After only having the XRAY XII for a few months, and with so much other racing going on I had only a few opportunities for testing before the NSW State Titles. I had never driven a 1/12 scale electric pan car before but was always interested in the class because of the challenging set-up and awesome corner speeds. From the first time I drove the XII I knew it would be super competitive.
Almost all racing in Australia is on low-medium grip asphalt tracks, and I knew that getting the most out of a 1/12 scale on this type of surface would be very demanding. Both times I tested the XII before the event other racers had remarked on how great the car looked on the track and how much more balanced the car was compared to other 1/12 scales they had seen, giving me great confidence going into the NSW State Titles.
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During open practice on Friday it looked as if none of the other 1/12 scales had any grip at all so I decided to focus on the T2'009 car for a while until the track picked up enough to get an idea of set-up for the XII. When I eventually got on the track with the XII the car felt pretty good but was awesome compared to the other 1/12 scales that looked really edgy and unsettled on the track.
My first change was to take .2mm pod droop out of the car which worked really well as it helped keep the weight over the rear wheels off power increasing stability. Next I moved the batteries to the rearward position that seemed to give the car more side bite in long flowing corners. Lastly I went to the silver front springs to take away a little more steering. I didn't have an asphalt T-bar at the time but I am sure that this would greatly increase the performance of the car on this type of surface even though the car is just fantastic even with the carpet T-bar.
After all this the car felt really good and I just spent the rest of the day testing tyre additives and application and settled on FX-2 with a full rear application and a three quarter front tyre, I think FX-2 was the best because most of the touring car drivers were using this and consequently that was what was being put down on the track.
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Qualifying:
1/12 was the first race on Saturday and with some rain the night before the grip was not expected to be very good until later in the day. Despite this in the first round my XRAY XII handled great in the tricky conditions placing me two whole laps in front of the next fastest car after round one.
In the second round I was leading comfortably but with about two minutes to go the car seemed to loose all rear grip and I could not post a very fast time. This problem had me puzzled, I decided eventually that the rear ride height was coming down too much with the high rear tyre wear and by the end of the run the rear ride height was about .2mm lower than the front adversely affecting the handling. So for the next run I raised the rear ride height by .5mm and cleaned and re-greased the friction damper, just in case it was a little dirty and not centering properly.
For the rest of qualifying the car performed brilliantly and I was able to take the TQ, with the car maintaining it's consistency from start to finish.
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Top Qualifiers
1. Timothy Lee XRAY XII
2. Kyle Hazell
3. David Warner
4. Cory Ventouris
5. Ryan Andrews
Finals
After qualifying I felt as if my car was much better than any of the others but I was down a bit on power with plenty left in my batteries at the end of 8 minutes, as finals aren't really the time to make large changes I decided just to go up one tooth on the pinion.
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First Final:
I got a good start and pulled out a good lead of about the length of the straight for the first half of the race although my motor speed felt incredibly slow. With about two minutes to go the problem got worse and I thought that the batteries were dumping, it got worse and worse until the last lap when Kyle was able to pass me. After the race I discovered that the cells were not dumping but in fact one had failed and that my car was running on three cells for probably most of the race. I was disappointed that I didn't take the win after coming so close but knew I could win the next two because the car was so good.
Second Final:
The only differences I made for this race were to rebuild the diff and let the additive sit on the front tyres for a little longer. During the warm up lap the power was way better with the new gear ratio and the car was unbelievable with more front grip. I had a perfect start and lead from start to finish with a comfortable lead so that I could just cruise the last two minutes.
Third Final:
For this race I geared the car up another tooth on the pinion gear and I knew the track was in the best condition of the weekend. After another perfect start the car was just glued to the track and I was heading to better my fastest time by about half a lap but had such a large lead at about half race distance that I just decided to cruise till the finish, winning comfortably.
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Final Positions:
1. Timothy Lee XRAY XII
2. Kyle Hazell
3. David Warner
4. Cory Ventouris
5. Ryan Andrews
Overall I was absolutely thrilled with the new XRAY XII. It was a joy to build, effortless to drive and performed flawlessly all weekend, 2009 is looking a promising season with the new cars.
