Tag Archives: neo16

Mar 28 2016
2 Comments
Race Reports, Thoughts on Work

NEO16 Day 3 – It still sucks to suck

arma-dnc-26

I don’t even need to write a new post today. I will just remind you of what I wrote a couple of days ago. In case you don’t know, I ended up in the LCQ, was very patient in the beginning, even let others by. Then I started clicking away laps and somehow caught Reno Savoya from maybe 5-6 seconds back. Then on the next to last lap I crashed, and lost the last bump up to the main, and finished 1st out of the main. Some people said “oh that was unlucky”, I would just like to say luck had nothing to do with it:

I’m sure everyone gets frustrated when they don’t achieve their goals, but probably the most frustrating place to be in RC Racing, is average. You know, just fast enough to make the mains, but one thing goes wrong and you are the first one to miss it. That one back marker, that one mistake, or that one marshal stepping on your car. That has got to be the most frustrating place to be, year to year. What I would call an average driver finishes 7th to 20th depending on the day. I hate everything about 7th to 20th place. It sucks to suck. It really does. It would almost be better to be slower so you realise you have no chance, or faster so even when things go wrong you still make it in. We had this discussion at dinner tonight and I know this because the guys who are clearly out of the top spots have never felt suicidal after a race. When you know you aren’t good enough but you don’t want to give up, it gets to you over time, it really does. It will be really interesting for me to see if it is possible to break out of that group now that the car is good, and not always be on the bubble. Let’s see how it goes!

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Mar 27 2016
1 Comment
driving, Other Stories, Race Reports, Thoughts on Work

NEO16 Day 3 – Racing Incidents

hack

Inspired by the eCar B-Main today, I dedicate this post to it’s memory. Lest we never forget….

Accidental Takeout

This takeout is bad, just like any other, but it’s nature makes it more acceptable. The reason can be a complete racing incident, bad timing, unfortunate circumstance, lack of talent, or bad judgement. At some point, when a driver has enough of these incidents, it can no longer be said to be an accident. The driver’s attitude needs adjusting.

Spaz Takeout (Also known as receiving a “Showtime” or a “Rennick”)

Sometimes a takeout occurs simply because the skill level or eyesight in question results in line choice similar to a flipper ball stuck at the top of the machine. Contact is inevitable.

Malicious Takeout

A: Payback: Pretty obvious. someone can’t handle any one of these sorts of takeouts, and gets their revenge. Everyone gets mad sometimes, but you have to be a unicorn to do this.

B: The I’m better than you and deserve to be ahead of you takeout: This happens in a race where a faster driver is behind a slower driver and feels entitled to be ahead, so they don’t even bother waiting to try and pass clean. Not cool. What makes it even worse is that the cowardly referees hardly ever call a penalty for this.

Friendly Fire Takeout

When you talk smack with your mates, and take each other out on the track. Perfectly acceptable as long as everyone is in on it.

Takeout caused by the ego of the person being overtaken

A lot of takeouts in RC are actually caused by the driver ahead. It’s the fault of the person being overtaken when they refuse to surrender a position they have lost, by turning in on someone or cross jumping for example.

Marshal Takeout

Sometimes marshals don’t look both ways. Everyone loses.

Track Marker Takeout

It’s rare, but broken pipes, or torn up carpet have been known to take some drivers out.

The Pitlane Takeout

Extremely rare and equally idiotic. This is not driver inflicted, but pit crew.

The Backmarker Takeout

This is when a driver being lapped does something out of the ordinary in an attempt to let someone by, and ends up taking them out.

The Knuckle Sandwich Takeout

After the race, if people uninvolved in the incident get involved, someone may end up being taken out with a knuckle sandwich

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Mar 26 2016
6 Comments
Race Reports, Thoughts on Work

NEO16 Day 2 – It Sucks To Suck

arma-jqracing-neo16

 

I’m sure everyone gets frustrated when they don’t achieve their goals, but probably the most frustrating place to be in RC Racing, is average. You know, just fast enough to make the mains, but one thing goes wrong and you are the first one to miss it. That one back marker, that one mistake, or that one marshal stepping on your car. That has got to be the most frustrating place to be, year to year. What I would call an average driver finishes 7th to 20th depending on the day. I hate everything about 7th to 20th place. It sucks to suck. It really does. It would almost be better to be slower so you realise you have no chance, or faster so even when things go wrong you still make it in. We had this discussion at dinner tonight and I know this because the guys who are clearly out of the top spots have never felt suicidal after a race. When you know you aren’t good enough but you don’t want to give up, it gets to you over time, it really does. It will be really interesting for me to see if it is possible to break out of that group now that the car is good, and not always be on the bubble. Let’s see how it goes!

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Mar 25 2016
1 Comment
JQ Europe Tour, Race Reports, THECar Advice

NEO16 Day 1 – Practice

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Day 1 at NEO is done. Track is really really good. It’s offroad, you know….

This year they added a new feature, a really big bowl turn at the end of the straight, followed by a big jump. Perfect, we need more of this. I expect to see some block passes in the mains. May be a bit too high speed for controlled passes though! Really like the track, it’s a bit more open than in years past, and flows nicely. It’s weird though, the end of the lap, which looks the lamest and easiest is actually the hardest to get right in my opinion.

The track is more high bite than in years past, or then the LV is just that much better 🙂 I actually have not changed my setup much. I have gone to thinner shock oils, 350/250 (25/22.5), due to the cold temps. I also went to thinner swaybars, 2.2 front and 2.4 rear, and thinner diff oils, 6-6-3. Otherwise the car feels really good! I’m not going to change anything, just focus on driving. The White Edition LV basic setup that I use has now proven to be really really good, working well in all conditions, only requiring minor changes. Check out my setups here.

I tried AKA supersoft and clay compound, I though SS was easier to drive, but clay was faster. Grid iron, handle bar, chain link and typo all worked. I will start with Typo in Clay for nitro, and see how it goes.

For me qualifying at the neo race is really difficult, all the noise, smoke, small track, a lot of cars, mayhem. It’s easy to get frustrated and blow out. I have to remember to get ear plugs and block some of that out, and just get into the zone and do smooth and consistent laps.

JQ-neo

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