SoCal U4RC Summer Series 2018 – Round 5 – Cherry Valley Raceway

Tony Phalen May 16, 2018 New RC Cars and Parts 75 Views

For Round 5 of the 2018 SoCal U4RC Summer Series, we made our final visit to Cherry Valley RC Raceway located in, of course, Cherry Valley CA. The weather report (a couple days before) stated a high of 68ish and cloudy, however when we got there it was hovering right around 52° with a slight drizzle. It did warm up a little, but never hit above 60°. So happy I brought jeans with me.

The track was going in the opposite direction this time, my first time driving it this way. Some of the areas of the track were actually easier – it seemed, to me anyways, that the flow was better. It definitely showed in the performance of both the Axial RR10 Bomber and Tekno RC DB48!

Axial RR10 Bomber

Since the Bomber is getting better with each run, I only made one tuning mod prior to this event and can honestly say that this is the best my Bomber has felt yet!

I opened the rear diff and swapped out the old oil with 10K weight – used Team Associated diff oil for that. This oil is a little thinner than what I’ve used before so I expect it to seep a bit faster (since the Axial diff isn’t truly sealed), but I’ve come up with a few mods that will help delay this process. More on that in another post. Changing to 10K added a little more grip in the rear of the Bomber both in the corners and through the rocks. This made it a tick slower in the rock sections, but made up a lot more ground in the flats and bumpy areas. I’ll take that trade off since there’s less rock sections.

2.2 Solid Axle – Qualifying
The Bomber was really good in qualifying, I just tried to push it a bit more than I should. I’m still not 100% sold on the front anti-roll bar, but I do notice a huge difference with it and with it off. Handling is improved everywhere but the rocks; the front end doesn’t flex fast enough to soak up fast driving. I may look into a thinner bar up front.

I was able to pull off some fast laps, but not as fast as Anthony Vasquez. His rig was definitely on-point this weekend and looking really good. Then, of course, there’s Jesse Villa. He’s been fast at every event – this was not going to be an easy race by any means. Luckily, I was able to pull off a front row starting spot next to Anthony Vasquez, the fast guy who ended up with TQ.

2.2 Solid Axle – Main Event
As we sat on the starting line, I knew I was in a better starting position than Anthony. 2nd place lines up to the outside of the track, an area where all the dust has been blown away by cars flying down the straight. I needed to try and use this to my advantage to get the hole-shot to the first corner, especially with the large hump that would slow everyone down there. Getting caught in that could equal a first-turn disaster.

Luckily, I was able to get that awesome launch and threw the Bomber in front of Anthony, over the jump and into the lead. I immediately dropped into recon mode, something I typically do on the first lap of every race – don’t push the car, drive smooth and smart to get the rhythm going. That usually means a good, clean first lap, but not so this time. Instead of jumping the back double (which is pretty small), I opted to single/single it and ended up flipping on my roof, letting Anthony by.

A half-lap later, Anthony made a mistake, letting myself and Jesse Villa by, but then a freak ‘bump’ entering the rock garden had me on my roof again, letting both of them by. Back and forth, back and forth, the three of us swapping positions, me making quite a few mistakes on laps 2 and 3 – all the while letting Jesse pull away. When I put in a good run, I could see myself catching Jesse pretty quickly, but then I’d make another mistake. I knew if I could just keep it together, I had a chance to win this thing. You know what they say, it’s sometimes easier when you’re leading the race and setting the pace.

On lap 5 I had made up some time on the left side of the track and was closing in on Jesse when he made a slight bobble, catching a tire on the rocks and sending his rig sideways. I just happened to be in the perfect position to get past without incident – this was my ‘second chance’ at the race lead. I built up a slight gap and from that point on made sure to hit my marks and take it a bit easier in the rock sections. Not a pretty race, but the Bomber felt great – the best it’s been so far.

It’s been a bit of a struggle with no place to actually ‘practice’, but I’m glad to finally be getting this rig into a good, race trim. Thanks to the following for their support so far this season:
Car: Axial Racing RR10 Bomber
Servo: Hitec D-951TW High Torque Titanium Gear Servo
ESC: Castle Creations Mamba X Sensored ESC
Motor: Castle Creations 1406 Sensored 4600kV Brushless Motor
Battery: MaxAmps 6500mAh 2S 7.4v LiPo Battery
Wheels: Axial Racing 2.2 Walker Evans Wheels
Tires: Pro-Line Racing Hyrax 2.2″ G8 Rock Terrain Tires
Inserts: Pro-Line Racing 2.2″ Dual Stage Closed Cell Inner/Soft Outer Rock Crawling Foam Inserts
Radio System: Futaba 4PX Computerized Radio System
Paint: Sharkbait Designworks
Misc: RPM RC Products Long Rod Ends, RPM RC Products Short Rod Ends

Great day for the RR10 Bomber. Here’s the 2.2 Solid A-Main video:

Tekno RC DB48

The Tekno RC DB48 got a full tear down after Round 4 to make sure everything was in tip-top shape. Steering was strong and precise (thanks to the aluminum servo horn) and the hardened steel spur gear was in perfect shape. No real changes were made to it – just a thorough cleaning.

2.2 Unlimited – Qualifying
The first round of qualifying was my only round of qualifying – well, sort of. A clean, fast run was what I was looking for to post a good time; 7/5:35.52, 17 seconds ahead of 2nd qualifier Chris Pickering. DB48 is smooth and fast – such and enjoyable rig to drive!

On the first lap of the second qualifier, I drove a bit to aggressive into the rock sections and slammed the front of the body into a rock, snapping the two front zip ties; yes, I have yet to progress past the zip ties. This caused the body to lift off and to the side, making it impossible to drive. I slowly walked down the ramp and grabbed my car, then thought to myself – it’s zip ties. Go put a few more on and get back out there!

After a quick pit stop, I threw the DB48 back out there and had a goal in mind – let’s see what kind of lap times I can do it I really push this rig! The first full lap out I hit a 43.5, record lap on this track. At that point, however, reality set in – I don’t have a whole lot of parts for this truck and, if something should break, I could be out of the main! So I backed it down and did some various ‘line’ testing – different lines through the rocks and washboard section to find a faster line.

2.2 Unlimited Main Event
As I was TQ, I was on the inside line. Track was going to be loose so my main goal was a quick jump and be the first around turn 1. Jesse Villa was sitting in the #2 position, rocking a Losi-inspired Rock Racer and 4S power, so I knew he was going to be quick. He got a slight jump on me but I made sure to brake late, keeping him to the outside and allowing me around the corner first. That’s one thing I have to say about my fellow rock racers – there’s plenty of rubbing going on, but none of them are so anxious that they make stupid moves in an attempt to make a pass. I do truly appreciate driving with these guys.

Right after the first turn, it was basically cruise control – don’t over drive it, don’t attempt anything stupid – same as every race. Funny thing; even though I was just cruising and not trying to overdrive it, I was able to better the track record with a 43.3 second lap time. DB48 drives like a Cadillac I tell ya!

I do think I need to work on the rear shocks a bit; I noticed quite a bit of the ‘donkey kick’ over most of the jumps, but this could be due to the track running the opposite direction without any maintenance on the jumps.

Sit back and watch the video below. If you’re interested in the 2.2 Unlimited class, the Tekno DB48 is the vehicle to have – hands down!

Thanks again to all the companies that have supported this U4RC effort:
Car: Tekno DB48
Servo: Futaba BLS1755SV S.Bus2 HT Programmable Servo
ESC: Tekin RX8 Gen2 Brushless ESC
Motor: Castle Creations 1515 Y Sensored 2200kV Brushless Motor
Battery: MaxAmps 5450mAh 3S 11.1v LiPo Battery
Wheels: Vanquish KMC 2.2 XD229 Machete Aluminum Wheels
Tires: Pro-Line Racing Hyrax 2.2″ G8 Rock Terrain Tires
Inserts: Pro-Line Racing 2.2″ Dual Stage Closed Cell Inner/Soft Outer Rock Crawling Foam Inserts
Radio System: Futaba 4PX Computerized Radio System
Paint: Sharkbait Designworks