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BRCA National at Owestry 2013, report by Kev Lee.
This was the last round of the championship where I was happy to finish 2nd again in 2wd with My RB6 and 4th in 4wd with my Lazer ZX5FS SP.
BRCA National at Owestry 2013, report by Kev Lee.
This was the last round of the championship where I was happy to finish 2nd again in 2wd with My RB6 and 4th in 4wd with my Lazer ZX5FS SP.
2WD
It was a bright start to Saturday morning and the last national of 2013 at the Oswestry Model Car Club; unfortunately, the forecast for the rest of the day was not so bright.
This is a traditional grass track. It was freshly laid out for the meeting, and therefore probably the only neutral track of the year, so I was looking forward to seeing how things were going to unfold!
In practice the RB6 felt great and seemed to be on the pace, but I knew the track would change quickly as the grass dried and thinned out, so it was more about learning the layout. I opted for Ballistic Buggy Green Spikes on the rear, as did most people. In the first run I used Green Schumacher mini spike slims up front. I found this fast, but had far too much steering, so I chose to change to Yellow Stagger ribs (old style) for the second practice and first qualifier.
The first qualifier went ok but a couple of silly errors culminated in 6th place in round. My lap times looked healthy, however I was confident that there was room for improvement! In the second round I TQ’d. I had actually made a couple of errors again, however, this time I was a little lucky with the weather; the two later heats were rain affected, so nobody could beat my fastest round time.
The rain had settled in now and was forecast to continue for the rest of the day, which meant the grip had gone and tyre choices needed a rethink. After my experience with slim spikes earlier in practice I decided to choose something a little less aggressive and went for Low Profile Slim staggers in green. This combination was excellent on the RB6 and allowed me to push hard without the rear rotating on exiting the turns.
I ended up 4th on the grid behind Darren Bloomfield, Lee Martin and Neil Cragg. I was fully aware it was going to be hard to break into the top 3 with these guys in front, but all I could do was keep it clean. The finals panned out rather well even though the track was getting wetter and muddier throughout! I ended up finishing 3rd, 2nd and then 4th to secure second overall. I have to mention that I had a lot of help from the Kyosho Team between finals to get the car ready so a big thanks to Tony Evdoka, Dave Burton, Steve Brown and Daniel Town for all the cleaning work!
4WD
Sunday was forecast to be a much drier day and, although it started off a little wet from the day before, the track was soon drying quickly throughout the morning. After the practice sessions on Ballistic Buggy tyres, I felt it was the right time to change to Schumacher Yellow Mini Spike for the first round of Qualifying. My Tekin Powered Lazer ZX5 FS2 felt great from the time it hit the track, and as with the day before, I did not have to change anything in my setup from the previous National at Stotfold.
In the first 2 rounds I made 5th in each, which gave me a solid place in the A final. It was now time to push to try and improve the grid position overall, but unfortunately a couple of mistakes in round 3 meant I was unable improve. In the last run I managed 3rd which gave me 5th on the grid and a fairly good place to get some points for the finals national round.
I had a great first couple of finals finishing 3rd and then 4th. However, an early mistake in the last leg cost me my involvement at the front again. My 3rd leg finishing position meant my first two finals would be the counting scores and a 4th overall would be the result.
After a slow start my nationals season came to end with some pleasing results. It’s been great being part of the Kyosho Team for the second year running and having such supportive sponsors. I’m looking forward to a successful winter and an even better season next year!
Pictures Courtesy of Racer Magazine Huge thanks to my Sponsors: Team Kyosho Team Tekin Spektrum Team Orion Rudebits Inside Line Racing RCS Graphic Works Answer RC
2WD
It was a bright start to Saturday morning and the last national of 2013 at the Oswestry Model Car Club; unfortunately, the forecast for the rest of the day was not so bright.
This is a traditional grass track. It was freshly laid out for the meeting, and therefore probably the only neutral track of the year, so I was looking forward to seeing how things were going to unfold!
In practice the RB6 felt great and seemed to be on the pace, but I knew the track would change quickly as the grass dried and thinned out, so it was more about learning the layout. I opted for Ballistic Buggy Green Spikes on the rear, as did most people. In the first run I used Green Schumacher mini spike slims up front. I found this fast, but had far too much steering, so I chose to change to Yellow Stagger ribs (old style) for the second practice and first qualifier.
The first qualifier went ok but a couple of silly errors culminated in 6th place in round. My lap times looked healthy, however I was confident that there was room for improvement! In the second round I TQ’d. I had actually made a couple of errors again, however, this time I was a little lucky with the weather; the two later heats were rain affected, so nobody could beat my fastest round time.
The rain had settled in now and was forecast to continue for the rest of the day, which meant the grip had gone and tyre choices needed a rethink. After my experience with slim spikes earlier in practice I decided to choose something a little less aggressive and went for Low Profile Slim staggers in green. This combination was excellent on the RB6 and allowed me to push hard without the rear rotating on exiting the turns.
I ended up 4th on the grid behind Darren Bloomfield, Lee Martin and Neil Cragg. I was fully aware it was going to be hard to break into the top 3 with these guys in front, but all I could do was keep it clean. The finals panned out rather well even though the track was getting wetter and muddier throughout! I ended up finishing 3rd, 2nd and then 4th to secure second overall. I have to mention that I had a lot of help from the Kyosho Team between finals to get the car ready so a big thanks to Tony Evdoka, Dave Burton, Steve Brown and Daniel Town for all the cleaning work!
4WD
Sunday was forecast to be a much drier day and, although it started off a little wet from the day before, the track was soon drying quickly throughout the morning. After the practice sessions on Ballistic Buggy tyres, I felt it was the right time to change to Schumacher Yellow Mini Spike for the first round of Qualifying. My Tekin Powered Lazer ZX5 FS2 felt great from the time it hit the track, and as with the day before, I did not have to change anything in my setup from the previous National at Stotfold.
In the first 2 rounds I made 5th in each, which gave me a solid place in the A final. It was now time to push to try and improve the grid position overall, but unfortunately a couple of mistakes in round 3 meant I was unable improve. In the last run I managed 3rd which gave me 5th on the grid and a fairly good place to get some points for the finals national round.
I had a great first couple of finals finishing 3rd and then 4th. However, an early mistake in the last leg cost me my involvement at the front again. My 3rd leg finishing position meant my first two finals would be the counting scores and a 4th overall would be the result.
After a slow start my nationals season came to end with some pleasing results. It’s been great being part of the Kyosho Team for the second year running and having such supportive sponsors. I’m looking forward to a successful winter and an even better season next year!
Pictures Courtesy of Racer Magazine Huge thanks to my Sponsors: Team Kyosho Team Tekin Spektrum Team Orion Rudebits Inside Line Racing RCS Graphic Works Answer RC
