1/12th Fresher

I thought I would finally do a new post on this blog, but not about the usual TC racing I ramble on about.  I have finally decided to take up 1/12th racing over the winter season.  It occurred to me during the summer that the majority of the top UK racers and even the top racers around the world all race this class, or have done at some point over their racing careers.  1/12th scale is the ultimate in terms of grip and reflex speed required to drive them, and boy did I realize that my first time out.

It all began in July when I was talking with my Team manager James Stewart at HPI UK who is a season long 1/12th racer and he convinced me to have a go.  James had his old V-design for me to use with electrics already installed so all that was required from me was my radio and a receiver!  The Chesterfield shootout round 3 was where my debut took place, a fantastic club that's very well supported by the 1/12th and GT12 community.   It was pretty funny how little idea I had about preparing a 1/12th car, even setting the ride height had me all confused and looking for shock collars haha.  But with the help and support of the committed 1/12th guys I was getting on okay :-).

To drive a well prepared 1/12th scale is just awesome.  The amount of grip you have is just bonkers and at first I was having difficulty just trying to follow the car around the track as you are lapping so much faster than a touring car would indoors.   I've raced at two events now and its pretty good to never experience a loose rear end.  The 8 minute racing is also great and I believe this will really benefit Touring car driving in terms of staying consistent over 5.  I have also found the car setup window to be very wide with a 1/12th car.  As long as your car is well prepared and all is in good shape, it will lap round the track and feel pretty good!  You may not be as fast as the experienced guys, but due to the amount of grip you have naturally it will feel rather good to drive 99% of the time.

I would encourage any touring car driver who has not yet tried 1/12th scale to give it a go, I guarantee you will enjoy it and feel a benefit in your touring car racing on the track.  Oh and as for the foam tyres, I used two sets for five runs at the last shoot out so its not as expensive as some make out.  And these tyres will be used again ;)

I need to thank James at HPI for all his help as without him I would for sure not have started 1/12th racing as comfortably as I have.  Also David Spashett at Zen racing has been a great help along with the rest of the Zen team.  For the 1/12th season I will be running the Yokomo car with MB Models so a big thanks to my long time sponsor Michael Ball for making this happen.

Until next time - Stef

ETS Preparation

Slowly getting together my number one car for ETS Czech Republic. Everything's coming together nicely :-)

Rug Racers Report

I attended a round of the Rug Racers championship yon sunday 6th january.  It's a cool track and they run on the sweep QTS tyre which wasn't bad at all.  My main focus was to test some setup ideas before ETS Czech Republic.  Unfortunately I had to run 13.5 which is just so shit to drive its not even fun.  the harder you drive the faster you lap! like the opposite to modified racing haha.

Anyway crappy 13.5 aside the car was ok.  I just drove like an numpty most of the time.  I qualified 6th in the A-main which I was maximum annoyed with because I really should be qualifying higher than that but I guess waking up at 4am after going to bed at 1am then a 2 hour drive doesn't help concentration :-).

I have a setup from germany for czech republic but im planning on running to cars in practice, the other one with a radical setup on to test.  This way I can A/B the differences easily :)

thats all for now!

Stef

Remember Me?

Hello everyone, are we all good?

Its been like a millennium since I posted on here.  I have been so busy lately with final year Uni work racing has come second for once.  Lots of recording to do in the studio and a dissertation....But thats all sorted pretty much so racing can become more of a priority again.

ETS Germany was a great event and my car was really good.  It took Andy some time to get up to pace as he was racing those smelly noisy but awesome gas touring cars in thailand in preparation for the worlds at the time so to him, electric TC felt pretty weird for about half of the event haha, I was considering standing at the side of the track making gas car like sound effects to make it a little more normal :-).  Unfortunately he didn't make the A main due to bad luck but by the end of the event we both had a good setup that we will use as a starting point for ETS Czech Republic in january.  I had a good event and had some good qualifying pace to begin with but slipped down the order slightly due to the competition getting stronger and stronger.  However I had good finals for once and won the C main which I was happy with.

I am now the BRCA Public Relations Officer for the 1/10th TC 2 day nationals so I have a fair amount of work on that front which im enjoying.  Its also a great role as its all the advertising, media and press lark regarding the nationals so I enjoy it :).

Winter Nationals will be at the EWS facility in late february which will be an awesome event.  I won't be able to test in any way for the event until after the ETS race so I don't screw up my driving with 10.5 and on different tyres to the ETS.  So for me testing wise thats not priority at the moment, but its an event I am looking forward to =).

Testing

So far testing has been in small amounts at the fantastic Hinckley club.  The closure of Ardent has really effect how often I can test and on high traction but Hinckley is a good place to go practice and despite the traction been obviously lower than Ardent was as its not a permanent facility, you can still try a lot of generic setup changes to the chassis and feel the difference.  Plus at the end of the day, its still good practice.

See you next year for another blog update =)   (I joke......I hope)

Stef

Indoor Mod season GO! 10.5 turbo/boosted/super-sonic crap crap BYE BYE =D

Well the outdoor season in the UK is in the books.  Iv'e had a mixed season at the nationals.  I finished 11th overall in the championship which to be fair, if I look at how my season started, its not so bad :).

Whilst its been close this year results wise between everyone.  I think its been a lot easier to actually drive the car for 5 minutes as you kinda only have to worry about your right thumb or hand if you drive a wheel contraption cause your a European at heart ;). My left thumb is literally worn out and my TX haha.  Because with 10.5 you have to bury the throttle so much into the TX pot its stupid.  Really do dislike this class and Im looking forward to Modified next year hopefully, a class that requires left thumb modulation =D!  The highlight was coming off the main straight at mendip and having to hit full throttle again -_-.  With modified if you did that your car would end up in many many pieces haha....The close racing has been fun tho and Iv'e still enjoyed the racing aspect.  But actually driving the car has been pretty boring and pointless if I want to try and improve in europe.  But never mind.

Now its back to indoor testing for the upcoming ETS carpet races, starting this saturday at Maritime when a lovely Thunder Power 4.5 says hello to my Tcxx motor mount :-), and my left thumbs firmware is reset and the on off switch from my brain is removed...WOO :)....Can you tell I hate 10.5?

About 150 entries for ETS in just the modified class alone....Whats that about the modified class dying?

Peace :)

Stef