Who else is getting ready for this years racing season?

[Johnboy72]

I started racing oval again, haven't raced since mid 90's I believe. Run XXXT, tried 2wd and 4wd short course. Lots of fun. NIB T4.1 should be in route and picking up a new Blitz sunday at the track.

[RETRO R/C]

Greenhall - really nice rides and attention to detail mate, good stuff. Nice to see some one that is as interested in the car looking good not only with a paintjob - but tidy electronics as well....one of my passions.

Glad I wasnt the only person here who raced modern with a degree of "seriousness". Heres a few pics of my cars over the last few years, have been pretty successful - kind of strange that it is happening now at the "ënd" of my racing career rather than when I was young.

These ones are my 2010 championship winning cars - ready to hit the track - they are retired to the shelf now:











Here's the 4.1 on pole - just before the first final at the 2010 champs:



The 2010 Titles tack:




Here is my 2011 Durango DEX 410 with Bugle Boy body.









I will throw this one in for the vintage fans - I was going to leave Durango part way through last year - so I did not have a drive for 4wd......what better car to prove a point at a major championship that old cars can still kick some butt. I pulled out the trusty Lazer ZX-R and drove it to within an inch of its life at a huge interclub championship round here in Sydney......yep - stuck it on pole position for the finals!! So many people were freaking out - cause it looked like a really narrow tracked "blob" going down the straight.......damn it was quick through the corners though - and with a Li-Po - it was only 5 grams over the max weight - KILLER car to drive! Sadly I was a marked man in the finals - that coupled with a bit of bad luck had me finishing just off the podium.....lapped up to 4th place in the last final though and won it by about 20 seconds!!










I ran for Losi in 2wd in 2011, the 22 is a great car to drive. I dont have allot of pics for it - other than the one that was taken for promotion for Venom and a couple of random pics taken by others - including the one of it sitting on pole before the first final:







Here are my three State Championship winning cars from the last two years - I "did the double" in 2010 and backed that up with a win in 2wd again in 2011 with the TLR 22.





I also made it onto some of the larger modern websites like Red R/C and Durango's site - as well as this one with the Gambler...........a bit embarrassing - but I am who I am!

http://www.rccaraction.com/blog/2011/02/08/venom-gambler-wins-the-jconcepts-clash-downunder/


I will post some pics of my new Durango rides for 2012 when they are finally built.......labour of love!

I must admit to absolutely HATING the Short Course class when it started. The drivers were "hacky" and the racing seemed more like a smash up derby than a real race........then I drove one.......man - what a tonne of fun!! If we could just get the whole "hack" thing out of the racing it would be a brilliant class to run. I run the Venom "Gambler" - really good truck to drive and very adjustable.....

Surely there are more people that race still - don't be shy - post up your rides!!

Cheers

Darryn

[Mr. ED]

"Getting ready": what does that mean
I've already entered my first race for this year last weekend and will enter the biggest one of the year in 2 weeks.
And I'm already switching cars; building something new after the 4th race with my ultimate revenge was a big let-down.
The car is fine: principles and execution are ok, and nothing broke; surprisingly if you check the track at the black country arena and rest assured I crashed hard and countless times.
But I suffered lots of problems with the electronics and the set-up every time again needs a lot of tuning as it is not very forgiving for different track types.

The next race will be on the same track and the new car will have a mid-moter design again: this worked well for me in the past 3 years I raced at the EIR event. And it will be lots opener to provide easy acces to the electronics: so I can troubleshoot them easier on a raceday.

[kaiser]

i tell ya what, cleaning my rc8be and getting it read for motorama in february is making me want to retract my statement that i don't buy new cars every year.

what a pain in the arse. the last outdoor race of the season was a mud fest and the car is just disgusting.

[RETRO R/C]

Yeah - I hear you on the cleaning front!! Every vintage meeting for the last couple of years has involved mud and rain at some stage!!

I find 1/8th scale nitro buggy the most painfull. Mainly because the fuel/exhaust and dirt mix to make a horribly messy car - even worse when it is raining! Every major event here in Aus seems to suffer at some stage with muddy conditions.

For the record - I normally would not get new cars every season - just that when I win a major level meeting - I like to put that car on the shelf. I have learnt that I should have done that many years ago, mainly cause I am a sentimental old fool. It will be nice to look back on these cars in 20 years time and remember the "glory" days.

Cheers

Darryn

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

just that when I win a major level meeting - I like to put that car on the shelf.

Me too. That's why I have lots of empty shelves...

[RETRO R/C]

just that when I win a major level meeting - I like to put that car on the shelf.

Me too. That's why I have lots of empty shelves...

hahahahaha - you should build cars that you would like to race at a big meeting and shelve them as "Gunna's"!!

It's pretty cool to keep the cars from your past. I wish I had of kept some of my early racers.

Cheers

Darryn

[Johnboy72]

Boy's RC10T4.1 came in. He'll be racing it in the Small Block class with me until I get used to the track. Big block class are running about 64 laps and I'm about 10 laps off the pace. It's been awhile. lol.
I'm running a Losi XXXTCR. Should be picking up a HPI Blitz off a buddy this weekend.

[Janus]

Its basicly the same car as I used the last 2 seasons. Only changes are going to "shorty" lipo's and going to AE shocks with BB springs instead of the Losi Shocks I used the last couple of years. Otherwise, its the same.



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[RETRO R/C]

Hey - nice ride Janus - I ran an X-Factory for my first meeting back to off road a few years ago. Really stable cars for sure.

Johnboy72 - Love the simple, yet effective paint schemes mate (that's the RTR 4.1 shell)?- really easy to see and look classy. Racing: It will all come back to you - like riding a bike (unless of course you never learned to ride a bike!! ). It took me a while to get used to off road again - man the jumps are waaaaaaayyy bigger than they ever were back in the 80's and 90's!!

Cheers

Darryn

[Charlie don't surf]

Just got this for the season, waiting on packs and tires-

[Johnboy72]

Johnboy72 - Love the simple, yet effective paint schemes mate (that's the RTR 4.1 shell)
Darryn

Yeah the truck is bone stock and will suffice for now.

[MOmo]

I'm anxious to get racing this year. Inked one sponsorship deal, and working on a few others.

I have been running an AE B4, looking to possibly shift to the 4.1 (though my buddy at AE thinks that the B5 should be available sometime this summer. I also have the B44 and bumping up to the 44.1. We'll see.

Trying to figure out what other companies that I could approach and try and get some more deals for racing this season.



Janus-
I am really intrigued by the Xfactory cars and really want to try one. IYO, how do they compare to the B4? Some people say that the X car is slower and kinda want to try one, they seem pretty cool. Checking out some of the new shorty batteries should prove to be helpful too.


MOmo

[Janus]

Janus-
I am really intrigued by the Xfactory cars and really want to try one. IYO, how do they compare to the B4? Some people say that the X car is slower and kinda want to try one, they seem pretty cool.

MOmo

It's all up to where you drive and your skill level of driving.

Our own home track is clay, but out of the 7 tracks of our National Championship most are astroturf / carpet. On those high grip tracks midmotor is KING, no matter what.

It's even so bad that the UK Associated team made the CML Centro.
( http://www.cmldistribution.co.uk/news.php?view=0000001841 ), and use that in their Nationals.

On Clay a midmotor is easier to drive, but yes its a bit slower (0,1 ~ 0,2 a lap)than a B4 on a single lap. But you really need an expert driver to be able and use that to your advantage. But with an X6 you'll make less mistakes and be able to push harder without getting killed if you drive it close to the edge.

So for racers who can drive a whole heat / main with similar laptimes within 0,3 sec. the B4 will be slightly quicker.
But for about 85% of all drivers you'll be quicker with an X6. Last time I checked my last name wasn't Hirosaka / Mayfield / Tebo / ..... so I'm sticking with this for now

[DerbyDan]

On Clay a midmotor is easier to drive, but yes its a bit slower (0,1 ~ 0,2 a lap)than a B4 on a single lap. But you really need an expert driver to be able and use that to your advantage. But with an X6 you'll make less mistakes and be able to push harder without getting killed if you drive it close to the edge.

I've always felt that on 'loose' tracks rear motor is easier to drive as the weight transfer hooks the weight more over the rear wheels? Or is your clay track high grip? I must admit I find driving rear motor car feels more 'natural' somehow - a mid-motor car always has that lift-off oversteer characteristic, like a fwd hatchback (or mid engined sports car) - that takes some getting used to but can ultimately be used to your avantage....

As such i'm still driving the mid-motored Losi CR2... still with last years shell too been driving it solely at indoor meetings during these winter months - finished 2nd (& P2) at the last club meeting I raced at last Tuesday (most of the good people were away )



On a more regular basis I race my Corally PHI 07 spec touring car.... which i've had since... yes 2007! This car gets raced at, at least one meeting a week - sometimes twice a week - its been one of the most successfull car i've owned winning at leats four (club level) series championships & pretty much secures a couple of heat or final wins at each meeting.... thats not to say i'm some sort of superstar - just fairly handy on home turf/carpet



The above pic was taken over a year ago now but i'm still using the same shell, siffice to say it looks somewhat more battered now. I have sprayed up a new one but I have recently brought a new car... a 2011 spec 09' Corally Phi - I will be building this car up over the next few weeks for racing in 2012 (the new shell being saved for the new car) - but i'll be sad to stop using the old car.