GT1 first qualifier, FCD sep 26, 2010

As promised, here is the the first GT1 qualifier.

FastCatsDepot- Sep 26 2010

Despite being this late in the season, it was another great day at the Depot races. It was only 15°C, but we managed to get enough racers to run two heats of GT1, and one heat of GT2. I've got videos of all 3 mains, as well as the first qualifier for GT1. (I'll post that one in a bit)
Thanks to Steve F. for recording the GT2 main for me while I raced.
GT2 a-main

GT1 b-main

GT1 a-main

In case you missed it, Andrew Hardman was sporting a fancy new body that was bedazzled by one of his sisters. He ran it in the first GT1 qualifier before it started falling apart. I think the door on the other side said "Andrew is dreamy" I'll upload that qualifier a little later in the day.

Tim Sanderson.

Glenwood/Holland Speedway

Last Saturday Sept 18, me Tommy D. & Ricky-Bobby went to Holland, New York to do a bit of off road racing. The weather was great, but apparently it had rained quite a bit the night before. Me and my impatience saw me out on the track a little too early with my RB5. The track was still very muddy. After 10 laps or so, I figured I'd pull it in, and wait an hour or so before bringing out my ZX5 FS. I figure I should take some pictures of it while it was still nice and shiny with new tires, body & wing. (yes, I'm one of 'those guys' who hates getting dirt on his off road cars)

The only video of racing I'll upload is of some 1/8 scale electric buggy's... The three of us all did pretty bad, and don't want our shame shown to the world. ;)

We only stayed for the first 2 qualifiers, before we left due to one of us feeling a little green in the gills from the night before. [rick]I won't say who it was, though.[/rick] We did do a little shopping on the way home though.

Before we left, Drew took a touring car onto the Holland Speedway oval track, for a speed run. He figures he hit about 100kph (60mph) before taking a tumble heading into the second lap. Another video out there shows him hitting 124kph. (77mph)

We all had a lot of fun, and everybody there was very nice. Next time we go, it will most likely be when the indoor Buffalo, NY track is up and running for Saturday club racing.

Tim Sanderson

Glenwood RC: Prep 1

Tomorrow, me and a couple of racing buddies (Tommy D & Ricky-Bobby) are headed over the border to do some club racing at Glenwood RC. There are still a few weeks left in their outdoor season, so we will be running on the track on the Holland Speedway grounds.

Last night I made some setup changes to my Kyosho Lazer FS, that will hopefully suit the outdoor track. Using a setup I found online as a base, I moved the positions of the camber links, added/removed some ball stud shims, changed shock positions, as well as changed to some stiffer springs up front.

I was quite over geared at last Sundays Depot races, so I dropped down to a 22 tooth pinion. I have a feeling I am going to be under powered on the 1/8 scale track with just an 8.5t motor, but it is the fastest (sensored) motor I have at the moment.

I still need a body for my Lazer, so tonight I will pick one up from Galaxy Hobbies in Mississauga. I plan on painting it in the same colour/paint scheme as I did my Academy SB-V2.

Today, I've also decided to bring my RB5 along, just in case there isn't a great 4WD turnout. I think I just need to reinstall the electronics to get it race-ready again.

I'll be sure to post some videos/pics from the days racing as soon as I can!

Tim Sanderson.

Sprint 2 spool

I didn't really have a whole lot to do today, so I thought I'd replace my Sprint 2's front differential with a spool. A spool is basically a locked differential, no longer allowing the two wheels to rotate at different speeds. From what I understand, this helps the car power out of a corner with more speed, although you may lose a bit of your low-speed turning. I've used one in an Xray T2, as well as in the front wheel drive Tamiya M03. Both those cars seemed to benefit from using a spool. (at least for me, on the tracks I was running on)

This was probably the easiest tourer I've removed a diff from. Basically it was just a few screws to remove the bumper, a few more to remove the shock tower, and a few more to remove the front diff carrier thingy.

It went back together just as easily as it came apart. I want to try to squeeze one more run out of these tires, so I rotated them.

All ready for another day of racing. :)

Tim Sanderson.

FastCats Depot - Sept 5 2010

Today was another great day of racing at the FastCats Depot club races. Because it's the Labour Day long weekend, turnout wasn't too huge, but it was easily one of my favorite days of on road racing that I can remember. (most likely only because I did pretty well today :P) In the GT2 class I got 2nd place in the 1st and 3rd qualifiers, as well as in the A main, and got a 1st place in qualifier number 2. My fastest lap (I think) was a 13.2, and my average 20 laps in each race was only about 3 tenths of a second off of my fastest lap in each race. I was pretty happy with those results.

This was my 3rd time running my HPI Sprint 2 in the GT2 class, the first time since I switched over to my 21.5 brushless setup. If you've been to the any of the Depot races lately, you've probably heard me go on about how much I love this car! It's a very inexpensive car, (gear diffs, dog bones, tons of chassis flex etc) but it handles really great. I bought it off of Joe Bielski. I've made very few setup changes since I bought it. The body is still the one Joe painted.

Here are a couple of races from today:

GT1 (3rd qualifier)


GT2 (A-Main)
(I'm the blue & white car, starting 2nd. On the stand, I'm the guy in the red sweatshirt)

Tim Sanderson.