West Coast Touring Car King's Race @ Marin R/C 9/27-28

Marin R/C in San Rafael California is hosting their 2 day event the weekend of September 27th and 28th. This is a Touring Car only onroad racing event that is really going to be the premier race for this facility this year. Track Director Jesse Stark has been cooking up some new, never seen format options and fellow R/C enthusiast Joe Nolasco is working on entertainment with music and a earth shaking sound system.

What's new in this format? Well here's a statement from Jesse regarding how this race will be run over the two day weekend:

"When I starting thinking about the idea of putting this race together, my first thought was we need a 2 day race at Marin at some point this year because we need some sort of signature race. For the most part, the Marin track has really established itself and has had a steady amount of entries through out the whole year and I'm very thankful for all the racers who have been so supportive and I know I'm speaking for the guys at the shop also who appreciate the good racing we've been having too. I just wanted to do something different than the same old format I've been seeing for the past 15 years. I kicked around some ideas about having quarterfinals, semi-finals and mains like BMX or Motocross does and taking the top 4 of each heat instead of the usual "race against the 5 minute clock" we all use in RC now. Probably a little to much for me to handle something like that right now, but maybe down the road I will develop that idea into something. So until then I came up with this. We all have raced for trophies before, so I wanted to step it up to a money race. We all have done 3 quals and a main before, so I wanted to step it up to individual time trails."

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Here is the format:

Classes:
Stock 17.5 Sedan (Sportsman)
Super Stock 13.5 Sedan (Expert)
Spec Mod 10.5 Sedan

Saturday:
Open practice from 9:00am-11:30am

Individual Time Trials 12:00pm

First round of individual time trials will start at noon beginning with 17.5. Each driver will hit the track solo for 8-10 laps. We will take your single best lap time out of those laps. There will be a total of 2 rounds of Individual Time Trials for the 3 classes followed by 1 Round of Qualifying on Saturday

(i.e. - Let's say you are racing 13.5 and your single best lap time in the trials is a 12.7. That 12.7 might be 3rd fastest overall out of let's say 20 drivers on Saturday. You earned yourself a "3 seed". You will start 3rd on the grid in the first 2 rounds of qualifying. There will be 2 rounds of individual time trials. If you don't improve your lap time in the 2nd round, your single best lap time is what is seeded regardless of which round of trials it's from)

Whoever TQ's the Saturday Time Trials in each class will win a free painted sedan body donated by a premier painter on the West Coast - Blake Cannon from 707paint.net!!!

Sunday:
Open practice 8:30-9:50

3 total Rounds of Qualfying 10:00

The racers who show up on Sunday only will be seeded to the back for that 1st Round of Qualifying on Sunday mourning. There will be a re-sort after that round to update the Qualifying Heats.

After Qualifying is completed the Mains will be run based on those results.

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This will truly be a do not miss event in the bay area for 1:10 scale onroad Touring Car racing. Not only is the format unique but there is an added bonus...Ca$h Prizes to be paid to top 3 places in each class. Yes that's correct - Cash Prizes!!!

In addition there are some Sponsors for this race including the host Marin R/C, Schumacher U.S.A, 707Paint.net and NorCalRC.com.

For more information you can follow the thread on RCRacing.com or call the Marin R/C shop at (415) 454-0122‎.

Hope to see everyone out there!

-Catalyst

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Off-Road Racing Report: NorCal Hobbies 09/13/08

Hey there all, we had a great time at norcal Saturday! I pitted with Pigiron (thanks for letting me have a table PI!) and Fabrc brought his air compressor by (totally useful, thanks man!) Darksoul was also there (great chatting with you and frank!). There were A LOT of people there yesterday, I left a little after 5pm and they still had mains to run!



The new addition to the track, called the "rythm section", is a series of 6 mini jumps right after the hairpin that leads into the step down jump. This was pretty painful in every class. Things got really shaken up and we saw what usually are the fastest cars on the track (4wd mods) lose out to the 2wd 13.5 drivers - I think those bumps really changed everyone's game.

The slashes actually handled it well since they had some good ground clearance. The 4wd mod class had it pretty bad since you could get stuck on the apex of the mini jump and be stuck there spinning your wheels! The jumps were hard to master but at some point everyone KNEW what to do, doing it consistently was the difficult part.

Double-double-double was the easiest way to tackle it, but if you missed that first double, you were either on your lid or singling the next 4 or 5 little jumps. It was pretty brutal. some of the pros were triple-tripling it, but even they could not do it every lap so a lot of time was lost there.

Slash
Darksoul, Pigiron and I all raced slash. This was fun as usual! They combined the mains into one big 10-car main, which I think is still too many slashes on the track at once. With a handful of really good pro-level drivers and so much traffic to contend with, it's just a lot of big trucks to have to deal with. I am not sure how the other guys placed, but I managed to come from dead last and finish 5th.

The guy to beat in slash was James Arluck. He's definitely a seasoned expert on the track, but his slash was really fast! he was running the 23t pinion, but the power was there to really take him over the jumps, and far! I actually had a 19t pinion (from the 23t) for the added torque and Arluck's looked like it had even more! This seems to substantiate the claims I have read in other forums that the quality of the titan motors can vary greatly. This was only my 4th outing with the slash and my motor is feeling way sluggish.

Work had me super slammed all week so I didn't get to do the overhaul I wanted on my cars (again!) but i burned the midnight oil to completely clean out out the slash, re-lube the transmission and rebuild all the shocks with new o-rings. I made some minor tweaks to the front suspension (heavier oil) and I loved the way it handled. I just need more speed out of that titan motor!

My suggestion for the slash: break in a few motors (use the water break in) and test which is faster. I'm going to break in my spare motor and maybe get another, break that in and test before I race slash again - I dont have a lot of runs on my current motor, I broke it in and i clean and lube it before every race, but it's feeling slow - hopefully the other motor works better.

Rookie
PigIron rocked it in rookie with his Losi XXX-CR - he did great! He didn't get much practice time because he broke a caster block. Super prepared with some spares, he made the fix and did fairly well in the qualifiers. He really turned up the heat in the main with some solid and steady driving that sealed him a 2nd place finish! Congrats PigIron!

We had been discussing earlier in the day about how rookie is actually pretty difficult as there are some seasoned rookies in there as well as the really novice drivers. some on road folks start out in rookie even though they have excellent driving skills and some rookies have been in there for a while. The difficult thing is there isn't an easy graduation point from rookie. For example, any rookie with a 4wd automatically goes to 4wd mod, one of the more competitive classes at the track (hence me being thrown into the fray ) - it would be great if there was a middle stage, some sort of sportsman level for 2wd and 4wd, where you are better than rookie, but not having to battle it out with the pro level drivers right from the start.

PigIron also took a few laps with the Golden Fox (his TC4) on the on-road course in preparation for the Sunday Marin event, his setup looked solid!

4WD Mod
4WD Mod was fun, but hard! I hadn't had any practice time from my rookie race a few weekends ago and I was anticipating being pretty slow - and I was! I started to feel a bit battered by the time the mains came as I just couldn't break out of rookie driving habits. slow-n-steady doesn't win races in 4wd mod

I ended up in the C-Main and had decided that I would just drive as aggressively as possible (for me) - not try and fly off the track or anything, but really push harder than I have in past races. this mental shift really paid off! I was clearing the front triples consistently and I was finally going full throttle on the back straight. I ended up in a battle for first with Brice Arnold- lot's of lead changes and really aggressive driving by both of us. It was really fun and totally exhilarating. I actually felt some freedom to push it once I started to clear the triples and not worry about breaking. I managed to hang on to the lead and it really made my day - I had thoughts in qualifying that I didnt belong in 4wd mod but this race really was fun! I wish I had driven as hard during qualifying, and certainly will push it harder now that I've broken through that mental barrier.

Another great day at the track. Thanks again Pigiron for the awesome pit area, we had a few guys out there representing the club (Fabrc, Darksoul, Pigiron)! I cant wait for the next one!
-Michelangelo "Hopbot"

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Racing: Norcal Hobbies Off-Road Race Report

Here is a recap of my first rc race at Norcal Hobbies this past Saturday. it was an awesome day, a great event, and i know i'll be going back for another race again as soon as i can! i hadn't raced for over 15 years, so i was really nervous and i didnt know what to expect, read on for the details...

== around 6:30am ==
after some late night tuning (and taping ;)) i'm ready for action! a little nervous...

i taped the slash body to try and stand apart from the other slash's on the course. it proved helpful. (FYI: they had some clear slash bodies in stock).

== the track ==
i arrived a little early, but the pits were already open and a few spots already claimed. i found a table and set up my space. i couldnt wait to see the track after hearing so much about it, it didnt disappoint!



the track is amazing! when they said "slash friendly", i expected something tamer than last time. this definitely was not tame!

this new layout is larger than the previous design and offers more of what makes racing fun: super fast speed and crazy air time. the straight has been moved to the back and provides plenty of space for some really high speeds. while the right side of the track is more about speed and technical ability around turns, the left side of the track is a jungle of car breaking features which provided a ton of entertainment (as well as broken a-arms).

after the straight and a few tight turns, there is a deceiving step-jump that requires some delicate finessing of the throttle to just hop over. anything more, and you were flat on your back, anything less and you were stuck on the step



this proved to be a great pile-up area but as the day went on drivers seemed to master it... except for the slash class. the slash's had so much trouble clearing it without ending up belly-up, that in the mains, they made a detour for the slash race. not everyone agreed with the change, but at least there wasnt a pile up every lap ;)

the step-jump is followed by a small table top, then after a turn, a giant step-down that is also deceptive: in the first 4wd qualifier, three cars went to the pits with broken front arms. again, this requires some gentle throttle and coasting over to hit the back side of the step-down. if you over-shot it, you are likely to land nose first as you try and turn while landing - hence the broken front arms.

the highlight of the track is right in front of the drivers stand: a giant set of double-jumps followed by a big table top. it was advised that drivers double the jump and then tackle the table if they wanted to get by it without breaking ;) for the slash class, there wasnt enough power to do anything other than the double-single.

of course, in the mod classes drivers were back-siding the table top on the opposite end! the air time in the 4wd mod races was especially insane! you could reach out and touch the cars from the drivers stand!





the reaction from the crowd was awesome every time one of these bullets flew over all 3 of the jumps. turn marshals were advised to stay out of the area and there were some really close calls with cars inches away from heads. helmets should be required for marshaling that part of the track! ;)

overall, the track was super fun and really interesting to run - at times the speeds were intense, at others, the jumps and other features kept you on your toes.

== the races ==
the racing was really fun. a lot of great drivers were there. racing was well-organized and aside form a quick run that had to be made to radioshack to fix the lap-timing computer (we got a little extra practice time before the mains) everything went off without a hitch. john hicks did the announcing for most of the day with other drivers filling in while he jumped into a race.

i managed to shoot some videos with my camera (pretty crappy quality) of the 4wd qualifier and mains. these proved to be some of the most exciting races of the day with amazing speeds and unreal air off the front triple. lots of broken cars as well ;)

some of the the 4WD qualifiers:

i raced the rookie class with the B44 and also raced in the slash class. i was hesitant to try and tackle two classes on my first race day, but i really wanted to try out my birthday present (the slash) and also wanted to put all that b44 practice to the test ;)

once the track was open for practice i went out with the slash. although i hadn't driven it yet, i started with a setup posted by badboy on the rcracing.com slash thread. the truck felt OK, but i definitely was not use to it. further more there seemed to be some issue with the throttle where i could not get consistent acceleration and if i gunned it sometimes the truck would just stutter and stop. i managed to adapt to this and got to know the track. after about half a lipo pack, i moved the pack to the b44 and went back out...

much better! the b44 felt really good. i used the same setup i had on the previous track and it seemed nearly perfect. i felt confident pushing it into turns and it stuck like it was on rails! after practice i headed back into the pits to figure out the issues i was having with the slash. i didnt have much luck. then, out of the blue, i heard my name being called - rookie qualifying was starting and i was late!

i ran to the track, reamed out a hole for the transponder and slapped the b44 together, checked in, then ran up to the stands. ugh, i was already flustered ;) the race went pretty well. i think after some nervous mistakes i manged to hold onto second.

to make the day even more exciting, the slash qualifying was RIGHT AFTER rookie, so more running, reaming, and being late! the slash didnt do so well with the throttle issue plaguing me i had very inconsistent laps and finally crashed and popped the right front shock cap putting me in last place. after marshaling the next race i went back to the pits to work on the slash. i got some help from the guy next to me in the pits (kevin) who had been running integy shocks, so he had his old spare slash shocks. i rebuilt the shock and replaced the cap. then spent about 30 minutes trying to solve the throttle issue, basically making it worse and then i hear "mitch, rookie heat two is starting". crap! late again.

i hadnt really touched the b44 from the last race, i just slapped it together again, threw in the transponder and headed to the track. i was getting more comfortable and was able to keep second place with some jumps into first. i even got some nice words from john hicks (commentating) on the smoothness of a couple if my laps and handling the jumps. that made me feel pretty good ;) ended up in second again due to nervous mistakes but overall, i felt good.

the second qualifying round for slash was up and again, i didnt do so well. the throttle issue was worse and i ended up popping the right front shock cap again! i didnt finish this one.

back in the pits i spent some more time with the slash. the throttle issues ended up being a result of the novak smart stop. removing it fixed all throttle issues. since the 8 minute race wasnt likely to blow the lipo pack, i felt OK running with out it. i rebuilt the shock, made some tweaks and was ready to go again.

for the mains, i wasnt late! ;) for rookie, i battled for first place with another 4wd driver (brian baladad) and it proved to be a pretty exhilarating race! we traded the lead spot several times and then a crash set me back and i finished second. i felt really happy with the race, the b44 handled amazingly well over the jumps and all that's left is me learning to drive faster! ;)

slash mains were not directly after rookie so i had a couple of races to rest, then hit the track. it was doing so much better, but now my steering was way off! not sure what happened but i had to steer to keep the truck straight down the back straight. ugh! i managed to deal with it and actually held onto forth place, which made me really happy considering all the problems i had with the slash that day. of course, on the last jump, the right front shock popped again! i am getting aluminum shock caps for sure!

So there it is, 2nd place in Rookie, 4th place in Slash. an awesome finish to an amazingly fun day! there were lots of racers there who were totally helpful, lots of camaraderie, and finally putting faces to some of the names you read on the boards. some racers who do on-road at marin recognized the baprcc shirt and asked about us, so we know we are getting out there ;)

here are all of the pics from the day

i cant wait until the next race, who's with me? ;)

CORR Racing a hit with R/C Enthusiasts

TRAXXAS SLASH CORR PRO2 STADIUM TRUCK

I've been enjoying off road R/C racing off and on for years now. I have always been a die hard Associated Electronics fan and never found myself drawn to models done by Traxxas. Times have changed! I am a proud owner of the Traxxas Slash CORR (Championship Off Road Racing) Pro 2 styled 1/10th scale truck.

This Traxxas model is hitting the industry with a whirlwind of interest. Browsing R/C enthusiast forums you will find page after page of interest in this thing. For a $200 investment, you can own a RTR (needs batteries) kit. This thing is competitive right out of the box. Many clubs are implementing a Spec Class for this that keeps the playing field level and investment into the new class minimal.




For me I promptly added a LiPo cutoff and soldered in connectors to run my Orion LiPo batteries. I dropped in a Futaba 2.4Ghz receiver and was ready to hit the dirt! I visited NorCal R/C in Union City this last weekend with club member 'hopbot' and there were 4 other Slash owners there that day. This was the first indicator that this thing is taking off really fast.

My first impressions were grins ear to ear. It's easy to drive, handles the jumps and turns well, and is the most scale looking truck I've ever run. Seeing the suspension working hard through the bumps and landings was impressive and reminded me of watching full scale CORR trucks on the Speed Channel. With the body covering the wheels completely and seeing them suck up the terrain I was also reminded of watching 1/8th scale Truggies absorbing jumps out at Delta R/C.

I ran it hard and pushed it to the best of my ability. I ran 4 packs through it back to back with brief periods of time between and the motor and esc stayed pretty cool under the pressure. There were three of us on the stand at one point and we did some true door to door racing and with the body covering the entire chassis and wheels, it made for some really fun and exciting moments and all of us on the stand were laughing non stop.

It's built well and has a lot of interchangeable parts from other Traxxas models. It's easy to work on and I think engineered with durability in mind. After my run I did get a bit of a click in the drivetrain and will be tearing down the gearbox to see what the cause is but considering what I put it through - this is nothing compared to the parts I would have replaced on my T4 had I run it that hard and put it into the air so often.

If you are considering getting into off road for the first time or are a seasoned veteran - I think you will find that this new offering from Traxxas is a winner! NorCal is serious about a Spec Class for these and also going to setup a 3 man team Enduro Race in the coming months. Delta R/C, Capital City, and Lakeport Hobbies have all shown interest in supporting a Spec Class as well if enough attendees show up. I dont' think that's going to be an issue as all the local hobby shops are having a hard time keeping these on the shelves!

-Justin aka: "Catalyst"

Reminder: Official Spec Class Meeting this Wednesday, June 11 - 6:30PM

Hey All,

Come out to our Official Spec Racing Class Race/Practice this Wednesday evening, June 11 at 6:30PM. Meet up with the club at Mother's Raceway in South San Francisco for practice, laughs, and some friendly competition.

Also(in between races), the track will be open to any type of vehicles Members want to run - so bring what 'ya got!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone there and hope our newest members can make it out too!

RC Lifestyle: RC Car / Super Mario Bros. MashUp

Now this is impressive!! Take a look at what this RC Car / Video Game enthusiast has done:



Now that must have taken a lot of time, patience and practice! All he used was an RC Car with a bell protruding from the sides and a few hundred wine bottles filled with different volumes of fluid.

Spec Racing Class Practice: A Blast!!!

Mother's Raceway --South SF. While a few guys had to cancel last minute, those of us who braved the extreme wind and cold had a total blast! We all set up in about 15-20 min, and then began last minute preparations on our cars. We tweaked the layout of the track a bit, including some of the obstacles. One section we were going to use for a "bumpy" area (by laying down flat top cones and covering with a heavy rubber backed floormat) proved to be way to unpredictable (the trucks were flyin' all over), so we turned that section into a set of "doubles" jumps that worked out fantastic! We also used some pieces of carpet to hold down corners, which turned out much better than expected. They not only held down the corners, but provided a nice surface to cut across for those who wanted to take the turns sharply.
We attempted a few rounds of mini races, but with no turn marshals, it was a little tough (We need YOU at the next practice!). In the end, we had a great night out and learned a lot about how we want to layout the track. We all got a lot of good practice in, and it was obvious that we all could not wait to do it again. This class is proving to be super fun, and will provide everyone with a really great, low pressure, yet competitive place to drive - with plenty of laughs to go around.To keep track of the latest information regarding the Spec Class, click here. If you would like to know when we will be meeting next, check out the Club Meets section of the message boards.

More pictures: Here

From the Lab: IT's ALIVE.....IT'S ALIVE!!!!

What do you get when you take a Tamiya Durga, add a Castle Creations Sidewinder brushless setup, and throw in some custom electronics to handle the 14 Volts delivered by the custom A123 battery pack?? 1+ Horse Power that literally smokes the tires when you hit the throttle, AT ANY SPEED!!!

"Dr." Shtarbucks has emerged from the lab with his latest creation, and it's quite a beast....This cas leaves burnouts like a dragster (and he has already had to superglue the tires back on to the rims because the raw power of his system ripped all four clean off). The video DOES NOT do this thing justice, but believe me, this buggy is a sight to see! There was no way he could give it full throttle in the area he was running it - not to mention the tires could not hook up with the pavement.

Marin R/C Electric On Road Racing Report

Well it was a beautiful day and there was some great racing at Marin R/C in San Rafael, CA this last weekend. Being my first on-road electric Club Race I was eager to get onto the driver's stand and off the fence. It was a good field of about 40 entrants and there were 9 total classes. This included 1/10th Sedan, 1/10th Pan Cars, 1/12th Pan Cars, Mini's, and F103GTs in various motor and skill classes. It's an amazing setting right on the water and the facility is top notch with a full hobby shop on the property that has supplies for R/C vehicles, planes, and helicopters amongst other things and the staff there is quite accomodating.

Being the "new guy" was a little intimidating but I was quickly greeted by helpful racers and there were many laughs to be had on the driver's stand during the 1/18th scale and Mini races. The Expert A Main for 13.5 and 10.5 1/10th Touring Cars was extremely tight racing and exciting to spectate. Racers were in a train for several laps and the passes were amazing. The traction was great and on race day it was about 80 degrees with a nice breeze off the water.

I highly encourage folks to check out Marin R/C in San Rafael and they host Club Races every other weekend typically. It's a class act there and the setting is stellar! Hopefully next time I'm out there I will have some results to brag about...but until then it's been a lot of fun learning the ins and outs of racing on-road.

-Catalyst

News: Spec Racing Class for BAPRC Club..?

There has been some recent club talk regarding the creation of a Spec Class for club racing. For those not familiar with Spec Class racing, it's basically a special classification of cars and equipment created to keep things fun, exciting, and cheap.

Hop-ups are not allowed (unless approved by everyone) so it keeps the playing field even and the cost down for all members who participate. You can let us know what you think and find more information about it here.

Grand Theft.....Auto?

In the news:

As we all know, the passion we share for RC cars can sometimes be hard to explain to those outside of the enthusiast community. Imagine having to explain that passion to the cops when they arrest you for Felony Grand Theft (RC) Auto!!

That's exactly what this guy will have to do if the Cops ever get their hands on him! Apparently, he was willing to go way beyond normal boundaries to get himself the "car of his dreams" valued at more than $600 (which makes his crime a Felony).

New Store and New URL!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that there is a new store for the RC Club which you can find here: www.cafepress.com/baprcc.

Also, the club has a new easy to remember URL. After thinking about it for a bit, I thought to myself, "what can I do to help get the name out there?" - and a new, easy to remember URL is what I came up with. With that said, please bookmark www.baprcc.info.

You may not see me out there this Saturday, but always remember I am working behind the scenes to help out with the club.

"Knytemare"
-M2 Hobbies