Petit Race 2010 Day One
Day 1 started at ridiculous o’clock – it began with a 5. We were at the venue just after 6am and the man with the voluminous voice was informing us gently of practice formalities at 6:30am, waking us all up nicely.
One round of in-heat practice was all, the first heat out at 6:45am. The track seemed fun, but hard. The corner platform onto the large tabletop was pretty immense, what you did on the way into the corner pretty much determining where you would land on the straight. And you’d be hoping to land on the straight, not in the wall, window, or on-coming track.
I broke it big style over the tabletop after a handful of laps, snapping a rear wishbone. I was not alone, many many people snapped off the table top, the most spectacular by hitting the window and shearing off the whole front end…
We were further awoken with driver’s briefing with many rules and many reasons to find yourself going home. Mainly involving smoking, drinking and fast food…
Round 1 and I was in heat 11 of 14. This was WAY too high a heat for me. And in round 1 I managed a total of 2 and half laps. Snapping it off the corner platform, breaking a shock top and a turnbuckle. Nice.
So basically I spent the whole morning wrenching on the thing. I put the 4wd together too.
Round 2 was better for me, as much as I actually carried on going around for a whole five minutes. Slightly dispiriting was the leaders had done 50% more laps than me…
Set up changes ensued, rebuilding rear shocks, change of front tyres and we’ll see how round 3 goes…
It’s 4 rounds and a final.
Oh, what are the top guys doing? It seems to be all about Elliot, Shin and Lee… I wont ask Shin for his RB5 setup, as I suspect his thumbs are a touch better than mine…
Round 3 was better, enjoying the run and then went large over the tabletop and snapped the rear wishbone, again. Checking out the quick guys it seems they don’t go large and land it on the down ramp. I’m not yet sure how one does the throttle control to do that…
Mark’s getting it done for a GQ it seems (oh no he didn’t), I’ll be more like LQ…
Round 4 was a repeat of practice: I broke a rear wishbone.
So the scores on the doors…
I was 9th in the L final. There was only 4 in the M final. How amusingly shit!
Mark was in the I final. Rob was in the J final. Gray was in the H. (We had money on Gray being in the B. How wrong we were!)
The finals happened without event, things broke, Rob came third, nothing much else happened.
Then we all got a bit tired and went back to the hotel after watching the A finals. They were jolly impressive, so quick, and so consistent. Impressive stuff. I had to think that touring cars look easy in comparison…
Oh yes, we also wrenched away on 4wds in some sort of attempt to make them work for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. I reckon the damage will be even bigger.
Maritime is just brilliant, well run, tight ship, good communication, ace food, easily the best carpet venue in the UK.
Look! More photos!
Written by simon.
Petit Race 2010 Day Zero
We got here. We managed to not get lost, apart from in both Fleet and Clacket Lane services… And also stopped all 4 lanes of the M25 for a moment, missed gearchange, cough.
Maritime circuit its on Chatham Historic Dockyard, easy enough to find, turn left at the big boat.
We hung around for a bit until climbing the stairs (via the window) to possibly the best indoor carpet facility in the UK. Loads of pitting, bagged some tables, and wondered in amazement at the cafe, toy shop and then a jolly quick looking track.
Mark’s wondering how you go round corners on a vertical wall…
It was still being built, but pictures show they layout, additions from last year include no straight and a bridge…
Pizza Hut provided comedy hats, and the hotel provided the smallest twin room I’ve ever seen. Complete with a no-walled wardrobe.
Timetable starts at 6am doors open, Mark and Rob practising before 7am and for some unknown reason I’m in heat 10 of 13… Yeah right, I’ll be dropping down then…
Look, photos!
Phrase of the day: High 5!
Written by simon.
Countdown has begun!
So the RCLazy team is off to Chatham in Kent for the PetitRC race this weekend.
My tyres aren’t glued. Si’s car is in bits and Robs is… well being sorted by Rob.
Who knows what will happen but we’re competing for the coveted GQ spot.
Wish us luck for the weekend. But not too much, it’s the RCLazy way.
Mark
[ If we're not wrenching all weekend we'll even try to post an update or two. S. ]
Written by mark.
Spire Model Distribution Birthday Competition
“When I were a lad…”
No, really, when I were a lad, I used to race off-road up in the North East of England.
Most weekends in the late 80s and early 90s we’d be found at clubs such as Goole, Hull, York, Aire Valley, Batley, Worksop etc etc.
One of the highlights for me was to race on the same tracks as the world’s best racers of the day. Jamie Booth, Craig Drescher, Rory Cull, names of legend.
My hero was Jamie Booth. Awesome on the track, he’d rock up at 5 minutes before his heat in his VW Scirocco, and show us how it was done.
These days Jamie doesn’t race often – I think he’s raced about 3 times in 2009 – but when he does race, he’s still got the thumbs.
Jamie spends his time running Spire Model Distribution up in Chesterfield. January 2010 marks it’s 5th birthday. SMD is the UK distributor for brands such as LRP, Hong Nor and JConcepts.
They’re running a competition in January to celebrate, 5 prizes, one on each Friday. Take a look at the SMD web site for details of how to enter.
Congratulations Jamie, you’re my hero, you’re my Aero.
Written by simon.
EA Motors 17.5 / 10.5 /13.5 Available
Hi Folks.
EA Motors are excited to announce that their EA Duo2’s are finally here in their Red, Blue and Gold shiny colours.
For orders visit EA Motors.
You can speak to us track-side or via the SHMCC forum
All motors are also available via Reality Racing
Team Ea Motors 17.5 Duo2
Team Ea Motors 17.5 Duo2
Team Ea Motors 13.5 Duo2
Team Ea Motors 13.5 Duo2
Team Ea Motors 10.5 Duo2
Team Ea Motors 10.5 Duo2
Reuben Manning & Jason Findlay
