Weekend of R/C - Touring and F1 Fun 

Its been a while since I've written an RCCarTips newletter article. I miss writing about the r/c hobby so I will start my articles again. It will just be my experiences, thoughts and conversations about radio control cars.

Last weekend was full of rc excitement for me. High stakes touring car racing on Saturday and laid back F1 fun on Sunday.

On-Road Electric Touring

Saturday - The final race of the HPI All Asia Finals Elimination 2010 on-road touring car race. It was a 5 race series with a free trip and hotel accomodation to Bangkok for the HPI Asia Cup 2010. Going into the final race and I was tied in points with a fellow racer.

In this winner take all scenario, I had some good luck and won the first A-main and placed 2nd in the second A-main with the Hot Bodies TCX TC. In the third main I ran my 8 year old Tamiya 414 TC and surprisingly was faster than my 2010 HB TCX.

Overall I am the 2010 Stock Touring 13.5 No-Boost Champion and will fly off to Thailand on 4 - 7 Dec to race in the 2010 HPI Asia Cup. Thanks HPI!

My 9 year old daughter Porsha also joined the series in the Open Mini 13.5T class. She had lots of fun with the speed. Her best lap was 13.7sec in a Tamiya FWD M05 whilst mine was 11.94 sec in a 4wd HPI TCX. Expert drivers in her class were running a XEVO mini chassis at 13.1 sec per lap, so my daughter is getting close.

Formula One R/C

Sunday - The next day I met my friend Louie and a few others and we had fun playing with our Formula One rc cars. Popular kits were the Tamiya 103, 3racing F109 and the Tamiya F104. Everyone had mixed equipment but in the end speeds were very close. Racing was realistic and fun with lots of side by side racing action lap after lap.

Photo: Formula 1 remote controlled cars.

Best of all, F1 rc cars are cheap, look real and are very easy to set up and maintain. It's a cheap way for beginners to get into the hobby and develop good driving techniques as F1 driving is about being smooth.

RC Car Tips

And here are random tips off my mind...

• If you want to develop good driving technique, start the hobby with a rwd formula one rc car.
• To win races you need to manage the pressure. For me I simply visualize the racing line on the track and focus on driving my rc car on that racing line. No other unnecessary thoughts enter my mind.
• For on-road racing, tire choice and traction compound techniques will be 80% of tuning your car. Try to master these techniques.
• For traction compound, try a baseline of full coat on the rear tires and 50% coat on the front tires (inner part) and leave on the tire for 5 to 10 minutes then wipe off with a rag.
• In racing, braking technique will win races. Learn how to use the brakes to manage corner entry speed and to overtake your opponent. It took me months to learn how to brake but well worth it.
• Try to get your son or daughter involved. Family bonding and enjoyment.
• Whether it is serious racing or just playing with friends, the rc hobby is lots of fun.

So that was my rc weekend, how was yours? Hope you were having fun as well :)

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