| 15-04-2007 - BRCA Tiverton National - Round 1
The BRCA national series kick started at the Heazel Arena the venue of Tiverton radio car club. This was the first time i've raced on a dirt type surface, it was very different to anything i've experienced before. Originally I was expecting there to be no grip at all, similar to batley indoors was what I had in mind. However there was plenty of grip to be had - if on the racing line. The track prooved to be very consistant over both racing days, with minimal breaking up showing towards the finals of 4wd.
I had spoken to the groundsman at the venue, and commented how everyone was enjoying the track surface.
Apparently for this seasons race he had used no sand on the surface, which he believes is why the track was in an excellent condition all weekend.
From what I heard in the pits, the track was in the best condition its been in for a number of years. On the racing line, there was more than enough grip to supply fast lap times with no random low grip corners, however offline there was next to no grip and took a while for the tyres to unclog from excess dirt.
|
-Performance-
Practice 1/2:
In practice, I set out to get used to the car on a surface I was becoming to understand; from the previous day with my 2wd. The car went better than I expected, it needed minimal changes; Lighter oil in the rear, softer rear spring, slightly tighter rear differential.
Round 1:
In round one with the changes made, I had a great race with Greg Williams, both drivers keeping composure to produce a good time overall.
Round 2:
This round was a bit of a disaster, I wanted to push harder, but I was going beyond my own limit. This was giving me problems to keep the car on the racing line I set a time 10 seconds slower than my previous.
Round 3:
Disaster strikes, after skimming the motor and giving the car a good once over my car wouldn't move off the line. It turns out to be a sticky brush due to some copper protruding from the brush hood.
Round 4:
This was well and truly a kamikaze round, a make or break situation for my final placing. Good enough I kept my cool putting in consistent lap times with one minor mistake.
This put me 3rd in the F, I am happy with this result, as the season before I was in the E final at my home track.
The final:
The final was quite eventful, In the first lap my car proved to handle well, keeping out of trouble I managed to get up the inside of number 1 car Alec Springer who had already dropped a position. In the second lap, leader Adam Tinsley (BJ4 WE driver also) made the mistake on the man made jump in the far corner.
From here we were close throughout the race, I aimed to keep the car on it's wheels as much as possible.
I ended up winning the final, with a one second gap from Adam Tinsley Looking at the times, I could of been in the C or D final if my performance had shown all day.
Overall
The overall performance of the car was outstanding, the car really proved it self. With a completely new surface, venue and racers to my self I ended up in the top half overall, an achievement i'm happy with.
The car had produced plenty of acceleration, very predictable handling, plenty of grip all round and best of all no breakages through the day.
This can only be promising for the next 5 rounds, on track surfaces i'm familiar with - especially my home track.
|
-Driver interview-
I managed to talk to superstar driver Richard Cree about the event at Tiverton, and about his experiences with his BJ4WE. Richard has sponsors with Team Associated, Jconcepts, Team Orion, Novak, Proline, CML Distribution and Rennicks Modeltune. He has reverted back to the BJ4 for the 2007 season. 
At Tiverton, Richard qualified 8th on the grid, and worked his way up to 6th with leg finishes of 7th, a very impressive 3rd and a 6th - Just behind fellow BJ4 driver Richard Barton. Both drivers showed what the car is capable of, congratulations to you both. |
 |
Richard Cree Interview:
What was your aim for the Tiverton 2007 national and did you achieve what you wanted?
The aim at any national is first and foremost just to get into the A final and I achieved that fairly comfortably. Whilst I only qualified 8th I had two 5th place round scores counting and a 6th in another round meaning i had 10 points which is easily good enough to get in. The qualifying was unbelievably close and I could easily have been higher up on the grid. The finals unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a procession, the track was pretty devoid of features so everyone was lapping at the same speed. We also made real progress with the car throughout the day and it responded brilliantly to set up changes which is also encouraging.
I think this year is going to be one of the most open ever in 4wd, in particular Ellis is looking to be extremely motivated and more than capable, plus we now have Lee running the Aero car. The hot favorite for the year has to be Tricky as reigning champion in commanding style and running the same equipment as last season.
How long have you raced the BJ4x4WE?
I raced it at the start of the 2006 season after I left Team Losi. To be honest I struggled to adapt after being so comfortable with the XX4 which really looks after a driver meaning you can press on really hard. The BJ4 requires a more precise, measured driving style letting the car do the work. My main problem was the lack of a team mate in my part of the country to share the set up work with. This season Rich Barton has started running the car and had already done a tonne of running before I even had my kit delivered. He gave me a starting set up that was already much better than what I had run previously, since then we have worked together to tune the car in to particular tracks. So far this has really worked well and I think we help each other along through a combination of helpful advice and competition.
What is your preferred drive train, and have you tried any of the other options?
If you mean the shaft vs belt debate then it's a tough call. Both are proven winners. I love the feel of a belt car with the way they carry speed into the corners but shaft drives are so much more responsive on the throttle, it allows you to do certain things which are a struggle with a belt car, for instance tapping the throttle in a tight turn to get the back end out.
Specifically with the BJ4 I have been quick with both the one way diff and with the std diff in the front(no one way). I thought the one way diff would be a clear favorite but the car felt really good with full time 4wd too. I'll probably be alternating between these two options for most of the season. My experience from the XX4 tells me that one day the one way will be faster, next day the diff will be faster. generally smaller, technical tracks like Bury metro suit the diff more than the one way whilst a big open track like Kiddi will suit a one way more.
Did you change much set up wise during the day?
I actually started with the exact set up I ran at the indoor finals in York just because my car felt so good there and it felt great on this track too. I think if the track had of been a bit more technical I probably would have left the set up as it was. Because the track was so flat it was impossible to make up time in the usual way so it was just all about dialling as much steering into the car as possible without upsetting the rear end too much. To achieve this I moved the front shocks in on the wishbones, moved to the rear ackermann position (more low speed steering/less high speed in this position) and added some toe out to the front wheels. If we had of had more running I would have looked to altering the front camber link, or raising the rear ride height to get even more steering. The really big positive for me was how close my Indoor finals set up was to my tiverton set up, it seems like we have nailed a good base to work from. I think people often come to a dirt track and automatically go down in shock oil because there is less grip, personally I don't think that 's the way to go. At the end of the day a big bump on a high grip track is the same as a big bump on a slippy track, you need to generate grip using different methods.
Do you find the car sensitive to setup changes?
It's a very solid car once you have found a good base set up and it responds predictably to most of the usual tweaks and tricks. It seems very sensitive to shock positions and ride heights, but maybe less responsive to camber link changes than my previous cars. The slipper is so important.
How are you finding the car, compared to the Yokomo you raced last season?
The Yokomo is a good car and had a wonderfully free transmission which is a big part of a fast car. To be honest last season I was kinda lost in 4wd for a variety of reasons so I didn't really do either the BJ4 or the Yokomo justice. Neil looked awesome last season with the Yok and Peters BJ4 at the Euros was staggeringly good too. They are both proven winners in my eyes. To be more specific I would say the yokomo was probably easier to drive and find the limit of the set up, the BJ4 is harder to drive but always has lap time to spare if you can get the most out of it.
Are you running any of the Jconcept option parts?
At tiverton I ran the rear roll bar and steel t nut but that was it. I'm looking forward to seeing what else comes out of the Jconcepts factory in the future!
Do you have any tips to share about the car?
Setting the slipper right is so important. The manual suggests loosening the screw 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn. On my particular kit this still felt too tight so I loosened mine about 1 1/4 turns. I think when the adjustment is so coarse then variations in manufacturing tolerance and batches of springs will make big difference so just set it by feel then drop it in the car and try it. You want it as loose as possible without slipping so much it hurts your lap times, i.e. just slipping for a couple of feet on a really high grip surface. If you lock the slipper up you will break the gears on an astroturf track. Once you have got the slipper the way you want it, take it out of the car, take the screw out and put some red loctite all the way through the thread of the nut (use the optional steel t-nut) and reassemble it. Try to leave it for as long as possible before running it to give the thread lock enough time to work (24 hours is ideal). If you get caught out at the track and have to rebuild your slipper mid meeting then use the plastic nut and super glue it because the loctite will never cure enough in the time between rounds.
Thank you Richard, good luck for 2007.
|
-Setup-
The setup I ran on my car is on the left, on the right is a comparison to Richard Crees finishing setup.
|
Paul Rotheram
Front
Drive: Front one way
Spring: Silver
Piston: #3
Oil: 30
Limiting: 0
Shock location - Tower: Middle Wishbone: Inside
Camber: 1.5
Camber washers - Inside: 3 Outside: 2
Rear
Spring: Green
Piston: #1
Oil: 25
Limiting: 0
Shock location - Tower: Middle Wishbone: Inside
Wheelbase: Short
Antisquat: R 2 3
Camber: 1.5
Camber washers - Inside: 3 Outside: Middle |
Richard Cree
Front
Drive: Front one way
Spring: Silver
Piston: #1
Oil: 35
Limiting: 1 thin
Shock location - Tower: Inside Wishbone: Inside
Camber: 1
Camber washers - Inside: 1 Outside: 1
Rear
Spring: Green
Piston: #1
Oil: 30
Limiting: 0
Shock location - Tower: Inside Wishbone: Inside
Wheelbase: Short
Antisquat: R 2 3
Camber: 1
Camber washers - Inside: 1 Outside: Middle |
Both set ups have some similarities, however for the most part they are also quite different! With all cars, driver preference is crucial, what works for some wont work for others. |
 |
The week before the Tiverton national, North East driver Graham North had told me about a new product range he wished to start, dubbed 'Nor-Tech'.
The first product in his line up is the 'Nor-Tech Whitie O-rings'. He generously sent me 2 sets to try at the national.
The size is exactly the same size as the associated standard red o-rings, they will come packaged in a plastic bag with a small dose of Northys own secret solution to keep them fresh.
Fitting the O-rings was just like a standard AE rebuild, however these will be sold at a cheaper price and will hopefully be available in the very near future.
My shocks performed well all day, with no deterioration in performance and no loss of shock oil.
Belgium racer 'Elvo', set up god, has also been testing the o-rings provided from Nor-Tech with great success.
|
| |
These will definitely have a place in my pit box!
|
|
Nor-Tech/AE comparison. |
Back to main page
|
