The 2013 International took place on the 12th and 13th of January. Hosted by the North Harbour Radio Control Car Club, the annual event attracted 106 cars in total, including two drivers from Australia. The North Harbour track is purpose built for 10th scale with a fast straight and technical infield. Its layout provides some spectacular racing with plenty of overtaking opportunities and a high speed straight leading in a near full throttle 270 degree sweeper. Getting a car setup to suit all aspects of the track can prove to be a challenge but once mastered the rewards are well worth the effort. It is the last year of the Racing Lines International.
This is my second race meeting with my XRAY X10 link Pro 10. The class was well represented with XRAYâ™s.
In the Pro Ten class in New Zealand we runs2 cell lipos with 13.5 brushless motors.
Friday was the practice day. We arrived there about 11am. Setup and went for a practice with my XRAY Pro 10. Borrowed a setup from Shane Gollop who also runs a XRAY X10 and off I went. I was lacking a bit of steering and lifting my inside rear wheel exciting the corner. To try and eliminate this I put the heaviest side springs I had and put heavier oil in the side shock which settled the car down. I then changed the body to a Colt Toyota it transformed the car to consistent 21-22s laps, which I was happy with. I rebuilt the differential and checked the car over and packed up for the next day.
Qualifying day came and it was about 10am start with 5 qualifiers. 3 during the day, one evening and one night. My aim here was to get some consistency and get used to racing my Pro 10 with other cars and out qualifying Craig Pullar.
The Qualifiers are staggered starts, they were pretty uneventful for me. In the last night qualifier I struggled seeing the car under lights. At one stage during the day the track was measured at 55 degrees C which was one of the hottest days I have raced on.
With qualifying finishing about midnight and it was time to pack up for an early start on Sunday.
The qualifying results were
1. Shane Gollop XRAY X10
2. Nigel Bish 3. Colin Storey XRAY X10
4. Craig Pullar XRAY X10
5. Chris Stephens
6. Peter Signal 7. Si Jorgensen XRAY X10
Finals Day
Warm up done and into the race. Starting from 3rd I followed Shane and Bishy into the sweeper and the order didnâ™t change until lap 10. When Shane caught a back marker which tipped him over. Now Bishy was in the lead with an under steering car and know tyre left on one front wheel. I caught him and passed him to win from a fast charging Shane. The finishing order was.
The second final pretty competitive too. I was running second to Shane comfortably after passing Bishy. About lap 9 I clipped a curb and ended upside down until a marshal returned me to my wheels by which time Craig had passed me. I was closing the gap on him but ran out of laps to catch as I had the faster car.
It was all on for the 3rd Final between Shane and Me. As whoever won got first place.
It was a clean start and the race order didnâ™t change for awhile . I had to follow Bishy with his 235mm wide car and put pressure on him until he ran wide on lap 6. I set off after Shane who ran out of front tyres towards the end of the race. I was gaining on him but ran out of laps to catch him with. He beat me by 2 secs.
Final results:
1. Shane Gollop XRAY X10
2. Colin Storey XRAY X10 3. Craig Pullar XRAY X10
4. Nigel
5. Chris
6. Peter 7. Si Jorgensen XRAY X10
I drove Shaneâ™s car after the event and I could see how and why he set the fastest lap times and race wins with his XRAY.
A big thanks to NHRCC for putting on another great event.
