| 13-05-2007 - BRCA Kidderminster National - Round 2
Round two of the BRCA national series at Kidderminster radio car club is where my report continues. The kidderminster track is in the top three best tracks in the UK in my opinon, it is a tight technical track with various height changes and different surfaces such as astro turf, tarmac, flat cobbles and dirt.
The astro
turf is very high grip due to a smaller 'pile' from years of use. Both in the dry and wet grip is still distinct and the cars can be pushed to there limits.
Unfortuantly over the weekend the weather was not on our side, with random weather on saturday; rain, sunny intervals, random showers and big differences in temperature.
Racers woke up to a start of a very wet day on sunday starting with a damp track in round one, to persistant rain onwards.
|
|
This years national has had a new tyre rule implemented being changed from ballistic pins/schumacher mini spikes to ballistic mini spikes/schumacher mini spikes. Mini pins have been around for a while at this track and have always been the tyre of choice, but various complaints about tyre wear made the racers and BRCA act to make a change. Fortuantly enough the mini spikes provided sufficient grip with most racers optiong for pink or green compound ballistic mini spikes. |
-Performance-
Practice 1:
I used the first practise session as I always do, to learn the track and to find what the cars limit is. The track was very similar to saturdays 2wd track, however the opposite direction with minor changes. Before the event, I changed the car to full 4wd to experiement with how the car would react, it handeled well but it was missing the pull out of corners and pivoting the one way provides which i missed alot on this tight track.
I quickly got used to the track and began to push the car, but it felt very inconsistant facing problems of riding the bumps by the car jumping all over the place. I was pushing more, rolled the car and broke a front wishbone - limit pushed.
Practise 2:
For this practise i mended the wishbone and moved the shocks in all around on the shock towers, this helped the car, but inconsitency was an issue.
Round 1:
I opted to change back to the front one way as this is all i've used on the car in the past, i also changed to silver front springs, 35 weight oil and number 2 piston, with green rear spring, 25 weight oil and number one piston.
The car was an instant improovment, I could push the car and make it do what I wanted it to.
The bump handeling was great, and even with the rain starting the car provided pleanty of grip. With a few mistakes made, my time wasn't as good as I hoped for, but it left me feeling confident for round two.
Round 2:
The only thing I changed for this round was a smaller pinion changing from a 19 tooth to an 18 to provide more low end grunt for my team orion 9x2. Luckily enough with the seedings, I started in heat one with other F2 drivers, we had the track in its best condition due to the water being brushed away after the final heat in round 1.
The car was dialed in nicely
and taking the track by its stride with great grip all around. I finished with a good time, with one mistake on the final lap.
The front did seem to be too soft however, and I had kept in mind to change to number 3 piston.
Mayhem
Towards the end of round two, it was obvious the weather had worsened, with huge puddles now on the track surface and electric cars splashing through them, the math certantly did not add up!
With statistics being shown on oOple.com forum, around 30% of cars were finishing in the final heats of round two, quite shocking!
After a descussion including all BRCA personel, and regional representatives it was decided to abandon the meeting and use the first two rounds to give drivers their placings of the meeting.
Overall
I was happy with the effectiveness of the set up changes I had made as the car responded very well. Normally on other cars I cant feel the changes too quickly, it takes a few laps to really notice the difference.. but with the BJ4 Worlds Edition it was obvious in the first few corners how the changes made a big effect on the car.
|
-Driver interview-
Richard Barton was at the Kidderminster national, he is a driver for the following companys: CML, Novak, Protoform, Renniks model tune, Reedy, associated, Jconcepts and Edit. Richard has been testing the BJ4WE and novak brushless over the past few months along side team mates Richard Cree and Richard Lowe (alot of Richards!).
| Richard Barton Interview: |
How long have you been a driver for CML?
I have been driving for CML for about 5 years I think. My first year was when the B4 Came out. A good year to join. I am very lucky to be suported by (In No Order) Novak, Protoform, Rennick's Model Tune, reedy, Associated, J Consepts, Edit. Like I said, Lucky.
Has your racing with the BJ4WE been succesful since running the car?
Yes, Very I think. Although I am New to the team, Cree, Lowe and myself have worked well together and it has helped us get up to speed quickly. I think at tiverton I had the 2nd fatest time of the meeting, i'm very happy to be joint 4th after 2 Nats.
What other 4wds have you raced, and how do they compare to the BJ4?
I have only raced 2 other cars; Yokomo BX and The CAT3000. The yokomo is very good and the team do a cool job but I didn't do as well as I should with it. The CAT3000 was good in its day but I think that it is now out of date. I think there will be something new from the GB company soon as 1/10 off road is really big now. I am fast with the BJ4WE and that is what matters.
Are you running any of the avaliable option parts that Jconcepts currently supply?
My car is kit and to be honest it was second hand. All I have is the one way, sometimes the center one way, other than that kit is standard. |
 |
Ive heard you prefer the diff/oneway combo with a rear roll bar, how is this performing for your self?
I have not run the rear roll bar much as on the GB tracks they are high grip and the roll bar can make the car grip roll. I try and run the one way whenever I can. If the track is undulating then the one way can pull the car off in all sorts of directions. You just have to suck it and see...!!!
Do you have to make any alterations to set up for the roll bar addition?
Hummmm,.....Duno really. I know that it is very good when the grip is low and the track isn't bumpy...
Do you have any advice/hints/tips for the BJ4WE owners?
Losi Orange piston with 30w in the rear and AE 1 with 40w in the front. The car has load of drive so use it. Get it lined up and hit the gas. |
Thank you Richard, good luck for 2007.
|
-Setup-
Here is a comparison to my own and Richard Bartons finishing set up at Kidderminster.
|
Paul Rotheram
Front
Drive: Front one way
Spring: Silver
Piston: #2
Oil: 35
Limiting: 0
Shock location - Tower: Inside Wishbone: Inside
Camber: 2
Camber washers - Inside: 3 Outside: 2
Rear
Spring: Green
Piston: #1
Oil: 25
Limiting: 0
Shock location - Tower: Inside Wishbone: Inside
Wheelbase: Short
Antisquat: R 2 3
Camber: 1.5
Camber washers - Inside: 3 Outside: Middle |
Richard Barton
Front
Drive: Front one way
Spring: Silver
Piston: #1
Oil: 40
Limiting: 1 thin
Shock location - Tower: Inside Wishbone: Inside
Camber: 1
Camber washers - Inside: 1 Outside: 1
Rear
Spring: Green
Piston: Losi Orange
Oil: 30
Limiting: 0
Shock location - Tower: Middle Wishbone: Inside
Wheelbase: Short
Antisquat: R 2 3
Camber: 1
Camber washers - Inside: 3 Outside: Middle |
Some of the top drivers who are piloting the BJ4 are running Losi pistons, this is somthing I will be trying in the near future, along side with a comparison ae/losi pistons. |
With my local tracks nationals looming, i'm hoping the car will proove to be even more succesful. I'd like to thank everyone for the positive comments regarding the first report, it makes doing it more enjoyable!
Back to main page
|
