Back to racing for November!

After taking the month of October off from racing while I took care of non-racing issues, I return for November and try out the new layout put in for the JBRL last month (no real triple).  Turns out they are also doing heads up starts for the qualifiers this month. Great.  I was screwed with a mid-pack start for both heats.

In Heat 1, I finished in 4th after starting 4th with a 15:00, fast lap of 18.243, average lap of  19.527, and consistency of  92.74%.  I made 1 driving mistake and had 5 crashes.

In Heat 2, I finished in 3rd after starting 5th with a 16:14, fast lap of 18.284, average lap of  19.595, and consistency of  92.31%.  I made 0 driving mistake and had 4 crashes.

I qualified 3rd for the A main and finished in 3rd with a 16:12, fast lap of 18.109, average lap of  19.546, and consistency of  89.04%.  I made 1 driving mistake and had 3 crashes.  I had 2 crashes in 1 lap which ate up a lot of time!

Maiden race for the Formula E! 11/1/20

This was the 1st race day for my new Tamiya Formula E car on the new TC-01 4wd chassis with laydown shocks!  The setup needs some work to make it easier to drive though.

In Heat 1, I won the heat with a 21:07, fast lap of 13.305, average lap of  14.637, and consistency of  96.05%.  I made 6 minor driving mistake and had 0 crashes.

In Heat 2, I won the heat again with a 21:09, fast lap of 13.633, average lap of  14.671, and consistency of  89.60%.  I made 1 minor driving mistake and had 1 crash.

I TQ'd the class and just barely won the Main!  The race announcer was only calling out the time remaining in the race and not the race order, so I lost track of who was in 2nd place.  On the last lap 2nd position was right behind me and I didn't know, thus I wasn't defensing my position!  Luckily i beat him to the line by 0.2 seconds and won the Main with a 21:02, fast lap of 13.664, average lap of  14.328, and consistency of  96.98%.  I made 1 minor driving mistake and had 1 crash.

Ready to race!

Formula E build complete!

I finally finished building my Formula E car based on the new TC-01 chassis!

Electronics mock up

Spare part to run a sedan body

Plastic shock build with red TLR 50wt oil

Rear end assembly completed!

Aluminum shock build

Fancy aluminum shocks

ESC wires laid down to clear the front upper plate.

Motor connected!

Battery connected!

Electronics installed!

Pinion gear change test.  The motor does not to be un-soldered!

Why does this chassis need a gear cover? So I removed it for lighter weight and easier pinion changes.

Body painting begins!

Blue body parts painting completed!

Yellow main body painting begins.

Painting completed!

Body trimming begins.

That was a pain to cut out! Now I need to do it again :(

Body part trimming completed!

Body assembly

Build completed!

Corner weighting completed! 50/50!

No racing in October?!

With the JBRL occurring at SDRC in the month of October, along with chores I wanted to get done, I didn't race at all!  I did get some project done around the house at least :)

Euro Truck, DHW San Marcos, 9/27/20

In Heat 1, I won the heat with a 19:02, fast lap of 15.350, average lap of  15.933, and consistency of  97.67%.  I made 1 minor driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.

In Heat 2, I won the heat again with a 19:04, fast lap of 15.450, average lap of  16.010, and consistency of  97.87%.  I made 1 minor driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.

I was able to TQ and but finished in 3rd, with a 18:14, fast lap of 15.767, average lap of  16.567, and consistency of  95.53%.  This race was going great until a someone ran over a house and closed off a lane as I entered it!  I then became stuck in the house and dropped down the order!  I was pissed after that!  What a mess of a race!

13.5 4wd Buggy, 9/26/20, SDRC

In Heat 1, I won the heat with a 16:04, fast lap of 18.043, average lap of  19.053, and consistency of  97.15%.  I made 1 minor driving mistake and had 1 crash.

In Heat 2. I blew out and finished 4th with a 16:21, fast lap of 18.157, average lap of  20.079, and consistency of  88.95%.  I made 3 driving mistake and had 4 crashes.

I got the TQ position for the Main. and took the win with a 16:09, fast lap of 17.728, average lap of  19.389, and consistency of  91.67%.  I made 2 driving mistakes and had 2 crashes.  A lapped car took me out as I was coming onto the straight, which turned my run away race into a battle for the win.

Testing out my tire warmers again.  This time I heated up the tire before applying sauce.

New parts!

Tire bead repairs

Return to 4wd Buggy! 9/19/20

For a change of pace I decided to race 4wd buggy this past weekend.  I only ran my Tekno 410 once during practice on this layout during practice, so I decided to actually race it.  During my last practice run I managed to turn my 1st 17 second fast lap!

In Heat 1, I won the heat with a 16:08, fast lap of 18.214, average lap of  19.253, and consistency of  95.64%.  I made 3 minor driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.

In Heat 2, I finished 4th with a 16:10, fast lap of 18.418, average lap of  19.376, and consistency of  93.13%.  I made 0 minor driving mistakes and had 5 crashes!

I qualified 2nd in the A main and ended up winning after forcing the TQ into a crash!  I turned a 17:16 (1st 17 lap run on this layout), with a fast lap of 18.095, average lap of  18.616, and consistency of  96.32%.  So close to a 17 second lap during racing!  I made 0 minor driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.

Return to Oval Racing! 9/13/20

I was back out for more Euro Truck racing at the Discount Hobbies Warehouse hobby shop parking lot in San Marcos.  The layout for this race would be a flat oval!  I haven't raced on an oval since the 1990s!

In Heat 1, I finished 1st with a 35:04, fast lap of 8.223, average lap of  8.686, and consistency of 94.17%.  I made 1 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.  I got taken out by lapped traffic 2 times.

In Heat 2, I finished 1st with a 35:05, fast lap of 8.209, average lap of  8.726, and consistency of 90.19%.  I made 0 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.  I got taken out by lapped traffic 2 times.

I qualified in the pole position for the Main and led from start to finish, winning the race with a 35:05, fast lap of 8.267, average lap of  8.562, and consistency of 97.15%.  I made 0 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.  I managed to avoid lapped traffic this time and didn't get taken out.  I strangely finished with a 1 second slower time than heat 1, but had a faster average lap time and higher consistency in the Main?  Not sure how that is possible.  I would expect that with a faster average lap time I would turn a faster race time?  Weird.

Pit area for the day

Flat paved oval!

Won the King of the Parking Lot Series for Spec Euro Truck!

Crown and Award

Tamiya TC01 Formula E Build!

 I started my TC01 Formula E build a couple of weeks ago by putting the kit tires on the stock wheels.

Next up was the suspension arms which needed pillow balls installed in them.  This was made super easy with the arbor press I bought for situations just like these!

Next up were the ball studs for the suspension links and sway bars.  My 3D printed parts trays helped to organize all the different screws and assorted parts.

Titanium hex head screws sorted and ready to install!

TRF aluminum threaded shocks to replace the plastic kit shocks.  With threaded shocks I can corner weight the car!

Installing the ball studs for the rear deck.

Building the gear diffs.  I put 500k oil in the front and 3k in the rear.

Diff filled with 500k oil!  It took 20 minutes after filling for the level to stabilize and air bubbles to escape.

Diffs mocked up!

The TRF aluminum shock body is about 0.5 mm longer than the plastic shock body.

I printed a tray with multiple small pockets to organize screws and other small parts.

New aluminum rockers and sway bar kits!

Red is 1.1 mm, yellow 1.2 mm, and blue 1.3 mm diamter.

Front sway bar installed!

 

Waiting for the "dry" goopy lubricant to "dry".

TQ and a Win! (This Time!)

This time I didn't break in the Main and run away with the TQ and Win! :)  I replaced the outdrive I broke in the Main, and I also replaced the idler gear with a new one while I had the gearbox apart.  I also raised the diff height to 2.5 mm, but raised the idler gear to 3.5 mm.  Doing this loosened up the gear mesh a little bit, freeing up my transmission immensely!  Hopefully this would get rid of the gear whine noise my car is known for.  Confirmed!  My first practice run confirmed that the gear whine noise was gone!  In fact my car was so quiet, it seemed weird to me! Lol!

In Heat 1, I won the heat with a 16:10, fast lap of 18.882, average lap of  19.418, and consistency of 97.26%.  I made 3 minor driving mistakes and had 1 crash, but landed back on my wheels.

In Heat 2, I won the heat again with another run of 16:10, but with a faster hot lap of 18.592, average lap of 19.429, and consistency of 97.00%.  I made minor 3 driving mistakes and had 1 crash.

I TQ'd again, winning both heats and would be starting the A main from the pole position!  I would win the Main this time turning a 16:06, with a fast lap was 18.392, average lap of 19.219, and consistency of  98.22%.  I made 1 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.

It was another hot one!

After racing was over I threw on my JC Octagon slicks to test out with the track in race ready condition.  I was careful at first, bu then the grip came in and I started trying to go faster!  They didn't feel as stable as my worn down PL slicks with softer inserts though.  I was able to turn some 18 second laps, with the best at 18.3, matching my fast lap in the Main.

TQ and Almost a Win! :( 8/29/20

In Heat 1, I won the heat with a 16:19, fast lap of 19.244, average lap of  19.946, and consistency of 96.08%.  I made 1 driving mistakes and had 1 crash caused by a lapped car.  I ran my Electron front and Positron slicks sauced with blue Liquid Wrench.  My car felt great!  I guess the softer front springs, lower 18 mm ride height, lower minimum drive (10), softer drive frequency (7k), and more aggressive brake frequency (7k) also helped!

In Heat 2, I won the heat again with a faster run of 16:09, fast lap of 18.682, average lap of 19.346, and consistency of 97.47%.  I made 1 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.  My average lap for this run was almost as fast as my fast lap from heat 1!  My top 5, 10, and 15 averages were also about 0.2 off each other!

  

I was the fastest qualifier today, winning both heats and would be starting the A main from the pole position!  But, I finished in 6th with a DNF when my composite diff outdrive broke off after hitting the wall 3 laps earlier!  My car rolled to a stop coming onto the straight feet from the finish line with about 10 seconds to go!  My fast lap was 18.678, average lap of 19.315, and consistency of  99.11%.  I made 1 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.

Broken composite outdrive :(

Cooler this weekend!  Only 6 degrees cooler, but feels much much better :)

Ready for practice with my new Raw Speed Riptides and Radars!