Since getting back to Finland things have been hectic. Not had time to sit down and do many thoughtful blogs the past few days. I still owe you some form neo. For now, here is the setup the team ran. The main points to note, are the drilled pistons, they really make a difference! Get the stock fronts, and the 1.3 rears, and drill them out. I use this drill kit myself.
The other great change was the +1 degree hub inserts, that gave much needed forward bite, and good rotation in tight low speed sections. Make sure to pit the + towards the inside.
For the NEO17 setup go here.
For all BLACK Edition Setups, check here.
JQ cleaning up his car after smashing it to bits in his semi final. According to JQ himself he got so excited about catching and passing Dakotah Phend and Darren Bloomfield that he imploded.
Neo17 is done. 1th impressions.
– Ongaro was impressive, it’s almost like he is a virgin.
– Wings are overrated, clearly.
– At least 1/3 of JConcepts won the race. #raceaka
– Maifield ran out of white wheels: Final proof that yellow wheels are slower.
– The world champ was driving two cars. Too bad they were attached to the same chassis.
– AE team broke all non-AE parts. #wearen’tAE
– This just in: Typical Euro Layout suits stick radio.
– Maifield was on fire in eBuggy.
– Neo just isn’t the same without Hollywood and Showtime. I love them both, please come back!
– Xray: Wollanka didn’t turn up for his final, Coelho didn’t turn up for the event, Tessman’s tyres didn’t turn up for the main. #ProConcepts #2Bcontinued
Well, it’s slightly challenging to write about the top guys, because I am busy smashing into them in the top heat. So far the highlights of my qualifying.
Ironically, I am at the moment exactly where I normally am, around 20th. A year ago I wrote “It Sucks to Suck” and around the same time publicly announced that I would rather not suck anymore, and that I would try and improve as a driver. Well, one year later, same result, so FAIL you might say, but I’m actually not too unhappy. The reason is, that before I had this 20th or so pace when driving perfect heats, and not crashing. This year, I am having meltdowns, or crashes of epic proportions at times, and I am still 20th. The thing is, that I am in fact a lot faster, and also pushing more, and I just end up with one or two crashes, or traffic issues, and my time is basically about 10-15 seconds slower than a clean run. What that means, is that I basically have a 10-15 second better pace now, and if I can eliminate the mistakes, I will be much better. And it’s not like it’s impossible. In the 2nd round, I had 10 great laps, and one crash on one lap leading to a 9 second loss.
Having said that, I always drive a lot better in finals, so with the speed I have now, I am quite confident for the finals, I think I can do well if everything works. It’s going to be great fun to do battle (NO pun intended) in the mains.
On another note, JQRacing had a driver (no, Fat Jesus) in the old man final, and another, Max Mört in the Junior Final today, which was great. Too bad I had too many mistakes to make it 3/3.
Day 1, so far so good. Practice has gone better than ever before at NEO. I seeded into both top heats, 14th in both, which I have never done before. My lap times are OK, but still 1 second off the best. I would like to see if I can find the pace needed. My cars feel really good. I made changes for each round, and both times the changes improved my car. Now for tomorrow I will just leave them, and drive as well as I can! Sounds easy.
The track is very good in my opinion, faster and more flowing than most years. Similar to last year, which was the first of this new style. I prefer this a lot to how it used to be, tight, hairpins, etc. This is wider, and more raceable. It also has sections where good drivers can go for it a bit more, and make up time, which is how great tracks should be. We don’t want everyone doing the same thing every lap. The surface seems really bumpy and uneven, catching a lot of drivers out in seemingly easy sections.
There is really no rest, you have to be driving your car and concentrating at all times. In the first practice, I kept forgetting that the front straight ends right after the driverstand. I just went straight and then last minute handbrake, which was quite embarrassing.
Everyone seems to be running clay compound once again, the AKA guys running slay Typos for the most part it seems. I don’t know if one tyre is better than another, they all seem to be pretty equal at this point. As for car’s, this track isn’t really the kind of track that will favour one type of car, because it has a good mix of everything, it has the jumps, and woops, but it also has on power bumpy corners, as well as off camber sections, and tight corners. So a car really needs to be good at everything, and not be lacking in any department………………….C-hub!
Max Mört is doing very well at his first NEO, and so is Petri Ström, the mini cup champ running a loaner. After each other in 54th and 55th.
I really only have one main point from today.
We started racing at 8:30 or 9, and the day ended at 8pm. There were 23 heats, and we all raced 3 times, except the lucky ones racing both classes, that got to run 6 times. INFINITELY MORE ENJOYABLE THAN 6:30 TO 4AM COMPLETE BULLSHIT “RACES”. Just sayin’. We actually had time to socialise, and get some sleep.
Neobuggy is a race for the RACER, and one that looks to improve RC, with extensive coverage, a lot of track time (value for money), special dash for cash and junior final events, food, snacks, hobby shops on site, and even accomodation. It’s just really damn good, and all these professional race promoters running these money grabbing races elsewhere should take note.
Peace.
Above you can see the track. Looks very nice, There is a berm, shame that it’s shallow, and in a relatively blind spot from the stand, but it could get dicey. Nice hip jump in back corner, cross over, woops, off cambers, rollers, looks flowing. Looks like a lot of fun to me! Can’t wait.
The JQ team have all arrived, I think there are 12 of us here, and that includes two rental ride drivers. First guy is the retired Petri Ström, who made a comeback, won the Tamiya mini championship back home, and automatically qualified himself for a NEO17 rental ride. Should be good. Preparation for this race, 0%. Received everything at the race. Brought his radio. Should be solid.
The other rental ride was a no brainer. When we heard Fat Jesus, aka David Gibson applied, we just had to give him a go with the BLACK Edition. I mean if it’s good enough for Jesus, then how much better can things really get?
Everyone received a nice gift pack that THE Galvinator put together, BLACK Edition beanie, gloves, earplugs, easter eggs, the right pistons, and some sort of penis pump.
Out here at ProLine Raceway for the 1st ever Socal Nitro Shootout. It has been a lot of fun in the pits, but the racing has been terrible for me. I have been having motor issues, which are hopefully solved now, for tomorrow. When the motor actually ran normally I had fast laps, so if the issues are now over, I should be ok in the B or A, whichever main I ended up in. The results aren’t posted…..
It’s hard to pinpoint some engine issues, air leak, fuel tank, fuel line, carb, it’s just a mess. Seems to work fine, then the race starts and it’s all over the place. It’s just impossible for me to time anything or get in any kind of rhythm.
The track is super fun I think, I can’t wait to race tomorrow. I think it’s good this race has “heads up” qualifying, so no ifmar quals, just racing head to head. Unfortunately this was wasted on me this time. But I do hope more races use racing as qualifying in the future.