Race Day - Southport 13.03.11

So I arrive in Southport hoping that my Shark will get round the track in one piece! I'd like to spend today concentrating on sorting my Emax Motor and not rebuilding the car!

Practice came and went and to be fair the car went around the track, the grip role and rear wheel lifting I experienced last than 2 days ago at Ellesmere Port appears to have stayed at home!

Running the SP 6900kv motor sees me topping out half way down the straight so my Emax 4950kv goes straight in. I'm thinking about the length of straight at Ardent already so need to get the gearing right! It's now set on 18/45 and appears to be somewhat slow

Round 1 saw me up the timing to 15 degrees advance on the motor to see if that helped and it didn't really. However it was the quickest of the 8 Micros here today with me being an extra lap up on Chris Evison

Round 2 I threw the timing up to its maximum, 26.25 degrees advance and the car was so much quicker but even with the heatsink on it came off a little too hot for my own comfort levels!

For round 3 I've put green springs in the rear just to try and stiffen it up a little, see what effects it has on landing of the jumps and I've turned the motor timing down to 22.5 degrees, see what that does!

It's good to be playing around with things like this!!

Finally a problem in Round 3! On the last lap the car slowed down then kicked back in! It suggests and smells of thermaling but the car was cooler than the previous round, I believe the issue could be down to the LiPo so this race I've decided to leave everything the same with the exception of the LiPo.

That was alot better! A couple of errors meant I wasn't any faster but ultimately it was more important that the car last 5 mins with no cut out, it came off cooler also which is a bonus!

As it stands with the exception of Round 1 everyone in the race is being lapped so it's too tough to compare today but I'm still happy the car is going round!

As a result of what I believe is a dodgy LiPo I've purchased 2 1800 30c ones from Tony Mulligan who is unfortunately selling his Micro gear up.

Southport have just announced a 5th round of qualifying too, more races for my £5, bonus!

Round 5 and the final went off quite comfortably for me. My only concern was the motor worked itself loose so I'll need to keep an eye on that.





Back to a good starting base, bring on the next 2 weeks!

Back in Shark Business!

Well after a couple of weeks of Micro turmoil my LRP Shark appears to be back up an running.

After a snapped Prop Shaft at Hereford forced me to start running my spare and followed by me stripping down my original car I've not had my Shark running right. This was shown after my C Final finish at last weeks National.

This week I've once again stripped the car down and replaced 2 Hinge Pins, 4 Screws and most importantly a driveshaft that had seized and was not working!

Ellesmere Port on Friday night proved to the start of the comeback trail, this resulted in a last place finish though due to a lock nut popping off one of the rear links. A bit disappointing but more importantly the car worked!

Still, Ellesmere Port was providing one more issue and that was the in the form of the read wheels lifting slightly under fast turning. The day after the club night I reduced the length of the shock shaft to it's minimal length and I'm ready to go at Southport Club Day.

With a little over 2 weeks until Ardent National I could do with this solving the problem!!

2 Micro National Championships Decided

Craig Harris won yet another 1:16th scale final to take the National Championship. The title was confirmed after my failure to take TQ.

Morgan Rham also took the National F2 title in the 1/16th 4wd class so a big well done goes to Morgan for that

Hereford Micro National

I've not been able to blog so far on yesterday due to not really recalling what went on through the day!

My 4wd was rubbish and if it wasn't for Steve Guppy and Mike Sanders then i wouldn't have even made the final, a further complete rebuild on the car is needed! Back to my chassis and all plastic parts like the good old days! There was also other documented events that surrounding me and at the time I was annoyed but the plain and simple fact is it's 24 hours later and life has moved on, roll on Ardent!

As for the Chunk well that was a different kettle of fish for me! Qualifies and finished a superb 2nd overall behind Craig Harris, it wasn't for a back marker in the A Final I would have been closer an you just never know, I did hold the fastest 6 laps in the final. We changed the springs on the shocks as the day went on and that made a massive difference, next meeting we'll have a play with shock positions and see what we can learn!

Overall a frustrating day but I'm still sitting 2nd overall in 1/16th 4wd and a guaranteed top 5 finish which I would have took at the start of the season.

Let's see what happens at Ardent!

Race Night - Ellesmere Port Friday March 4th

Back to my usual Friday night routine and a trip to Ellesmere Port, the nice 4 minute car journey as opposed to Hereford last week!

Chunk front end as been destroyed this week to so we can use our B4 parts and it's looking good, let's hope it goes well on the track with brand new Mini Pins on the rear!!

Shark is also ready to go for the weekend but still having slight concerns over motor meshing so I will be asking the Emax expert Darren Stephenson to give meshing the once over! It sounds awful but the spur looks perfect!

I'm undecided what car to race in what order tonight. I'm going to practice first with Chunk to make sure that goes. Both Gavin and Dan are running their Sharks and 1/18ths so I'll have to sync our order!

Well Practice went wrong the front wheel fell off the Chunk resulting in a lost bearing so that puts away any ideas of me running that tonight, Sunday is not looking promising!

In terms of the Shark the Emax motor just sounded like it wanted to strip the spur so it came out after 2 mins and back goes the trusty SP Motor!!

After changing diffs, bevel gears and eventually the spur down to a 45 tooth I got the car sounding ok! The only problem is I didn't tighten up the 'new' diff and it was slipping like a bitch! After 3 minutes of slow clean driving I had nailed by a back marker and that cost me the race! Afterwards I tightened the diff and the car was amazing quick (and quieter)!

So on to Hereford, I'm tempted to give Chunk a miss and focus on the Shark for this round as I still have an outside chance of taking the title. I can sort Chunk out going forward.

Plans to try to mesh the Emax on the 45 spur for Sunday morning and if not then whack up the timing on the motor and see if we can get down the straight at a respectable speed!

One thing is sure it's going to be a long weekend and I have no time to spare!!

Quiet Night In Broughton

So after last Friday at Hereford decided to miss out on the football and head up to Broughton for a race night! For me it was a nice relaxing night!

4 races and 4 wins but more importantly nothing broken despite hitting several corners very hard! It did appear I had some servo damage but I'm attributing that to the Servo Strap Holder coming loose however I'll be putting in my new Savox Servo ready for the weekend.

Bad times for both Morgan Rham and Si Stickland who managed to snap their LWB Chassis in the same place. Luckily I have a spare which Morgan is now using

So a bit of prep work ahead of both Friday night and Sunday National but we've got time to do that!

Oh What A Night!

So tonight I headed off down to Hereford to run both the Shark and Chunk.  It was an ideal time as there was just over a week until the Hereford National.

It started off well, got there that early I decided to try to build a Shark with a small chassis but decided after taking the front end off to put it back, no stress tonight!

Then it went from bad to worse, 3 laps into practise the car had no drive and after investigation I found out the that Prop Shaft had snapped in two pieces, something I have never encountered before!!  so Round 1 was missed.  I changed the shaft in double quick time by moving the electrics into a spare Shark I had just bought from Stu Mac, thanks matey. 

Got the car on the line (just about) for Round 2 only to strip the spur before the race even started!  So 2 hours drive and 3 laps so far!!  During Round 2 I threw Chunk on the track only to fall off the big jump on my second lap and rip a turnbuckle out of its socket!!

I changed the spur gear in the Shark and the meshing didn't feel comfortable so in double quick time (again) I threw in my Speed Passion 6900kv motor which I had set up on a spare motor place.  I finished 3rd in the race behind Bish and Craig Harris but most importantly I managed the quickest lap of the race!!

The final came along and I despite missing the warble at the start I drove to a creditable 2nd place although about half a lap behind Bish.  According to the computer however I won so I can't argue with that, oh, I also had the fastest lap!

So a long evening and little reward.  Plenty of rebuilding to do before my next outing in err... 2 days!

The night finished off with a wobbly (buckled) wheel, we will be getting rid of that me thinks!!

Thanks to Hereford for their hospitality as always and I'm really looking forward to Morgan Rham making his top heat debut at the Micro National, he looked in stunning form tonight

Racing tonight!

I'm so excited by the prospect of racing tonight at Ellesmere Port. I'll have another relaxed evening, not going to change anything and just go with the flow!

It'll also be my first opportunity to try my Chunk! I've still got to change Shock Oil, Shock Springs and get some Mini Pins on it but then I'll be ready to go!

I've transferred my Emax motor to Chunk already and that'll be geared on 24/77 to start with (need to put Pinion on!). So I've gone back to a Speed Passion motor in the Shark, be interesting to see exactly how much more aggressive it is!

So a bit of work to still do, but can't wait!

Spares Obtained!!

With no names mentioned I now have just about enough bits to build 2 full LWB Sharks!

I've also agreed to buy a 3rd Shark which I should be picking up from the Hereford National at the start of March!

Why??

Well the answer is simple! I bloody love the LRP Shark and despite the attention from the CML Carisma the Shark is currently still the car to beat. That may of course change by the time we get to next season but as it stands I'm stock piling spares!

You never know just exactly what you'll break!

Race Day - Ellesmere Port 11.02.11

After finishing the rebuild I have brought the car to Ellesmere Port and I'm hoping for a stress free night. No breakages, no hassles, just a chilled nights racing!

Then I saw the track and checked that there 9 in the heat! It could be a long night!







Round 1
Despite the carnage this was a routine race and comfortable win, the night starts off as I want!

Round 2
Spoke well too soon!! Started off really well again but then disaster as my wheel came loose so I had a 2 lap pit stop! Fastest lap though

Round 3
Another fairly clean and quick race for me, plus keeping out of the way of carnage helped me to a win with a new FTD.

I remembered as well tonight that I took the front roll bar off the other week, I would like to try it but I can't be bothered. Looking forward to Chinese and Beer when I get in!

Final
A relaxing end to a relaxing night! An early error allowed Dan and Gav through. Gav rolled straight away and then Dan came together with a back marker which allowed me to a lap and a half win, more importantly it was the fastest lap that counted!!





A relaxing night with little issues!

It was good to see young Morgan Rham running the Tony Bishop Long Wheel Base Shark, it will take some getting used to for him especially as he was using someone elses transmitter too but he was looking good on the track!

Shark Rebuild

24 hours after my Shark decided to fall to pieces at Mold it is time to start the rebuild. I've got 48 hours to get it sorted ready for the next Ellesmere Port Club Night. This rebuild is needs to be a no holds barred, everything off the car, strip down and clean. All the bearings (I'm sure there's 15) will get a nice soak in good old fashioned motor cleaner and I may even have a re-arrange of the pit box!

It's also going to give me a chance to run a stock take on what I have and what is needed!! There may be an order imminent!

Before
This is what I was faced with at the start










During
Well during the rebuild I was looking for anything broken or damaged etc... I'd already decided to change the servo although I noticed the steering was very odd. The actual steering post that attaches to the chassis wasn't allowing the steering to be moved freely from side to side once the Servo had been unattached. Based on this I may try the Servo again just to see

Here's the reason that the hinge pin fell out last night at Mold, notice the difference??









I've also got rid of one of the bearings in the front wheel hub as that had started to fall apart, again potential issue that may not have been the Servo.

The rear upper diff housing is being replaced as well as the screws through the shock tower into it were not doing their job, I will be applying a small bit of thread lock to certain areas / screws.

What Goes Where??
Any ideas!! 20 minutes after starting this is the stage we are at







So we start the jigsaw puzzle that is putting things back together. With the Shark always start with the Prop Shaft, Diffs and Diff Housings and you should have something that looks like the below

Race Day - Mold Model Car Club - 08.02.11

Fresh after victory on Sunday at Swansea I've come along once more to Broughton, home of Mold Model Car Club. There'll probably not be many of us there but we're enthusiastic and lay a good track!









I was hoping for a nice easy evening, not change anything on the car, possibly even run a stock take on my things!!

How wrong could I be!! I go to turn on the transmitter and found out that it had been left on after Sunday a quick trip to Tesco around the corner and away we go!




After a few laps my front left wheel fell off! After closer inspection I was surprised to see this





The driveshaft has sheared off! After taking one of Mikes car this is what it's meant to look like





There are only 4 of us here though unfortunately so I'm not sure we'll plug the laptop in or not!

I have noticed with the car that I have so much more steering to the right than the left so at some point this week I need to resort the Servo, the end points are suggesting all should be ok

The End
Well by the end of the night one of the rear hingepins had fallen out as it appears the rear brace has snapped in half! The servo also appears to be knackered as the car is pulling to the right. The front end is really loose as well!! All in all the car needs a complete rebuild so I hope I get time to do it before Friday!!

4wd Race Day - Swansea Micro National - 06.02.11

As opposed to Caldicot I've decided to take some good advice and not change the car!! Shocks will be topped up before the National for good prep, a new fan will be on the motor and we're good to go.

The only change from the previous nationals is I'm going to start with the new Emax Motor, after recent runnings I've decided to drop it down to a 15 pinion, we'll see how it feels in Practice

Round 1
TQ for me! Not sure how, not sure why and don't really care!! A couple of errors but generally a clean run. Went down one tooth pinion to 15/49.































Round 2
Another TQ, 3 seconds quicker than my previous time. There is an 18 lapper in this!!

Round 3
This round was a fairly scrappy one and I ended up 2nd place. Based on the rules we keep that is good enough to see me pole today in 4wd!!





Round 4
Another fairly scrappy race from my point of view. A crash on the first corner (as I did in round 3) allowed Chris Bottle, Tony Bishop and Phil Sleigh through. After several more errors I manages to work my way back up ahead of all bit Bishop beat me on the stagger, 3rd in the round for me.

I had a scare pre race as a wire had come off my fan so I ended up putting holes in the body shell, the idea being to get the airflow through the car. I was starting to worry that there were to many similarities to the previous years Swansea effort!




Final
So the pressure is on to try and pick up my first National win. It was my first 4th Micro National TQ in my 9 Nationals and I needed to convert one if only for my relief!!

The first view laps went off without a hitch, I was cautious and managed to hold the field off. Myself, Harris, Sleigh and Bishop pulled away from the rest of the field with very little separating us. After this I managed to pull away a small gap on the field before getting tangled with a crashed back marker. That allowed Craig to pull alongside me coming down the wall ramp and we had a coming together which resulted in Craig landing upside down.

As a result I was able to continue to hold a gap ahead of Sleigh and Bishop. Keith Robertson was commentating and as he announced 80 seconds to go I probably eased off too much and Sleigh managed to close the gap right down. Fortunately for me we both crossed the line without getting through for the 18 laps which resulted in my first ever National win. If we'd got through for the lap then Phil may have ended up getting past!

Bish came in 3rd for a fantastic Carisma debut from him and Craig finished 4th. Todays result keeps me the Championship hunt - just - although more importantly strengthens my grip on the more realistic 2nd place overall!

2wd Race Day - Swansea Micro National - 06.02.11

So the excitement and the talk is finally over and myself and 8 other drivers will line up in the 1/16th 2wd class and all racing the same car, Phat Bodies Chunk! I believe I have the advantage though as I have Dans car and it's uber quick!!

Practice and Round 1
Good start all in all. Practice was a bit sketchy but the car felt ok. I've decided to run Mini-Pins, they are the only tyre to use here in my opinion.

I had a slow start to round 1, started off last and came together with a few back markers. By the end of the race I was in a very comfortable 2nd and finished 10 seconds behind Danny Conway. In terms of the car there's not really slot I can do about it, don't get me wrong it's going superbly well, I just need to get used it to!!

Round 2
Very very very very piss poor marshalling cost me dearly! I wouldn't have minded if I'd made the mistake but I was hit in the build up! Craig Harris took the round with Danny in 2nd and me third. I get the feeling that's where it will all end today although I am putting done good laps in with Chunk, just making a few to many errors!

Round 3
An amazing run which saw me dominate the race but transponder issues mean I only got 3 laps counted! As there was no start and finish time nothing can be done so my chance of TQ goes with it. Craig takes the race from Danny

Round 4
Going into this race I'm sitting 3rd with the added knowledge of how well it went last race! Bring it on!

I very good 2nd place finish has cemented my position as 3rd on the grid. It would appear that we'll have to put the last race PT issues down to possibly a loose connection or the PT not plugged in properly.

Anyways, Harris is starting to look good in 2wd and he'll take some stopping, myself and Conway will hopefully do that!





Final
As predicted Craig got a clean start and managed to open up a 4 second lead from myself and Danny. I managed to pressure Danny into a mistake but after 3 laps it was too late. Craig had pulled away and gone

I managed to hold off Danny for a few laps and then it was plain sailing into a comfortable 2nd position.

Overall I'm delighted with how the Chunk has gone today and 2nd place is a fair result. If Cris Oxley runs his at the next National then we may find ourselves with 2 heats!

What Final To Aim At...?

One question I've often asked by newbies to the hobby is what final should they be aiming for. My main advice is simple, "Don't pressure yourself with targets, if you drive as cleanly as you can then take satisfaction from which ever final you make".

I should sometimes take my own advice! It's slightly different to an experienced driver though, take me for example, I'm expected to make the Top 10 at the Mid West Outdoor Regionals and although it's fair to say if I miss out on a Top 10 then I'd be very disappointed, it's whereabouts do you aim for overall when you find yourself in this position?

It's very easy to feel down if you look at a heat list and see Former European A Finalists, World Champions, Regional winners etc..., just remember each event is a new event.

To those more experienced drivers who are hopeful of making A Finals, my primary advice is also simple, make sure you get in there first and then push for the highest grid position you can, after all you can't win it if you're not in it!

The most important thing to remember though is that for 99% of the RC Universe this is a hobby, ok a very expensive hobby, enjoy it and come back next time with the last meeting put behind you and a smile on your face, drive cleanly and qualify as high as possible!

Pre-Micro National Thoughts

So onwards to Swansea for Round 5 of the series and I get the feeling it's not going to be straight forward!!

This time last year it was only my 2nd Micro National and it was certainly one to remember. After being placed in Heat 1 as an 'unranked' driver (although I did race at the previous Round there was nothing updated) I managed to take Rounds 1 & 2 which ended up being good enough to take overall TQ. I managed a superbly clean driver for 3 and a half minutes before my motor decided to blow and with it any chance of picking up my first National win!

This year it's all different though and I am racing 2 classes, one of them for the first time. I will be lining up with the 1/16th 4wd as normal as I continue my push for the Top 3. It's fair to say Craig Harris is probably not going to be caught in this but there is a right battle heating up for 2nd place involving myself, Phil Sleigh, Danny Conway and Tony Bishop.

I'm also lining up in 1/16th 2wd for the first time. I am racing the Phat Bodies Chunk of Dan Osbornes, fortunately for me Dan is away on holiday so they have been kind enough to allow me to run his car and as I have blogged so far I am very impressed. I am that impressed I've actually agreed to buy one and should complete the transaction at Swansea , ready for the rest of the season.

I'll also be having a chat with Cain in relation to future projects with RC Model Imports. We have tried to get the Blaze up and running in the 1/18th 4wd Class but so far this has been unsuccessful, I still think it's a possibility and we will have to wait and see what we can do!

I'll be trying to update the blog after every round but with time constraints at Swansea it may not be possible!!

Race Day - Ellesmere Port Club Night 04.02.11

At this weeks club night I will alternate between both the Chunk and the Shark.  I am doing this for a couple of reasons.  Firstly I need practice with the Chunk ready for Swansea but secondly and most importantly it's going to be touch alternating from 2wd to 4wd on Sunday so I may as well try it!

I have experience in moving between one class to the next when racing Indoors 1/10th so I know the difficulties that this will have, with 2wd, especially on slippy conditions, you have to be very gentle on the throttle, whereas 4wd you can power round.  I think 2wd suits me more with this although if I need to get some quick clean laps in then I may over push on the throttle.  At least with 4wd I can only drive to easy but then I'd fall into the bracket of Tony Bishop and the consistent (slow) laps ;-) (Only joking Tony)

I'm planning to start with Chunk in Practice and Round 1 and then move on to the Shark and so on.  I'll only change this depending on breakages, batteries, etc....Basically go with the flow and decide on the night!!

February Race Diary

So where to race this month!

Friday 4th February - Ellesmere Port Club Night - Chunk & Shark
Sunday 6th February - Micro National Swansea - Chunk & Shark
Friday 11th February - Ellesmere Port Club Night - Shark
Sunday 13th February - Midlands Astro Masters Kidderminster - Cougar SV
Friday 18th February - Ellesmere Port Club Night - Shark
Friday 25th February - Ellesmere Port Club Night - Shark

I'll also be looking at running the 1/10ths at some point, possibly a test day at Robin Hood Raceway or Kidderminster

Watch this space....!

Race Day - Mold Model Car Club Night - 01.02.10

Not got much chat from the meeting tonight to be honest, I raced both my usual Shark and the Chunk and was busy, busy, busy!

Starting with the Shark......  I tried my new Emax 4950kv motor today geared at 16/49 and the car came off very cool after 5 minutes (well cooler than normal), I was that impressed with it I think I may start with the motor on Sunday at Swansea.  Overall I lost the final to Tony Bishop due to an error and then no marshalling!  Overall though Bish and I were very close overall, and there was nothing in our fastest laps, Bish was also driving his new Carisma

Now on to the attraction of the night the Chunk!  On the slippy sections the car wanted to spin donuts and it took alot of throttle control to keep the car pointing in the right direction!  I got more and more used to the car as the day went on and in the end I managed to lap within 1.2 seconds of my best Shark times!  Around the Broughton track tonight that would have only have been around a lap slower, amazing!

Bring on Sunday!!

UPDATED - Nearly Time For Chunk!

It's fair to say I am quite excited! Dan Osbornes Chunk was posted special delivery on Saturday morning and should be therefore with me tomorrow!

All I have to do is fit my receiver as well as find somewhere for the ariel tube to live and away I go!

I'm hoping to debut the car (debut for me that is) at Broughton on Tuesday night, I can not wait!

Many thanks to Dan for letting me run the car while he is not there!!


UPDATE 07:07 - Due to the efficient Royal Mail delivered Chunk this morning, I just need to get home and fit ariel tube then this time tomorrow we're on!

Race Day - Ellesmere Port Club Night 28.01.11

I like running at Ellesmere Port, it's the same hall that I started off racing 20 years ago in 1990 an I'm still here!!

They race every Friday night, mainly running Micros but with a heat of Mardaves. There used to be more Mardaves than Micros but it shows that the Off Road scene is thriving once more, better than the Snoring Touring Cars (my opinion only)

Competitive night tonight with Dan Murphy, Gavin Stephenson and Darren Stephenson all racing, all 4 of us are capable drivers.

After a couple of races I find myself top of the pile on 23 laps, Dan has 22 with Team Stephenson showing at 21 and 20, Gavin quicker than Darren. In all fairness to Dan and Gavin there is absolutely nothing between us at the start of the race. I'd appear to take a couple of tenths of a second per lap from them. It will be closer come the final tonight

There is a side note to my driving so far tonight! After Round 1 I tried to be clever and jump onto the rostrum (stage) from the big jump. I only succeeded in finding a table leg and the results are shown below:




Ellesmere Port improves your driving like no other club in the area. It's a very tight twisty track and the Micros have jumps a plenty to keep us on our toes. Tonights track is shown below:






As with the 1/10th cars this past week at Hereford I've turned all my throttle settings down 0% with the exception of the HiPoint which is set at 130. I've upped the last setting to 140 for Round 3 and I also ran the last race with no front roll bar due to my aforementioned meeting with the table leg!

The nights racing finished off disappointingly for me, Round 3 was another comfortable race for me with no issues, the final however was a different story! After helping myself to a 6 second or so advantage ahead of Dan and Gavin my rear right wheel fell off! This is something I'm going to have to keep an eye on at Broughton this coming Tuesday night. Dan and Gav continued to have a right battle until the end where Dan came out as winner.

Ellesmere Port Club Night - 28.01.11

Back at Ellesmere Port tomorrow. There won't be much time to blog about the racing as there is normally only 3 heats but there will be chance to race against Dan and Gavin.

I'll blog tomorrow night with the results!

2wd at Swansea Micro National

It's been confirmed that I will have a Chunk for Swansea. Dan Osborne is away on holiday so i am stepping in!!

I'm really looking forward to it considering Dan won the last national with it! The return of Craig Harris could be an issue and Gavin Stephenson and Danny Conway will also be up there.

The only question is when will I et the car! It's looking like the day before so no practice with it!! I may see if I can go the wrong way around the Swansea track (jumps pending) to test it out. Anyone who knows me know my views in practice on a national meeting track. It shouldn't happen as it should be the same for all.

Dan Osborne - Raising Money For Leukemia

Dan Osborne - Micro Hero - is raising money for a well known charity due to a personal loss during 2010, if you're able to please donate some money to this worthy cause.  The below is taken from Dan's post on UK Micro RC Forum tonight:

"One of my best friends Ty Partridge passed away to leukaemia just 5 months a go at the age of 21, in aid of CLIC and for Ty we are cycling 1,000 miles to Paris and back for August the 21st! We've given ourselves 2 weeks to complete this in so should be a pretty big challenge, we're looking to ride 80 miles a day

There's seven of us doing it and it should be a pretty awesome experience. I've put this up for anyone that would like to follow our progress on Facebook or donate to the cause. We're aiming to raise £2,000! 100% of the money donated will be going straight to charity, we will be arranging where we are staying out of our own pockets
Le Tour de Ty - Facebook Group
Le Tour de Ty - Just Giving

Thank you all for your support and will keep you updated with how I'm struggling"


Good luck to Dan and the others for this gruelling but worthwhile bike ride!

BWOC Summary

2WD
I was hopeful of making at least one A Final this weekend and I was more than expecting to make it in 4wd and not 2wd!

My thoughts are justified because if you look at my results from the 2009 Nationals compared to the 2010 Nationals you will see I was getting better results pre-Cougar. I really struggled in 2010 as it was the first time is ran a Mid-Motored 2wd car however 2011 has started off very well and feels me with optimism.

It may be Indoor Racing and don't get me wrong it will be totally different when we get outdoors but a few subtle changes we have made have make a huge difference. I've knocked down the aggression on the speed controller as well as transmitter and Saturday goes to show I am on the up in 2wd.

To qualify 5th, finish 7th and have a couple of top 3 rounds (including the strange last round which in my opinion should have been a 1st in round) was an awesome result for me.

The finals were a bit disappointing but it's not often I find myself in the position I was. I'm hopeful I can be up there in the coming meetings too.

Congrats to my Schumacher team mates Danny McGee and Lloyd Storey on their top 3 finishes.

4wd
To finish 2nd highest Schumacher on the day is a result I look back on with pride, it was a job well done this weekend!

I think the break from 1/10th over the past 2 months really helped me to focus at Hereford and I'm now raring to go in 2011.

As per 2wd I honestly believe making some mi or changes in relation to speed controller settings and aggression have really helped me this weekend. Not only that but to have a car from the off that needed no changes to be made helped a lot. It may be a different story when we go outdoors and results may come down to our reactions in terms if set up on the track, we can't worry about that at the moment though as we're still a few months from the serious outdoor racing!

To be a double A finalist this weekend was very satisfying, bring on 2011!!

4wd Hereford Track

There are a few subtle changes from yesterdays track. It looks as though overtaking may be at a Premium again! The double double section in front the rostrum has been spread slightly, it looks as though this is to stop drivers attempting to do it one!! Marshall 5 be aware!

Race Day - BWOC 4wd - Hereford

Another early start today as we head back down to Hereford for the 4wd version of British Winter Open Championships. Today sees more competition in 7 heats as well as drivers such as Simon Moss, Mat Dodd and Paul Robinson. It will be tougher to be a double A Finalist this weekend but that has to be the aim from my point of view.

As with any typical 1/10th Indoor Meeting I'm hopeful that we won't have to make many changes to the car and I'm confident there will be no tyre choice today, mini pins all the way!

Yesterday we ran an hour a round and there's no reason that we can't do that again with 7 heats so I'm hopeful we will once again see 6 qualifying rounds, more racing for the money!

Practice 1
I've been places in Heat 7 today for practice which once again looks a competitive heat.

Practice was ok, for the first half of the race I was still in 2wd mode and driving really easy. The transition between slippy and carpet is noticeable and is where I struggled most. Although dowager the end I was getting used to it.

Practice 2
For 2nd practice I've dropped to a 6.5 motor from the 5.5 and gone up a tooth to a 24. The idea is to try and calm the at down coming out of corners. Set up wise I think the car is there or there abouts. It was plenty quick enough in practice 1 so we'll see what this does

After that run it's fair to say I'm putting the 5.5 back in! The car was a bit slower down the straight and I didn't think the slower motor affected the car in the infield changed much.

Overall after practice I'm feeling a little less confident however we haven't been timed yet running round so it is difficult to say. It looks like it's going to be a close one again today and a top 10 finish is going to be tough

Drivers Briefing
Due to people having to travel a long distance to get home it's been decided today that there will be 5 rounds of qualifying with your best 2 to count, 10 points from 2 rounds could be needed to make the A Final

Round 1
Round 1 is always about keeping it clean and smooth for me. A lot of the drivers usually push a little too hard so there are valuable points to be had here

A couple of small errors early on were nearly costly but I managed to get into a rhythm and finish 3rd in the race about 6 seconds behind Sleigh and Stafford. It did however see me take 5th in the round





Round 2
We've left the car the same again for round 2. I'm looking for another clean run and hopefully another top 6 which should see me in and around the top 10 overall

Another 5th in round achieved and another clean run, that should see me in the A Final again this weekend. There's nothing to report in terms of car changes as there is nothing that needs doing!

I'm in a unique situation that where a 5th is the best I can achieve without people dropping out. That said the idea will be for me to keep taking points of anyone else that can get near so I need to keep going!




Round 3
Another 5th means I take points from some drivers but not all, Dave Poulter takes a 4th! Moss broke and errors from Yardy allowed Ellis to take the round! It felt as though my car was super aggressive in the early stages of his race and once the edge was off the LiPo. Second half of the race it was awesome! We've had a chat about taking the weight out of the car but I'm going to leave it in



Round 4
New tyres did not work and also there has been a few random scores which has seen me drop to 8th overall on 10 points!

I had an early error and from there I let everyone through and just tried to run the tyres in as best as possible!

Round 5
Breakages and drop outs prior to my heat gave me the opportunity to put an amazing run in and a near clean 19 lapper gave me a 4th in the round. It puts me ahead of Poulter into 7th. As predicted at the start of the day it's been very close today and I have a feeling the 3 legged finals will be no different!




A Final - Leg 1
A slow but steady start from me got me into 5th and a comfortable 5th. One crash later (on a corner I haven't crashed on all weekend) sees me drop into the chasing pack and I ended up 8th after a scrappy race with Helliwell.

A Final - Leg 2
That leg was a lot better from my point of view! It ended up as a 5th, if I'm being honest I'm never going to challenge any higher! Ellis and Truman went, Moss and Sleigh battled, in reality the 5th could be attributed to Yardy failing to finish.

A Final - Leg 3
This was a race of 2 battles. There was a 3 way battle between Ellis, Sleigh and Truman and with Yardy and Moss out it left Poulter, myself, Robertson and Williams to go for 4th. After much chopping and changing it was Keith Robertson who got that 4th, I strengthen my position with a 5th, a result that would see me 5th overall, what a result for me!

Race Day - BWOC 2wd - Hereford

So we're off and running here at Hereford. Disappointing turnout with only 6 heats but competition is tough at the top end with Danny McGee, Ellis Stafford, Tom Yardy and Scott Whyman in attendance. Rumours are rife in the pits with regards to today's format of racing, I believe we are having 6 rounds of qualifying with your best 3 rounds to count, another option is 5 rounds of qualifying with 2 to count and 3 legged finals for all, we will soon know!

Practice 1
The only decision I have to make this morning is the front tyre choice. I've opted for Mini Pins for round 1 and thinking Staggered Ribs for round 2.

The practice itself was ok, I've not had a lot of confidence running a mid motored 2wd before and so far today, albeit 4 minutes in, confidence is high! As always with first practice you can never tell!

Practice 2
Time for staggered ribs! Let's see how this goes!

It's fair to say it was no where near as good in my opinion. I really struggled with under steer on the slippy sections. Back to the mini pins for round 1

Drivers Briefing
Paul Worsley delivered his usual spiel to the drivers and most importantly announced 6 rounds of qualifying with best 3 to count!

Round 1
A surprisingly good run for me sees me take 7th. It possibly should have been better but it's so close overall, one error can see you drop a lot places as I found out on the last lap!










Round 2
No changes on the car for this one

Despite an error on my in lap I was the 4th fastest in that round. Lloyd Storey has taken overall TQ from Tom Yardy, Danny McGee went 3rd. The only difficulty I should face in terms of car set up now is tyre choice. The mini pins are looking worn but not too bad, we'll leave them for this one. The aim is for one more top 5 (minimum) which should see me in the A Final on 16 points. Although saying that with the unknown territory of 3 rounds of qualifying to count who knows what will bottom out the A!










Round 3
Round 3 went according to plan and resulted in being top Cougar in the round and scoring another 4th. The track is an easy one to drive but hard to keep it going for 5 minutes. Once or twice I'm over shooting the double jumps which may only cost a couple of tenths but that could prove crucial. Overall after Round 3:











Round 4
Despite driving with 'Pig Hands' (Quote - Dave Fat Jesus Amish Gibson) I improved by 1 point and achieved 5th in the round. With 2 rounds to go I'm sitting 5th overall on 13 points which is by far a lot better than I thought I'd do!

Round 5 will see me put new mini pins on all round to scrub them in for the A Final, it may be a little bit to much to handle but we'll see!









Round 5
New tyres were not the way forward!!! Still a very creditable 6th as we head into round 6!

Slight speed control setting change for me going into round 6, we're going to drop the initial punch setting down by one just to try and take a little more edge of the car under power.

Round 6 - Final Round
Well it's fair to say that was a random last round! During our practice laps it was very apparent the grip had gone, it was like Bambi on ice. I drove the best I've ever drove the Cougar and won the heat only to find out that one competitor from the previous heat had dropped a shock and oil was everywhere! I was the quickest in the top 2 heats but finished 3rd in the round behind Paul Wragg and Rob West. My best lap was 18.05 compared to Wragg's 16.90, that's how much difference was made! As a result Wragg displaces Helliwell in the A Final. Final positions are:











A Final - Leg 1
So my first 1/10th National A Final (excluding end if season finals) sees me line up smack bang in the middle of the pack in 5th. It's a fairly daunting position which sees me allow Sleigh around the outside drops me to 6th. A small tap from Wragg sees me drop straight to 9th and the hard work begins! I eventually worked my way up to 3rd and was holding the train of Sleigh, Stafford and Yardy comfortably behind until a loose screw popped out and the driveshaft came out of the outdrive with 3 corners to go! I ended up 6th :-(

A final - Leg 2
An amazing start sees regulation order for the first 5 cars for about 2 minutes. When it came to lapping back markers though I managed to find every single car that had crashed on it's roof and this cost me again! A battle with Poulter ensued for the final few laps and it resulted in another 6th finish!

A Final - Leg 3
Another poor start (tapped again) sees me in a 4 way battle for most of the race with Poulter, Stafford and Wragg for 7th to 10th. After much position swapping Stafford and Poulter dropped out and I worked back up to 6th once more after Robertson made a few errors.

Final positions are as follows:










Not a bad result and one I would have taken at the start of today for sure! Now for the journey home and back tomorrow for 4wd!

2wd Hereford Track

Despite limited time last night Hereford have put on a decent track for us today



















Let's go!

British Winter Open Championships - THIS WEEKEND!

So my 2011 1/10th Off Road racing kicks off this coming weekend down in Sunny Hereford!  I will be 'reporting' live from the event so feel free to pop along to see how I'm fairing against some of the UK's finest drivers!

Reports that the likes of Tom Yardy, Ellis Stafford, Tony Truman and new Micro Legend Dave Belsten will be competing to become British Indoor Champion, 2wd will be on the Saturday and 4wd is on Sunday.

The event has already had it's issues with reports of low numbers and a venue change at the last minute but I know from experience that the lads in Hereford will put on a great show.

As always I know that the BRCA 1/10th Section will be putting on a great show!

Refilling My Shark Shocks

The process for filling up your shocks is a simple one BUT if it is something you've never done before or only a handful of timed then it can be daunting! By following my simple procedure below you should be able to get through the process:

Step 1 - Remove the shocks from the car
As obvious as that sounds I have seen people try to do them without taking them off and it doesn't work!!

Step 2 - Do one shock at a time
It's easy to forget which shock spacers / springs go where if you're new to this!

Step 3 - Empty the old oil into a throw away container or a bin
Well there's no point keeping the old oil!!

Step 4 - Filling the shock with the new oil
Fill up the shock leaving a small gap at the top end of the shock body, do not fill to the top

Step 5 - Checking the shock
Place the Shock cap on the Shock body and compress the shaft into the body. You should be able to push the shaft all the way into the body with minimal resistance. If you can't do this or the resistance is great then take some oil out. Once you release the shock you should see a 'rebound' of the shaft and the shaft should move back towards the starting position. If there is little rebound then add a little more oil. Don't add too much though as you may end up taking some out!

Repeat the above process on all shocks and remember to put them back on the car once done!!

I hope the above is of some help!

The LRP LWB Shark Rebuild - Pre Electrics!

Just to show what you can achieve in 25 minutes!!



The car needs a little bit of TLC to be fair so I've decided to rebuild it. The rebuild will really just be a check and not to replace everything. I'll be looking for bent screws, dodgy bearings etc.....

During the 'destruction' it was noted that steering was catching on the Servo Brace Holder causing less steering to the left, it was noticeable on Sunday on the Polished Floor but I attributed to the fact it wasn't carpet! Time to get the dremel on that!

Where To Start
As a precaution I always check all the bearings to make sure they are all working ok. The bearings to check are as follows:
2 x Front Diff
2 x Read Diff
8 x Wheel Hubs (2 for each wheel)
3 x Prop Shaft (1 at each end and 1 on Spur Gear)

All bearings checked and ready to go, time for the rebuild to begin!

Prop Shaft and Diffs in



When putting the diffs in please note that there are groves in the diff housing which shows you which side the diff gear sits

Next comes the diff covers/housings which will ensure the diff will not fall out when you turn the car upside down!! The rear wishbone is added along with the wing mounts to give us the following:




It is important to note that I always make sure the prop shaft is spinning freely through each stage of the build. It's the worst feeling ever when you finish the build to find something wrong and having to start again!!

You do have a choice of what to build next, in this case I'll start with the front end. Don't worry south the driveshafts too much at this stage at you can always get these in easily at a later stage




And now the rear end. It's important to note that you shouldn't over tighten your screws and check that the wishbones move freely up and down while the shocks aren't on. This will show you that your hinge pins are still straight and will ensure the wishbones return to the correct level. Also I'd recommend attaching the rear role-bar on BEFORE fastening the upper links otherwise the job becomes a bit of a fiddle!




Next the driveshafts and shocks are to go on as well as the battery bar post




And the finished (so far) product:




Next time I'll be sorting out the electrics back in the car, you'll have to excuse the wiring!!

Photo Quality From Caldicot National

Apologies to those who were following today.  The photo's have appeared to come across all blurred, I'm not sure why this has happened as last time they were all ok.

If you have any thoughts on the write-up from today or any ideas to improve it please let me know!

Thanks

Race Day - Caldicot National

So the first major meeting for me in 2011 is the Micro National at Caldicot. Once again the track is a superb one!

Practise
Practise was a frustrating one for me. I felt somewhat off the pace in my race with Phil Sleigh and Steve Biscoe laying down the law in Heat 7. It's difficult to tell as lap times aren't published but Craig Harris and Tony Bishop are looking good on Heat 8 and all eyes were on the Micro debutant and 1/10th Off Road hero Dave Belsten in Heat 6. Belsten was putting in some consistently quick laps.
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Round 1
With Round 1 over Championship Leader Craig Harris has dominated with the only 21 lapper, Sleigh (driving the Carisma) was just off 21 laps, Danny Conway drove an excellent second half of his race to come in third, I was fourth with Bishop in fifth



 From my point of view I was a bit disappointed with my race. I led the field off only to crash on the first corner. From then on myself and Sleigh traded crashes before Phil settled and pulled away.

I'd set my car up to go on Pins for Round 1 only for the heating to be turned off which meant a quick change back to my less favoured White Rally Blocks. The heating situation has caused a lot of discussion, if the heating stays on or off all day then that is good, if it keeps getting turned off and on then it will effect track conditions. At the start of Round 2 it's been turned back on but there is no sign of Harris will no doubt ensure it is turned off!




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Round 2
For this round I have turned the start mode on the speed controller right down which will hopefully take away some of the aggression. Slow and steady appears to the order of the day. Let's hope we can get close to Harris!!

DID NOT GO TO PLAN!! - I failed to finish after the car stopped, it turns out to be a connection in the battery. I had gone on Pins and it's fair to sat it didn't work! Continued domination from Harris and a great drive from Bish sees him jump to second in the round




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Round 3
This round has seen me move the shocks around a bit. I've gone to the outer hole on the front wishbones and moved in one hole on the rear shock tower. I'm trying to get the car more stable, I'm also back on White Rally Blocks

BETTER
Well that was a lot better, the felt as if it was a bit skiddy on the back end. I'm going back to my usual 80 weight shock oil on the rear and I'm going to move the shocks in again on the rear wishbone. I'm also going to change motor as I thought there was some cogging.

I'm sitting on 2 4s at the minute in fifth place. With a good clean run I have a chance of getting third or fourth. We'll see!







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Round 4
I was looking great in Round 4 until the unthinkable happened and I stripped the spur gear! So it wasn't meant to be but I did qualify 5th. A top 5 finish is something I'd have taken at the start of the day. Harris poled, Sleigh qualified second, Conway was third and Bishop fourth.

As I was changing the spur gear for the final I tried the car to make sure the meshing was right, this unfortunately blew the new motor so the old one went back in!!
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FINAL
The final was a strange one, an early error from Bish allowed me to gain fourth place for a while until I fell off the table top and dropped to 7th. Harris dominated from start to finish with Conway a clear second. Thanks to a superb last few laps from Sleigh he promoted himself to third. It's been a long hard day but I have learnt more about the car ready for next time it's slippy!





Id like to give a special mention to young Morgan Rham who qualified 9th in the B Final and drove himself to 2nd and congrats to Dave Belsten for making the 'A' Final in his first (and probably only) Micro National

The next National sees is go to Swansea, the one I TQ'd last year and led until a motor blew! Let's hope for a better result this time!