Welcome to the ProNoMag 2012 - the proxy race on the Desmo, a 24m wood track with latex paint and copper tape. The track has been carefully clean and rubbered in with a couple (200-300) training laps to get used the great cars that have been entered.
The cars will start in random order, more a less.
First car on the track is truck #2 from HPRA. Chuck has behind the wheel, he told me that the truck has been set up for oval racing and in this way there have been some points which could have been improved for this challeging road with all its level chances, tight and wide corners and it´s hanging and falling turns. Chuck has been quite satisfied with his result under this circumstances.
10V, 25 ohm, the truck has some serious hop in the rear axle, but likes the fast front straight :)
Next cars to run are coming all the way from down under. The Puddle Dude race team is proud to welcome the first austrialian entries to the proxy race in Austria :)
Roland himself has been behind the wheel of these nice but stock artin cars. With stock tires and no rotating guide, these are the underdogs for this race. Typical artin handling, which is fine for me, fast on the straights, carefull in the corners, the stock tires gripping the latex surprisingly well!
car #7, Mazda RX7
8V, 15ohm
DNF
The crown keeps slipping on the rear axle. As the repair would the full dissambly of the rear axle to clean all the lube away and than glue it with CA, i had to give the car a DNF. Stock artin handling, with a guide pin i had to be carefull in the corners.
car #911, Porsche 911
8V, 25 ohm
Nice and smooth car! CoG a little high, but okay, gripping front tires kept throwing the car on its side when enterind a corner to fast. Surprising overall speed. The only car with lights!
Th tight corners of lane 3 have been a serious problem of this car. Spinning out, stopping dead without contact of the brushes and not good controll over the entering speed of the car where the major problems.
Scuderia Turini arrived with 2 cars on the Desmo. During the training laps, the Focus send glitches into the timing system and had got no permit for the race in the first step. The Mercedes looked nice and ran good. The stock tires were a surprise - nice round and good level of grip. Also had the stock SCX wheelie look, always giving the imgination of accerlaring hard.
car #5, SCX Mercedes
13V, 90ohms
Nice running SCX car! Stock tires picking up dirt too fast. Running quite smooth, good handling.
Too many spinouts during racing on lane 2, sorry for that. Without those, the car would have been in the first third of the field - see fastest lap times, but it´ve been too hard to hold the speed.
car#10, Ford Focus
This car caused serious trouble to my timing system, it send glichtes into the electronic, which i could not get rid off. Sorry, as this was the only car ever on my track with this problem, i could not time it.
The ultra wide body looks really ready to race and the car is running quite nice, but with some options for tuning still open.
As there are also no electronic dampeners on the motor and could not trace a correct capacitor to solder inside of my power supply, this car did not get timed, sorry Leo!
Next team on the track is coming from New York, Mike behind the wheel of these very different cars. First time ever a Carrera Profi car hit the Desmo. The speed not too high, but this could has been leveled by getting the voltage up to 18V, the handling of this nearly stock car was really great.
Second car from 007 is a Plymouth Roadrunner with a lenghtened artin chassis. This car did not surpise, playing out all the good points of the artin chassis. Grippy aftermarket tires helped is to get the power on the track. Very nice details on the SuperJet body.
car #4, Carrea Profi Lancia
18V, 90 ohm
nice runnner, slow on the straights, but very good handling. A rattling sound around the track followed the car from the hard fronts that are mounted to the body. The CoG of the body will lift the front off the track in the corners when there´s this tad of too much speed. It looks awesome, front wheels and body rising up and the rear staying planting. Stock rubbers are picking up dirt fast, therefore the difference between the fastest lap and the average. Very strange power problems in lane 3 at the end of the heat, but the car made it over the line.
car#1970, Plymouth Roadrunner
8V, 15 ohm
What a nice car, great resin body, nice paint job & decals, it´s featuring an artin chassis. Typically artin - the motor has enough speed & medium torque, but absolutely zero brakes. The handling is very nice, but without brakes i had to slow down wide in front of the corners. The long wheel base made slides out the corners very controllable. And again artin - it´s running smooth. A car to like.
Belgium is the country where the next car is coming from. Jaak entered that nice Kyosho bodied and part equipped Porsche 962. Getting rid off the main chassis part and adding a brass plate instead and supergrippy aftermarket tires, this car tried to tear the tarmac. Pushing the voltage to 15V helped the straight line speed. Also coming from Belgium, a Mazda 787 with a better amount of tuning done, all entrants looking on it too see what´s behind and under its hood.
car # 10, Porsche 962
17V, 90ohms
Wow, the potential of this car is very impressive. Full power through the esses is not possible with much cars. Remember the voltage is cranked up to 17V! The car is super smooth in left turns and begins to stutter in right hand turns. There is so much potential left for tuning that i´m really afraid of the concept. The motor is still in stock (high) position, fronts uncoated, body mounting could be improved, i had to add another layer of double sticky tape to keep it from flying away in the big bend.
Really impressibe speed! Where are those tires coming from?
car #55 , Mazda 787
15V, 90 ohm
This car is for sure Scratchbuilder Nightmare! Aftermarket tires, coated fronts and onto the track. Great grip, great handling, awesome. Only in the slower turns, the higher CoG of the angled up motor is not that good. Otherwise? An awesome slotcar. Fun and fast!
Team Datto, coming from Texas, USA, entered a german car to this proxy. Marc will pilot the speed promising Mercedes C9 around the Desmo. In this last this team shined with it´s more than awesome looking cars, but always some small parts under the hood didn´t work like they should and so this time, they entered a real race car. An awesome chassis construction with sprung body mounting is their attempt this time.
car #63, Mercedes C9
12.7 V, 45 ohms
Nice and smooth car, really sticks to the track. Did not like the tight corner before the small esses, i think the uncoated front touched the body in this turn. As the body is mounted sprung, right in this turn it will lean on the left front tire. So the car really liked to jump out there. Great performance and super smooth. Would it have been faster with the wing attached? Motor has been quite warm after the heats - did you add some additional weight? Maybe in the side panels?
T&S raceway entered some really different cars this year. Coming from oval racing, the challeging road course did not bring their expected results home. Will it be different in this race? Tom told me some secrets behind the nice cars. The Porsche 911 features a vac-formed body, the way to go on a fast 1/43rd race car. Kyosho chassis underneath, well tuned, even run in the wrong direction on the home oval for testing purposes has been the first on the track. Tom came back from the track with a grin on his face, but did not let out anything before the race, entered the next car, a Coupe. Looking out from under the hood, a alumium channel chassis peeped out to reveal it´s possibilities. Being wide, Tom had to stay save in the tight corners, not to touch the scenery. Even only a grin and no comment after the first laps, entering the next entrant. The Kyosho body sitting on Ranch-Designs brand new chassis is suggesting good lap times. Last years ProNoMag has been won by a Ranch-Design sidewinder chassis under a Heller kit, a beautifull Lancia. Even after this laps, no comment coming from Tom.
car #2, Porsche 911
15V, 90ohms
Smooth running car, but only in left hand turns. In right hand turns it begins to stutter strangely. It´s hard to adapt driving to different speed left/right i had to learn. Stock DeSlot chassis leaves some tuning opportunities and i´m not speaking about aftermarket parts. Typically the high motor position and the hard guide wires make fast driving not funny.
car #23, Coupe
Nice car, but eqipped with silicone tires - banned on the Desmo as they ruin the grip for all other tires - see the rules for the ProNoMag
car #23, Porsche 917
12.5V, 45 ohms
The Porsche had the bad luck to have the first laps after the 2 training laps of the silicone tired Coupe. But it got better.
The car is handling really fine, the stiff guide wires which are protected with some kind of tube are rubbing against the body and complicate the handling in slow turns. There is also potential in the tires left. The new adjustable Ranch-Design is working really well under the low body of the 917. Great straight line speed and the ability to dive deep into the turns. Great!
The winning team of the first ISP43, Team Tsooko also showed up for the ProNoMag 2012. Entering the same cars again, these cars are for sure on the list of possible winners for the race. Ted tuning even some more, everyone is looking at them. Will the wide Porsche 917 stand up the challenge this time, last time the main thing that could be seen from this car was rising smoke from under the hood. To show the tuning abilities, Team Tsooko entered a really nice SCX Cuda, custom paint job on it, plus some modifications under the hood. Tires coated with PU, SlotCarExpress Motor - looks like a good job done on this car. And last, but for sure not least, the McLaren. Last time, this car set the lap record for the Desmo, which is still unbroken. Did the team did have a good line to the tarmac of the Desmo this time as well? We will see. Ted, the driver, a man with no fear of high speed crashes has to show some nerves this time, the anticipation is high before the race.
car #1970, SCX Cuda
11V, 25ohm
nice handling SCX car, PU coated tires, fronts touching the track. Some erratic behavior in the corners, good gripping tires and a little higher CoG than in the race car causing this maybe? Smooth runner!
car #22, Porsche 917W
12.5V, 25 ohms
In lap 5 of heat 1, the right rear tire came loose, the powerfull motor and the weight must have ripped it loose. A small drop of special tire CA glue fixed the problem and the mechanics got back to their beverages, they only loosened all the body screws a quarter of a turn. This really smoothed out the car, now really constant lap times could be achieved. Nice running car, a little less weight could help even more. On lane 3, the car really cried for more brakes, the tight turns being braked hard from full speed did slow it down a little, but the flowing esses were the territory afterwards, got really nice trough them.
car #1, McLaren F1 GTR
8.5V, 9 ohm
I wish i had an 7.5 ohm controller, than even more would be possible. The speed of this car is unbelievable. And i think i could be even faster if the body would not shake around the whole track. The rear wind is vibrating wild all the time, but the weight of the car seems to compensate this. Maybe this is again a track record for lap times.
Unbelievable fast.
And the last team on their home track is the Puddle Dude Race Team. Decision was hard which car to enter in this race. Till the last minute, discussions got very loud. Which MCA should try to bring home the crown of this race? The scratchbuilt with red paint job or the orange one with the 3D printed chassis. During training laps, both were within parts of seconds, making decision not easier, each car had sections of the track which it particularly liked and made time there, also really disliking other parts where important time can be made.
Next ones were the Ford GT40 or the Porsche 917. Each has it´s vac formed body and a lightweight RadioShack motor under its hood. Again, not too much difference, lightweight and powerfull cars that will need the full attention of the driver, but if the driver will give everything, so will they. Small mistakes at high speed offer the possibility of real high speed crashes, not hurting the car, but ruining the race.
car #26 MCA Centenaire
16.5V, 45ohms
This car is different to drive from Teds McLaren! The McLaren all motor, always present, just pull the trigger and get speed, the MCA all controll with a weak motor in comparison, but to be driven at full controll over the chassis all around the track. If i had got a 60 ohm controller, i could have pushed the voltage up to maybe 18V and maybe than ... Or maybe different tires??? Only 2 deslots in heat 1.
car #13 Ford GT40
10.5V, 45 ohms
Driving similar to the MCA, but with a better power to weight ratio. Disliked the spectators corner in front of the tire shop, had to be very carefull there, all other corners - great. Nice car to drive, not as forving as the MCA.
car #7 Porsche 917
11V, 45ohm
see GT40. A little more fishtailing out of the corners. At the speed that these cars are running at, full concentration is needed, maybe some left me or Ted´s car are simply faster LOL
Fun to run, especially if raced against the GT40.
Coming from Great Britain, Team Lloyd sent his entrant with high speed trucks to Austria. They unloaded 3 cars from the trailers, one being a really interesting choice. A nice classic cortina, an awesome Lola and the pink FAB1 (i had to google it). Having been on the Desmo before they checked if something has changed. Satisfied that everything is according to their expectations, they headed to the next pub, hand in hand with the whole puddle dude race team.
car #74, Ford Cortina
9V, 45 ohm
The only thing that this car is missing, is width. I had to be soooo carefull in the turns not to tip the nice car on its side. Sorry Lloyd, there are for sure some new scratches on it, in the search of speed.
The speedfreaks from the puddle dude race team took the liberty to add a little lead to underside of the chassis to lower the CoG a little. Helped. Smooth, good handling, good level of grip, great accelaration and brakes (Fyrebox-1 motor??). A car to drive all day if i got a little more width. Even the narrow tires worked great in combination with the powerfull motor.
car #1, FAB1
13.5V, 45 ohm
An awesome car! Great handling, good balance, nice accelaration/brakes. It´s a little hard to guess where the comfort zone is ending. Looks way cool running around the track.
car #4, Lola
12.5V. 45 ohms
Some serious high speed wheel hop is slowing the Lola down. I was worried that it will jump out of the slot on the front straight, but it never happened. Handling was good in any other aspect.
The car is a real beauty! Nice details, carburator design, spare tire, driver, nice, nice, nice. Plus a great color combination.
From Germany, Team Betz came over to the ProNoMag with a very nice Cobra. Wolfgang behind the wheel could not wait to test the abilities of his new classis race car. A great looking car, nice paint & decals, driver figure, roll bar, detailed wheel caps - simply great. The biggest difference to the original - you nearly could not hear any roar ;)
car #54, Betz, Cobra
13.5V, 45 ohms
Super smooth running car, scratchbuilt brass chassis, resin body, deep guide.
Immidiately in the first turn of the car, the local mechanics got some work - the guide blade was too long. A short cut with the dremel cut wheel later the cobra was ready to go around the full track. Super smooth, great accelaration, good balance, CoG too high, fronts uncoated. But the most limiting factor against fast lap times - the very limited guide travel. In the esses, the car tended to get stuck in the counter swipe and do a barrel roll. So i had to go through the esses without the usual sliding. Time consuming. But a real pleasure to drive and look!
Lap 3 - the cobra lost a rear wheel in the small esses - an easy job with set screw wheels, but here comes the tip of the day - mark the position of the set screw with a sharpie (marker) on the back side of the rim. in this way you can find the screw quite easy for repairs ;) Also mark on position on the crown wheel. In this way, the markings can be matched an the sanding of the tires is still valid.
And here are, finally, the results:
Congrats, Ted did it again!
And also congrats to all the entrants, really nice cars, gents, thanks for letting me drive them!!!
Next year, there will be additional rules, coming out of the experience of this race:
- No guide pins, only rotating guides.
- All tires much touch the track
- front tires have to have the grip reduced or being coated to reduce grip
cheers,
have a great day,
puddle dude :D
