I came, I saw, and most of the time, I left early—along with other lessons learned along the way.
Looking back at my first season in RC racing, where I participated in more than a few races, I can summarize it as a decent result. I finished 8th overall out of 85 drivers. While this sounds impressive, it’s worth noting that not all drivers participated in the same number of races, and points are given per race. Realistically, I’d say the top 25-30 positions are the most competitive.
I’m quite happy with the result, but when I look at the individual races, the picture is a bit different. I participated in 5 out of 7 races in the NRW Championship. My goal was to qualify for the A-Final in at least one race, but unfortunately, I didn’t achieve that and had to leave early ;-). However, I still had some success, winning two B-Final races and finishing 3rd in another. As I was once told, “Sometimes it’s better to race in the B-Final.” If you barely qualify for the A-Final, you’re likely to end up in the last positions, as the top spots are dominated by the same fast drivers who would likely lap me 2-3 times. While qualifying for the A-Final is the next step in my progression, I’m still proud of my B-Final performances.
Technical Side
Beyond setup adjustments, I learned a lot about car preparation and post-race work. I made plenty of rookie mistakes, which I suppose is part of the process, even coming from full-scale racing where I thought I already knew a lot. Throughout the year, I made several smaller mistakes that led to DNFs or poor race results. The impact of these mistakes can be significant, especially when track time is limited and you’re new to a circuit. At the same time, it’s tricky to stay on top of everything, as changes often need to be made quickly between sessions.
Below, I’ll list some of the mistakes I made to give you a better understanding of what happened and hopefully help others avoid them.
Race at Coesfeld:
This was my first time at the track, and it’s one of the most challenging circuits in the calendar, at least for me.
- Bleeding Shocks:
Since the track is bumpier than others, I changed the oil in the dampers from 600 CST (front) and 660 CST (rear) to 500 CST (front) and 550 CST (rear) to make the car easier to drive over rough sections. However, the bleeding process varies depending on the membrane in the shock. My new car had a different membrane than I was used to, but I stuck to the bleeding process I knew. This caused the shocks to become stiff due to trapped air, making the car excessively bouncy. In two corners, the rear of the car even lifted off the ground under braking. I noticed the issue but misinterpreted it as a track problem rather than a setup issue. I thought, “It’s just a bumpy section—I’ll take a different line.” While not entirely wrong, it was a missed opportunity to diagnose the real problem.
After changing the damper oil, I checked the ride height by moving the car up and down to loosen the suspension. At this point, I should have noticed the rear suspension was too stiff, but without prior experience, I didn’t recognize the issue. It wasn’t until after a crash (more on that in my Coesfeld race report) that my friend Nico spotted the problem.
- Piston Plate Issue:
Before diving into piston plate specifications (check out the #Tad-Week article “Damper & Piston in Full-Scale & RC Racing”), I had another damper-related issue. During one session, the car suddenly felt unstable, especially when landing jumps. Upon inspection, I found that a piston plate in the rear left damper had broken into three pieces. With little time before the next session, I hurriedly replaced the piston plates in both dampers. In my rush, I mounted one plate upside down. While the impact wasn’t catastrophic, it was another lesson learned. - Steering Trim Mistake:
After another event, I measured the suspension and noticed the toe on the front wheels was uneven, requiring me to adjust the steering trim on the remote to keep the car straight. However, I forgot to reset the trim before the next session, which I only realized once the session was underway. This threw me off, as I’m not yet experienced enough to adjust on the fly like some seasoned drivers. - ARB Screw Issue:
Another silly mistake was using the wrong screw for the anti-roll bar (ARB) fixation, which came loose during qualifying. While I immediately felt something was wrong, I was less proud when I discovered the cause.
The Driver Behind the Remote
Beyond car setup and preparation, I also learned a lot about driving. First and foremost, I realized how crucial consistency is. I already knew this in theory, but I didn’t fully grasp how difficult it is in practice. Staying calm and not forcing things is key, especially when battling for positions or dealing with mistakes.
One of the most challenging aspects is recovering from errors, like flipping the car or landing badly off a jump are the few seconds between the crash and the marshal putting the car back on track. During this time, your heart rate spikes, and frustration builds as you desperately want to get back in the race. Managing these emotions is essential to avoid a downward spiral of mistakes. If you let frustration take over, it’s easy to make more errors, which only compounds the problem.
RC racing is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. The emotional highs and lows can be intense, especially in E-Buggy, where time is limited, and focus is paramount. Fun fact: I sometimes forget to blink due to concentration, which is even worse when wearing contact lenses.
- Handling Traffic:
I need to improve at letting faster drivers pass me without losing time in my own race. It’s tricky to identify which cars are in 2nd or 3rd place and let them pass cleanly. In qualifying, fast drivers might lap me three or four times in a single session. The worst scenario is when a fast but not top-tier driver passes me, flips in the next corner, and I have to let them pass again—sometimes multiple times. This can be frustrating, especially when they complain from the driver’s stand. While I understand their perspective, I also have my own race to focus on.
Conclusion and Targets
Over the year, I improved my driving skills, but there’s still a lot of room for growth. For the upcoming season, I aim to improve my precision, handle traffic better, and become more consistent overall. I also want to deepen my understanding of car setup and enjoy the technical discussions around it. Additionally, I want to continue being cost-efficient by minimizing breakages.
On the setup and preparation side, I actually found myself in the same situations I had when I started working as a race engineer in a smaller team. The documentation of setup changes or post-race reports is often chaotic due to the limited time available to complete everything. During a test session, you usually have a run plan where you outline everything you want to accomplish, such as tire testing, setup changes, etc. However, due to accidents on the track, unexpected weather changes, or driver requests, there are countless reasons why your run plan will most likely not go as intended. Despite this, everything still needs to be documented thoroughly to draw the best conclusions at the end of the day.
This documentation is often messy because urgent changes force you to do a quick note on a sheet of paper or your phone, and sometimes you forget to record certain details. Collecting all this information at the end of the day can be very frustrating. The same thing happened to me in RC racing. The time slots available for making changes are very tight, leaving no room for proper documentation. By the end of the day, it can be difficult to piece everything together, but it’s necessary because you want to use your experience and conclusions to create a better setup for the next race.
To address this, I’ve created my own setup sheet to track changes and their effects. While manufacturers provide standard setup sheets, I needed something more tailored to my note-taking style. I also prepared an “Event Preparation Sheet” to ensure I don’t forget anything, like spanner checks and battery checks.
Finally, I’m working on a decision matrix to guide me on what changes to make during a race weekend based on time and impact. With so many possible adjustments on an RC buggy, this tool will help me prioritize and make more informed decisions.
Hoping for the Best
Initially, I did not register for the race in Oberhausen due to other appointments on Saturday, and I would only have had the chance to join on Sunday. Not only had I never been to Oberhausen before, but the track is also very special because it's the only one in the calendar with loose ground, making it a proper off-road track. Based on this, I decided to skip the race—until the Wednesday before the race weekend, when on a whim, I decided to register and only join on Sunday, hoping for the best.
Since this track is a proper off-road track, I had to make quite a few adjustments to the car. I raised the ride height at the front and rear by 3mm and took a deep dive into shock oil specifications and the choice of piston plates. It was absolutely fascinating, and I plan to share a separate article about this topic. As always, my friend Nico helped me with the setup. Nico and I often get lost in discussing technical details, but it’s a lot of fun. We worked together in full-scale racing for several years and still enjoy this part of race preparation.
Does this mean we’re doing things right, and we’re among the faster drivers? Definitely not! Nico is way faster than I am, but for us, it’s more about the joy of discussing the physics behind it all. I must admit I often make small or silly mistakes when preparing the car. I'll dive deeper into this in my article "Feel or No Feel—That Is the Question" because, sometimes, the small things can make a big difference, but it’s also a matter of experience.
On Friday afternoon, I went to Nico’s to do the suspension measurement and check the damper oil and piston plate settings. I left for the track on Sunday morning—having never driven on the track, no practice, no timed sessions. What could possibly go wrong? 😊
After arriving at the track and setting up my workspace, I did a track walk with Nico to check for hidden bumps and tricky sections. Besides the unusual surface, the track had some challenging areas. The first corner is a long right-hander that tightens into a hairpin with a small bump in between. It’s not very difficult, but it’s easy to lose time if you drift too far outside. The next tricky section is a chicane right before the first jump. You want to stay on the power before the chicane and roll through, but be careful—the surface changes from loose ground to brick stones.
Next up are two double jumps in a row. In RC racing, they often say, “Sometimes slow is fast,” which is absolutely true. Good drivers can take both double jumps with ease, but Nico recommended I take the jumps one at a time. If you mess up a double jump, there’s a high chance the car will flip, so it’s better to play it safe—valuable advice!
The last section of the track was the trickiest for me. After the double jumps (singles, in my case 😉), there are a few easy corners, but then you enter a section called “the green street.” It’s a smaller straight with a slight right turn before you take a sharper right to approach the big jump. This part caused some real brain farts for me! For beginners like me, every track is a challenge—not just due to the layout, but also the distance. It’s funny how I have to adjust to get used to the distance and the respective corners and jumps from the driver stand. The green street was especially difficult because, even though it’s not that far from the driver stand, I could barely see where the track was, and worse, where my car was before the big jump! The take-off for the jump faces the opposite direction, so you jump toward yourself. Why is this hard? Because you can’t tell if the car is straight on the jump. Many cars hit the jump at the wrong angle and ended up in the fence, over the fence, or even in the wrong section of the track!
As mentioned before, my first run was immediately a qualification run for the finals. I left the pits, and the steering immediately felt off. The moment I felt it, I knew what was wrong. When I did the suspension alignment, the right-hand tire had toe-out of 3.5°, and the left one was 9°, which I corrected. BUT this issue had already come up at the previous event, and I adjusted the steering trim then. However, I forgot to readjust it after correcting the toe. So, my car kept pulling left the whole time. I tried to correct it as best I could, but it didn’t help much as I tried to learn the track. The first run was, of course, very tricky. I was busy keeping the car on the track while trying not to block other cars in their qualification runs.
In full-scale and sim racing, drivers are taught to look ahead—when you enter a corner, you should already be looking at the spot where you want to exit. In RC racing, at least in my case, this doesn't work as well because you're not inside the car—you’re controlling it from outside. You can only look ahead a little bit, but when you don’t know the track, this becomes even more challenging, and I found myself constantly surprised by the corners in my first run 😊. Another important thing is to check your speed for the jumps—you don’t want to land too short or too far, as this always costs time. As expected, I finished my first run at the bottom of the table after my qualification run.
After adjusting steering and knowing the track a bit better qualification 3 went way better but still really far off the drivers at the top.
The average lap time is always the most important in the table. My best lap in the first run was faster, but I’m pretty sure that was because I crashed the car somewhere and took a shortcut, unintentionally getting in the way of other cars.
Then it was already time to start the first race: the semifinal. The top six drivers would qualify for the A-main final, and I started in 8th position. Things started off quite well, and at one point, I was even in 5th place. However, I made two significant mistakes, which cost me three positions. For a while, I fought for 6th place, but she was faster and made almost no mistakes. In the end, I finished 7th, with a gap of over 15 seconds to 6th place.
I never expected to qualify for the A-main final, but I was pretty happy with the result. I improved my lap time by another two seconds and felt more confident on the track.
When you don’t qualify for the A-main, you race in the B-Final. In the B-Final, I finished 4th, but I had the chance to finish 3rd. However, once again, one big mistake cost me a lot of time. Next to the track, in turn 2, there’s a hole for a manhole cover, and with all my skilled driving, I managed to flip the car in that corner, landing it directly in the hole. The marshal couldn’t find the car immediately, so it took some time to get it back on the track.
In the end, I was still very happy with the overall result. Given the circumstances, I did the best I could, and my best lap time even dropped below 40 seconds. Several sections went much better in the B-Final run. In turn 1, I managed to stay on the power much longer, and I lost less time on the famous "green street" and the big jump.
I struggled a bit with tire compound choice throughout the day because my car needed more rear traction, but I didn’t feel much difference when I changed from soft to super soft. I definitely could have had a more stable rear with different piston plates in the rear dampers, but in the end, it worked out well enough.
A big shout-out to the Stoppelhopser Oberhausen club for organizing a well-run event. The race director did an excellent job with commentary. When you don’t know the drivers and their cars, it can be hard to follow the race leader and the battles for positions, but he did a great job highlighting the key position fights and where they were happening on the track.
15-16.06.2024 Unknown Terrirory
After the first successful race in 2024, it was time for the second race and to discover unknown territory. The race took place at the beautiful RCCC Coesfeld, a track I had never been to before and which is considered the most difficult one within the NRW Cup, at least according to what I was told.
This weekend was also special because, my oldest son joined me for the first time. My former colleague at Toyota Gazoo Racing and friend, Nico E., who has always been my adviser regarding setup, tires, etc., since I started RC racing, booked a little apartment for the three of us. Additionally, I checked in advance with the RCCC Coesfeld if my son could drive his 1/10 scale car on the track during the breaks of the official races. After everything was confirmed, we were all set for a fun weekend. The car was loaded with cars, parts, tires, batteries, and bags, and we left early Saturday morning for Coesfeld. It rained the whole 2.5-hour drive to Coesfeld, which was also what the weather forecast predicted for the entire weekend.
It turned out not to be that bad, but knowing the difficult weather conditions and being at the track for the first time, I did not go into the weekend with high expectations. However, I did not expect to get absolutely crushed.
But let's start from the beginning. The track is in a beautiful area, and the setup for the race by RCCC Coesfeld was well done. There was enough space for everyone, bathrooms, food, drinks, and really nice people. The track is a mixture of 80% grass, concrete, and some astroturf. I did a “track walk” to get an idea of the layout. You have to look for bumps and holes in braking/accelerating zones and how to hit the jumps. Spoiler alert: I should have taken a closer look in some areas.
As always, Nico brought the popup tent and this time a special table for my son so he could set up his own working area. So, it was Nico, Thomas B., my son, and me in the popup tent.
Yes, the two chaotic areas in the front is the "family section".
The first day it kept raining intermittently, but the track dried fairly quickly. We had 3-4 practice runs of 7 minutes in fixed groups. The first practice run went quite okay. I was at the bottom of the timetable, but I still felt okay, except that the car was very nervous at the rear and fishtailing quite a lot while accelerating. Due to the bumpy track, I raised the ride height by 2mm at the front and rear. I also went 0.2mm down with the ARB diameter to generate more grip in wet conditions.In the second training session, I realized that I was moving in the right direction with the set up changes. Referring to my article about differentials, I got the car easier to drive when I changed the center diff oil from 20K to 10K.
The third practice run started okay, but after three laps, it went downhill. I kept making mistake after mistake. Already being dead last in lap times, I only made it worse. This had nothing to do with the car; it was my own errors causing severe damage to the car.
The track has two sections where you could easily spot the good drivers. The first section was the first right-hand corner in front of the driver stand, which has four little jumps in a row. The experienced drivers would take the first jump to jump over the second, landing the car slightly turned to take the third jump to jump over number four. At this part of the track, mechanical grip is key, especially when you land after the first jump because the suspension (dampers, etc.) needs to work very well. The second section included three jump sections with a hairpin corner right after the jumps.
In the third run, I had an absolute brain fart when i accelerated ( in the four jump section) after the first jump way too much and jumped full speed into the fence. Three corners later, the front section of my car was sliding on the ground because the chassis connection to the damper through the differential casing was broken, and I had to stop. Not only did I mess this up completely, but I also ruined the time my son could go on track with his car because I had to work through the lunch break. As cute as my son is, he helped get my car back on track again. I called it a day and watched the Le Mans race after my battery connector came off in the fourth and last run of the day.
Day 2: After resetting my head overnight, the second day started off a bit better. I was finally able to follow a safe racing line, which is not the fastest but reduced the chances of errors in the difficult sections of the track. This brings up an interesting aspect. The RC driver JQ once said that in RC racing, you tend to go too fast because you don’t have the danger of getting hurt and the impact on your wallet is limited. In full-scale racing, you tend to be more careful and slower for your own safety and to protect your wallet. Of course, this applies to amateur driving and not professional race drivers. On day 1, I tried to force it too much, and it ended up being bad.
After another round of negotiations with Nico and Thomas on how to make the car easier to drive, I increased the droop, which helped make the car less reactive on bumps. Increasing droop means increasing the travel of the dampers, but you have to be careful with this as it can also cause the car to lean more to the outside in corners, which can lead to flipping. The behavior of the car in this situation is impacted by the height of the roll center and center of gravity (COG). At least the roll center can be adjusted easily in RC racing, but this topic needs more explanation in a separate article.
The first two runs went quite okay, and I was not at the bottom of the timetable—success! With a little bit of hope and a positive mindset, I started in the first ½ final to qualify for the A final. We started in a group of 5 cars, and up to P4 you were qualified for A. So the only thing I had to do was not finish last. There was no chance to keep up with the speed of the first three cars. P4 should have been possible. Right from the beginning of the race, I was in a close fight with P4, but both of us made mistakes, and we went back and forth. In the end, I made more mistakes and finished P5.
Back in the tent, I was pretty devastated and upset with myself, but my son gave me a hug and said, “Next time you will do better.” What can I say? The sweetest and best consolation you can think of.
Over the course of the weekend, I broke a lot of parts and finished most of the time at the bottom of the timetable, but it was still great fun, and I take a lot of positive things from the weekend. In terms of driving and car setup, I learned a lot for my continuous adventure in RC racing. Most importantly, I had an absolutely great time with my son and the rest of the crew. Even though it rained a lot, we didn’t care and enjoyed being outside all day long, being part of the technical discussions, and working on the cars. My son had a blast driving his 1/10 scale car on the track and loved being a part of the group in our tent.
01-02.06.2024 Start of Season 2024
After my first race appearance last year, it was time to return to Mechernich. This time, I had a new car (I will review both cars at a later stage) and a bit more practice in RC racing. Just like last year, the RC race weekend coincided with the 24h of NBR, and I had to coordinate my activities in RC racing with my duties at the 24h Race NBR.
My expectations and target for the weekend were to improve my overall result from last year and, most importantly, not to hurt anybody. So, the bar was not set very high, and I told myself I would stop racing if I did worse than last year.
The weather forecast for the weekend predicted mixed conditions, but mainly wet conditions. The tire gambling started even before the actual race weekend. This race, E-Buggies had a free tire choice, but depending on the surface, you know what kind of tire you want to race with. In dry conditions on astroturf, you want to use Mini Pins because they have high grip. However, in wet conditions, Mini Pins are tricky, so you need Spiral tires.
Saturday started with rain and a very wet track. I started with the dry setup but Spiral tires. I quickly realized that the car was very tricky to drive and struggled with grip. Nevertheless, after a few practice runs, my lap times were not that bad. Additionally, to the wet surface, you also have to consider that the Nitro cars spread some fuel on the track, which makes the track even more slippery.
I wasn’t too psyched about it because it was just practice, and most drivers only did a few laps. However, being on top of the timetable helped me maintain a positive mindset.
The big question for someone who has just started racing is where to begin adapting the setup to the given conditions. The goal is to have a car that allows you to drive smoothly and comfortably, achieving decent lap times because, during a ten-minute qualifying session, the average lap time is what counts. One fast lap followed by three bad ones won’t get you anywhere. But where to start, given that there are so many areas you could change?
I started with a basic setup recommended by Colin Meijer, from whom I bought the car. From my full-scale racing experience, I know that you start by changing one thing at a time. Don’t make too many changes at once because if you do, you won’t know what actually helped improve the car or even made it worse.
To improve the grip level, I first started by changing the anti-roll bars, reducing the diameter by 0.2 at the front and rear because this can be done fairly quickly. This improved the situation, but there was still room for improvement because was still nervous accelerating out of the corners. Just before I considered changing the differential oil (refer to my article about differentials), it stopped raining, and the track started to have more grip. Some cars already changed tires from Spiral to Mini Pin, and the lap times improved, but to play it safe, I stayed with Spiral tires but went back to the initial specification of the antiroll bars.
I still managed to stay in the top positions in my group while the track was drying even more. I was even in the overall top ten of the E-Buggy class.
The EIfel being the Eifel
Typical Eifel weather: all of a sudden, an absolute change of scenery as it started to pour down again, and the track was completely wet.
Do you have to change the setup back and forth in mixed conditions? The answer is absolutely not. Experienced and good drivers can handle the changing conditions, but I am far away from such a skill level. I think the top drivers in E-Buggy didn’t change anything on the car except tires. Just like in full-scale racing, the setup is a personal preference of the driver because the way you push the throttle, press the brake, or steer impacts the way you want to set up the car. For myself, I have to say that I also enjoy making changes to the car and feeling/seeing the difference while driving. I think this is also why I find myself writing all these nerdy things down (emoji).
Coming back to the race weekend, even in the wet conditions, I managed to stay in the top 5 of my group.
Day 2:
Sunday had mixed conditions again, but the track was mainly wet. For some reason, I struggled right from the beginning with grip and getting my head straight. I did not feel comfortable and safe with the car like the day before. I made too many mistakes, like flipping the car or overshooting corners. Just like in every sport, it is really important to get your head straight and stay focused but when you do mistakes after mistakes, it is also really difficult to get out of this wishes circle.
To win a trophy, you have to reach the A-Final, but surely I had no chance of winning any of them because the top guys are 2-4 seconds faster per lap. However, reaching the A-Final is already a big success for me. You qualify for the A-Finals via the ½ finals. You start in 2 or more groups, depending on the number of starters, and you have to finish in a certain position to qualify for the A-Finale. The best of the rest will race in the B-Final. At Mechernich, we had two ½ finals races, and the first 6 in each ½ final race would start in the A-Final.
Even though I did not look bad on the table, I did not feel comfortable like the day before.
This all came together in the ½ final race. My nervousness was high, and I felt my heart working a bit more than usual. The race started okay, and I was in P4 for a while, but 2 mistakes cost me two positions, and I was in P6, the last qualifying position for the A-Final. P7 was maybe 3 seconds behind me, but he passed me after I overshot a corner and lost a lot of time. I tried to calm down and was catching up, close behind him. He made a small mistake, and I passed, i managed to gain a bit of room and was roughly 2 seconds in front. However, on the last lap, on the third last corner, I took the curb too much, and the car went on the two outer wheels. I just managed to avoid ending up on the roof, but this caused me to lose acceleration, and P7 passed me on the inside of the corner and was gone. So, I managed to throw it all away in just one corner. The disappointment was big as I had the pace to qualify for the A-Final, but I was too nervous.
I did not qualify for the A-Final but was able to win the B-Final, which was my very first win in an RC race.
I was even happier when I was told that the winner of the B-Final would get some hardware. Below is a picture of the hardware.
Yep, that was not the case, but anyway, it was a fun weekend nobody was hurt, I learned a lot about my new car and how to set it up for wet conditions.
All in all, it was a successful weekend. Spoiler alert: the next race went “a little” differently.
20
Jun
2023
Small-Scale Racing, Big Track Feelings
Throughout my professional career, I have worked in many areas of race car development in, both, highly professionalized and smaller teams with fewer options and limited budgets. I’ve worked as a track engineer, designer, test engineer, and project manager, but what I’ve always missed is being inside a race car myself on a regular basis. Surely, this is not necessary to be a good engineer but I always thought that it can help communication and understanding between driver and engineer. I used to go Karting to compensate, but that also got tricky in terms of time and budget.
I knew from one of my university internships that RC car suspension is a very good tool to understand the basics of suspension kinematics and the impact of changes on dampers, springs etc. A few of my colleagues at Toyota never raced but build RC cars for fun, and listening to them, I thought to myself, “Why not get one myself to build and pass on to my son?”
So, I went out and got an electric competition buggy, as I find the competition ones more interesting to put together. The process turned out to be a great way to commit to the project without having to be away from home. Only small tools and not much space are required, like a couch table, for example. It was a lot of fun and I was impressed with the quality of the construction. The passing on to my son part is what didn’t quite work out. Once it was done, I wanted to go out and try myself. Logically, I had to buy a second car for my five-year-old.
After my son and I finished building the second one, we went to the local race track a few times. I started to play around with the setup to improve traction and handling on the loose surface of the track. It was super fun because smaller adjustments had a direct impact. Based on my experience in full-scale racing, I knew which direction to go with the setup but the options you have are endless. After a few more times at the track, one of my friends, who already raced competitively, started to talk to me about entering races.
Last weekend, I did and participated in a RC Buggy race of the NRW Cup in Mechernich. Organizer was RC-Race-Crew Mechernich (Link to Website RC-Race-Crew Mechernich). I was definitely not feeling very confident after just a few times on the track. But I liked the challenge and excitement. Preparation had started weeks earlier with studying regulations, ordering the right tire spec, and anticipating the base setup without knowing the track. I decided to stick with the standard box setup, which is what the manual recommended.
The official event took place on Saturday and Sunday but, luckily, I already went to the track on Friday afternoon to do some practice laps. Arriving at the track, I was impressed with how professional the whole thing was. People attended with camper vans, dogs, family to spend the weekend at the track. They put up tents and little workbenches to work on the cars. It looked a bit like a paddock you find at the track in full-scale racing. In the afternoon, everyone BBQed together and discussed past and upcoming races. The atmosphere was great.
Seeing the track for the first time, I was shocked at how narrow and technical it looked. After wondering how in the world I was supposed to keep the car on track, I was glad to have an extra day to practice.
As soon as we took off, I was dying laughing because I saw the disaster coming. The combination of the surface and the tires created massive grip and I either flipped the car or went off the track. After a few laps, I managed to stay on track and felt a bit more comfortable. But there was room for improvement. I started to adjust a few things to optimize cornering. I chose to go one spring rate softer for front and rear, which helped a bit but after a few more laps, my left front tire was fluttering slightly and the car seemed to dive too much when braking into the corners. I was able to get rid of the fluttering by refilling the damper to the correct oil level. I used oil with a higher density to get control of the diving. Soon after, I could feel the changes kick in and the car felt much better. I could do several laps without being overtaken or crashing the car the whole time.
In terms of adjustments, options are endless. Springs, oil types, damper pistons, damper plates (number of holes, drilling size), damper angle, position of COG (center of gravity), position of roll center, gearing, density or different grease etc. – everything can be adjusted within minutes.
On Saturday, each group had three timed practices. The average time of the session is submitted to qualify for the quarter finals. I did not do very well but was not too far off with my lap times. I was 0.3-0.5 seconds off the midfield but still finished last in most of the sessions, except for one, in which I finished second to last. Miraculously, I qualified for the quarter finals! Sure, everyone did, because of low participation numbers, but still.
I was very nervous because this was my first real race, not a timed practice, with eight cars in the starting grid. As expected, I started from last position. The countdown was set at ten seconds, a loud beep rang out, and the cars were off. Absolut mayhem in the first corner, cars crashed and flipped everywhere, and all off a sudden, I entered the second corner in second position. I took the long back straight with a bit of hope. I had almost reached the end of the back straight at full speed, when my front left tire touched the guard rail and the car went off the track and right into the ankle of a track marshal. He had to be replaced, the poor guy, and I felt terrible! After the race, I went to see him to apologize, and but he assured me all was well. A couple of weeks after the event, I checked in on him again to see if I had caused any serious injury but was told it was “just” a big bruise. Of course, I finished the race in last position. The first half of the race had gone very badly and I couldn’t find a good rhythm. Second half was much better. I found a good flow and was even able to catch up a bit, which still meant that I was five seconds slower per lap than the top drivers. On a track that is just about 300 meters long, you feel it!
Besides hurting a person with my car, the whole thing was super fun. I had to change anti-roll bars, damper springs and damper oil, right height, tires etc. to find a decent setup for the track. The racing is super fun but working on the setup and see/feel the difference was the best part. The sportsmanship during the event is also something I want to mention. People always help each other, whether with parts for the cars or setup adjustments.
On the track, everything is just about racing. In the quarter finals, the leading car caused an accident and the car in second flipped. The leading car slowed down, so that the second car could catch up again, and they could battle for victory for the rest of the race. Really nice to see how the drivers treat each other and want to make sure everyone has a good time.
I decided to write this little report down because it was a very positive experience and there is so much to learn by working on the car and driving on the track. It is something you can’t really compare with Sim or even full-scale racing because you can do everything in a matter of minutes.
Anyone who is interested in car geometrics, how suspension setup works, how setup changes impact the handling or just wants to have fun racing, should go and get a competition RC car and stop by a local track. It is a great way to spend a fun day with the kids while learning a lot about the technologies at play.
23
Aug
2023
RC Racing Adventure: Monchengladbach Chronicles
After my Rc racing debut in Mechernich, I decided to register for multiple events. However, work commitments and an unwelcome bout of illness forced me to cancel most of the events. In August I managed to join the race at the Monchengladbach race track.
Surely I did not arrive with big expectations after the first event but I was excited to be able to join a second event. A pre-event practice session on a rainy day provided valuable insights into the track's challenges, notably a tricky section featuring four consecutive jumps. Balancing the right speed became crucial – too fast risking flips on the third jump, too slow resulting in a missed landing on the second.
The event kicked off with Saturday's practice runs, with a fantastic atmosphere in the paddock. Our four-person pop-up tent added at the end of the paddock . However, unpredictable weather conditions throughout the weekend – alternating between rain and sun – added an extra layer of complexity to an already demanding track.
Assigned to Group 3 in the 1/8 scale electric buggy class, with a fixed tire specification (GRP Easy) in the NRW Cup. Selecting the appropriate tire compound (medium, soft, or super soft) became a strategic dance, complicated by the mixed track conditions.
Saturday proved to be a challenging day as I struggled with the car setup, particularly with a steering and traction issues. Frustration mounted as attempts to fine-tune with anti-roll bar adjustments and damper settings but with limited success. The key to RC racing, much like its full-scale counterpart, lies in consistency, which I struggled to achieve.
A breakthrough moment occurred during a rainy session, where reduced front traction brought about a more comfortable driving experience. Armed with a better understanding of my desired car behavior, I tried to figure out the correct adjustments.
At the end of the day I changed the position of the Ackermann angle. For the Ackermann angle you have three different setting on the car. I started with the standard setting, as I never changed the angle before, but you can increase or decrease the angle. I went from standard to less Ackermann. This will cause a geometric change on the car in a way that the inner wheel is trying to follow a larger diameter circle, which will make the car less responsive. Additionally you can change the steering speed on the remote control and I went down to 85%.
Sunday dawned with renewed determination. Altered Ackermann angles and reduced steering speed on the remote control the car felt much better. I did decent lap times and, more importantly, consistent lap times. In the next two timed training sessions I finished on P6 out of 8 starters but I was only down by a second to P5 and P4. My lap times were still 3 seconds off the top drivers but I was happy about the improvement.
In the qualification race I started from position 7 out of 8 and I needed to finish in P5 to qualify for the finals. I started of the race without an accident and after a few laps I was on P6. Then, in the middle of the race, it started to rain pretty heavily and I saw a chance to finish on P5. I wouldn’t go so far as to identify myself as a rain driver but I was able to handle the car in wet conditions pretty well. I managed to close the gap to P5 and the car in front of me flip ped in the fourth jump section, which allowed me to pass him. I even closed the gap to P4, and P6 was not far behind me, so no room for error. All or nothing!
Unfortunately I went the nothing route because in the last two minutes of the race I crashed the car
one time and spun in the last lap. I finished on P6 very close behind P5. Despite the near-miss, the weekend left me with a sense of accomplishment. The learning curve in understanding car settings and the satisfaction of improvement overshadowed the setbacks. In the end, it was a fun-filled weekend in the dynamic world of RC racing.
Wir benötigen Ihre Zustimmung zum Laden der Übersetzungen
Wir nutzen einen Drittanbieter-Service, um den Inhalt der Website zu übersetzen, der möglicherweise Daten über Ihre Aktivitäten sammelt. Bitte überprüfen Sie die Details in der Datenschutzerklärung und akzeptieren Sie den Dienst, um die Übersetzungen zu sehen.