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I competed at the Indoor Offroad Neo Race on the weekend of November 19-20, 2005, along with most of the world's top drivers. It was very high competition on a difficult track.
With unclear visibility and a very bumpy track, it was quite difficult for everybody to find the good setup and the right way of driving.
We were allowed open practice on Thursday. The track had a good grip and was flat, so all cars and tyres were working. During controlled practice on Friday, things were different. Many holes appeared and the track had no grip anymore. I worked a lot on the car and found a good setup - using softer shocks, softer rear and center diff, smaller swaybar, etc. Since I first time used the TQ suspension sets I do not use anything else which was the same case for this race. |
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During qualifying, I changed the setup for every round because the track became more and more bumpy. I inclined the shocks less to get a better car on the bumpy sections. I also put in a longer main ratio to get a smoother engine. I had a good car every time but my driving was not so good and I had many mistakes. I finished 3rd in the qualifier, which was good for me.
For the semi, I checked over the entire car and changed the setup to make for a very easy car in order to be more consistent during the semi and final. I replaced my 2x1.3 conical piston by 2x1.4 (front) & 2x1.5 (rear) straight-hole pistons, and used smaller swaybars (2.2 front, 2.6 rear). I also change the standard manifold to a shorter one to get a smoother engine. In the semi my car had no grip and the suspension didn't work enough. I did my best to go up in the main but it was very difficult.
For the final, I set the front diff harder & the rear diff softer, then made softer shocks to get more grip and less steering. The car was very good, comfortable with far better performance. I started from 9th position but was quite fast and succeeded in join leading drivers Jared Tebo and Ricardo Gomes. We had a great battle. After 45 minutes I was leading, followed by the Spanish champion and the American driver in 3rd. At that moment I ran out of fuel and the engine stalled out. I have finally finished the race in 6th position.
My fuel consumption was fine every time I checked it previously (on Saturday and during the semi). I think that my car was much better so I could push it more during the final, and as such the engine consumed more fuel...
Anyway, it was a good week-end for me although I did not win and I learned a lot on the extreme track conditions. |
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