| Race report by Aaron Dexter |
|
My brother and dad got out on the track first for their first practice laps and came back with, "it's very loose" which you could tell by looking at the surface. As that was the result, I went and put some AKA Soft Gridirons on my car and went out on track.
The track was extremely challenging! No big air time included, but small precise jumps that you had to time perfectly or you would stuff up the rest of the rhythm section. During the first few practice laps, I found my car had some things I needed to change. My rear end was stepping out whenever I got on the throttle and whenever I was on the brakes. I went back to the pits to make some adjustments with the advice of my dad. I decided to make my wheel base longer to try and help overall stability.
|
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
I went back out for Round 1 of qualifying on the same AKA Soft Gridirons and my car was a little better than before but now because my rear end was locked in, I was struggling with rotation and couldn't get my car to turn off-power in the tight sections of the track. However, I managed to TQ the 1st round with a couple of seconds lead over 2nd place.
For Round 2 of qualifying, I decided to move my top arms forward as far forward as possible and went down to 2mm bumpsteer instead of 3mm to try and get my steering. This helped, but I still felt I needed more. I managed to TQ this round by getting another lap than everyone else.
|
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
Round 3, I left the car as the track conditions had changed and I thought I would see how it went. Out again on the AKA Soft Gridirons, I TQed this round even after a few silly mistakes, taking it by only a few seconds. As qualifying went on how many laps you did in your 3 best rounds out of 5, I wasn't certain I had locked up the overall TQ so I decided to try something I never really mess with.
For Round 4 of qualifying, I moved my front top arm position in order to get that last piece of what I thought I needed, steering. If I got TQ this round, I would lock up the overall. I went out on track, AKA Super Soft Gridirons this run, as the temperature was much cooler, and my car had all the steering I wanted. After half the run I was on for the fastest run of the weekend to date and was several seconds ahead. Finally had my car where I wanted it and managed to TQ round four and took the overall TQ.
|
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
For the fifth and final round of qualifying, I decided to try a different tires to test and see what I might want to run in the finals. I considered trying AKA Super Soft Double Downs but made a last minute change to AKA Super Soft Impacts. My car was on fire the last round of qualifying, the best it felt throughout the first day of the event. I set the fastest time of the day and took the final TQ, TQing all 5 rounds of qualifying in Nitro Buggy at the event. Second was Tyson Walsh, another XRAY team driver giving XRAY 1-2 at the end of qualifying!
Starting pole in the semi, I felt extremely confident on AKA Super Soft Impacts. A silly crash on the first lap put me almost dead last, but within 2 laps I was back into the lead and pulling out to a huge lead. I managed to win the Semi by a lap, giving me pole position in the A Main.
Tire choice was a struggle. I couldn't decide if I wanted to run on AKA Super Soft Impacts like I had ran in the Semi or AKA Super Soft Double Downs. I chose AKA Super Soft Double Down and they were amazing. Starting pole in the final, I didn't make any mistake on the first lap and had stretched out to a 5sec gap within the first lap. I continued stretching out the lead and ended up winning by 3 laps in the 40 minute final, leading every lap from tone to tone and setting the only 28 second lap of the weekend in Nitro Buggy.
|
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
| Nitro Buggy Final Results |
|
1. Aaron Dexter - XRAY XB8
2. Brady Piggot
3. Ruben Martins
4. Fabio Silvi
5. Tyson Walsh - XRAY XB8
6. Kerren Nottle - XRAY XB8
7. Gavin Suckling
8. Tom Dexter - XRAY XB8
9. Ben Dexter - XRAY XB8
10. Joe Capone
11. Stephen Roberts
12. Joel Richardson
|
|
|
My car was amazing in the final, the best it has ever been! AKA tires were perfect all weekend! Nitro X Fuel running amazing as always! Huge thankyou goes out to my sponsors who support me and my pitman, Daniel Robins!
XRAY - Hobby Express International - AKA - Nitro X Fuel - Hudy - Muchmore - Ryper Hobbies - House Of Nitro RC - Team Nugget Racing
|
|
