June 13, 2014

Track Focus – Hockenheimring

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Track Name – Hockenheimring
Club – RC-Team Hockenheim
Country – Germany
Location – Hockenheimring (95km south of Frankfurt)
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
Previous key events hosted – ENS Pilot Race (2013), European Nitro Challenge (2011 & 12)

Round 3 of the Euro Nitro Series returns to the track out of where the idea for the championship was first mooted back in 2012 during the European Nitro Challenge. Located directly behind the grandstands that overlook the main straight of the famous Hockenheimring motor racing track, which next month hosts the German F1 Grand Prix, the track has been home to the small 20 member RC-Team Hockenheim since 2006 having formerly been used as an outdoor karting track. With the kart track stopping operation, the club which raced on various car parks around the area with a mobile track system approached the Hockenheimring about the possibility to use the ideal site to which the huge venue was very accommodating.

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The deal that was struck for the use of the track is a very interesting and fair one for the club who instead of paying an annual fee instead have to buy a €6 entry ticket to the Formula 1 track’s museum, which is located right next to the r/c track, for every driver that takes part in one of the four to five r/c events the club holds annually. Twice a year the track essentially disappears as the area has to be cleared for the Hockenheimring’s two key events, the Grand Prix and DTM, when the area becomes a merchandise village.

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Intially racing on the same layout as was used by the karts this would prove a little too open and in 2008 they switched to the current layout. The change meant certain sections of the track had to be painted to cover over the old layout but the club did their research using a black paint that is certified by the FIA, the world governing body for motorsport, for use in 1:1 scale racing track repairs. In size the lap of the track covers 330 metres with it being 5-metres wide all the way round. With a straight 75 metres long, 1:8 cars were recorded at 120kph last year during the opening ENS Pilot Race. In addition to the ENS Round, which morphed out of the club’s European Nitro Challenge, the club’s next biggest race is their annual Large scale Glühweincup.

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May 18, 2014

Chassis Focus – Andrea Pirani

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Chassis – WRC GTX
Engine – OS Speed
Fuel – MLC
Tires (handout/wet choice) – Contact/Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Futaba-Highest
Body – Protoform R18

Remarks – The WRC factory driver is running a car that he says is now 95% close to the definitive production car, the only thing not produced by the Italian company being the shocks. Since Round 1 of the ENS in Melzo, the biggest visible news are the black anodized aluminum parts than now are nicely laser-engraved, while in terms of performance the team has updated the front geometries with the addition of a new ackermann plate on the servo-saver which is meant to confer more overall steering to the car. After he had some gearbox problems in Melzo, they’ve also implemented some new shoes, made in a different material, that are now working flawlessly.

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May 17, 2014

Chassis Focus – Loran Whiting

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Chassis – Xray NT1 2013
Engine – Novarossi Virtus
Fuel – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Contact
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Body – Protoform SRS

Remarks – Fast American female racer Loran Whiting has again made the trip over to Europe to contest the second round of the Euro Nitro Series. Enjoying the sunshine of Melzo in Italy, unfortunately this weekend she has seen the opposite spectrum of the weather with the wet conditions here in Austria. With no experience of racing in the wet, Loran has so far opted not to run in such conditions but she did have a productive day of testing with her Xray NT1 in the dry on Thursday at Aigen. Part of a racing onroad nitro racing family – her dad, younger sister and younger brother all racers, she is running a pretty standard version of Xray’s successful nitro touring car which is equipped with a full ceramic version of Novarossi’s Virtus engine. To obtain a better behaviour on the fast flowing European style track, which provides less traction than what she is used to in the US, her father decided to limit the flex in the chassis using braces on the front of the radio tray making the suspension to work more instead.

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May 16, 2014

Chassis Focus – Adrien Bertin

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Chassis – Hot Bodies R8
Engine – Orion CRF R21
Fuel – Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Contact
Radio/Servos – Futaba/Orion
Body – Matrix R18

Remarks – After his debut in the ENS season in 200mm class, former World Champion Adrien Bertin has switched to running 1/8th scale here in Aigen, with a pre-production example of the Hot Bodies R8. Having tested the car for two afternoons on his home track, he said the feeling was great from the beginning and that led to his decision to race it here. He talked us through the car’s design, pointing out what Miyashita’s main goals were. First of all, he wanted to obtain a nice flex on the car without losing any precision, so he focused on designing a radio tray that would allow that. Adrien himself pointed out the importance of the flex highlighting that the missing screw on top of his servo saver made a huge difference, giving the car more steering while reducing a bit its reactivity. He was also delighted with the many adjustments allowed in both the front and rear end. Back to the radio tray, its design is a key factor in obtaining another goal the Japanese designer was looking to achieve: a lower centre of gravity, of crucial importance to help reduce the roll and make the car faster especially in the direction changes.

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May 16, 2014

Chassis Focus – Dominic Greiner

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Chassis – Serpent 748 Natrix
Engine – Picco
Fuel – Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Contact
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Body – SRC Spark

Remarks – Dominic Greiner is running a pre-production example of the brand new 200mm car by Serpent, the 748 Natrix, here in Aigen. The car is almost final spec with only some minor tweaks needing to be made before production begins. The car’s designer Michael Salven ran us through the main new features that distinguish this car from its predecessor. The car is lighter, with special attention paid to the weight of the two differential, while the engine has been moved towards the rear end for better weight distribution and can now be removed from the chassis together with its mounts. The radio tray is also new and provides a lower CG and a better weight distribution, the tank being longer and more narrow to bring the servos towards the center of the car. We’ve been told the new shape of the fuel tank also positively affects the engine’s performance. On the rear, the anti-roll bar is now linked further outwards on the suspension arms and is more effective even when using a thinner wire, with its mount also working as as a brake disc guide. At the front a brand new steering block with interchangeable pivot balls mounts and steering braces allow for more adjustments while with flex being a big concern the car now features different possibilities to adjust the car’s overall stiffness.

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June 30, 2013

Chassis focus – Gilles Groskamp

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Chassis – Shepherd V10-Pro
Engine – Maxima
Radio/Servos – Sanwa

Remarks – Winner here at Kirchberg, Jilles told us he is running a pretty stock version of the V10, although he made some structural adjustments to get more flexibility in the front end. The car is new to him, so he used this race mostly to test different things in an attempt to be well prepared for the Euros to be held here in August. He also told us he is using a different setup from his team mates, deciding to run different shock springs, camber links and other small adjustments.

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