DT-02 Challenge 2014 - Standard Class Entry

Hello all.
This car was my entry into the standard class for the 2014 Tamiya DT-02 challenge. I raced a Sand Viper in the 2013 running of the DT-02 challenge and finished 3rd overall in the modified class. For 2014 I decided to run in the standard class as the entry numbers in that class were greater and I liked the idea of racing under the stricter rules.


I originally intended to strip my Sand Viper down and after buying a HB shell re-build as standard but after looking into the differences between the HB and the Sand Viper I realized there were more differences than I thought so in the end I just bought a new kit which I managed to pick up quite cheaply.


I spent quite a long time building this car, I built it a bit at a time over the course of a few months as my other racing commitments meant I could only spend an hour or so here and there working on the Holiday Buggy. The rules allowed for changes to the standard friction dampers so I decided to run the Tamiya aeration dampers that I ran in the 2013 modified class. These worked quite well and were matched with Schumacher springs that I’ve had for years and have gotten to know the rates.


A choice of 3 motors were permitted and I decided to run the Sport Tuned motor. For convenience I also elected to run the Lipo batteries that I run in my current racing buggy. Harnessing the Lipo cells to the motor was a Tekin FX ESC.


All my race cars are generally coloured silver with a smattering of black (normally the rear wing) and I intended to spray the HB body silver to keep up the tradition but it was only when I received the kit through the post that I realised this was not going to be possible due to the plastic the shell is moulded from. As you can see I managed to get some of my normal colours on the shell by means of self-adhesive vinyl. This was all a bit of a pain but I was pretty happy with the outcome. The driver’s helmet was borrowed from my vintage Hotshot 2 that raced at the Iconic-A1 revival earlier in the year.


I arrived at SHRCCC on the Sunday of the meeting with some confidence as I felt the car was well prepared and as it was new built I’d given it several race distance tests at my local club the week before with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Unfortunately the first practice round of the 2014 Tamiya DT-02 challenge was enough to tell me that I was in for a very long day. Despite running a 2.4ghz system, once all the drivers in my practice heat were in place on the rostrum I began to suffer with interference. You don’t really expect interference with 2.4ghz systems but I had it all right. As soon as all the other drivers took their places on the rostrum my car became pretty erratic and at certain corners un-drivable. Eventually I managed to position myself right off to one side of the rostrum about half way up the rostrum access ramp and this sorted the interference problems but left me struggling to accurately drive the furthest parts of the track as I was just not elevated enough. However there was nothing for it but to carry on regardless. A further problem that reared its head was that the car would cut out as it landed the only real jump on the circuit. I obviously checked all the connections and found nothing amiss, again the car ran faultlessly the previous week at my local track. I stiffened the rear suspension and raised the ride height to help cushion the landing. This helped a bit but it still intermittently cut out on landing. I suspect that this cutting out was probably still interference that I just perceived as the motor cutting out.


As qualifying came to an end I finally managed to get in a relatively clean run and qualified 7th of 9 for the A final. I’d hoped for better but given I’d had no time to change the cars set-up for the better due to sorting out all its other problems, I was just relieved to make it into the top final. Alas as everyone got onto the rostrum for the final my interference appeared again (although not as bad as before, I assume a driver that wasn’t in my qualifying heat but in this final was interfering with me this time) again I moved right over on the rostrum access ramp to sort it out. I must’ve looked pretty un-sociable up there stood right off to one side. I got a pretty clean start and held my position but got caught in a big pile up at the end of lap one that left me last. I also realised that if I didn’t launch the car gently off the jump the stuttering motor issues started again. I think that as the day wore on oil was probably leaking from the aeration dampers leaving less and less pack in the shocks and that meant the chassis started hitting the ground again. I ran round in last (9th) place and finished about a second behind the 8th place car.


All in all the 2014 DT-02 Challenge was very hard work and a little disappointing. This was in stark contrast to the 2013 running where everything went incredibly smoothly. Disappointing as it may have been I still had a lot of fun and it was great to see so many like-minded people running their cars.


No matter how prepared you think you are something is always lurking around the corner to ruin a potentially satisfying result. I know that one of the other guys racing (I think it was SRB Bloke) couldn’t get his electrics to run at all – at least I managed to finish all my races so I shouldn’t complain too much. Although the trip home this time was a bit sombre – lurking just round the corner will be one of those finals where you are just utterly inspired, causing you to finish way higher than you probably ought to. That is why I love RC racing so much.


As a footnote – I did win the raffle.