TYRO National Round 4 ? Swindon
CML/Microtech Racing driver Keith Robertson reports back from the fourth round of the TYRO Nationals hosted by Swindon Radio Control Model Car Club.
The weather was looking good as we rolled into Swindon Radio Raceway with the sun out and a nice breeze blowing. The track has seen a lot of work on it over the last year, although it retained the astro-turf/loose dirt mix of surfaces. The astro section really got your attention with the fast banked sweeper at the end of the straight!
Tyre choice and car set up would be interesting here due to the different surfaces, it would always be a compromise for the high grip astro and the low grip dirt. I had changed little on my Hyper 8.5 Pro since the last meeting so for practice I ran Proline M2 Crimefighters just to settle myself in. The car felt fast and turned competitive lap times so it was a good start.
For the first round of qualifying I decreased the droop slightly and changed to Proline M3 Bowties ? despite a couple of small errors with the car feeling a little loose I took fastest in round (but only just). For the second round I went back to Crimefighters, but this time the M3 compound and straight away the car had more side-bite in the corners, especially on the dirt. I put in a good improvement and although others improved too I was fastest in round again clinching the pole position spot.
For the final round I decided to try the M2 Crimefighter tyres I ran in practice again to see how they compared. My Hyper felt slightly safer to drive on the astro-turf but it was harder to keep a clean line on the dirt section ? great for ?edge of the seat? driving but not the best perhaps for the upcoming half-hour final. I was surprised to see that once again I took fastest in round so expectations were now high but I knew I couldn?t relax with drivers like Greg Hill, Lee Bunker and Jess Saunders right behind me.
With the dirt section getting rougher as the day progressed I increased the droop again for the final to help over the bumps and chose the M3 Crimefighters as they had felt the most consistent. Then of course it rained during warm-up! It sent many pitmen scurrying to find alternative tyres but most drivers concluded it was just a passing shower and maintained their original choices. I got a good start and pulled out a healthy lead until an engine cut at eight minutes lost me a couple of laps. From then on I pushed hard and managed to get back up to third place by the finish behind Lee Bunker as the win went to Greg Hill with an ultra-consistent run.
Results
1 Greg Hill 50/ 1815.83
2 Lee Bunker 49/ 1829.97
3 Keith Robertson 48/ 1802.90
4 Jess Saunders 48/ 1825.19
5 Scott Micheal 47/ 1801.16
6 Pete Stevens 47/ 1806.24
7 Brian Burrows 47/ 1829.32
8 Jim Davis 46/ 1801.74
9 Robert Cork 46/ 1831.07
10 Richard Palmer 46/ 1836.56
For the first round of qualifying I decreased the droop slightly and changed to Proline M3 Bowties ? despite a couple of small errors with the car feeling a little loose I took fastest in round (but only just). For the second round I went back to Crimefighters, but this time the M3 compound and straight away the car had more side-bite in the corners, especially on the dirt. I put in a good improvement and although others improved too I was fastest in round again clinching the pole position spot.
For the final round I decided to try the M2 Crimefighter tyres I ran in practice again to see how they compared. My Hyper felt slightly safer to drive on the astro-turf but it was harder to keep a clean line on the dirt section ? great for ?edge of the seat? driving but not the best perhaps for the upcoming half-hour final. I was surprised to see that once again I took fastest in round so expectations were now high but I knew I couldn?t relax with drivers like Greg Hill, Lee Bunker and Jess Saunders right behind me.
With the dirt section getting rougher as the day progressed I increased the droop again for the final to help over the bumps and chose the M3 Crimefighters as they had felt the most consistent. Then of course it rained during warm-up! It sent many pitmen scurrying to find alternative tyres but most drivers concluded it was just a passing shower and maintained their original choices. I got a good start and pulled out a healthy lead until an engine cut at eight minutes lost me a couple of laps. From then on I pushed hard and managed to get back up to third place by the finish behind Lee Bunker as the win went to Greg Hill with an ultra-consistent run.
Results
1 Greg Hill 50/ 1815.83
2 Lee Bunker 49/ 1829.97
3 Keith Robertson 48/ 1802.90
4 Jess Saunders 48/ 1825.19
5 Scott Micheal 47/ 1801.16
6 Pete Stevens 47/ 1806.24
7 Brian Burrows 47/ 1829.32
8 Jim Davis 46/ 1801.74
9 Robert Cork 46/ 1831.07
10 Richard Palmer 46/ 1836.56
