Morecambe on a Monday

at Blackpool to mix things up of course!

A good night all told, left it till the last round of qualifying to put in a good clean run but it was my fastest ever at Blackpool when I did. Put me in the A final, which then only lasted a few laps before my motor shifted after a heavy knock and the gear mesh came undone... or so I thought - turned out three of the bulkhead screws had come lose/left the building and once they were back in everything was back to being sweet and rosy. Cost me any chance of a better result than the 4th place I qualified in though. Ho hum.

Blackpool on a Friday

Racing on Friday was an example of how I remember racing used to be back in my XRAY glory days. Turn up, race a car that just works, have a laugh with mates and go home with a car that doesn't need 3 hours of TLC to make it usable again.

I filed down the rear driveshaft blades at the start of the evening so all the little tweaks needed to get the XRAY  in tip-top shape. That said, just as I thought I had finished faffing, I realised that the ball joint screws that go into the top of the bulkheads for the roll-centre settings have a shoulder on. This means that they're fine when used with a washer, but without a washer (as I want to set the car up) you cannot screw them in all the way because of the shoulder. Sloppy XRAY, very sloppy...

Anyway I think I finished 4th on Friday night which was a reasonable result although I felt I could do better. The car felt great, the only issues were little mistakes I made, so once I've got a bit more practice over the coming weeks I'm hoping I can do a little better than that!

A return to form?

Racing at Morecambe on Monday signalled something of a return to form for me. I feel like I've been struggling with the Tamiya for a few months now and I've been eager to get back to the sort of level I feel I used to race at.



After some solid qualifying runs I found myself in 3rd place on the A final grid behind Andy and Mark with Colin sat just behind me. A minute or two into the race Mark made a mistake in front of me and I squeezed past. Despite a far from perfect run I managed to keep him behind me for the rest of the run and finished in 2nd place. A result I was very pleased with... the hunt for Andy begins next week!

Teething issues

My subsequent few meetings with the car were troubled by front driveshafts falling apart. Once I put a flat spot on all the pins though this sorted itself out.

Someone also pointed out that I'd been a bit hasty with my assembly of the steering, meaning I had the black plastic arms upside down. Once I flipped them over I was able to get my steering turnbuckle the right length. That said, I know someone else who built it right but still had to fit a smaller turnbuckle in the car to get it all fitting together as it should.

I've also made some changes to the standard carpet setup which I initially put on the car - this has made it much easier to drive consistently fast and I'm feeling very happy with how the car feels now. I must confess I have also succumbed to the 28 JBs again, the car just feels so much better on them.

I still need to take a bit of material off the end of the rear driveshaft protector things - to stop them binding up the diff at full suspension travel. But I plan to get that done before the next meeting on Friday.

The maiden voyage...

... at Morecambe of course!



It was a very positive maiden voyage if I say so myself. Car felt a little slippy but that's normal during the first couple of rounds at Morecambe until the grip comes up, especially with new tyres like I had. Really, trying a new car on tyres you've never tried before isn't the brightest idea, but all my other tyres were knackered or recently sold on as used parts.





I qualified pole in the B final and Colin kindly offered to let me try his 28 JBs (which he had also put on new at the start of the evening) to see how they compared to the LRP tyres which I was trying. I should clarify, the reason for trying the LRPs is because they are a lot cheaper than the Sorex 28 JBs and they should last longer than them also, because frankly the build quality of the JBs is shocking.

Anyway, shock-horror, the JBs are quicker 2+ laps quicker even round our little Morecambe track. Interestingly Colin went 2 laps slower with my LRPs on, so there appears to be a consistent and mirrored change in times between the tyres. The LRPs are certainly drive-able though, Colin confirmed that, so might be worth considering if everyone at the club was on them. I'll let you know how they feel at Blackpool, but in summary, on 28 JBs the new car/new radio combo felt truly awesome.

T3 2012 Build Review

As promised here's a pictorial build review of my new T3 2012. I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking but I will comment on a few bits and bobs as they crop up because everything wasn't quite as 'perfect' as I remember last time I was in the XRAY camp...


The gear diff went together beautifully apart from a point in the manual where it tells you to orient the diff a certain way to get the pin and it's 90 degrees off. Small point but not very 'XRAY' if you ask me...






Don't forget the loctite on the spur gear layshaft!










Here lies the source of most my complaints with the build, the instructions on how to assemble the servo saver are wrong. I built it how I thought it should be built (given it's a bit of a Tamiya rip off) then read the instructions saw they said different so I took it apart to build that way instead, but it doesn't work the way described in the manual so I had to take it apart again and built it back the way I thought initially.

Also, the turnbuckle that links the servo to the new rack can't be made short enough, it suggests 58mm in the manual which is just about to do-able but for the servo to be installed as described in the manual it needs to be about 3-4mm shorter still. To do that you need to cut 2mm off each of the plastic ends AND 2mm off each end of the turnbuckle threaded bar itself! Again, not very 'XRAY' at all...

Time for a shift in direction

Apologies for the lack of posting recently, I was away on holiday over the summer then didn't get back into racing for a few weeks. Then when I did go back I just wasn't feeling it anymore with the Tamiya. So, when the new XRAY T3 2012 was announced for the release at the end of the month my mind was made up.

I gave racing a continued break for another few weeks and then on the Friday just gone I picked up my new XRAY. I owned XRAYs for many years before the Tamiya and although I'm sad to see the Tamiya go, as I still think it is one of the best cars in terms of design out there and it looks stunning sat on your pit table, I feel like I have returned home to the XRAY camp!

So, I will be building the XRAY during the coming week to make a return to Morecambe on the following Monday. I plan to post a build guide in due course so keep your eyes peeled.

In the meantime, check out my eBay account...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/theresamaydawood/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3686

Morecambe visits Blackpool

Morecambe visited Blackpool this Monday and I was apprehensive as to how my evening was going to pan out, given my result race results and general misery at race meetings.

First run out didn't get off to a great start. After a couple of laps I broke a front c-hub and had to retire to fix it. However, second run the car felt much better... perhaps even half decent... I have to wonder how long that c-hub had been cracked!

Final qualifier car felt ok, but not as good as the round before some reason and consequently I was unable to improve. This left me sat on pole position for the B final.

However, after a promising start to the final where for the first few laps I pulled out a small lead I soon found myself struggling and being rapidly caught by those behind me. All told I think I ended up third or lower and the car had gone back to being nothing short of a pile of crap to be honest.

But, I've decided that I just need to accept whatever speed I can get the car round in for the moment and wherever possible just keep it clean. Just looking forward to the new Xray coming out towards the end of the year now... ;)

Racing Misery Act 2, Scene 1

Racing at Morecambe on Monday, and Blackpool on Friday this week was only a continuation of the 'Morecambe Misery' I experienced in my last blog post. So, I won't bore you with the grisly details, mainly because I don't want to drag up the bad memories again - I only just stopped sobbing. Suffice to say, the car is so much of handful to drive I push harder and make more mistakes and do worse and worse. It has that feeling that a lot of work might be required to make it like new again unfortunately.

I think the Tamiya's run has come to an end to be honest, it's time for a change. So, I'm planning to switch my electronics over the Xray T2R Pro (my current wet car) as soon as possible - due to little use the Xray is in pretty good condition. I think my plan longer term, and finances permitting, will be to get the new Xray when it comes out at the end of the year as usual.

My extensive experience with Xray cars in the past has always been a positive one - they have to be the ultimate club car as they just keep going and going, and they are simply a joy to build. I had a go with Danny's T3 '11 on Friday - it has all the important hop-ups: Xray gear diff, Exotech chassis, up right roll centre mounts, aluminum steering rack, etc. and I suspect it's a pretty good representation of what the new Xray will have as standard when it comes out. It was delightful to drive and I'm excited at the meer thought of having a new toy - it feels like it has been forever since I got some new gear!

Will keep you posted on the next few weeks as I make the change to the T2R Pro and hopefully to something even better in the coming months.

Morecambe Misery

I was at Morecambe on the Monday immediately following the Halifax national, but to be honest I wished I hadn't gone by the end of the night. It had started out okay, but numerous mistakes in multiple qualifiers had meant my final qualifying position left a little to be desired.

I then drove like a complete and utter wally in the final and at one point I seriously considered drilling the car into the brick wall at the end of the straight - I was that frustrated with it that the possibility of seeing it obliterated into a million bits felt strangely satisfying at the time. Needless to say I managed to resist the 'temptation' and opted for continuing to drive like a tool for the remainder of the five minutes.

Hands down, worst night of racing for a long time in my eyes. I'll leave it there. Hopefully something a bit more up beat can follow this post when I'm back racing in a week's time!

Halifax National 2011

Apologies that this post is a little late arriving, but sometimes life takes over and I can't be bothered to write it of an evening after work. Last weekend I was at the Halifax National, despite seriously considering giving it a miss given the miserable-looking weather forecast for the weekend on the Friday night.

My wet car has a very first generation brushless system in from SpeedPassion, so fixed timing advance and minimal other settings. I thought the lack of speed would be a problem because Halifax is so big, although it's usually a good thing at other tracks as it stops me trying to put down more power than grip available in the wet conditions. As it was supposed to be wet all weekend I was worried about having to race the entire weekend with my under-powered wet car. However as it turned out, it was fine. Although the weather forecast wasn't as torrential as it looked at one point, it was constant on/off showers all weekend keeping the grip levels extremely low for everyone (unless you happened to be in one of the lucky heats who had a nearly dried out track before it started raining again).

The constantly changing conditions actually mixed up some of the qualifying positions quite a bit, I had something like a top 13 run in one round (I'd normally hope to be high 30's) whereas Andy had a couple of 80-somethings and usually he'd be shooting for top ten all the time. The rain even meant Andy Cottom was officially 'fast' for one run at least!

We all started Saturday with both wet and dry cars out on the bench in the hope of some sunshine poking through at some point, but by the time Sunday rolled around I think everyone pretty much just had their wet cars left on pit tables - it was almost certain that even if it wasn't raining when you left your car to get on the rostrum, it was probably raining by the time you'd climbed the steps to look out at the track again.

Actually, unlike Cotswolds, the Halifax track tends to seem to absorb any water rather quickly so there's never any standing water. It's always just at that greasy stage. As a result, slicks and wets worked with equal uselessness to be honest.

I think I had something like a 29, a 13 and a 54 at the end of Saturday qualifying - a fair old spread, but I called it a good and headed off to settle in at the Premier Inn and get an Indian at some random place in Halifax town centre - we found it by following our noses a couple of years ago if I recall. When Sunday came around we traipsed back to the track to endure more of the same in both the weather and qualifying department.

By the time the dust, or should I say the rain, had settled I found myself with a somewhat underwhelming qualifying position of third in the E final. The first two rounds of finals were nothing short of dismal to be honest. 'Naughty' and I had to start at the back of our first final after some confusion nearly meant we missed the race altogether! I'm pretty sure I finished dead last in that race - my car felt awful - much worse than it had all weekend and the complete lack of rear end grip made it almost undriveable. I had to keep turning around to face the right way at each corner!

Although we made the start of the next round, my race was equally bad and I finished 9th out 10 I think. After we came off 'naughty' aka Mark Cruddas suggested I tighten my read diff. I checked and it was slipping a little so a quarter turn sorted that out. I had completely forgotten you have to do such things with ball diffs, so used to the convenience of gear diffs I have become.

My final final saw me on the track with a completely transformed car, I actually at least held my 3rd place qualifying position in that round. However, the damage had already been done and an 8th place finish overall in the E was my 'prize'. At least the weekend hadn't been the complete washout I had feared on Friday night. It's a shame I didn't end my 2011 national campaign on a slightly higher note though. Next year maybe.

MMCC @ Blackpool on 28s (well for a handful of laps at least)

I was racing at Morecambe's monthly Blackpool excursion last night. I say racing, I was there but minimal racing was completed unfortunately. I shall explain...

I arrive and unpack all my stuff and then decide in my ultimate wisdom that now was a good time to examine my rear diff which hasn't felt as good ever since it broke and had multiple parts replaced. So I take it apart and think I find a culprit gear, with that replaced I reassemble the diff only to find it feels worse than before! To boot, the diff is still in my hand when the 30 second countdown starts for my first qualifier (as we were running on auto) so that's the first race down...

Figuring I've missed the first race I decide that now it's out I might as well do a proper job and actually fix it. So, apart the diff comes again and I think I find another culprit gear. Put it back together and of course it feels even worse now. Getting a bit pissed off at the stupid thing I stand firm and refuse to race until I have at least got it back to the marginally broken feeling I started with, rather than something worse. My decision to stand firm is probably just as well considering round two of my qualfying has now started anyway.

All the old gears go back in, broken looking or otherwise and it once again only feels a little broken, so I say sod it and bolt it all together in time for the my first, but really third and final qualifier. About 3 minutes and 15 laps in a wheel falls off.

So, several hours after I arrived and with maybe 3 minutes of racing under my belt I find myself at the bottom of the bottom heat with the only thing behind me being a mardave. The shame. Not a high point in my racing career. After another 3 minutes of surprisingly hard fought racing I'm leading my final for maybe a lap before my wheel falls off again. FFS. I wonder why I bother sometimes...

Blackpool on 32's

This was my second week on 32s at Blackpool and what looks like the final week it for this layout before we have a change. The 32s are quite a bit slower at Blackpool Andy and I have decided. Perfectly possible to get them round but 1-2 laps slower than the 28s. On the plus side they stay stuck to their rims and don't seem to wear at all - that's why I'll be using them from henceforth (plus I have loads leftover from Nationals). At Morecambe there doesn't appear to be any significant disadvantage to using them.

I had problems with interference in the first two races, I isolated to being someone's 40Mhz transmitter and the problems remained after they changed crystal. I know 2.4Ghz should even be able to interact with 40Mhz, but my steering was being inconsistent; sometimes it wouldn't turn at all, or it was very delayed, or it would go halfway then jerk across to full lock of its own accord. It made the car impossible to drive and Damien very kindly moved me into the 'A final' qualifier for rounds 2 and 3 of the evening. It wasn't until round three that I was able to get a good run in and secure a place in the A final proper though.

Messing about with Whur Jr. and Whur Sr.'s pit tables to mirror each other. I decided this was a better use of my time than making my car quicker.

In the final a series of rolls both down the straight (don't ask) and round the sweeper ensured I finished where I started. Dead last.

MMCC Club Night

We had a pretty cool track layout at Morecambe tonight, quite twisty and hard to get consistently quick times on. Mind you, now I think about it, what Morecambe track isn't like that?

After some very scruffy qualifiers which were full of little mistakes and unnecessary entanglement with each other Dean and I ended up in the B final with Colin joining us. I managed to break free at the start of the race, but Dean caught up with for the final minutes of the race and he was right on my tail for the final few laps. Coming down the straight on the final lap I gave it a final push over the loop and stopped just short of hitting the wall, confident that I had beaten him. Dean however carried on round the track to the next corner and much to my dismay the computer announced he had won it! I couldn't believe it when everyone watching said the loop was not in it's usual spot and instead 4 feet further round the track! Bit of a rubbish end to what had been a good race, but I guess you win some and you lose some. Even more annoyingly though I then found out it was the last round of the championship (which I thought had finished literally weeks earlier) so I couldn't have 'lost' on a worser week!

I thought for pictures this week we could do a quick Morecambe pit table tour so here we go:

My pit table

Dean

Andy

Mark Carter

Mark Jordan

Kev

Colin & Pete