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New in the pits – Part 2
Continuing on with finding new stuff in the bits, we sat down with World Champion Atsushi Hara, who showed us his new self developed cab forward body shell. He has test this new body extensively and found it to have lots of downforce, thanks to not only the front cab, but the ridges going up the side of the cab as well as the rear winglets. This space behind the cab allows cleaner air to reach the wing for better balance, which he has found using one from another manufacturer. The body is expected to be released next month.
Also new is the fact that Hara is no longer a contracted Pro-Line driver, something both parties agreed to. This enables him to use whatever tire is best for the specific track conditions, which for this race, he believes the HB tires will work best for him.
Jason Ruona from JConcepts gave us a run down of the many new products that the Florida based company has brought with them for this event. As well as their new Inverse buggy wheel which we covered last month, they have their new Punisher rear wing. A flat deck, high-support design is matched with 4 different interchangeable side dams for increased tuning options. JConcepts also have a prototype of their Punisher RC8B fin body which helps increase high-speed stability, especially suited for this track with its high speed straight/sweeper.
Jason has also brought two new tires with him for this event, the Hybrids and the 3Ds. The former are a combination of the most popular JC tires available. A mid-lug design with inner Crowbar centre lug, these tires are built for speed and high-speed control & handling. The 3ds are developed to be the ultimate Slick-groove tire, and combine the stability of a black groove bar tire with flexible pattern of finely spaced Double Dee lugs in one package.
View the event photo gallery here.
New in the Pits – Part 1
Team Associated are here with a big and experienced team and we took a look at Ryan Maifield’s car to see what the US company brought to the race in terms of equipment. To protect the shock ends they have removed the lower shock riser and placed them into modified wishbones. As this would affect the shock angle, they have produced new front and rear shock towers with different mounting holes.
Other changes on the car included a new longer chassis plate that allows the rear uprights to be moved more forward for more dogbone swing. The rear chassis brace has also been beefed up with a carbon fibre insert running along its entire length. Maifield has also chosen to run the old steering configuration used in the original RC8, which gives the car a more twitchy feel, an idea from their Spanish team mate Robert Batlle who has been running this setup for a while.
For Losi, apart from the chassis plate with steel inserts front and rear that we showed you previously, they have very little changes to the car. The made update is the new aluminium shock spring cups which are made from aluminium, that wont be affected by the heat, are stronger and sport a taller inside collar to prevent the spring from popping out. This part is held onto the shock shaft with a set screw.
Losi also have a new fuel tank that is 7cc bigger thanks to a new process that they use to bring the two ends of the tank together. Finally the team drivers are using a new lightweight body that is half the weight of the standard kit version.
Daniel Vega is here with his update Agama chassis, which features some updates including a new 10 degree front caster block, something he has been waiting for, for some time. A big improvement according to the Spanish team driver is the new pivot pin mounts which are no longer captured but held in place with nuts.
A new braking system helps improve the track performance, which now uses a steel disc along with Ferodo type pads. Something Daniel is trying, that we have seen on the car of Mike Truhe, is the replacement of the rear chassis brace with a shock absorber, which he believes will help the cars performance coming off the jumps. The car also has a new carbon radio plate and a number of aluminium option parts throughout including the wheel axles and drive cups.
View the event photo gallery here.
Drivers start to arrive at RCP
Saturday has come and gone here at RCP in Pattaya, Thailand with little or no activity apart from a few racers dropping by to check out the track. People’s first impressions is one of awe, with all those visiting for the first time expecting it to be a very difficult track to conquer. With race registration beginning tomorrow we expect all competitors and manufacturers to be trackside so expect more in the line of updates then.
Brandon and the Live RC crew have been here setting up since Friday morning and are finally getting on top of things. Trying to wire the entire track takes time, as does setting up the mobile studio that they have arrived with, expect it to be an awesome show. In the meantime the preparation by the organisers continues with the rest of the track getting its coating of oil and with some final welding going on here as night falls, everything should be ready in good time for the main event.
View the event photo gallery here.
Video – Pattaya track introduction
Final preperations underway in Pattaya
Red RC have arrived in Pattaya, Thailand ahead of the 2010 IFMAR 1/8th scale World Championships. With registration only beginning on Sunday, the Pattaya RC Power boat track is pretty empty with staff putting the final touches to the track surface as well as painting and hanging banners. First impressions of the track are amazing, the photos simply don’t do it justice, it is like something from a computer game with its off camber corners, huge banked ‘straight’, doubles and triples. It will be a true test of man and machine, with a lot of drivers who have been here for testing needing hundreds of laps to get a clean run and we can now see why.
We have noticed that the organisers have chosen to spray the track with a mixture of oil and diesel to protect the surface, if not the local environment, and it has given the track a hard packed feel. This is a different surface to that run by the big US test some weeks ago, so we wonder if this will have a big impact on the set-up and tire choices by those drivers. Stay tuned for more pre event updates.
View the event photo gallery here.