Snetterton 200mm foam national

pjlague · Last edited by pjlague on Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hi All
After my disappointment at Aldershot,i needed to race and get that out of my system,so i decided to go in at the deep end and do the 200mm foam national at Snett.
I had a chat with Ryk to see if he would come with me as my pit man and he agreed,i was not going up on Saturday for practice,so it rearly was in at the very deep end.
Ryk had some old foams from when he had the shop and one good set,so thats what i used,there was a ten minute free practice,the foams had plenty of grip but the car was not how i like it.
1st qually was not that good 19 laps,it was getting use to how fast you can go on foams and the corner speed you can carry on full power,the next qually i done 20 laps and the next was to be my quickest 21 laps which put me 3rd in my heat,the last qually i just put on odd foams,just to go round i had change something els,i needed my good foams for the final
(if you could call them good) we never new if they would last for my final.
so that was quallys over,i finished 16,that was 6 on grid in the B final.
i was set for the race,we warmed up came round to the grid,Ryk picked the car up i reved it to clean it,i did not want it to flame out,cars down i had to touch the throttle a bit and it moved a foot and then the bleeps went,so i had a jump start and a stop and go,that put me back to about 8th/9th.so i started to move back up the field as the race went on but the car was not right,sometimes it would step out other times it was ok about 3 quarters into the race i had moved up to 4th,i came out of the right hander onto the straight on full power and it stepped out and caught the kerb and lanched it,into the infield at the end of the straight so i missed the loop,lost a lap but i was still 4th,and then the car started to lose drive out the back with 1 minute to go,and then it went, the one way bearing had failed that was me out,but i still finished 5th.
It was a great days racing,and to see these top guys racing on foams was something else,i learned a lot there on Sunday,that foam racing is so quick i loved it,it is the quickest i have ever been round Snett,had i have had some practice on the Saturday and some good sets of foams,and setup i would have gone quicker,but it was a great day,and i got rid of my Aldershot blue's,cant wait for Sunday.
Pete

Craig.Woods · Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:36 pm Post subject:

Sounds like you had a good one then! Maybe bout time we tried Foam's at Colchetser - Quicker can only be better!!

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Craig Woods
|Colchester A1 Models|

BigD · Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:50 pm Post subject:

foams would be good give the track a bit of grip and some dirty black lines

sounds like you had a stormer pete well done mate did you preffer running foams. back in the day i ran foams but all i remeber is that theres a bit of initial slide then it grips like .... to a blanket

pjlague · Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:21 pm Post subject:

Hi Dave
Yes the foams are a lot quicker,and all grip no slip,very easy to drive,much more on power cornering,more braking,not like rubber,rubber is a harder to drive than a foam car,but foams do wear a lot lot more than rubber.As i said the speed you can carry around and through the corners on power is just great,i kept pushing and found that i could go quicker and i still had grip,so different than rubber,Mark green a A team serpent driver,is fastest lap time 12.10 sec and 24 laps on foam,on rubber a good time high 13secs/ 14.00 sec and 22 laps.So foams are a lot quicker.
Pete.

Craig.Woods · Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:48 am Post subject:

mmmm Maybe we'll have to try!
_________________
Craig Woods
|Colchester A1 Models|

Hugh Jengine · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 206

An enjoyable day out at Snett, Pete improved nearly every round and was unlucky not to place a bit higher in his final - the cars and drivers were certainly impressive with the speed they took through the corners. But, before jumping at the chance to run foam at CMCC there are some facts worth considering:

To race on foams you need a variety of different shore tyres.
To get the most from the foams you'll need to invest in a tyre truer, to get the right size tyres for the overdrive ratio you choose to run.
You will chunk up tyres by clipping curbs - you can carry on using them (or repairing by glue-and-true) but most will use another set.
The extra speed you are racing at takes a toll on your drivetrain: outdrives, driveshafts etc are put under extra strain - you think you're going through belts now, wait until you're using foams!
If you have a crash - it's costly!
Everytime you run, the reduction in tyre circumference effects ride hight & gear ratio (unless you are putting a new set of trued tyres on each run) So in a days racing you may have to make a lot of fine adjustments which is a bit of a hassle in between rounds.
It's really messy!! I hate cleaning my car (as some of you might have noticed) Fuel, track-dust/dirt and foam means a very regular strip down.

These are just a few observations from last weekend. I'm not saying don't go for foams, but club members should consider some of the facts.

On a positive note - foam cars are seriously quick! and I am still tempted to run foams next year....

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