Carpet Wars Round 4 - Sidcup Racers Results

 

Big Day out for the Sidcup Crew with a mixed bag of results.  Special mention to the Pro Stock guys who decided that they wanted a final all of their own... awww :)

 
12th Scale A Final

Terry finished 3rd, qualified 3rd
Myself: finished 7th, qualified 4th

Pro Stock:

A Final
Stewart: 5th, qualified 5th
Steve: 8th, qualified 9th

B Final
Allan: 3rd, qualified 2nd

C Final
Vince:  6th, qualified 10th

D Final
Charlie: 9th, qualified 6th
Chris: 8th, qualified 10th
Marlon: 7th, qualified 9th 
Ben: 6th, qualified 4th
Jordan: 5th, qualified 8th
Alex: 2nd, qualified 7th

E Final
Tristan: Winner ! qualified 2nd

Stock

A Final
Daniel: 9th, qualified 7th

B Final
John: Winner ! qualified 1st
Jack: 9th, qualified 3rd

Carpet Wars Round 4

 

I've not run my 12th for a little while now, what with Christmas and New Year etc so Sunday would be interesting at least :)

The flooring at Maritime Raceway has been re-laid and new carpet laid over it resulting in a MUCH MUCH flatter track surface.  This is good news for 12th scale :)

The practice and first couple of qualifiers I found that I could drive the car on the throttle but the car didn't feel punchy at all, it felt like I was flat out everywhere with no real change in speed.  My times didn't reflect this however as I was 4th overall in the qualifying behind Terry (albeit with a quicker lap)

I made a change in the 4th qualifier which was one step too far.  The car felt quick finally, but I had traction roll issues, so I backed off a little for the rest of the run, therefore not improving.  I knew the car had the speed though so was looking forward to the final.

For the final I applied additive a little later and used a softer spring on the shock.  The car was as quick and I had made up a place by the first corner, passing Terry on the sweeper at the end of the straight on Lap 1.

I was comfortably in 3rd place for the rest of the race with no threat from anyone behind me, but also making no gains on the guys in front.  The "guys in front" were Mark Green and Luke Burley, both excellent drivers, so there was no shame in me being behind them !

About halfway through the final, disaster struck and my motor shifted in the mount so I lost the mesh between the pinion and the spur.  This was the end of my race :(

I have since found the problem with the mount was in fact a bent pod plate, so that has been replaced with a view to running at Plymouth this weekend in my first ever National.  Terry and Steve Fuller are both attending on the weekend so it should be an experience in how to move out of people's way if nothing else :)

What a joke

What is it about people's attitude in a Touring Car final ? 

Do they not see other cars on the track, or is it purpose when they drive straight into, and through a competitor ?

I was "taken out" by someone in my final today on 3 separate occasions with the third incident resulting in my car leaving the track.  When it was returned to the track it was broken (no fault of the marshal, he could not see it was broken) and then the other 9 finalists either hit me at full throttle, or tried to avoid me and tapped me at lower speed (thanks if you were one of the ones that hit me slowly).

So all in all, after qualifying into 3rd spot on the grid, my race was over... and for what ?  The drive who did this did not win the race (as far as I can remember), so he simply ruined mine.  Thanks bud.

I've had enough of this crap, it's always the same in touring cars, take someone out in order to pass, don't move for faster cars, it spoils it for those who are more courteous towards fellow racers.  Why should I back off when I'm overtaking and let someone move out of the way ? I'll just plough on through and see what happens...

It's not seen as a bad thing in touring car to hit another competitors car, whereas in any other class it simply does not happen that way.

You can't expect 10 cars going round a track in a race situation to never have a coming together, but the simple rules are:

• If you hit someone, WAIT for them to regain their position on the track.  If that means you lose some places, tough shit.
• If you are lapping someone, do not drive through them just because you're lapping.
• If, conversely, you are BEING lapped, move out of the way so the faster car can get through.  It's also good practice to stay off full throttle for a little while after, so that there's a small gap created.  Countless times I've seen someone get lapped and take out the car that's just overtaken them by being too aggressive afterwards.

 

I'm done with the TC championship at Carpet Wars this year, I'll be concentrating on 12th instead.