How Am I Doing That?!

Tonight would be my first try on the new layout at OCRC. While the course is still the same, it is now run clockwise and a new series of obstacles were added, making the layout a completely different animal! I also finished installing all the electronics in my T4 and put my T3 body on it. I wanted to get a few shakedown runs on it and make sure everything was working correctly.

My first practice run would be with my B44. I was running my Holeshots this time, as I felt comfortable driving the car now, and wanted to give these tires another try. When I first tried them, the car felt really twitchy, but I wondered how they'd feel now that I'm used to the car. That didn't really matter though, as I needed to learn the new layout first! It was a little weird the 1st few laps, running the track backwards, but that went away quick. The hard part would be getting the speed and timing right for the "leap of faith" jump in the middle of the track and the big double following that. There were also some small humps in both the hairpins now, which really slowed those turns down, compared to the old layout, with no humps in the same hairpins. I had no problem clearing the "leap of faith" jump, but I had a little trouble with the step-up jump right after the landing. Go into this jump too fast and you overshoot the hairpin or endo and land on your lid. I also had a problem lining this jump up, as I kept land too far to the right, almost hitting the pipe! I even landed out of the lane a few times :( I was also clearing the big double easily, but again I had the line up wrong. Now I was going too far to the left, landing out of the lane on the blue astroturf! The next new obstacle were the "wagon wheel" humps leading to the straightway. I was going a bit too fast through them and either going too wide for the hairpin or endoing again and landing on my lid :( The last problem I was having was with the jump leading into the turn onto the straightaway. Go too wide, and the rear end donkey kicks and you end up on your lid again. It was best to hit this jump in the middle, keeping the turn onto the straight tight.

For my next practice run, I would try out my T4 for the 1st time! I spent some time setting the slipper and headed out for some laps. LOL! Wow! Where did my punch go?! Hahaha! It seemed really slow compared to my 4wd. I was having alot of trouble with the "leap of faith" and double jumps. It was really hard to clear them! My slipper was probably too loose and I didn't have much rear bite due to my nearly bald Holeshots! I also endoed off the the"leap of faith" jump a few times, taking some nasty hits! At least nothing broke :) The track was then closed for watering and I pulled my T4 off the track. I think I'll need a practice day again to iron out all the bugs and dial in the setup. I would concentrate on my 4wd for the rest of the night.

While I was waiting for the track to dry, I noticed that Steve Hartson had the new Futaba 4PK 2.4 gHz radio. I'm thinking of getting this radio, since I like the fact that it is a native 2.4 gHz radio, with no separate module with an antenna sticking out of it. I've tried the 3PK radio before, and didn't like how the trigger felt. The throw was too long and the spring too stiff, compared to my M8. Anyway, I asked Steve if I could try his 4PK, and he let me hold it. How he setup the trigger felt alot like my M8! Nice! I also liked the fact that it runs on a 5-cell NiMH pack, so the radio was also really light! Felt like nothing when I was holding it. I gotta pick one of there bad boys up and sell off my Spektrum module and receivers. I would keep my M8 though, as I use it to race VRC (http://www.virtualrc.com/). A little while later, I noticed Steve out on the track. Steve's a Factory driver for AE, so I thought I'd watch him for a bit, and pick up some tips. I noticed that he was lining up to the middle or right side of the big double allowing him to hit the 1st jump of the "wagon wheel" with some speed, doubling into it, instead of rolling in. It looked faster and smoother than rolling in. I would try this line during my next practice run.

This practice run went much better than 1st run. I got the timing down for the "leap of faith"and the big double (using the line I saw Steve running). For the "leap of faith" I was taking the Surf City Berm turn tight, then punching the throttle at the base of the jump. I was also hitting the jump in the middle or to the left, thus landing in the middle of the lane in front of the step-up. Hitting this jump this way also solved my problem with the step-up, as I was rolling it and landing right in the hairpin now :) Taking the big double in the middle to right solved my landing on the astroturf problem and made it eaiser to clear the double. The lane was a little smoother here allowing me punch the throttle near the base of the jump, clear it easily, and do the double into the "wagon wheel". I spent the rest of the run perfecting my line and going a little faster. By the end of the run I was feeling good, and looking forward to racing.

I would be starting the 1st heat in the 2nd position. I got a really clean start and I was right behind the leader. I followed him for the first few laps looking for a place to make a pass, but I didn't need too. He endoed off the step-up jump and I took the hairpin tight, taking the lead! A few laps later, Jeremy announced that I was leading and on a TQ pace! WTF?! I was winning and setting a new TQ?! HOW AM I DOING THAT?! LOL! Now I had to drive smooth with my hands and knees shaking! Great! I was doing ok though, staying on my TQ pace! I only made one mistake the entire race, taking the jump into the turn leading onto the straight too wide, and donkey kicked myself onto my lid :( The marshal got me going again pretty quick and I didn't lose too much time. The race soon ended and I won! Jeremy announced that I had set a new TQ with a 17:12! WooHoo!! :-)

For heat 2, I would be starting next to last. The start went ok, but I made a few bobbles the 1st 2 laps and was running in last place. Luckily, I wasn't too far behind and still in the fight! During the next lap, 3rd and 4th took each other out going over the "leap of faith" jump, and I moved into 3rd. The 2nd place car was not too far ahead and I caught him pretty quick. Over the next few laps we battled for 2nd! He was driving really well, leaving me no place to make a clean pass. I even bumped into him in the "wagon wheel" hairpin twice, but I let him go both times, so he could take 2nd place back. Finally while going over the big double, he went too far over to the left, landing on the pipe, and crashed! I went over the big double clean and into 2nd place! I then tried to catch 1st place, but he was long gone. I finished the race in 2nd with a 16:11. Unfortunately, I lost the TQ to the winner of the other heat of 4wd, Patrick See, who went 17:10, 2 seconds faster than my time :(

For the A main :), I would be starting in 2nd place out of 7 cars. The start was clean and we freight trained around for the 1st lap. Patrick took control of 1st place. He must've had a good lead, since I couldn't tell where he was or I was concentrating really hard on driving clean and not making any mistakes. It was probably the second thing, since I know I was driving a little slower to make sure I wouldn't crash, because I wanted to keep 2nd! I made a few bobbles here and there, but they didn't cost me too much time. I was having so much fun that I started tweaking my car in the air over the big jumps! LOL! I'd turn the front wheels to make the car lean one way, then turn it back before landing to flatten the chassis out for landing. I only did that a few times, then quit when I almost crashed! :) I kept my nose clean for the remainder of the race and finished the A in 2nd! What a 180 from last weekend! I went from qualifying mid-pack in the B last week, to almost TQ'ing and placing 2nd in the A main :-) I did switch to running Holeshots in the front and rear this weekend, compared to the Taper Pins and Square Fuzzies I ran last weekend. I also feel like I was driving alot better this weekend too :)

I won't be racing next weekend, as I'll be visiting my brother in San Diego. So I'll be heading out to OCRC in 2 weeks to dial in my T4 setup and try some new tires on my B44, but I'll probably be racing 4wd Mod for awhile, because it's so much fun! :)