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Jedward

Diary of a Pit Dad

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It's been a while since my last update. We missed round 2 of the NE regionals because they were held on Easter Sunday and we had family commitments. That aside we have been going racing to NEAM on Sunday evenings, and I've even been having a go myself. NEAM is a great little club, lots of close racing and plenty of friendly people on-hand to offer advice and help when required.

Today we went to Dynamix Raceway in Gateshead where Charlie was racing in round 3 of the 2WD NE regionals. Dynamix is astro-turf, with a mix of high and medium grip and very bumpy.

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There were 58 racers in total, running in 6 heats with 5 rounds and a final. After the first heat and a little tweaking, we set the car up with -2 degrees camber front and rear with yellow mini-spikes on the rear and pro-line ribs (M3) on the front. Shock oils were 40 front and 30 rear. The set-up seemed to work well and Charlie was able to get stuck in to the heats and did well. He qualified in 10th place for the E final and managed to finish 5th from last on the grid, and against all adults. All-in-all good day-out, not sure about the shades though... :)

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So we were back at Seaham on Sunday evening for more club racing at NEAM. The fact that it was Father's Day was probably why it was a quiet evening with only 12 racers booking in.

I am starting to get the hang of setting the cars up and with no breakages it was a relatively stress free evening in the pits. Meanwhile on the track I continued to develop my... ahem, 'skills' ahead of this years DT-02 challenge. My consistency is improving as I managed to come last in each of the four heats as well as the final. My highlight came in round 1 were I managed to drive the B4 off line on corner 5 and out of the adjacent and open fire exit into the car park beyond!!! My prowess earned a chorus of cheers (laughter) from the gathered onlookers :-s

Here's a video of the final...

Charlie continues to do well and really enjoys his hobby. He is proving that he does not get his racing talent from me!!!

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I love how this has now gone from being about Charlie to yourself, mainly because it's much better story telling to talk about humour ha ha

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lol i wouldn't let you near the wall ride at local club we would have to get you out the rafters

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Another quiet night in the pits on Sunday, mainly because Charlie decided to wreck his car in the B final! Too bad for him but good for me as i beat him in the final (ok yes, I still came last, but he had a DNF; who's the Daddy!! :P

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Last Sunday we headed over to Preston Park for the 5th and final round of the North-East 2WD regionals, hosted by Teesside Racing Car club. I have hung up my transmitter for the duration of the summer holidays and resumed my role as Pit Dad, with both boys entering the U13s.

They did well, both qualifying for the F Final with Oliver finishing 11/12 from 12th and Charlie taking a well deserved win from 2nd on the grid...

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video of the final...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwjXyOoVAwg&list=UUhRO34aUeNqBwjAss5q1BUw

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Wow! Well done to both lads (and dad) but especially Charlie who's come a long way in a relatively short space of time. Its been really nice following his racing career on here so far, I kinda feel proud of him!

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Hi Jed,

I can't believe I've only just found this on here. It really is a great read, and look forward to any future installments.

I've just read the entire thread, and mentioning my Terra Scorcher making a brief appearance on your first outing, I think I need to run it again.

I never knew you had such an interest in the cars themselves .... great to read.

Reading about your first visit to the race meeting with your friends, takes me back to my first race meeting, with race control at one of of the school hall, and a stage for the drivers at the other.

I couldn't believe the speed and skill of the drivers with ... two drivers standing out in particular ... one with a black procat, and the other with a silver Manta Ray converted with a carbon double deck chassis. And the car I turned up with that night, was my Terra Scorcher ... 23 years ago (September 1991) .... I need to get that car out and running around again.. Thanks again for the read, and I look forward to the next installment.

Chris.

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The summer holidays were not as RC packed as I had hoped for, mainly because of other family commitments. But we're back into it now having been up at Seaham the last few weekends and have also picked up a 44.1 to start racing 4WD :-)

This weekend is the much anticipated DT-02 challenge 2014 and I can't believe it's a year since Charlie had his first taste of racing!

We are all really excited about the day, and finally I will also get to enter my first 'proper' competition :-)

Really looking forward to a fun day-out, celebrating the journey we have been on this past year, catching up with the Tamiya-holics we met last year and meeting some new ones.

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Well we had a great day-out racing on the 28th!

There was 5 of us racing including myself, Charlie, Oliver, my nephew, Bailey, and Brother-in-law, Matt. WE had 4 cars, with Bailey and I sharing. Between us we had mixed experience, with Charlie being the most experienced between us.

We were all entered into the Stock class, the three boys racing in the junior class, heat 7, and Matt and I in heat 3.

The cars...

Charlie;

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Oliver;

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myself and Bailey;

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Round 1

Heat 3 - Plenty of Banter between Matt and I ahead of the first round, and it was Matt who had bragging rights after the race finishing 5th out of 8 with me dead-last. Well I had issues with my steering, the servo saver was damaged you see so I could steer in a straight line, blah, blah, blah....

Heat 7 - Lots of action in the juniors heat, with 10 drivers lining up for the race. They gave the cars a good test by litteraly throwing them all over the track!! Charlie's steering assembly fell apart (it's hard being a racer and Pit-Dad!!!) so didn't complete a lap and therefore finish in 10th, Bailey 9th, Oliver 6th.

Round 2

Heat 3 - Servo saver repaired and I was back at the races, literally and 5th place and well pleased. Matt in 8th and it was honors even.

Heat 7 - Steering re-assembled, and Charlie drove well to finish 2nd behind Max, who had already taken the first round in impressive style. Oliver had a bumpy run this time out and finished 7th, Bailey 9th.

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Round 3

Heat 3 - An early retirement for Matt as t's his turn to experience issues with his steering; the kit supplied servo-saver not the best ad letting him down early-on. $th place for me and improving with each race.

Heat 7 - Oliver doing really well and getting into a bit of a groove, with a well deserved 4th place! Charlie 2nd, again behind Max who was driving superbly. Bailey 8th1

Round 4

Heat 3 - honestly I cant remember but here's a shot of Matt's car

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Heat 7 - Much as before with Max 1st, Charlie 2nd, Oliver 7th and Bailey 10th1

Finals

D Final - only 5 cars out of 7 lined up for the final, myself 4th on the grid and Matt 5th! I go luckey really with others having either mechanical failure or just a bumpy ride; 3rd place woohoo!! Matt 5th.

A Final (juniors) the grid... Max on pole, Charliee 2nd and Oliver in 5th, Bailey in 10th

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This was a really frantic race (so it seemed) and to be honest I can remember exactly what happened! The main points however being that the lead swopped a couple of times between Max and Charlie, Charlie' shell got taken off by a Marshall towards the end (because it included his transponder! :huh: ), Bailey had an early retirement :(, Oliver was somewhere in the middle of it all and managed not to destroy the car (no small feet!!), and I think the Dad's on the sideline nearly imploded with the excitement of it all!!

In the end it was 1st to Max and very well deserved having won each of the previous 4 heats, 2nd to Charlie and a big thanks to Max's Dad, Craig, for keeping a level head and watching Charlie's race in the absence of his transponder. Oliver 6th, Bailey 10th. phew.... :blink:

As I said at the start we had a great day-out and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We are already planning on going again next year A big thanks to Super Gripper and Smitchos and SHRCCC for organizing the event!!

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Was great to meet you bit of a bizzy day not enough time just to chew the rc fat but they all did well .With Stock servo saver normally put a cable tie round it helps make it a bit stiffer and less sloppy on action .. Roll on next years revival and dt-02 challange

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A little over a year ago Charlie and I embarked on a journey together. We learned a lot about the racing side of this hobby, and had a lot of fun in the process. Charlie racing and me pitting (with a little bit of racing on the side). Now Charlie's younger brother, Oliver, is getting the bug also.

Charlie has gone from racing a Holiday Buggy to these...

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As another TC member said the hobby is a great Father and Son thing to do together. We've had lots of laughter and a few tantrum s between us. Mostly we've had fun, and above all spent quality time together.

I am really looking forward to our second year, Charlie developing, Oliver coming on and having the odd go myself.

Now it's time to wrap this thread up. Thanks for following and contributing :-)

Jed

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Just a footnote to say we're still having fun racing at club, regional and now national level. Oliver is coming along nicely and Charlie has done well enough to secure a team drive with Schumacher Racing for the coming year. I am mainly pitting for both but have the occasional race which is always a good laugh.

really enjoying the racing side of this superb hobby & can't recomend it enough 😊

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