AFX Racemasters HO Endurance Race 2012 Options

[woodcote]

I didn't buy the 'Dream Team' hype. Names on paper don't mean much as there is so much to get right - car, teamwork, strategy, star performances on the day, luck etc.

Race Control did get that right yesterday and we got it more right than we did the last two years - and so did ART. On the other hand, FLBT didn't do much differently than they did in two race-winning years...

Endurance races are great and yesterday was no exception - especially the psychological warfare with Race Control in that last 90 minutes

[Leet]

Here are just a few of the photos I took these are some of my favourite.

Rob and the trophy


Team SCHORC


Whose WHO - Some peoples Indentity was kept secret.


Andy the 2nd


The track


Poppa Homewood says he on 2nd

[woodcote]

Some great photos there

Here's a video...



Soundtrack cooked up on Saturday night

[Leet]

Great video as always Andy, those were some sweet looking cars. Really enjoyed the race and cannot wait for next year.

[marctownsend]

Great pics and video chaps, thank you.

Did you notice the theme running through both? Everybody smiling...all the time!

I'm pretty sure you have the caption wrong on the last photo, looks to me like Palros has just said "come on guys, last chance to race with us"

[mikefi]

Wow, I am sure glad I didn't miss this one.What a cracking way to finish off the EAHORC season.

Seamless organisation, a massive slap on the back Mr Andy W and all involved in setting up and race control,

Cracking banter with a nice relaxed atmosphere, together with a healthy competitive element.Its becoming addictive I must say........

The W.H.O. car build was a bit of a brave challenge in the time permitted as we had forgotten the sonic screwdriver.There were some anxious moments... We hadn't even fitted the shoes when the cars were called for... had I put the motor mags back in the correct sides? would it actually take off at the start? But under the calming influence of our team leader we just about made it...Although still completely untested on the track,not an ideal stituation....

Really enjoyed:

All the team talk whilst car building was in progress followed by complete silence as the race started as everyone assessed their and the other teams car performance ....

All the effort put into those LMP liveries that was a tip top looking grid

Fantastic track design that did its best to level the cars but rewarded the master drivers..It had me by the danglies for the first 15 mins and I never really mastered it.....Fortunately I had some back up drivers

Andy W bashing the purple vein, whoops I mean Lane, in the second hour setting up a commanding lead....

Robin thrashing the hell out of our car for half the race,thats a lot of focus...I am sure I didn't have the same car

Enjoying a tortoise and hare moment with Clive in the fourth hour

Did anyone get caught enjoying a nice hot beverage whilst marshalling

The faster than an speeding bullet arm change that Andy W performed in the last hour to prevent RC lap erosion.....



So congrats to RCAFX for a fine win and it was great to be a part of team W.H.O and able to particpate in such a splendid event

Untill next year

mIkE d

[asjwood]

Lee that picture of Rob and the tiny tiny trophy is truly brilliant.

Marc you might be right about that caption...

[palros]

We offered a Great Transfer deal, however they decided to stay as they were.

[AndySlots]

All those who took part have been sent a spreadsheet with the results and individual run times on. If i have missed your name, or you would like a copy, please PM me.

More pictures coming soon.

andy

[AndySlots]

More Pictures can be found here:

AFX Racemasters 6hr 2012 Pictures

Race Report coming soon....

andy

[montoya1]

Some stats

Overall Lap record - Marc Townsend 8.379
Most laps in 15mins Andy Whorton 99
Most laps in an hour Phil Hemsley/Andy Whorton 382

Yellow lane

Lap record Cliff Roythorne 8.675 (2012)
Most laps in 15mins Robin Cornwall 92 (2012)
Most laps in an hour Robin Cornwall 369 (2012)

Red Lane

Lap record Marc Townsend 8.625 (2011)
Most laps in 15mins Andy Whorton 99 (2011)
Most laps in an hour Phil Hemsley/Andy Whorton 382 (2011)

Blue Lane

Lap record Robin Cornwall 8.513 (2012)
Most laps in 15mins Robin Cornwall 97 (2012)
Most laps in an hour Robin Cornwall 376 (2012)

White Lane

Lap record Marc Townsend 8.379 (2011)
Most laps in 15mins Marc Townsend 98 (2011)
Most laps in an hour Marc Townsend 366 (2011)

Green Lane

Lap record Martin Hill 8.694 (2011)
Most laps in 15mins Phil Hemsley 93 (2011)
Most laps in an hour Martin Hill 356 (2012)

Purple Lane

Lap record Robin Cornwall 8.816 (2011)
Most laps in 15mins Andy Whorton 93 (2011 and 2012)
Most laps in an hour Andy Whorton 364 (2012)

[AndySlots]

RACE REPORT



The 15^th July 2012 saw the fourth running of the AFX Racemasters 6hr Endurance event. The event, as previous years, was held at Pinewood Raceway, one of the UK's premier slot car racing clubs. Pinewood Raceway comprises of a 6 lane 1/24^th scale track for exotic metal chassis lexan body slot cars and new 4 lane Ninco 1/32^nd track for plastic bodied slot cars. They also run Slot-Stoxs as part of regular activities.

The 6 lane, AFX track was laid on-top of the 130 foot 1/24^th track, with the AFX track following some of features of the 1/24^th track, giving the HO track a track length of 133 foot.

Uprated and individual lane power supplies were used, along with power taps to ensure that power was fed evenly around the track. The track voltage was set at 18 volts to mimic AFX supplied power packs.

Timing and power control was handled by a PC based system comprising of TrackMate hardware and Software. There were various screens around the venue allowing drivers, marshals and spectators to see the progress of all teams.

This year, the AFX Racemasters Mega G, 1.7 (long wheelbase version) was to be used as the race chassis. Previous events had seen the use of the Tomy Turbo chassis and last year, the short 1.5 Mega G chassis. Last year's event had shown that the Mega G chassis was more than capable of running the event and stood us in good stead to make the move to the longer chassis.

Teams racing at the event are as follows:

FLBT (Four Lane Black Top)

Winners of the 2011, 2010, and 3^rd in the 2009 event. Mainly race 1/32^nd slot cars of all types, but also hold HO races on a regular basis. Hold weekly race meetings. Bringing experience and good pace, they were the team to beat. Fielded 3 drivers.

Race Control AFX

Re-named back to Race Control AFX, a mix of drivers who regularly organise and race slot cars. As well as running the event, they field 4 drivers, including a multi championship winning driver, and this year's EAHORC champion. Runners up in 2011, 2010 and 2009.

Worthing Peers

All members of Worthing HO, a new club in 2009, they have become a well established and successful slot racing club. Running regular events in their home town, the drivers have shown very good pace in national events. Fielded 4 drivers.

ART (Anglia Race Team)

A team made up with those coming from the East Coast area of the UK. They are all regular racers and include a very quick father and son duo.

SCHORC

Formerly 'Team HO Racing Ahead.com', a mix of racers from the SCHORC (South Cambridge). This team have drivers which have shown very good pace throughout the past seasons racing picking up solid race wins along the way.

HO Virgin Racing

Cliff brought along his 2 children who were joined by Paul W. Cliff and his children regularly race at the DHORC HO club and Paul has shown very good pace at national events.

After a drivers briefing, team captains were given brand new and complete Mega G's, hand out tyres (tires), and spares. Each team had to supply a body from an approved list. Bodies carried an LMP endurance theme and had to be based on cars which had raced in FIA events.

This year, all teams chose to use the AFX Racemasters LMP Audi and Peugeot, with 4 teams giving the cars a re-livery.

Tyres handed out were SuperTires and teams were given 3 different sizes from which to freely choose.

Teams were given their parts in the order that they came in the 2011 event, They also randomly picked the lane to which they were to start the race.

Teams were then given time to assemble their cars and give them a test drive. Several car selection techniques were seen to be used from driving and picking the best car, to stripping and testing the cars constituent parts and picking the best bits. Only the race would show which method worked best. The selected running chassis were then handed over to race control. All cars successfully passed scrutineering.

Shortly after 10am, the 6 teams had their cars assembled on the starting line. Obligatory start line photos were taken, and the lights readied for the start.

Hour 1 saw all teams off to a very close start. SCHORC took an early lead, but were soon overtaken by Worthing as Robin settled in and set a pace that few could match. Race Control followed Worthing closely as all teams were finding out how the new cars were going. The closest battle was between ART and SCHORC with the two teams being separated by only 2 laps at the end of the first hour.



Hour 2 saw Race Control take the lead after the first 15 minutes with Worthing having a crown gear move on its axle, and later in the hour, suffering from a bent pickup. FLBT put in some good consistent laps, but could not match the pace of ART who caught up with the top 3 teams. SCHORC began to have issues with a stuttering car. After a period of nursing the car, a pitstop found a bent pickup after a heavy off. Pickup replaced, the car was back on pace. Biggest gains were made by ART who used the young hotshot Craig to catch up with the lead pack.





Hour 3 saw Race Control build on its lead. SCHORC were making efforts to catch ART after their pickup problems in Hour 2, but both teams pace was about equal. FLBT were struggling with pace on the outer yellow lane, with high wear being seen on the front of their pickups. ART picked up the pace, and took third place away from FLBT.






Hour 4 saw SCHORC having more pickup woes, having to replace them after another hard off. ART lost time during the hour with low lap counts allowing FLBT to retake the third spot. FLBT had decided to drop tyre size and it was starting to show more speed on the lower tyres. HO Virgin Racing saw their car showing signs of being in the wars. The Audi LMP body losing one of its wing endplates saw them losing more laps while the wing was repaired. Race Control continued their charge at the front of the pack, but would it stay that way?






Hour 5 saw Race Control lose some of the advantage they had at the front of the pack. Robin again driving for Worthing, was reeling in Race Control as the car began to lose its speed down the straights. FLBT dropped back down to 4^th, while SCHORC began the quest to get the best out of a flagging car. By this time, most cars were slightly slower than the earlier hours, but few had made any significant changes to the cars.





Hour 6, Worthing were looking like they could become a major threat to Race Control as Robin drove for a third hour, and Race Control's car was starting to slow down. Race Control took the decision to make a major change to the car. A full rebuild of Armature, Brushes, Pickups and Axle was undertaken, all within 2 and half minutes. Although the car was not on its original pace, it slowed the rate to which Worthing was catching. HO Virgins race took another turn as the rear wing broke again. This time some tape was employed to hold the wing secure to the race end. SCHORC continued to fettle the car, but could not find the pace they had early on. FLBT now fully dialled in, were on a charge, but they could not close enough on ART for the third place.







After the 6 hours, the lap count was checked and the exact finishing place on track confirmed, the final results were:

Race Control AFX – 2116.52 laps

Worthing Peers – 2082.09 (-34.43)

ART – 2004.74 (-77.35)(-111.78)

FLBT – 1981.27 (-23.47)(-135.25)

SCHORC– 1881.93 laps (-99.34)(-234.59)

HO Virgin Racing – 1683.74 laps (-198.19)(-432.78)

Race Control could not quite beat the lap count of 2119.04 made by FLBT in 2011. A lap record of 8.513 was set for a Long Mega G with a body weighing no less than 4.2 grammes.

The overall record set in 2011 is 8.379 using a Short Mega G with a body weighing no less than 3.8 grammes.

9.014 seconds was achieved by DHORC using a Tomy Turbo in 2009.

This year's 6hr was another success for the Mega G. Of all the problems that were had, most were bent items from impacts, possible with any other box-stock chassis. All the cars components held up well and overall product quality seems to be ever improving. The cars seem more than capable of covering distances far in excess of 6 hours.

The winning car travelled 53.31 miles over the 6 hrs, at an average 8.89 mph.

The winners Race Control were awarded the winners trophy. They were also presented with certificates of the event, and slot car bodies by Eddy Mac.

Second placed Worthing HO received a trophy, certificates and slot car bodies by Eddy Mac.

Third and Fourth places ART and FLBT, were also presented with Trophies and certificates.

Fifth and Sixth place teams were all presented with certificates of the event. For being the best Juniors, HO Virgin Racings Zach and Ben were awarded medals.

After the prizes were awarded, the track was dismantled (20 mins to take apart, 9 hrs to build!!) and drivers set off on their journeys home.

May I thank AFX Racemasters for supporting the race and supplying chassis and Pinewood Raceway for allowing us to use their facilities.

May I thank Eddy Mac for donating several of his excellent HO bodies as prizes for the event.

May I also thank all those who have supported the race especially to those who took part, and those who helped construct the track.

For Pictures and Videos, check out previous posts in this thread

andy

[Julian_Boolean]

I'm really surprised we completed more laps on yellow than on purple, Lee had controller problems on yellow lane and we lost at least 5 laps because of this whereas purple seemed to go pretty smoothly, though we did our only full pit stop of the race when we were on purple lane.

Well done Craig for getting our highest lane scores, with Paul and myself getting the same scores for white and green respectively, Lee did very well for his first endurance race and hopefully we'll be fielding the same team next year.

Apart from Lee's controller problems we had no mechanical problems and the only minor drama was deciding whether to put Craig on for the final hour or to share it between Lee and myself.

[asjwood]

Great report Andy, a very enjoyable read!