Untitled Document
  The opening day of the 2011 IFMAR 10th off road world championships is all about being prepared and getting registered. The day started early with some drivers choosing to stay in bed a little longer and turn up later in the day (through excesses the night before mostly!)
There were to be no cars on the track so it was all about getting cars built last minute, gluing tyres and having cells inspected before the opening ceremony at 4pm.
Some of the guys who'd lost luggage the day before got their luggage safely (!) returned in the morning - which included Paul Worsleys case which had all the important documents for the meeting. Unfortunately however the cases had been opened and inspected and any more than one loose lipo battery (not in a car, in other words) was removed - ie stolen by the authorities. So some drivers either ended up with no batteries or maybe 1 pack if they were lucky.
 With the cell inspections however - maybe losing cells wouldn't have mattered since there were quite a number failing the inspection and rendered useless for the event. All packs had to be marked up like the competitors chassis' will have to be before qualifying - but this could only take place after the cells had been measured and approved. Paul Worsley had created some machined clear blocks to pass the batteries through and measure exactly if the cells were legal or not. If the cells were questionable then they got passed onto the mighty Worsley himself so they could be measured accurately with some calipers and anything over the prescribed maximum dimensions would be a fail - even 0.1mm. The individual labels front and rear were measured for thickness to ensure they weren't the problem - this was serious stuff and there were guys beg-borrow and possibly stealing packs of cells to try and get past scrutineering because their brand new cells were oversized. There didn't really appear to be a single manufacturer at fault but random samples of pretty much any packs could fail. Richard Lowe from the UK bought three saddle-packs of batteries for the event and in one of his packs only one half of the saddle pack combination was legal! oops. |
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Paul Worsley measures some cells |
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The cells need to slide through here! |
Winner - these are marked up and legal. |
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The aparatus of measurements |
Nail Varnish was the method of choice to mark up the cells |
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The track at Vaasa for this years IFMAR worlds was being run on the same track that saw the 2007 EFRA euros - which itself hadn't changed much for the worlds warmup event here a couple of months previously. For the full IFMAR event however the track was changed quite a lot to make things fair for everyone and there have been changes to the jumps and the layout is more complex.
 Track facts:
• 2WD track length 204 m
• 4WD track length 211 m
Jumps and features
1. Single jump
2. Corner table
3. Quadruple jump
4. Logs
5. Moguls
6. Hump with negative banking
7. Two single jumps
8. High speed double jump
9. Double jump
10. Speed bump
There are two track layouts and the organisers have provided overviews of each - but it's the 2WD event first and that's the track that is currently laid out.
The huge quad-jump (3) replaces a uniquely shaped jump from the EFRA event in 2007 which saw some great moves - and this new quad should provide plenty of interesting moments of its own. For the 2WD cars it's not clear what technique will be used, double-double or maybe triple-single - but for 4WD it looks more like the triple-single could be the norm and maybe some will try for the whole quad but it's VERY long!
The organisers have rain covers to help stop the track getting ruined when it matters but these weren't in effect during the previous day when heavy rains soaked the track and left some large puddles. The track was still quite soft and no one was allowed to venuture onto the dirt during the first part of the day to keep it in one piece. |
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One well kept secret - well, sort of anyway - was the new long car from Team Associated. Actually speaking to Brent Thielke from AE they aren't sure if they'll produce the new car or if they do when it'll be - but it's basically a longer version of the B4 with a cut down T4 truck chassis to give a length in between the T4 and B4.
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The PW converted long-b4.1 chassis of Richard Lowe. |
The team Associated guys had the cars for the worlds warmup event but most didn't run it. Neil Cragg tested the car after the race on the track (since practicing after the event was no problem!) and found the longer chassis to be easier to drive and faster! Mick Cragg declared that the car could be 'thrown around' more and pushed.
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Neil Craggs car |
Plastic L-shaped brackets help hold the glued halves together |
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Neils AE team converted car - underside |
The Paul-Worsley converted car is super precise |
The car isn't actually that secreative since both JConcepts and Proline already modified their moulds to create cab forward bodies to fit the longer length. Brent didn't have the measurements of the official cars but regardless they were re-created by a couple of different guys for other people to use at this event. Paul Worsley IFMAR man and tech inspector actually created the cars that Richard Lowe and Steve Lawson and these are actually the best looking long-B4's at the event and are, like the others, 8mm longer than standard. |
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Richard Lowe's PW car |
Lowe's B4+8mm next to a standard B4 |
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Underside of Lowes car showing the join |
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Jukka Steenari is here to support the TLR guys |
Neil Cragg gives us his views on the layout
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The Kyosho boys obviously spend the previous night working on their cars since they were super paranoid about anyone seeing their new 2WD car - even putting the camera down and just asking for a 'look' (hey - I'm an R/C car fanatic) wouldn't work with the guys and I was removed by big Swedish Kyosho warrior Daniel Perrsson. There are several of the cars around and the Kyosho boys pretty much sat doing nothing to their cars all day - bodies on and paranoid about doing anything that would 'reveal' the inner goodness.
Strange thing is, early in the morning Jared Tebo's car was uncovered and I did get a brief look at the carbon upper deck which stretched around the perimiter of what looked like the original moulded tub chassis from the RB5 - if this means it's a lengthened and strengthened RB5 chassis or some other wild creation I'm not sure.
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Cody King was also rocking the new car - shell permenantly on in the pits :( |
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Adachi nearly went nuts when I asked if we could take the shell of for a look. |
Tebo has a wet & dry car set up and ready to go |
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Tebo's rear tower - a bit different, hmm.. |
Sneaky spy shot |
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The drivers stand is bigger than my house. |
The pits are bigger than - a supermarket?
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| Everyone was called outside of the pitting marquee at around 4pm for the scheduled opening ceremony. Commentator Scotty Ernst rallied up all the troops into order of country, and all kitted out in team-wear (except for Germany who rebelled) each group paraded onto the track to the sound of their national anthem.
Race director Tony Raikas welcomed drivers to the event, which it is hoped will be the coolest race ever. President of the AKK-Motorsport organisation, Kari O. Sohlberg, and Rally Legend Simo Lampinen also addressed the crowd with speeches of pride and wishing everyone good luck.
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Some of the teams!
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Chi Hang Tang - or Frankie to his mates |
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 When the ceremony drew to a close, all drivers were asked to set their cars down on the straight for the ‘Concourse D’Elegance’ competition, a fun contest in which the best body shells are selected by judges.
The 20 ‘best’ shells were chosen, along with the 20 ‘coolest’ shells, in line with the events aim to be the coolest race ever. In the end it was Lee Martins car which won the favourite shell, with colour a colour scheme incorporating cool icy blues, and clear cut lines between colours.
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The judges render their verdicts |
Otto Ausfelt's attempt at bribery almost worked
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Lee Martin won even without a wing! - must have been that oOple sticker hey. |
Some activity continued in the pits following this exciting opening to the event, with cars being prepared for the commencement of racing with practice tomorrow. The technical inspection crew continued measuring cells, nail polish painting chassis, and weighing ‘things’ into the early hours of the evening.
Cell-checks were causing problems for a number of drivers and we caught up with Neil Round on his THIRD attempt to pass through technical inspection, having failed each time. Manufacturing discrepencies / aging faults with the lipo cells which has caused them to swell outside of the legal limits seems to be the main area of concern.
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Nathan Ralls cells were all too big - he was stuffed! |
Ebi Beck had all four packs pass - he was happy!
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This is in addition to the 40 packs of cells removed from luggage by very keen security staff at Helsinki airport, where weekly changes in lipo transportation rules now mean that lipo batteries may only be transported in the method for which they were initially intended. So lipos which were situated inside cars were left in place, whereas those which had been transported separately were identified and removed. Incidentally if the lipos had been packed in carry-on baggage this would not have caused an issue, it was only within the hold luggage that concerns arose. Also no other airports recognised the problem, and some drivers had travelled through 3 different airports to reach their destination here in Vaasa.
Chiefs are now in discussions with airport officials to determine exactly how the cells can be returned to their rightful owners, and in the meantime many people have had to set up cell-share operations. |
Tomorrow - day 2 - comes the slightly more serious matter of practice. |
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