Hi yah all

I have been working on some EOS carpet set ups for a couple of weeks now so this weekend I went racing up and down the country to see how my cars compare.
The plan was to go to Junction 16 in Daventry as they were hosting their first ever Winter series and then go to Hastings 1066 all the way down south for their Winter Whip round 🙂

Junction 16.
The club runs mostly on Friday evenings and has invested heavily in new EOS style carpet, a great size rostrum and a lot more.  Run primarily by Lee Romang and Alec Springer (obviously many others too) these guys seem to understand the racing scene.  The track for the event was some 30 plus metre long straight, some interesting and to say the least demanding jumps and generally a good feel to everything.  Plenty of pitting space to spread your wings too.  It would be easy to critic but as a first event it’s right up there with many established clubs.  Well worth a visit.  Hopefully there will be a spot for me at their next one on the 16th of December (Saturday)

My Serpent SRX2 MH was on point as they say.
I will make the report easy as I will simply post pictures of all the qualification rounds and finals and you can easily get the details of that.
Basically I qualified 2nd.  With 2 from 4 to count in quali, I had a TQ and a 2nd counting.
One leg final for everyone.
I had to put a better set of tyres on for the main as my tyres were certainly too worn in the last quali round.
The first half of the final my car was much slower than normal.  The better rear tyres were locking in the rear way too much and I should of really put better fronts to match.  As the tyres came in i got quicker and quicker and finally bridged the cap to the leader.  Only a couple of laps to go i was beginning to push hard but I took a corner a fraction too tight, caught the pot dot and caused the car to roll so I dropped to 3rd.  Happy with that to be honest especially as I had some fast laps.  Congrats to the Hall family for a 1st and 2nd.  Both lads certainly getting much faster 🙂 
Here are the pics

The track

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Final

Enjoyed the event very much and now the drive down to Hastings – Weather was terrible

Hastings 1066
Well what does one say about 1066.  Ben Winters and many of his helpers has really done an amazing job with the place.  The Kent area needed desperately another club and with Maritime Raceway shutting its doors recently, this place is getting more and more popular and rightly so.  Extremely friendly guys and really good facilities and race track.  More than big enough, you don’t need pit table or chairs, it’s all super good 🙂

My Serpent SRX2 MH
I had a premeditated decision not to  change the car from one club to the other, as ultimately I am looking for a good base set up for EOS carpet.  I was pleasantly surprised with its performance right from the off so I did ultimately just leave it as it was from the previous day at Jun16.  Round 1 came very quickly and actually too quickly for me as I didn’t even change the Lipo in the car.  With a long practice session beforehand, the car didn’t want to move come round one and as much as the Serpent Team guys tried to figure out the problem on the start line it was not going to happen.  I had to sit out round 1 with the most school boy error of not changing the Lipo.  I think I will just call that a senior moment!! 
I then discover the club only runs 3 rounds and also on FTD qualification and not the most recent common way of round by round.  Round 2 came and I actually managed to get my car going (LOL) and managed 7th overall just behind Jamie one of the UKs Team Serpent drivers.  I did have some errors so I was happy the car had pace.  Well last round was upon us and I knew it had to be clean as many in the previous heat went 17 lap pace.  It was obvious a 17 lapper was needed to get into the main.  I drove a clean race with no heroics.  In fact you could argue I drove like a girl (although some girls are actually very quick) I was pleasantly surprised at 4th overall.  I knew I could go faster still as many put new tyres on and I was using older ones.
3 leg finals for everyone so here we can try and push a little harder and see what develops.  
1st leg I got tangled up at the beginning and somehow still finished 4th.
2nd leg I drove a decent enough race and finished 3rd although a last lap error actually cost me 2nd.
3rd leg was really better for me.  Managed 2nd in the final and I believe 3rd overall although there might be some discrepancies with other peoples times/scoring and that might change.
Either or, I was really pleased with my car and the result.  Even more that Jamie and Chris that are representing the Serpent brand also made the main A final too.  Has to also be said Darren and Mark amongst others driving the Serpent brand had a brilliant showing in the 4wd class too 🙂

Photos below as before

The track

My Serpent 2wd MH High Grip car

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Finals

So another great days racing to wrap up a long tiring weekend.  Found a nice neutral set up for my MH high grip car and will post the set up laters – Thanks all and look forward in seeing you all soon at trackside  – many thanks to both clubs for hosting great racing for all of us – Your massive efforts for running the clubs are very appreciated from many of us – the next picture sort of sums it all up after a long weekend up and down the country 🙂

Hi yah all.
I have been changing layouts in my SDX4 for some time now and basically learning what suits what in what circumstance.
It has to be said I have never had a 4wd that can practically have every layout possible apart from with my Serpent SDX4.
I have now settled on the saddle configuration as I feel this gives the most consistent feel and the most balanced corner to corner as well as front to rear.
I chose to run a shorty servo as this is less weight up front.  A short servo is around 20-22g lighter than a full servo.

The Herts Astro track is sand based and can be very tricky if off line.
2 practice session went very well and I quickly turned the first 2 runs into TQ runs.
This would guarantee me 2nd on the grid whatever happened in the next 2 runs

The 3rd run and the 4th run were to basically get some minor stuff dialled in for the final.  
In the 4th run I was fighting with my friend Steve (drives a Schumacher- we all have problems) and he was to just steal the round from me that actually gave him TQ for the event, on the same points as myself.  He had a faster run in round 3…..

Certainly up for the finals as up to this point I didn’t use any new tyres like all other competitors were!!
I was running the 4wd full staggers on the front axle and the Darts on the rear.
Forward traction on this tract comes at a price of a new set of tyres unfortunately.

I will cut the final report short as I am actually very disappointed in myself.
Historically, most know if I get out in front I am a difficult person to overtake.  I will hold my lines and even if slower someone would have to go round me to gain the position.   I got out in front in leg 1 but a self inflicted error cost me the win only to finish 2nd.  In leg 2 I got out in front again and it was a repeat stupid error again to finish 2nd.  With a realistic chance of winning the meeting leg three started.  I held on to second only to make the most stupid error and put me last after the 2nd lap.  With nothing to lose at this stage I started to push my car to unprecedented limits for my driving style.  I took over place by place to find the commentator announce I was leading.  I was so surprised.  I was even questioning this as I was circulating.  Last lap and yes you guessed it.  The jump on the far side caught me out to find myself finishing 3rd in the leg.  This report is the day after and I am still annoyed at myself.  From a clear win, I finished 3rd for the event.
 

Conclusion is simple.  
This is radio controlled car racing and we take the rough with the smooth.
Mega enjoyed myself with some good friends.
Well done to all especially to Matt Perry for the win.

Next – National at Stotfold

Hi all
Just a quick report on the 2wd regional at Stotfold.

Competition at this club is always strong as there are so many people that run here mid-week, especially through summer months.
The same as National level, there are only 2x 3 minutes practice sessions so getting up to speed quickly is always difficult.

I had plenty I wanted to try so this is how it panned out.

After 4 rounds of qualifications I qualified 5th

Finals are always tricky but I found myself fighting for the lead every leg.  3rd, 2nd and 3rd again gave me a chance at the win but it turned up to be equal points and therefore 2nd for me.

Happy with it 🙂

Catch up soon

Setup used:

SRX2 MH TEAM Tony Evdoka Stotfold Regional Aug17 Web
SRX2_MH_TEAM_Tony_Evdoka_Stotfold_Regional_Aug17_web.pdf

Regional Stotfold setup

Category:	SRX2 MH
Date:	August 8, 2017

570.9 KiB
413 Downloads
Details...

Hi all….
The 4wd regional BRCA event at Stotfold.
A National track so practice was needed but also racing against some very good drivers with some very good local track knowledge gives a good measure where ones at.

Practice rounds were good and the car felt very safe.
Round 1 should of done better but still everyone is learning the track so with a couple of errors I was happy with 3rd.
Round 2 and things got faster for everyone.  I drover way too fast and only got a 7th in round.  My car was good though.
Round 3 and I made some minor set up changes to the car and got a 4th in round.  I knew I was on the right track.
Round 4 and with some more minor changes my car was on it as i say.  2nd in the round and now I felt mega confident being 3rd on the grip for the finals.

Leg 1 and it was an interesting final as I felt under control the whole way through.  I managed to sit in 3rd for a while and while the front 2 where fighting and getting their lines wrong, I sneaked into to 2nd.  Sat there for a little bit and felt comfortable although under pressure from Matt in 3rd. Steve made an error at the front and I took my opportunity to take the lead. I knew driving clean with no errors would take leg 1 and that is exactly what developed.

Unfortunately I felt unwell after leg 1 and although I was running a really good 2nd in leg 2 I wasn’t myself and retired after 11 laps.
Had some great banter with my friends and eventually I finished 4th at the meeting but even if I say so myself, I was much quicker than that.  The SDX4 working really nice 🙂

Thank you as usual to all my sponsors.  Serpent, Muchmore, RudeBits, ArrowMax, Racer and Sick1Grafix

A weekend of running around and a mixture of racing.
Its Monday morning right now and I raced yesterday at TORCH Reedy Race.
Great day racing and i have to say my cars were wicked.
Super fast with my Muchmore equipment .
I was testing loads and loads of stuff so my results were not of essence today.
Learned loads too and had a super lunch from M&S LOL 🙂 

Now off to Neo for the day to see the Team up there

This 1^st event of the year was indoors on EOS carpet.  I call it the home of Schumacher racing as their factory is only round the corner but of course it’s not factually correct.  Many drivers have competed over the winter months here so their cars are pretty much dialled in.  Full concentration needed to achieve a good result here.   The club put in a great effort as usual and laid out a challenging track with some tried and tested features and jumps used over their winter series. 

I was running some prototype parts on my 2wd Serpent and as usual looking forward to the challenge.   Practice was good and the car felt safe and powerful.

Round 1 – I made too many mistakes and simply gifted the others the 1^st round.  Without my errors I would of TQed by some way but of course others would claim similar.  3^rd in round was good.

Round 2 – I had a better round.  Again some small errors so 2^nd in round was good but to catch Charlie Ware was going to be difficult.  He has won many big events here and on this surface and he TQed the round and was the pre-meeting favorite.

Then the most unusual scenario occurred!!  The computer crashed and lost all the data.  The organisers had the printed results and could of course call it a meeting there and then but decided to ask the drivers on their choice.  It was decided by vote of the racers to run a fresh meeting of 2 rounds on a FTD basis.  I can’t remember the last Fastest Time of the Day event I did.   I also voted to carry on.

Round 3 (1^st of FTD) – Went round and made one error but could only manage 3^rd in round.  Don’t get me wrong I would have been happy with that but the lap times showed more in the car so my driving had to improve.

Round 4 (2^nd of FTD) – Well if you’re going to pull off a good run then the last round is the time to do it, especially on a FTD basis.  Charlie, William, Steve and I were in with a shout.  Of course others from other heats were super quick too and already posted superfast times.  Charlie already posted a fast time from round 1 of the FTD rounds so it would have to be fast but clean too.  Going into the run I was 5^th in the round after everyone else had their runs.  I didn’t go for any heroics.  Drove round, clean and tidy and found myself surprisingly at my age right at the top of the qualifications.  

Finals – The Finals would normally be 3 legs but it was cut down to just the one because of time loss through the day.  Off we went and basically I started to pull away after a few laps.  I sort of surprised myself if I’m honest as the drivers behind are not slow.  1 minute goes by, then the next minute goes by and I was really comfortable at the front.  I knew just keeping it clean it will be an easy flag to flag win.  Then at 3 minutes gone I sort of started to play it safe.  For the youngsters out there, this is a mistake.  When driving fast and within yourself then the concentration is high and all is well.  Slow and safe though, sometimes is not the right way.  The quick guys behind were catching me and applying pressure.  Being caught and being overtaken are two different matters though.  Pressure I can handle so still very confident in bringing the car home for the win.   At 4.30 into the race and the smallest error made me clip the pipe and unfortunately running a test car saw me pop a steering turnbuckle.  Crazy unlucky but that’s racing.  Finished around 6^th I believe. 

Loved the weekend and totally happier to be away from the BRCA shenanigans and to enjoy my racing with great friends.  

As usual many thanks to my sponsors and supporters.
Serpent for great support and great cars
Muchmore for reliability of smooth but super powerful electrics
ArrowMax for great fluids and tools
Racer for great coverage of race events and product reviews from all over the world
RudeBits for the innovation of supporting enhancing products
Sick1Grafix for making my rides look super cool with wicked paint, decals and wraps

“Blackmail refers to a situation that arises when a person threatens another person with some form of punishment if they do not offer some form of concessions” 

Today I had to give in to blackmail for the first time in my life so I can keep my sanity and the well being of my family and friends ……

This is my first time at the Neo race and I am certainly looking forward to the experience. Turned up on the Thursday for registration. Already so may drivers here and it didn’t matter which I turned, there was some sort of champion there. Past and present UK champions, past and present European and past and present and world champions. The talent here could be argued is more than an actual world championship. I was beginning to get the idea why everyone wants to compete at this event. Phil from Neo Buggy must be well proud of the organisation and the prestige this event now has.

The track
You see the pictures on the net and you hear that its good. You see the videos and the top drivers in the world sort of make it look easy but let me tell you the track has a wow factor to it.  The DXR guys have done an amazing job.  It just looks great!

Practice 1
I am in heat 2 so the track is raw to say the least. I went out jumped a few of the jumps and was faced with probably the biggest jump in my 30 plus years of racing. I opened up the throttle and wow, does it feel great.  My car felt as if it was in the air for a life time. Now I know there is another attraction to driving at Neo. More soon…..time to change my clutch!! Mayfield looking hot in first practice.  Half way through 2 so back soon

Practice 2
Well I had a bit of bad luck.  I adjusted my end points on my transmitter and unfortunately didn’t think of flex.  Consequently my throttle linkage gave up.  A little bit of a school boy error but this 1/8th stuff is all new to me. Lee Martin showed us how smooth driving is very fast.  Some of the Europeans were very fast too.

Practice 3 Well I decided to make some adjustments similar to my 1/10th car and that was a good choice.  My car felt even more solid but with added traction and steering.  I was going round OK till it stopped (LOL).  I had a burst fuel pipe so the re-build has begun!! The last round saw all the fast guys really show why they are so good. Every manufacturer had their drivers perform so tomorrows qualifying is going to be tight to say the least Early night I feel but not before a good curry (says David Burton) 🙂

Saturday
Round 1
I am in a low heat and had a fairly clean run.
I did a lot of work over night and my car is loads better after some loving 🙂

The quick guys make it look so easy
This is the top heat which is the very fast guys.
Impressive runs from Ryan, Darren and others…
Faster single lap to the defending champion Jared Tebo
Round 2
Well I had a run to forget.  I started the 2nd qualifier with my quickest lap of the meeting thus far.  Followed it up with another quick lap.  The car felt spot on.  Caught traffic real early so wanted to make sure I got through safe rather than making an error.  Came over the big jump (I am calling it the mamma jump) and came up a little short trying to land the down ramp. Opps!! I then couldn’t get up the jump and lost a bundle of time.  It all went wrong from there.  I learned that as much as you can love a jump like mamma, you can also hate it too……lol
Just waiting for the quick boys to take the stage.
Boy oh boy are these guys quick.  6 sec slitting the top 9 in the top heat with Savoya coming up on top from Tebo and Martin…..very close racing indeed and certainly a spectacle of pure talent as the best in the world go at it……just getting ready for round 3 so catch up soon 🙂

Ryan Maifield’s new Associated prototype

Race Control looks more like NASA

Round 3
I will not make many comments about my run apart from racing in a low heat has its disadvantages. End off!!
The top heat again was a tight affair with the Kyosho boys of Tebo and Boots driving together round the track and not hurting each other.  The Associated boys didn’t have a good qualifier with a flame out and I think a breakage.  Mugen factory driver Lee Martin (Brit 🙂 may I add) had a masterclass of a drive to go top of  round 3 qualification.  Fastest single lap goes to Elliott Boots this time round. Here is the round 3 top heat results.

End of day one 
Its the French driver, Reno Savoya that tops the list from our own Brit Lee Martin.  Defending Jared Tebo from the States is now sitting in 3rd.
Top of the qualification after the first day

Catch up tomorrow all.
Time for a bit of Lamb 🙂

Good morning
A cold start to the day and early too.
Greetings from our smiling host and organiser Phil

Round 4
I have already been out and set my best time of the weekend and that was with a silly error too.  The track is a little raw this morning as its been watered and rolled.  We have just completed round 4 and the results are here from the top heat
 

Ernest Woods having a hair do!!!

Race Control
Suzanne runs a tight ship in race control even if the smiles are BBKs  Rob Nelson.  Great job, thank you.

Last round – 5
The boys have been telling me another clean run and I can get the car into a high enough final for the next day……LOL

Well I did OK but had a last lap disaster and managed a 40 plus sec lap…..in the lap of the Gods now.
The top boys heat is going to be interesting as there are about 4 that can actually TQ the meeting.  Here are the top 2 heats

Finals
Well the feast of finals started on the Sunday and go through to Sunday.  All leading up to the climax of the main event and the very best in the world going at it for this prestigious win. WOW, what a great final….this is the result

Conclusion
For anyone that hasn’t experienced this event, its a must.  For me it was great even if i am an electric man at heart.  The DXR guys  designed an amazing track that could be raced on at all levels.  Even mine LOL

Lee Martin
Lee had a great event with a TQ in one of the rounds too

Neil Cragg
Neil was very unfortunate not to make the main event but drove awesome as usual

Taro Cradock
Taro is getting better and better and with the backing of probably the best Kyosho mechanic he has a great chance in become a very fast driver

MP9 chassis engraved by Kyosho Champions
These guys engraved my chassis and now its going in a frame.  Thanks guys….

The weather this year is terrible. Some drivers have had to cancel as their houses are flooded and many couldn’t make the horrid journey because of the weather conditions. i wish them all the best. This hasn’t stopped 140 drivers attending and its a full meeting for 2 wheel drive! Our drive down was OK but instead of an hour and a quarter it was more closer to three hours So we have arrived at the 2014 Off Road Wars World Cup, at the fabulous Maritime Raceway in Chatham Kent. The Maritime Raceway committee have again layed out a demanding track.  Well it’s actually an easy track but demanding if you want to go fast – I like it 🙂 Practice was good for me after figuring out the layout so now looking forward to the racing on an FTD basis. The racing can be viewed live by the way at:  www.ustream.tv/channel/maritime Round 1 Round one was a scrappy affair for many.  Many drivers trying to scrub tyres in and not finding the ultimate grip on the slippery stuff. Jorn Neumann is the defending champion and traveled the journey from Germany for the event like he does every year.  He also had his small problems in round 1 but still managed to get his car 3rd overall.  Ellis Stafford was the main man in round one posting one of only 2 19 lap runs.  I am sure that will change by the end of the day. I was holding my own as they say till disaster struck me (LOL) and 2 errors dropped me from potentially 5/6th to 20th.  More to come though so now refreshing oils for round 2.

Round 2 was a fast and furious affair and it was a shame that I again made a couple of errors.  Currently sitting 17th but still feel i have a lot more to offer.  Ellis Stafford remains on top after 2 rounds with Kevin Brunsden 2nd.  Jorn made a better run to sit in 4th.  Remember this is FTD and at anytime someone can put a run in and break into the top ten.

Round 3 has been concluded and I added more steering to my car which really didn’t help matters – Although I went 2 secs quicker the car was difficult to drive.  Jorn moved to the top and Ellis 2nd with Kevin still 3rd – Looking forward to the last run and hopefully we can improve 🙂

The final qualifier was a real fast and furious affair for everyone.  There were some that chose to throw their car at the track and hope for the best and some of us (LOL) chose to try and be accurate and error free!!!
Ellis managed to TQ ahead of Jorn but realistically it could of also been Richard Lowe.  Many quick drivers at the sharp end with us lesser mortals trying our hardest to get in the main A final.
Steve Brown BQed with missing the A final by the smallest margin.
I improved to 14th and again my one error cost me maybe one of the last spots in the main A.  i wonder how many people can actually say that though!!

Your A finalist here

Main A Final leg 1 results

This picture of the car very first thing.  It didn’t change for some hours to come!

A good and also sad day …..

Sad that in the 25 year history of myRC racing, I have never missed a BRCA regional by my own intentions.
My views in my report late last year on the Area 51 meeting, for some reason angered the chairman of the Silverstone club and it was made very clear that I was not welcome.  Our banners were returned and that was that.
On this note, if I was not true in my opinions then a) I wouldn’t be the Tony everyone knows and b) having a website and writing some reports would be a little pointless!

I did hear Terry Streeter driving a RudeBits DB1 Kyosho won the event so a massive well done to Terry. 🙂
I also heard that silly jumps were not used at the meeting so I let you all make your own assumptions on that.

I decided to do some testing of the new Shorty Lipo RB6 tray available by RudeBits this coming week.

They tray has been designed to fit the RB6 more ways than one.  Fully adjustable forward and backwards as well as been able to be turned round to add its weights at the front or the rear.

My RB6 has not felt better and I highly recommend this layout

Now looking forward to the National series starting in a couple of weeks 🙂