The 2010 AARCMCC NSW State Titles were held last weekend at the Sydney Model Autosports track at Tempe in Sydney Australia. It would be the first test of the new track work including world class integrated concrete curbing and a high pressure track clean. Weather for the weekend was predicted poor with showers forecast over the two days, including the practice days.
The weather turned out to be very unpredictable, but luckily no rain. We had cold mornings and hot days with sunny periods and unexpected winds, all this made finding a setup extremely difficult and sometimes it was to determine whether it was the track conditions or the chassis change that were making the difference.
Team XRAY was there in force with a variety of new and older model cars being represented and the result was a podium in every class and a victory in the Stock class to Grant Booth and his XRAY T3. This event was also the first major event in Australia for the new T3â™11 which did not disappoint.
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I had both the T3 and the T3â™11 at the track and used the first practice day to decide on which car to use for the event, after a few times out the decision was easy, the new T3â™11 had so much more in corner steering and stability even with the kit setup it was .2seconds per lap faster than the T3 and much more consistent. I immediately decided to focus on it to achieve the best possible setup. On the second practice day I was joined by Ari Bakla the Australian importer for XRAY, HUDY and other top brands and we worked very hard to make the new T3â™11â™s as fast as possible.
Ari was also going to race 1/12 scale for the first time in half a decade but his job was made easier with the XRAY X11-Link chassis which was good out of the box. Unfortunately his car took a big hit into a barrier in practice when a slow car turned into his on the straight and badly tweaked an unknown part that could not be diagnosed all weekend.
On the T3â™11 we tried many things including different damping, anti-roll bars, roll centre adjustments and springs, for a long time we thought we were improving the car however once returning to the kit setup the cars were hugely faster. The only change we made that was known to be faster in all conditions was the âśHâť front upper link mount, which generated more steering without the loss of rear traction. After practice the feeling with the new car was very positive and we were excited to get racing underway.
Once qualifying started it became clear just how special the new T3â™11 is. The combination of the new chassis plate and steering system coupled with the proven T3 suspension geometry made for the best car I have ever driven under any track conditions. The sheer amount of steering that is generated while the rear end remains locked in is phenomenal and the only changes from kit setup being the âśHâť front roll centre the potential is amazing. I wish I had a little more time with the car though because I had to adjust my driving style to the endless grip and the result was times that were not as consistent as I would have liked.
After qualifying XRAYâ™s were in good positions in all classes.
1/12 scale qualifying:
1. Troy Laughlin 2. Ari Bakla â“ XRAY XII Link
3. Bradd Vercoe
4. Andrew Sienniak
5. Andrew Miller 6. Brett Douce â“ XRAY XII Link
7. Paul Hartmann
8. Tommy Lee
9. Grant Mount
10. Alex Tyson
Stock qualifying:
1. Matthew Stamboulis 2. Grant Booth - XRAY T3
3. Andrew McClelland
4. Phil Leeman
5. Jeff Cribbin 6. Gavin Hatherly - XRAY T3â™11
7. Owen Laughlin
8. Stephen Taulanga
9. Ray Zarb
10. Mark Groom
Super Stock qualifying:
1. Craig Mcphee 2. Cristian Silva - XRAY T2â™009
3. Bradd Vercoe - XRAY T3â™11
4. Keith Chui
5. Ben Maguire
6. Rick Austin
7. Robert Young
8. Todd Dâ™elboux
9. Brendon Young
Modified qualifying:
1. Ryan Maker
2. Simon Nicholson 3. Timothy Lee - XRAY T3â™11
4. Ari Bakla - XRAY T3â™11
5. Sandy Iavazzo
6. Justin Vergunst 7. Ben Cribbin â“ XRAY T3
8. Josh Kemp â“ XRAY T3
9. Mark Wallin â“ XRAY T3â™11
10. Damian Zarb
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Finals:
Overtaking is very hard on this track so finals were sure to be interesting. In 1/12 scale it was set to be a duel between Troy Laughlin (TQ) and Ari Bakla (XRAY). In leg 1 Ari took the win after changing to some fresh Jaco foam, however Troy was too fast in leg 2 and 3 but his job was made easier when Ari became tangled up with some lapped traffic.
1/12 final results:
1. Troy Laughlin 2. Ari Bakla â“ XRAY XII Link
3. Bradd Vercoe
4. Andrew Miller 5. Brett Douce â“ XRAY XII Link
6. Andrew Sienniak
7. Tommy Lee
8. Grant Mount
9. Paul Hartmann
10. Alex Tyson
In Stock Grant booth was able to get around Matthew Stamboulis after making some tweaks to his T3 chassis to take the wins in leg 1 and 2 and wrap it up before the final leg.
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Stock final results:
1. Grant Booth - XRAY T3
2. Matthew Stamboulis
3. Andrew McClelland
4. Phil Leeman
5. Mark Groom 6. Gavin Hatherly - XRAY T3â™11
7. Owen Laughlin
8. Ray Zarb
9. Jeff Cribbin
10. Stephen Taulanga
The ever exciting Super Stock class was taken out by SMA club president Craig Mcphee, Cristian Silva and his trusty T2â™009 in second and Bradd Vercoe with his T3â™11 rounding out the podium. It was truly a great effort by Cristian who im sure could find at least .3s per lap with the new T3â™11 next year.
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Super Stock final results:
1. Craig Mcphee 2. Cristian Silva - XRAY T2â™009
3. Bradd Vercoe - XRAY T3â™11
4. Ben Maguire
5. Keith Chui
6. Rick Austin
7. Robert Young
8. Todd Dâ™elboux
9. Brendon Young
In Modified it finished almost in qualifying order, with Ryan Maker taking wins in the first two legs and electing not to run the third. In leg 3 it was current national champion Ari Bakla taking the win for the new T3â™11.
Modified final results:
1. Ryan Maker
2. Simon Nicholson 3. Timothy Lee - XRAY T3â™11
4. Ari Bakla - XRAY T3â™11
5. Sandy Iavazzo
6. Justin Vergunst 7. Ben Cribbin â“ XRAY T3
8. Mark Wallin â“ XRAY T3â™11
9. Josh Kemp â“ XRAY T3
10. Damian Zarb
Overall it was a well run event and the track work has transformed the venue into one of Australiaâ™s best tracks for electric touring cars. Everyone was super impressed with the performance of the new T3â™11 and I am looking forward to getting even more out of the car at the upcoming Australian nationals in Bendigo later this month. I would also really like to thank HEI and Northern Beaches Hobby Centre for the T3â™11 and for sponsoring the event and providing the Muchmore control tyre.
