Oople Invernational 2012 DIRT

Oople Invernational 2012..........videos still to be added.


Robinhood Raceway Dirt.

........... Sitting down to write up this blog, I've tried to put the initial WOW factor of this meeting aside, reflect,  and put things in perspective ....... but words cant describe the best weekend in 15 years of racing.... I'll have a go....


Friday....

My B4 FT

Not ideal for high level racing, I now use this car for bashing round caravan sites when away on holiday. It has a 5.5 motor in, which was admitedly too fast for the clay track, especially with the switch like Novak GTB Gen1 speedo. I put the Kit setup on the car (thanks to Rich Lowe for the advice), and it handled really well.

First race meeting for this car was in July 2004 at Huntingdon school YORCC regional......

DIRT

I arrived at Robin Hood Raceway Dirt at 5pm, got the caravan setup in record time due to my anticipation of clay racing, and headed over to the track.  It was all a bit exotic from track side... clay track, blue groove, sun blazing, people brushing the track and loads of rear motor 2WDs with proline tyres balooning up over the double double .  Looking at the amount of air the cars were getting... and looking at that narrow line at the end of the straight  [maybe two car widths max]

I couldnt help feel I would struggle to get my old B4 on that line lap after lap, and control it in the air.
Andy Pearson was on track with his RB5 rear motor, and it looked really good. I was expecting tippy toeing round on a slippy surface, but Andy was really pushing on.

With Pearson instilling a bit of  confidence, I got my B4 out, complete with M3 Holeshot tyres  (the ones us UK drivers throw away from Associated kits). First impressions.....  oh s#@t Ive put my car down right infront of the double doubles, and now I have to drive over them.... So I doubled the first double (slowly, as advised by Jeff "I've been here since Thursday and have two weeks holiday" Steele and Andy), and then the advice was to gun it for the second double .... but to beware to stay towards the rostrum side of this double as the far side had a big kick that flips the back of the car up.....

....  after retrieving my B4 from beyond the perimiter fencing I put it down on the track after the double double.... and tried the rest of the track.

The surface was weird to drive on, slippy but grippy...it took a few laps to get into it, but after that, the car suddenly came to me. It seemed very predicatable, responsive to steering into corners, and corrections to keep the back end in line. Wheelies were possible on the straight, it was stable on power but sharp enough in the turn, and I was binning it less and less on the double double.

Seven minutes later, and that was Friday's clay track practice over.
Most people had the same experience as me. I was speaking to Craig Mawson, who smashed his car the first two times out, and then got the hang of the big air. Jeff was loving it, say it was "the most fun he'd ever had with an RC car"..... big grins all round.

The stuff we were supposed to drive on resembled a kind of polished, almost marble like surface, the stuff we were'nt supposed to drive on was really rough and pitted dry dirt .... and we were all really perplexed by it ......


Friday 7PM .....

Vintage race on the Astro Turf Track.....

My Tamiya Terra Scorcher (24 years young) is as it was when I last pulled it off the track in 1992 at Brinkburn School, with a Futaba ESC and 27T motor, and Acoms AS servo. This is the car that I put down in my first race in September 1991, alongside David Packs Kyosho Raider. The only changes were a 2.4 Ghz receiver, a PT, and some Schumacher tyres.

A quick try of my Terra Scorcher, to see if it went in a straight line, and threee corners later, the spur gear stripped. Great, this thing is more fragile than I thought. So I meshed the gears tight, and hoped it would last, and not burn out the period speedo and motor.

Two races scheduled: Pre '86  and Post '86.
I had my 1988 entry level Tamiya Terra Scorcher...... on Oople, the entry list had me in the pre '86 race, which I thought was due tot he 'entry level nature' of my car. I went over for the race, and in the Pre '86 race there were some 6 gear RC10s, Kyosho Ultima, MRC MRX, Grasshoppers,  and I thought I'd have a chance of holding my own against these, just.
I looked at the Post '86 race entries, including Brushless Cougars, Brushless RC10 Stealths, Cat XL, Lazers, Yokomo Dogfighters, and was glad I wouldn't be pitted against those, even though it was the true period of my car.

The drivers were called onto the rostrum by MC DAMO for the Pre '86 race, and my name was not amongst them ... damn it . Northy won the Pre '86 race with his RC10 6 gear, it looked really good. Jim Dixon was second with his Kyosho. We did have period retirements aswell, as Andy Bulmer pulled his Chain Drive Optima off when it dumped (I'm only disappointed it didn't lock the servos open and go round in circles like my Terra Scorcher used to do).

Ok, Post '86 time, time for me to stay out of the way of the quick cars, and not break anything on this 24 year old car.

VINTAGE VIDEO ... thanks to Greg for the camera work.

Handling ... not too bad, too much steering, and the feeling it would tip if I pushed it too hard, I was suprised to finish 4th, :

1st Nathan Ralls - Cougar
2nd - Dan Greenwood - RC10 Stealth
3rd Graham north RC10 Stealth
4th Me - Tamya Terra Scorcher...
5th James Wilkinson - CAT XL

I wonder if my car was the only one with a driver figure in it???

General consensus from everyone on Friday night:
Clay: Thumbsup
Double Double : everyone is getting there with it. Thumbsup
Can't wait for qualifying to start.



Saturday Qualifying:
After 1 round of practice in heat order, to clean the track, everyone still felt good about the track.
The grip was up, maybe due to moisture in the air? And we were all having a good go at the track, with pace and relatively clean runs.
In 2wd, I felt confident with the car, and was very pleased with my 29th in round. I went on to better this with a 26th, 25th and 21st in round, and was over the moon with my B4, and the track. I was particularly pleased with the control I learned over the double, and the double double.

There was some really good driving in our qualifying heat, particularly considering how close all of us were. Nick Gurnell, Lee Fraser driving really close to my car very cleanly, thanks guys. Special shout out to Mr. Ambrose for waiting after T-boning me in a corner, very good driving  from him, and the kind of gesture that made my day.



Kash had missed out on Friday practice, and was playing catchup for the whole meeting, and so was a little less familiar with the track, but had a feeling for the surface by the end.

His Losi 22 was still in mid motor configuration with a grass setup on it, and so the car may not have been as dialled as it could have been. Unfortunately, he got caught up in traffic  and rostrum 'banter' when on a good run, and his other good run he incorrectly thought his car had been called finished and pulled over.



Stephen Adams managed to get a 2WD entry on Saturday morning, but his (Mike West's) Tamiya 201 didn't look as composed as it had done in Friday practice.

One of his best runs was spoiled when a turnbuckle pulled out the rod end during a roll.

Following some diff adjustments, Greg Williams looked like he was fighting his Cougar round the track, with the back end looking very loose on power, but he still managed a 9th in round, which he was suprised with.

Further adjustments to diff and setup, never seemed to get the car hooked up on the Saturday. A cheeky setup change, trialled during the record attempt made the car a lot more raceable on the Sunday.

As with Stephen, Keith Shields had a great practice session on the Friday, but Saturday and Sunday qualifying, the car went away from him, and it handled like a completely different car.,

A reprogramming of his speedo by an SMD guru before finals helped his throttle control, and he felt the car came back to him a bit more.

Andy Twigger's RB5 looked very composed and settled on the track It looked really smooth and quick, without the small corrections I was having to make on the track to keep my B4 in line.

Just a few little mistakes prevented better scores.

In 4WD, Rob Calvert never got the run his pace deserved.  A spur gear here, a wheel off there, and return to Durango from his Tamiya 502 was a bit of a let down. When on the track, Robs car looked quick and aggressive.... when on the track.

Gary Waller's car looked really well balanced, round the corners and in the air, he had the flight over the Double Double nailed. So much so , that when he attempted a backflip from the transmitter, the car still flew level ... hinting at illegal onboard telemetry controlling his car in the air ... just unfortunately not helping him hit all apexes, as the car just went in too deep to a few of the corners .... it had plenty motor on the straight though.

As seen above, Gary's character in the fancy dress race, visited his Durango during the night, to add some finishing touches to Gary's car, as it sat on his Stella Stand.

Jeff ..... yes the car was quick, it pivoted really well round the corners, it was on rails ... but forget all of that, because Jeff "backflip" Steele was giving it large over the Double Double with some really special backflip action, with Muzzy's subtle encouragement of course ("Can Jeff beat Mr. Stokes's 6 backlips in a row on this lap?" ; and -- "Jeff Steele, that was your fastest lap, thats the way you need to do the double every lap" :o)

It looked like Jeff was having a great time, and his times showed he was on the pace.

Greg Williams .... top stuff from Mr Williams, his CAT SX3 looking really Agile, and making some really massive Proline Holeshots over the double double on his way to a 5th in A final qualification.

Top Stuff.

The other half of team Williams, Natalie was keeping things tidy with her CAT SX3, its just a pity the others in her race weren't doing the sme thing, spoiling what looked like her best run.  Her car, like Jeff's, seemed to pivot really well round the corners, and she controlled it really well to get out of the corners on line.

Mr. Pearson was a demon round most of the track, it's just a pity someone put a couple of jumps in front of the rostrum and other cars on the track. I'm convinced Andy would've ended up much higher, if the traffic had been more favourable.

 The Lazer was turning in really well, and getting the power down out of the corners as well as anyone. But we all know Andy is quick, and consistent, it seemed to be the consistency that was being interuppted by the traffic from what I saw, but he was quicker than the lead cars of his heat when on it.

Stephen Adams looked really quick with his TRF511. The track really suited Stephens commited driving style, as on Astro he is forced to contain the comitment that entertains so many spectators at Worksop.

He was on for a really quick time in round 2 that I watched, leading the heat which had Jeff Steele, and Trish Neale in, but his spur gear went. The other runs were fast, but had a few small errors. Stephen left it late until Sunday morning qualifying, after a night of drinking, to throw his 511 round the track very quickly and into a C final position. Thumbs up time.


RAFFLE


Worth a mention, as Jeff Steele wins, and is the proud owner of a brand new Cougar SV2 . Well done Jeff.

The Beer Race
I'm sure we'll get a good review of the beer race on Oople...... needless to say, great costumes, especially our very own Beer Fairy Gary, and Zombie Stu! I volunteered to marshall, and nearly lost my ankles 4 times, and someone took out my can of Becks :o(

The backflip competition
Again , Im sure this will be covered on Oople.com....
highlights for me were : Blitz, Blitz ft. Joe, Blitz V Joe, and the lad who totally wrecked his Durango, bits hanging off everywhere who ran over off the rostrum a bit concerned asking what had broke...... it'd be easier if he asked what wasn't broke. Ahh... alcohol and expensive model cars.

Jeff Backflip Steele decided to spectate the backflip competition, despite being the only real challenger to the two Durango's efforts.

Jeff's own backflips were ket just for racing, where it clearly improved his laptimes:

The World Record attempt
An official world record attempt, because Shiek Damo himself proclaimed.....
.... thou shall drive many cars round the track.... and 101 driver did that .... and records were set.

And so, I must relay my own experience. As my B4 sat off, behind Hupo's 210, itself lead by Shiek Damo's 210, I managed one whole lap before I lost the 2.4 bind, and car failsafed into something rather dangerous. The steering was centred, but the throttle was open, maybe 1/8th speed. It trundled off over the track as a runaway. I walked round to get it, but some helpful sole had pointed it back on the track, and on it went, from point to point. I was at this point helpless to stop it (BRCA insurance take note). It trundled around for maybe a minute, until it trundled all the way across the track, crossing the busy straight (somehow) and came to rest halfway up Dan Greenwood's shin. I heard him shouting my name from the other side of the trakc, followed by a few choice words that are unheard of on Tyneside.
Sorry again Dan, but your lawyers can talk to my lawyers.


The Finals

Mike Parker lights it up off the line:

I've got no idea how anyone else's final went, but I experienced, as I had done all day, really close clean racing. Whether this was the nature of the surface, or the relaxed atmosphere I don't know, but it was really enjoyable, and a complete contrast to the 'faux pressure' we endure in regionals and nationals.

this is where we started our finals:

2WD
G8 Keith Shields
F4 Kash Kahn
E3 Stephen Adams
D6 Twigger - who managed a leg 2 win I believe
C6 Chris Pattinson - Me - the best I managed was leg 2 -> 4th
B11 Wayne Collinson
B5 Greg Williams
A9 Craig Collinson

4WD
F1 - Gary Waller
E6 - Rob Calvert
E1 - Natalie Williams
D6 - Andy Pearson
D2 -  Mike Parker
C10 - Stu Evans - sorry Stu, managed to completely miss your racing all day
C5 Stephen Adams
C4 Jeff Steele
C2 Craig Mawson
A9 Craig Collinson
A5 Greg Williams

Rain interrupted the finals briefly, but covers were pulled onto the track by an army of volunteers, to help preserve the surface:

Finals comments:

Big well done to Greg, especially for leg 2 of 4WD A final.
1. Neil Cragg
2. Hupo Honigl
3. Greg Williams



Bad luck to Gaz, as he was leading his final..... when the wheel came off.
Gaz before the final, full of optimism:

...... it all turned to dispair as the wheel came off his 4WD assault:


















Keith leads his final:

Neil Cragg's performance and philosophical observations.....

Not last, and not least, TQ, 2wd and 4wd winner Neil Cragg..... not a current NE regionalist ... but worth a mention, just because the performance put on this weekend was unbelievable.

Saturday night drinking invited such philosophical observations such as: while looking at the moon under the influence, it was mentioned how mad it is, that we are all on a piece of rock, flying through space, with the moon which is another piece of rock, flying through space at the same speed, and we are clinging to it racing toy cars....

Sunday's A finals invited a fitting closing observation from someone else...... "It's strange how some people are just wired to do something, like Usain Bolt over 100m, or Neil Cragg controlling a car round a track like that...it's amazing stuff.... why aren't we all the same?"

Well two reasons:
It would be bloody boring if we were!
And Blitz would be able to do a backflip.

Lastly and mostly:

Thanks to all involved from Team Oople, it goes without saying that it wouldn't have been possible without all of you redshirts. Thanks again.

BRCA 2012 National series Round 1 - Stotfold

BRCA 2012 National series Round 1 - Stotfold  - Video's to follow.

AKA - North East drivers put their cars on a funny green coloured track, and realise it's nothing like driving on Seaham gym floor.

[above] Chris Stewart and his C4.1 followers

2012 National number 1, and a big reality check that the UK nationals were going to be much tougher this year … so many good drivers. …. And so we kicked off the 2WD championship. The track was technical but still flowing, and included a nice twisty bumpy section before going onto the straight, that the commentators affectionately nicknamed “The Washing Machine” .  Practice round one was foggy and damp, and even though it’s a round most people use to familiarize themselves with the track, it was still a mixture of Schuey greens, Ballistic greens, Schuey yellows and silvers on the cars. Practice round two, and everyone was on yellows, which stayed that way for the rest of the day.

And onto qualifying.

We all realized that the aim of getting a G final (as previous years) was going to be a very big ask.

Someone pointed out that around 20 F3 / F4 drivers had been replaced with faster F1 and F2 drivers, so a G final target was the equivelant of an I final now??? I don’t know if that’s an accurate or fair conclusion, but an I final was the expectation I had.

Following round 1 (where my place on the rostrum had been taken), my qualifying in rounds 2 & 3 was fairly slow and steady. I was gradually after more steering, going to longer wheelbase, softer front oil, and softer spring, until in round 4 I went from stagger ribs, to cut staggers, and the car was transformed, and I managed a 55 in round which I was really pleased with. It’s a nice change to see my times come down as the day goes on.

Jeff had started strongly in round 1, but made some mistakes in round 2 despite being on a good time. In rounds 3 & 4, mistakes on the first corner unfortunately meant his run was spoiled early on, despite putting in fast laps to try and recover the time.

Andy’s DEX210 looked a little under damped, or too low, as it looked quite bouncy around the track. He seemed comfortable with it though, and pushed on. He put in a good clean run in round 1, which looked to be a good platform to build on. In round 2, he made a good start, and was quick and clean for the first half of the race, but ended up making a mistake which seemed to upset his rhythm, as a few more mistakes followed. A quick round 3 was followed by a round 4 which again had a few mistakes in it, unusual to see the Pearson pace disrupted like this.

I didn’t see much of Neil’s qualifying, as he was in the heat before me. From what I saw, Neil’s car looked quick, and clean, with the pre season testing obviously paying off for the C4.1 driver. It looked a little low, but this seemed to help it on the hairpins.

David Pack was trying his best to thrash Jeff’s old X-6 round the track. It looked like it was handling well as Jeff looked on misty eyed…. 

The potential was always there for the car if on a clean run, and David made sure with a stonking round 3 score of 72 (the highest score in round 3 from all of us due to technical problems with Gregs car).

Chris Stewarts car looked quick, but inconsistent round the track. He had some bad luck with other cars, and was already looking towards the 4WD day, when in round 4 he popped a ball joint off, though I retrieved his car and fixed it, the run was spoiled.

Greg put two good runs in early on, and despite getting C/D final scores, his lap times hinted at B final pace. Unfortunately, a technical problem held him up at the start of round 3 and dashed hopes of pushing on for a B final. 

Greg shows us how to negotiate "The Washing Machine":

These were the scores in the rounds:

	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Greg Williams	29	35	113	64
Jeff Steele	70	95	84	104
Chris Pattinson	92	76	77	55
Neil Adamson	78	96	82	99
David Pack	113	92	72	98
Andy Pearson	98	109	87	95
Chris Stewart	94	98	100	111

I tried to get atleast a few laps of everyone’s final…. Which meant that when it came to my final, I’d lost my rostrum position, and then spoiled my race by misjudging the end of straight corner from my new position… the sacrifices I make for this amateur report…. :o(

Andy and Chris line up for the L final as cars 1 & 2, narrowly out qualifying the fag end.....

True to form, most of us ended up near the back at the start of the finals, or in my case broken … but the shining light was Andy P’s final…. Great drive, and … well.. just watch it to see what happens in the end:

The rest of the finals are on here…

Pack's K Final:

Neil and Jeff prepare for the J final:

 With Neil trying it on with Worsely on the grid .. there was only going to be one winner...:

....... Worsley 1 - Neil Sleigh 0

My snapper in ‘The Washing Machine’..

Greg's cab forward Cougar ... (shell by RedLidz - Carl Latham - if interested contact member: bigred5765 on Oople.com forums.

Final Positions from memory ... I'll update once the official results are out:


Greg D6?
Me I9
Jeff J2?
Neil J4?
Pack K6?
Andy P L1
Chris S L4?

4WD POWER……

The track viewed from the rostrum looked very open, with lots of high speed areas, but when walking the track, we realized it wasn’t the corners we needed to slow down for, but the undulations, table tops and the area of the track that was yesterday’s washingmachine ….. ‘the corkscrew’.

In practice, everyone’s car was too twitchy, and we were tippy toeing round the track  .… all except Pack who’s car was dialed and perfect and he was on his way to the Team Durango tent to share his setup with his teamys….

Neil went up 2.5 wt in front oil, me and Chris copied, I also went for a front roll bar 3 rows off the front tyres, -1mm on ride height and toed the front wheels out and glued the side walls (Cheers Dan).

Again, non of the qualifiers contained any slow cars, so mobile chicanes were not going to be an issue.

And onto qualifying…..

I was in Jeff’s qualifier, and he was a lot quicker than me, to the point where I was concerned about my pace…. If he hadn’t had the odd crash, he would have been around the F / G final area all day, however I managed to stay on my wheels on a slower pace, and Jeff tumbled about at a quicker pace, which meant I was getting in his way, letting him past, avoiding his upside down car, then spent a few laps with him behind my car again wondering whether I should let him though … mind games central!

So Jeff had a sharp settled 502, and I was quite happy with my 511. 

I felt I was gradually picking the pace up in round 3, I was on for an excellent time, but rolled once at the end of the straight only to be rescued by what Chris Stewart called “the slowest marshal in the world”… it’s also a pity that the slowest marshal in the world also had glue all over his hands, my car seeming to stay in his hand what seemed like 10 seconds as he looked to put it back on the track…

Chris Stewart’s 511  looked really good, if a little edgy in round 1. It looked to be jumping well, and riding the bumps well, and if only he could stop entering the corkscrew too quickly, or turning in to early on the entrance to the corkscrew, would’ve gotten some brilliant times.

Best new bit of kit for the weekend on show was Andy P's self created pit board. Now on back order for the rest of the lads .....

 Andy's pit was looking very professional and prepped, further enhanced by pitting next to Pack....

Pack and Andy looked to be having the same kind of race as me and Jeff. Pack was on storming pace, running 2^nd in heat behind Darren Bloomfield for a long time, ahead of many other established quick drivers. However, errors saw him lose the advantage gained by his blistering pace and caught by the Pearson Pace. But both Durango’s looked well sorted.

Greg’s car looked quick (as always), and though it looked to be taking the bumps and jumps aswell as any other cars, he wasn’t happy with it, and despite a few shock adjustments…. he never quite felt the car was riding the track  aswell as it could. 

Still, mega scores of 27 & 28 in this very difficult field meant a D final that Greg would’ve been really pleased with 2 years ago, but it shows how much he is progressing that he was disappointed he didn’t end up in the B final where some of his lap times suggested he could’ve been,  mixing it with the likes of Helliwell and Stafford.

Neil’s car looked quick and settled, so settled that it kind of looked like how Lee Martin’s car goes round the track, just much slower and with Phil Sleigh’s paint scheme on it.  Again I didn’t get to see much of it, as I was was queing, and after yesterday, paranoid about losing my position on the rostrum.

In round 3, it rained / hailed quite a bit. It was clear that the track was quicker when damp, as drivers could push on without the fear of grip roll. The hail meant icy ball bearings where not as favourable, and only Pack managed to time it right and capitalize on the changeable weather. The rest of us spent much of round 3 looking at the skies, with pockets full of BB greens and wheel wrenches. Notable quick tyre changes where CS in R3, myself and Neil working on the car trackside, and CP in R3, myself and Greg working on my car…. Just thinking, I still didn’t get my car rescruitineered.

Here is how it turned out in qualifying:

	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Greg Williams	27	31	28	37
Jeff Steele	55	70	102	90
Chris Pattinson	57	80	88	78
Neil Adamson	109	78	66	75
David Pack	81	97	70	100
Andy Pearson	75	68	84	99
Chris Stewart	90	114	97	73

For the finals no one was in the bottom final… RESULT.  

Unfortunately due to the on off rain, I was a bit of a jessy with my camera and put it away in it's cot while we concentrated on the racing.

Chris Stewart started in true NE tradition, by ending up right at the back after an untidy start, even though I wasn’t in the race. But he fought hard, to recover and win the K final…. Surely the highlight in his 2012 BRCA 4WD campaign to date.

The J final was good to watch. Always in the middle of the field, Andy P was leading Pack and Neil round. Pearson pace, vs balls out Pack on a mission pace, followed by Neil ‘Lee Martin in slow motion’ Sleigh. Though Neil’s car looked really settled, Pack pulled away to challenge Andy, again and again. I felt Andy had the pace and the head to maintain position, until he had some radio / electrical issue which saw his car glitch at the wall of death. So Pack dove through, and so did Neil.

The I final, with myself and Jeff was the closest final Ive raced in. Jeff was fighting for the lead, and I was fighting between 8^th and 5^th, but was only a corner or two from the leaders. I made good progress from 9^th, upto 5^th, but hit a stationary car near the fingers (a double hump on the track). This relegated me bac to 10^th, and I fought back to around 7^th ish. Jeff had a storming run, despite one tumble going into the corkscrew, and showed the pace he had early on was enough to win the final.

Greg's final:

Greg’s D final was a little untidy. Frustratingly, there were a few tangles where Greg, though not at fault seemed to come off worst. And then a few tangles where Greg maybe touched someone, and was gentleman enough to wait for the other car to recover (Barry didn’t call it gentleman like from the sidelines), and so team Williams ended up around 7^th in the D, despite showing the pace to have won it.

So 4WD final positions, again estimates from meory until the offical results get posted:

Greg Williams	D10
Jeff Steele	I1
Chris Pattinson	I7
David Pack	J4
Neil Adamson	J6
Andy Pearson	J8
Chris Stewart	K1

Good weekend, good racing, good craic, and good company, roll on the North East regional @ RHR.