![IMG_3532[1]](https://jqproducts.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/img_35321-e1462689045985.jpg)
On to the finals, and as always, the track is a lot dryer, and as such a lot better. It dries up during the long mains, and doesn’t get watered as often. I wish someone at IFMAR would just make the ruling that no watering is allowed after for example the first two practice days. By that time the track will have grooved in, and it will be dialed for racing. No need for water, and no dust issues. We will have to wait and see.
I was pretty shit at this race, except in the 1/4 final, right up until my throttle servo caught fire on the 5th lap or so. I drove up from 12th to 5th and was on it. My car ended up being pretty good and I think I would have easily bumped to the semi. Finally I figured out what I needed to do for this track, and it’s not far off my normal setup.
That’s one thing I have found over the years, even when going to an extreme track, what ends up working best, is not an extreme set up, but something close to your base setup, with the right small tweaks. It’s tempting to get carried away, but very rarely if ever does it pay off. For this bumpy slippery track, the main changes I made, compared to how I would normally run my car were:
– 6-6-3 diffs, thin differ made it easy to drive.
– Thinner swaybars for traction, 2.2/2.4. Should try even thinner actually.
– Longer wheel base for better bump handling.
– 1 degree anti squat for better bump handling.
That really is it. Replace the driver and the car could have won!
On another note, am I the only one that finds it scary to see the lack of attendance? World Championship warm up pretty much like a clubrace, with what, 60 drivers? And 55 of them sponsored? That’s not good. And you can’t blame the economy, because NEORace draws hundreds of entries every year, and they limit it to just under 30o I believe. And that’s not with people running multiple classes, that’s unique drivers…..Something is wrong…
THEQuagraine 
its simple we need Phil the RC production master / creator to promote races in the USA. Where was my American flavor and production? He did all he could for a fly away race.. Neo buggy is the world championship right now.
I think there are a few reasons with the low attendance. Here are my reasons, discuss if you like. Nitro 1/8 is at an all time low in the US. Entry for the US drivers is $400 for the worlds. Why go to the race if you aren’t going to be racing the worlds? I would say half of the US drivers that are attending the worlds went to the warm up. But who would travel to the warm up to race one class when you can go to another race and be able to race 3 classes and save a lot of money on travel? It would cost over $1000 to attend the warmup for one person or driver and mechanic, where in europe for the neo buggy race most can drive or take a train and the travel be relatively low cost, not too mention aren’t the sleeping quarters free of charge? Does winning wins the worlds actually sell cars? I haven’t seen anymore Hb cars in my area because of it. Regional support and racing is what promotes a company, and sells cars, not winning the next major race.
I would question why any company needs to attend any IFMAR event, especially the smaller companies that don’t have the drivers that can make the final. The RC “News media” only focuses on the top 10, if that, so anytime you are outside the top 10 there is little of any reward being there unless you can find another means to make it worth your presence in being there.
I think the money spent there would be better spent attending smaller regional races where the R/C Racing customers are, putting on clinics, and supporting customers where they are. This is the model I think we will see more of in the coming years.
Having a strong regional team is better for the smaller r/c companies. However, the risk is higher because if you don’t properly filter out guys that know how to really support a product then you can single-handedly set yourself back years in that DMA because the bad “taste” your driver left behind by misrepresenting the best of the brand.