first race info

[08hawkeso]

hi all, it is my first race soon is there anything that i need to do in order to prepare my buggy for the race
thanx

 

[Scrogg]

New diff oils, new shock oil, loctite everything. Replace any questionable bearings and have plenty of spare plastic parts on hand.

 

[MotoGod]

+1 on Loctite EVERYTHING. I had quite a few screws back out on my buggy in it's virgin run...and I tightened them all the night before.

 

[AxialLST]

And a little word of advice for your race that I learned racing on-road, race like your the only one on the track. If you fall behind or get ahead and you worry about other drivers, you are more likely to overshoot corners and jumps, slowing yourself down. Just run like its any other day, and let everyone else make the mistakes.


-AxialLST

 

[08hawkeso]

is there a good hight to have your buggy of the ground at the mo it is 5 cm off the ground what should it be

 

[MotoGod]

I ran mine with the arms all level with the ground....

 

[Amoeba]

is there a good hight to have your buggy of the ground at the mo it is 5 cm off the ground what should it be

Generally you'll want either an even ride height (front & rear) or a bit of forward rake (rear higher than front). On my RC8 I'm running 29mm front, 30mm rear... but I'm also running on a rough/bumpy track and not hardpacked clay or blue groove. Your droop settings and suspension travel also important here.

A lot of your setup depends on the type of track you'll be running on and the kind of buggy you're running. We can give better advice if you can provide some more info.

In addition to the suggestions above, I'd add a couple other things:

Know your run time. During practice prior to the race, once you've got everything warmed up and running smoothly, fill the tank, fire up a stopwatch, and run some consistent laps at 3/4 your race speed until you run out of gas. This let's you know when and how often you'll need to pit during the longer mains. If you're on a 40second track (ave. lap time) and your runtime is 9 minutes, you know you'll need to pit at around 7.5 minutes. Leave yourself a buffer.

Make sure you have fully charged batteries, glow plug, starter box. In the pit you should also have a philips to fine tune needles, an extra glow plug, temp gauge/stopwatch, extra fuel.

Work out ahead of time how you & your pit guy will call you in for fuel. Is he tracking your time or are you? Practice refuel pit stops.

 

[neobart]

And remember to give way to faster drivers. There's nothing more annoying then a driver who doesn't get out of the way.

Check screws between heats, I have lost a screw in a main because I didn't remember to check for loose screws. And also check bearings all around between heats, especially clutch bearings. It's embarassing to get a DNF because of something simple as clutch bearings, or rx battery(been there done that).

And most of all, have fun.

 

[MotoGod]

And remember to give way to faster drivers. There's nothing more annoying then a driver who doesn't get out of the way.

Only give way to them if they are lapping you ;-) Fast or not....if they are on the same lap as you.....the position is yours until someone takes it. Just be warned if you hold them up too long, they WILL T-Bone you and forcefully move you out of their way. hehe

 

[neobart]

Yeah that's what I meant. Figured it was implied.