truth is we have been too busy with my ST to bother with the losi, so i thought this would be the perfect time to help tune it

Well i got there, to what i thought was rather late, but once i got through the gates i found it was just me and another guy, about 45mins later everyone else started to arrive, so i set up my table next to Andy's and tried to start it up after a bit of persuasion, and a different glow start the engine fired into life and idled nicely, i did a few laps round the track just to warm it up and my first impression on the track with the car was it really likes to slide, but was quite easy to drive, but liked to under-steer quite alot, but i put that down to some very old grinders i am running, but with the amount of water that was on the track at the time i really didn't want to damage the truck so early on in the day, so i put everything back onto the table and went to help out tommo try and set up and have a chat with a few other drivers

well my first heat came up and it seemed like it was just me and Matt from RC extreme with his muggy, but i was having fun just getting round as the track was still soaked, and i was drifting all over the place, but still felt quite fast and for the first time i could take the table top at W.O.T which is something i could never do with the hyper and before i knew it the race was over and i came first, i was very pleased at how the losi handled and couldn't wait to back on the track once i got it back to the table i inspected for any damage or loose screws, tom tho disovered that one of my rear wheels was binding slightly so i took the hob off to find that hair of some sort (hoping not human) had wound its self round one of the bearing, luckily it wasn't damaged badly so i put it all back together

now for the second round i felt the engine was still running quite rich as it was literally throwing out fuel from the exhaust so i leaned out the HSN a bit and began my second run of the day, now the track had dried out a bit more and i could start pushing more and more, but still suffered from under-steer, about half way through the race i could feel the truck becoming sluggish through the turns and the throttle response became slow, which ment my battery was dieing and fast, so now it was a case of taking my time and just trying to make it to the end as i was enjoying this too much, some how i made it till the end and still managed another 1st, after that result my hope were high for today that i could manage i good result

once i got back to my table i changed the battery and the ones in my TX as i noticed that was getting low as well and everything was back to normal

now for my last heat and i said to myself i was really gonna go for it, i was no longer racing for first i was now racing for a better time, so i pushed really hard and as the track was drying throughout the day, my times were getting faster and faster, and due to a couple of dropping out it ending up being myself and matt again, with super jolly Oli with his Mini Hyper ST , before i knew it my race was over and once again i grabbed first place and giving me my first pole position at Novarossi, now i am really impressed with this truck and for a RTR its an awsome piece of kit, and many people came up to me saying saying how fast it is and what have i done to it, when i say its RTR i could see some wallets heading towards neils shop, i even let Scott Dog drive it for a couple of laps during lunch and he couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear

anyway down to finals, did my last check round the truck, checked the reciever boxes for water cause that was my main concern for the day as it had knocked a few people out during the day and both boxes were dry, so i put it all back together and i was ready for the final

now i have seen enough finals to know that there will be a pile up at the first corner so my main goal was to get round that corner as fast and clean as possible got down the main straight and i glided round the corner and watched the inevitable pileup so i kept it calm and just tried to zone everything out, and i was loving it, must say best bit of racing i've had in a long time, but it seems every time neil mentioned my name over the tannoy i seemed to lose concentration and crash, but still i had soo much fun and now the engine is screaming down the straights, really fast considering its a stock motor anyway my final was over and once again wishing i had more time on the track, but it was getting dark and we still had two more finals to get through and the tag team racing to do, but i was still pleased with another first and knowing i got another trophy to put on the shelf

i spend the rest of the finals marshelling and i must say, we gotta get MT racing back, cause that looked like the most fun racing i had seen in a while, and as for the 5th scale racing, well traction was a big issue for them and was sliding all over the place, even i lost traction and slipped and ended up on my "Bad Word", which cause laughs all round even shut neil up for a bit cause he was laughing to much to speak

well the tag team racing teams were drawn and i was put with somebody who wasn't there, so i had to do all the laps myself and have a stop go penalty
well the 3 teams lined up and i felt good, being me and 2 other HPI Savages, so as soon as i got ahead and got myself a good lead half way through tom called me in for my 5 sec stop go and i swear he must of counted it twice as everyone else started to catch up and i knew i could be in a little bit of trouble as the winner of the buggy final was due to go and watching him throughout the day i know he was fast,

so i set off trying my hardest when i noticed the green buggy closing in but i hold it all together and down to the last lap and onto the quads now through out the day i have nailed the quads perfectly, but i must of take the corner a bit too wide and jumped into the tyres and the steering link popped out and i lost all steering, i was gutted as i only had half a lap to go, i really wanted to win this one as the next round i would be racing andy and thought it would be a good laugh, oh well there is always next time

well thats another days racing, and i must say most fun i've had in ages, and thinking about switching to the losi, but there is a few things im not too sure about the losi, and i've spent alot of money on the hyper ST so might try them both at KMRC and see which one i find better

Final thoughts

*if only all racedays where as laid back as then
* i need some new grinders ( next to no inserts in them )
*gotta convert the losi to a starter box, i can't stand roto starts
* think some new servos for the losi as well

gotta say a huge thank you to tommo for organizing today, just a shame that there wasn't any more DB members wasn't there