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JConcepts Super Cup 4/28/2012

Tim Potter on Apr 29, 2012
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I was looking forward to running the latest round of JConcepts SuperCup series at Coral Springs Raceway. The Coral Springs track is a great facility that is run by one of the best track crews in the country. The last round of the series was rained out, so racers were anxious to put some laps down in anger. The weather once again put the race program in jeopardy. Quick thinking and flexible racers saved the day. The entire race was relocated indoors at my home off road track of Bashers RC Raceway. After a short practice, we were racing by noon. I have been running my 201 in Blinky 17.5 for the last few months, so I stayed with that class for the race. We have a bunch of fast kids in Florida, so I knew it would be a tough race. Last time out with the car, I set TQ and blew out in the main, so I was looking for a better performance in the main this weekend.

With 26 heats, each round was about 6 hours long, so I had plenty of time in between rounds to wrench on the car. I wanted to put in a solid run in the first round, then push it for the second. I got a solid run in, had couple of bobbles and a lot of traffic issues, but still managed to set prelim TQ. The last heat of Blinky, Austin Venieza put in great run to pip my TQ. Mission accomplished for the first round. Sitting second, I could take a few more chances. I put on some fresh rubber for the second round, and did not make any changes to the car, I have a great base setup for Bashers, so I concentrated on my driving to pick up my pace. First round I did a 22 5:07, and TQ was @ 22 5:01 . From the tone, the car was stable and turning perfect, it was in my hands to make the time up. The fresh rubber was perfect, and I ran down the TQ, just getting ahead on the last few laps. I had a bit of a traffic problem with an overzealous lapper, that was enough to take me off the just about 23 lap pace. After getting marshaled, I still picked up 3 seconds, and put me solid in 2nd for the main.

It's seems I have not run a main in months, This time around, I had to leave the track for some home issues, I was really bummed, because the car was right there. At least some more people took notice and we will be having another Tamiya racer locally. The TRF 201 has never let me down, always easy to drive, and fast as well. It will be great to have another racer showing the capabilities of the car. This will make 3 Drivers in our area with the 201. I am eagerly watching Jimmy Wright’ Trac’ster to see what he comes up with for Blinky racing.

Thanks to Bashers, Coral Springs and JConcepts crews, they made this race possible.
Dirt Oval with the 201

Tim Potter on Apr 05, 2012
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Quick post here...

I stopped by the local dirt oval ( Southlands Speedway ) to check out what they had going on for the race program. This track is a new facility for a group of racers that have been doing dirt oval for the better part of a decade. They focus on having fun first, and it shows. The track is very well maintainted and always had a good turnout.
Since they had finihsed racing, I thought I would try the 201 to see how the offroad setup would translate.... DIALLED is all I can say. I am going to grab a late model body and throw it on the car. More to come.....
Unexpected Race Night with the 201

Tim Potter on Feb 18, 2012
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I had an unexpected night of racing last night. I stopped by Bashers to check things out, not planning on racing. Long story short, I ended up borrowing a battery and running my 17.5 Blinky buggy in the mod buggy class. The track was medium to high traction as normal, and by staying out of trouble; I was able to put myself in 2^nd spot for the first round of qualifier’s

I added a 1mm shim to the inner camber link on the front, needing a touch more steering. The car was better in the 2^nd qualifier, but had some issues with traffic. Not having that rip out of the power system really hurt me, but I had an overall good qualifying all things considered.

I had to pack up and go , so I was not able to run the main, but it was a good night for the TRF 201. I let another racer drive my buggy between rounds, and we have another covert. I am looking forward to building my new kit myself. Best of all.. my son Niko had a great time too, starting him on TRF early.
Super Cup 2012 @ Bashers

Tim Potter on Feb 05, 2012
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Living in Florida is a huge advantage for those of us that race R/C. We race indoor and outdoor all year round. Our 2012 SuperCup season kicked off with a race @ my local indoor track, Bashers R/C. The SuperCup is the premium series in Florida, and it brings the best races in the state to compete on multiple tracks in the area. Bashers while on the smaller side, is one of the nicest tracks I have ever raced at. Brian Buckley puts a lot of effort into his facility and it shows.

The race weekend kicked off with a 300 lap SC enduro on Saturday night, and finished the last main at 8pm on Sunday. The race had 170+ entries, so races were run on a tight schedule. I raced a couple of classes, but my focus was on Buggy Stock. Stock for the series this year, has followed ROAR rules, and as such it was the first time for me to run Blinky. My TRF 201 was great from the first lap. Since Bashers is my home off road track, my setup was close. The first qualifier, I had a decent run, the car was planted, almost too much so. As the race went on, I kept on bumping my fast lap . As the tone went off, I was sitting in TQ. We have a bunch of fast kids in the area, so I did not think it would hold. I know my car had at least another lap in it.. maybe two.

I started to wrench on the car, rebuilt my shocks with a little heavier shock oil, as I thought that was the best option for a little more speed. With so many entries, there was lot of time between rounds, so there was no hectic wrenching. When I put the car on the track for the second qualifier, it seemed like my change was good. However I had only one warm up lap .. and then we started. I made it 3 laps and the idler gear failed one me. I have not had too many issues with the gear , so I had not put the updated one in the tranny. I did not have enough laps on the car to determine if I wanted to swap the changes out.

It turns out that my first run stood as TQ. I started tearing apart the tranny, and decided to stick with the changes on the shocks. I ran the same type of tires for both of the heats, and decided to keep the HB Beams in the rear and Barcodes in the front. We had a long wait until the mains, and unfortunately the track lost some grip. When I put my car on the track in the main I knew I was in trouble.

The tone went off, and I got away for a decent lead. The cars behind me were fighting for position, and it let me get away. The car was so hard to drive though, and it was only a matter of time. I kept it together for 4 or 5 laps, and then finally succumbed to my own mistake, casing a double. I dropped down to 5th, and just kept on fighting the car for the rest of the 6 minutes. I finally got a handle of the changes, but it was too little too late... I ended up in 5th place, but cracked off the fast lap.

Looking forward to racing in the South Florida series that starts in March... Lesson learned, probably should have played it a little more safe... The car was dialed, I dialed it out. I was the only racer running the TRF, this area is very Losi and Associated loyal. Every time I run the car, people notice how good it looks, and I think we are starting to get some more believers. Looking forward to building up the newest 201.
Bashers Racing 6/24

Tim Potter on Jun 28, 2011
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Back to Racing !!!

After taking a few months off to travel to Ukraine I had my first outing with the 201. Our local indoor track had a layout change, so it was a great test against the other locals. I am trying out HB tires for the first time on my buggy, so I mounted up some Beams and GigaBites. I arrived at the track late and did not have any practice with the car, but after a quick once over it looked ready to go.

The new layout at Bashers is nice an open, with a few rhythm sections, so it is a blast to drive. The groove is starting to come in so I opted for a set of GigaBite rears and some Groovie fronts. We run an “open” buggy class, but I have been running a 17.5 Speed Passion setup, it is usually enough horsepower to compete against most of the locals running 7.5’s and 8.5’s.

The first qualifier started, and my car was very drivable, maybe a little more on power steering would have been nice. I swapped the lead once or twice with two other racers, but with the lack of wheel time, and the new layout, I made far too many mistakes. I finshed 2^nd in the first qualifier, about 6 seconds off the pace of TQ. The second qualifier was a bit better, I tweaked the car and put a set of Beams on the rear. The car was a bit better, but my driving still was rusty. I ended up TQ’ing that round, but fell short for the overall TQ.

The main started, and I got dropped to the back of the pack. After a few minutes of fighting through traffic, I was in second, and looking for the lead. The car was good, and all I had to do is drive it… Easier said than done! . After few mistakes, and some good battles for position, I ended up in 3^rd place. The 201 was a great car to get me back into racing after such a long time off. It was easy to drive, and required little wreching.

Looking forward to the next race..
JConcepts SuperCup Spring Session - Round 2

Tim Potter on Feb 27, 2011
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Round 2 of the JConcepts SuperCup saw a fantastic 185 entries battle it out for the win in a bunch of classes. Of course the “Main” Classes of 2wd Buggy, 4wd Buggy, and Short Course were stacked, enabling a great show for the mains. Round 2 was held at Mills Pond R/C Raceway, one of the best and longest running tracks in Florida. Mills is generally known as a 1/8^th facility, but the track crew put down a layout that was awesome for any scale. The weather could not have been better, with low humidity and temps in the high 70’s, this is as good as it gets for racing outdoors in February.

The track opened at 7am, and racing started at 9:30, with so many entries the track crew had to hammer out the program, and they did a great job getting though 60+ races before it was all said and done. I was racing three classes, so my day was busy with gluing tires, and tweeking setups, it went by real fast. My SC and 4x4 SC were good from the first time I set them down, just had to adjust to the track with tires.

The 201 was good from the first lap also. The track started a little damp, and with my heat being the third of the day, I started with Double D’s and Rips. The choice was good, but the track did not have as much grip as anticipated, and a solid run put me in the middle of the A. I decided not to change anything on the setup and went with a front tire change instead. Putting a set of Barcodes on the front, the car was just too hard to drive. The traction came up faster than anticipated, and I fought it swapping ends in every corner. I still went faster that round, but so did everyone else. It put me 7^th on the grid for the main. With a tire like a JC Rips, it would have been a top 3 run for sure. With the amount of entries we had, the track changes a fair amount from run to run. I started the main with a fresh set of Bar Codes on the rear and some Groovies on the front. The car was very good with this setup, but a rookie mistake of having the slipper too loose cost me a good finishing spot. On the tone, I pulled the trigger, and did not get off the line good, going into the first turn; pack of cars got together, and put me to last. That was the story, as I worked my way up to 6^th by the end. I just did not have any grunt to get over the small punchy stuff. Lesson learned on Slipper settings! The 201 has been super reliable and responds to the changes, I am waiting to put it all together at the next round in March.

The two other TRF cars at the race were piloted by Justin Niznik and Armondo Ledesma. Dustin had a great run in the B, bumping up to the A and finishing in 7^th. Armondo has bumped up to run modified, and his car looked great, but power issues cost him a solid run. All three of us should be representing at the next SuperCup, looking for some podiums and wins!
Club Racing the 201

Tim Potter on Jan 27, 2011
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Another good night running the 201 at Bashers!. I have had chance to run the car on the new layout two times in the last two weeks, and it is coming around. We run 1 buggy class, Open, and the car is getting better each time I run it.

We had two racers with 201's last night, with couple of legacy Losi's and the rest B4's. The second 201 was driven by Armando Ledesma of Miami, and we both had solid qualifying, with Armondo in 6th and me in 4th overall. Both of us worked on the correct tire setup, as the track has changed a quite bit in the last few weeks. We both ended up with Bar Codes on the rear, while I ran them in the front, and he ended up with Groovy's on the front.

Racing at Bashers can be frustrating at times. As it is, at most small tracks, traffic is a big decider. Qualifying was close, with the top two cars getting 25 laps, the next few cars. were just off that pace, with traffic causing most of the differences. After the first round I made a shock oil change, to 32.5 Losi in the front, and it settled the car down a little bit. It was better in the second round, but still just a tick off the pace.

I rebuilt the diff, and made a few tweeks, went from DD's to Barcodes, and was ready for the main. The tone went off, and the start was a little rough, after a few laps I had worked my way up to 2nd, about 2 seconds off of the lead. I parked it in the chicane, and that dropped me to the rear of the field. It was pretty much salvaging a decent finish at that point, first and second was checked out. I worked my way through traffic and on the last lap made a pass for 3rd. Armondo, had a rough main, not sure where he finished, but both of our cars were right there !

All in all, the car just keeps on getting better, I just have to drive it better. I am going to try some changes with the bump steer next time out. Will report in.
Bashers Race Report.

Tim Potter on Dec 25, 2010
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Raced my TRF 201 Thursday night. We had a before Christmas race @ Bashers in Palm Beach Gardens Fl. Bashers is a great little indoor facility and because if it's size has quite frenetic races. My 201 was good for the first round, putting me 4th on the grid, even though my driving was off. The facility has a semi blue groove hard clay surface; I ran a combo setup between Randy's and the Kit. Second round of qualifying was a little rough, and I dropped back to 5th for the main. I struggled a bit with Tire's and now have some things to try next time I race there.

The main was rough, got dropped to last in the second corner, worked up to 3rd by the 5th minute, my motor plate worked loose and I was lucky to finish 4th. Overall the car was so very consistent, and while I had the only 201 in the main, it got a fair amount of attention.

Overall a good night of racing, I am going to try a few things to get a touch more on power steering, will report back. Hopefully we will race this weekend in Coral Springs Fl..