Monday Night's Race Report

An other night's racing at Blackpool and this week I was kindly lent a Xray T3 to see if I could still drive at 10th scale. Here is a image of the car that I would be using for the night. 

Richard-Owner

Niall (ME)-Driver

Xray T3

The night previous to me borrowing this car it had been handling rather poorly I think its fair to say. The car seemed to just simply NO rear grip what so ever. Maybe this was down to the fact that both rear shocks had no oil in them what so ever. After a quick rebuild and a little tweaking the car was ready to hit the track. 

A few runs later and the times were coming to me as the night progressed. My times were quite respectable as I was using the slower LRP tyres rather than the Sorex 28's with JB inserts. Here is my times at the end of round three. 

Times after round three

I was racing with Richards transponder so for this night I was Richard 

In the final I decided to use the LRP tyres but with CS additive as I thought this might be better as a fellow racer was testing this combination the other night and said it was worth trying. Here is the car in race prep. 

LRP tyres with CS additive

The car felt a lot more planted in the rear with the CS additive. I also changed the rear shock positions slightly and this also made the car feel much easier to drive and gave me more conference to carry a lot more corner in speed. Here are my times in the final with these slight adjustments made and the cars pace increasing. 

Times with changes made to the car

I may also add that my lipo did die during this run as I was in a rush to make the race in time so didn't get a chance to put a full charge in. 

Else where the Mardave A final was one again of spectacular quality, which featured overtakes, crash's (standard) and even a few retirements. Here is the A final grid with some new rather bling shells. 

Tom 

(Yes he did paint this himself!)

Daz

(Once again he did paint this himself!) 

Dan

Jordon

Dylan

Friday Nights Race Report

Well a rather quite friday nights racing as most of the touring car drivers were heading out for the national meeting this weekend. Never the less the racing was still very competitive due to start of the BRCCC club championship. Two people really wanting to make a strong showing in the absence of the other touring car drivers were Aidan Ripley and Richard Whur. But as the night went on problems would arise for both drivers. 

Richard Whur 

Xray T3 

Mid heat Richard pulled his car off in a rather aggressive manner and as it turned out his rear drive belt had completely snapped in half. I got a quick snap of the damage, 

Richard Whur 

Xray T3 

(Broken drive belt) 

Else where Adian the other contender for the first round ten points was having issues of his own. He had managed to break a bearing in his motor. (Don't ask me how he managed this) but after this it looked like his night was over. And to confirm the arrival of his Team Associated 12th on his pit table said it all.

Aidan Ripley

Team Associated 

My own night went very well as I took TQ, Fastest lap and the win in the final. But I must report my Tekin problems from the other week had still not been solved. I let a fellow racer take a look as he is renowned for his knowledge in electronics and he confirmed what I already had thought, a broken FET. 

Niall Marshall

Tekin Rs

If anyone knows how to go about repairing one of these it would be much appreciated if you get in touch with me and let me know, or just if you know someone who can help that also would be much appreciated. 

Star Driver Off The Month

This month's star driver must be the still very young Mardave driver Daniel Critchley Jr. This young driver has show lots of promise though his driving ability and his willingness to learn more about the sport on and off the track. Here is a picture of the rising talent and his Mardave, 

We hope to see more of this driver in the coming weeks and watch him progress.

Testing Report

Recently myself and fellow racers at Blackpool RC Club have undergone some extensive testing. The most important being the testing of different tyres which could potentially be the tyres used at the BRCCC winter series. Here are some images of the tyres that might make the cut. 

Lined up and ready to be put though there paces. 

The Day glow yellow rims. (My personal favourites) 

Else where, my CRC was undergoing some testing also. I had wanted to try a Tekin RS instead of my Hobbywing as I had a small suspicion that the Tekin RS would produce some quicker lap times and also solve a few software issues that I have had with the Hobbywing. To my disappointment though before I could do a lap with the Tekin RS I blow a FET in the circuit board. So my day was over really. 

CRC sidelined for the day. 

New Decal Sheets!

Niall's Amazing Blog is proud to announce it's brand new decal sheets. 

Simple and very clear. 

If you feel like supporting the Niall's Amazing Blog and Blackpool RC Club plus contact me (Niall Marshall) either on Facebook or drop me a email at niall_24@live.com to enquire about your decal sheet! First ten people to request will receive a full set free of charge! 

They even come in white as well check it out! 

Professionally finished and easy to peel and stick. 

There ease to see and also to fit in perfect harmony alongside well established brands is a testimony to there quality. 

Niall's Amazing Blog 

CRC

Niall's Amazing Blog 

Protoform 

Chesterfield Summer Summer Shoot Out

Chesterfield was mine and my fellow Blackpool club racer Richard Whurs first ever 12th scale event. Having only just had our 12th's for a few weeks we thought the odd's were rather stacked up against us as we had been warned that there would be many very talented driver's attending this particular event. 

The Pitting area.

The Saturday's practice went fairly well with my new CRC performing perfectly and setting some rather competitive times which I was amazed at! Heat after heat the car seemed to just be getting better and better with the increasing grip level. 

The Sunday came quicker than expected and with two newly painted shells I new it was not going to be easy to set quick times unlike in the practice the night before. 

New white shell. 

After the first few heats myself and Richard were both rather quick and close in times. Despite having some really talented and knowledgeable driver's in our heat and in the heat above. The three Blackpool drivers were heading for a one,two, three in the 10.5 class but not unless the Corally team had anything to say about it. 

Danny Holmes 

V-Design 

One thing I must say was the quality of the meeting and the way in which it was run. Probably one of the best I have ever been to! The track side shop had everything you needed, and the service was outstanding. 

AMC

Action Model Centre 

Back to the racing and it was very close at the top of the 10.5 blinky class with only a hand full of us making the 39 lap mark. The cars needed to be perfect for the finals as I had managed to grab myself 4th in the A final which was a fantastic result considering I had not had a 12th scale for that many weeks. 

CRC Gen Xi 

Prepared for the final. 

Considering I had done many finals before I was very nervous in this particular final as I wanted to impress the more experienced and talented drivers. And by the third corner it was looking good as I overtook Richard Whur down in the inside but only to be nudged into the wall and down to the back of the field. The rest of the race was more or less just take it easy and see who you could overtake as there was battles going on though out the field whilst the leaders were lapping as well. All in all I couldn't really tell what position I was in until the end of the race were apparently I managed to regain 5th from the back so that I was very pleased with. 

The track layout was very good with varying fast corners to more technical infield which made the driver focus more on a slower pace and a neater line though the apex's. 

The track layout.

I would like to say a very quick thank you to Kevin Creaser for a brilliant event and helping me with my CRC. Also thank you to David Spashett who kindly lent me his white paint. 

  

12th Scale Race Report

Well Friday night's 12th scale was rather relaxed as most drivers were preparing there cars for the Chesterfield Shootout. As you can see in a few photos below. 

Richard Whur  

Xray (One of two Xray 12th's in the UK I believe)

Danny Holmes 

Preparing his tyres for the weekend. 

Philip Wilkinson was the proud receiver of his V-Design 12th scale car this week. His face says it all really. 

Philip Wilkinson 

(Now V-Design) 

Looking forward to see how this young driver progress's with his new V-Design and how he will adapt to the new challenge of 12th scale racing. 

Well im afraid that was the nights worth of 12th scale as myself, richard and danny all took it easy and didn't really complete many runs to save our cars for the weekend. 

Friday Nights's Mardave Race Report

The night's racing for Mardave saw a return of some really quick drivers who were out to set some serious pace from the beginning. 

The pits which is growing in numbers each week. 

The racing was very close and competitive as usual. The grip levels were rather perfect for the Mardave guys as they stormed though the qualifying heats. Car preparation was paramount for the all important A final grid slot. Every driver tried there hardest to tune there car to get the maximum performance out of there machines. 

Preparation is vital to a quick lap time and consistent run. 

The finals came about and the racing was close as ever with almost a full grid in both the A and B final the racing was always going to be very close. 

The B final Mardave video, 

The Mardave B Final

The Mardave A final I had to rush to start to video, so I do miss the first two corners. sorry. 

The A final Mardave video, 

The Mardave A final

A superb final and well raced by all drivers in both finals. Well done guys. 

Friday Night's Touring Car Report

Well the night got off to a start for the touring car boy's with a lot of pondering over something. Maybe they all new something we didn't?

Dean Johnson 

Pondering ?

Thomas Ridgley 

Pondering also?

Andy Murray

Maybe he knows where all this pondering started?

Anyway all of this aside the guys were getting there cars together and all race prepared for the qualifying heats. Arran Turner (Associated TC6) was having a few problems in pre meeting testing, getting the necessary raw speed out of his car to catch the front runners Danny Holmes and Andy Murray. He asked me to look at his settings on his Hobbywing speed controller so I did and made a few adjustments. 

  

Arran Turner 

Associated TC6

I think he was very pleased with the improvements I made to his power and how it was delivered to his 10.5 Novak motor. 

Moving on to the much anticipated HD finals video's. The first one is the touring car B final with some nice overtaking and close action. The grid lined up as follows, 

Dean Johnson - HotBodies 

Richard Whur - Xray 

Adam O'Sullivan - Xray

Finishing order was, 

Dean Johnson - HotBodies

Richard Whur - Xray

Adam O'Sullivan - Xray

The A final was probably one of the best raced final I have seen in a long time. Nice driving and plenty of action from all the beginning. The grid formed up as follows, 

Danny Holmes - Xray

Andy Murray - Xray 

Arran Turner - Associated 

Thomas Ridgley - Xray 

A very close final with some brilliant racing. The driving standards are definitely improving in most class's at Blackpool but more so in the touring car class. 

Blackpool Rc Club News

Starting off with one of our newcomers to the sport and Mardave racing Harry Baines. Harry has only just started racing but has shown some promise in the Mardave class. He is still getting to grips with his new brushless Mardave but more focus in the pit area and a little more practice and this young driver should be one to watch out for in the weeks to come. 

Harry Baines 

Mardave 

Also we had a new club record in RC tyre stacking by yet again an other young driver Adam. The achievement was one I could not ignore, so I snatched at the first opportunity of a picture with the record holder and his amazing tower. 

Adam 

Tyre's

Adam is currently working on more important things and so he has left tyre stacking for now and is concentrating on getting his new Xray up and running. Adam has recently graduated from the Mardave class to the much quicker touring car class. Here is Adam's car in his pit area being prepped for the club meeting after pre meeting testing.

Adam 

Xray

Finally last but not least I would just like to say a massive thank you to our man behind the running of the meetings at Blackpool Rc Club, Greg. Even though he dose have a dabble now and again in racing he is the man who manages to send us all home before 12 O'clock. He is a very hard man to capture in a picture without being instructed to marshall instead of taking picture's, but I did manage to get one little sneaky one.

Greg (In The Blue)

The Man Behind The Meeting

All jokes aside I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you for keeping the meeting in check and running smoothly as we are all running around like mad trying to sort our car's out. 

Fan Mounting Tips

Here was something I happened to stubble across in the pits. I had noticed the one particular driver, (Andy Murray) had spent all morning fiddling with something around his motor area of his car. On first inspection everything looked rather normal. Then I noticed he had mounted his cooling fan for his motor in front of his motor instead of the usual behind the motor. Here is a quick snap of the fan mounted. 

Andy Murray 

Xray T3

I overheard a conversation he was having in the pits and it led me to believe that the theory behind this move was to channel the air flow of the car all in the same direction. By having the fan in the new mounted position the air flow though the car is all the same direction. Not only this but now his speed controller would also benefit from the fan being where it is as the suction of the fan would carry a flow of air of the speed controllers heat shrink. 

Andy also added, 

"It gives a better weight balance in the car.The motor is already heavy on the rear left corner so having a fan even closer to the corner is bad. Although I think the fan is quite important for stock racing so I moved it."

Nice idea and very effective.  

GM Lipo Review

Just thought I would share with you all a quick review on the GM 70C 6800 mAh lipo. One if my friend at the club has recently purchased this lipo and the other night was his first testing it. Here is a quick snap of the lipo ready to go in his car, 

GM 70C 6800 mAh lipo

He seemed to be very impressed with the amount of what I can only describe to be "umph". On track his car looked quick as ever but it had taken on a particular characteristic which was that the car didn't seem to loose any of it power no matter what! I know lipo's usually wouldn't really show any sign of power loss really on a small indoor track but that aside he seemed rather happy with his new toy. 

Andy had this to say about his new lipo, 
"Seems good.Goes fast and stays fast." he also added, "it does seem to stay powerful and doesn't have anything like the same drop off I got with my old ones."


Well there you go guy's, the GM lipo.