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- Friday - Practice
- Saturday - Qualifying
- Sunday - Qualifying
- Monday - Finals
Friday - Practice
The Neo-Buggy race is now in its 3rd running, and yet again fully booked. In fact the race is hugely over entered, as many people were not lucky enough to make it into the 210 driver limit. Since 2005 the Neo race has held the title as the worlds largest 1/8th scale indoor race, and is undoubtedly one of the most important races on the world RC racing calendar.
The last Neo race was held in mid December 2006, so now nearly 16 months on we are at the Harper Adams venue again. This time its 4 days over the Easter weekend, so I was hoping the weather at least would show the large number of international drivers that England isn’t all rain. However since arriving there has been snow, rain, sunny patches….. basically it’s typical unpredictable early spring weather. It’s a good thing this is an indoor race!
Things are running a little differently for Neo08. Firstly one of the most important changes is the qualifying. Rather then a traditional 5 minute qualifying heat, 10 minutes is now being used to provide an extra challenge. Drivers will either need a fuel efficient engine combined with smooth driving, or perform a quick splash-and-dash fuel stop. It will certainly be interesting to see how this change affects drivers through the event. Apart from this the format is quite simple, with Friday being used for practice and seeding drivers into appropriate heats, Saturday and Sunday for Qualifying and Monday sees the finals, including an hour long A main.
The DXR crew has done a phenomenal job with the track as usual. The jumps are a little more moderate then previous years but more technical. The track has some faster sections mixed with some technical parts, it looks superb. The best way to explain the track is through photos, so have a look:
The first round was a short un-timed practice session. It became clear very quickly that the track was very good at catching people out. A number of humps and features on the track are hard to judge on the rostrum, especially around the back right corner which caused numerous drivers problems. Unsurprisingly the top level drivers had very few problems, but it will be interesting to see if these features provide them with trouble when they are under pressure.
The first round of timed practice saw domination by the Americans. Adam Drake was the fastest in his Losi, closely followed by the Associated of Richard Saxton. Mike Truhe and Chad Bradley were third and fourth. Of course this is just practice, and apart from seeding into qualifying heats it means nothing. Undoubtedly lots of drivers will be swapping positions as we progress into the next practice round and qualifying. However it’s evident that the Americans are going well, and interestingly European drivers that have returned from doing the recent US races are going well also. For example British racer Lee Martin is comfortably top 10 in this first practice round.
The second round of timed practice was a similar story to the first. The American drivers showing confidence on this track, which is similar to the types of tracks found in USA. This time the top 3 were Mike Truhe, Richard Saxton and Chad Bradley. However the European drivers were starting to drive much faster. British drivers Neil Cragg & Lee Martin, and French driver Yannick Aigoin set faster times then one of the event favourites, American racer Adam Drake.
Yet again I have to say this is only practice. The results mean nothing and hopefully lots will change in the two qualifying days.
Saturday - Qualifying
Well the weather wasn't anymore promising. All sorts again. A prompt start was nice, with the first heat running just before 8am. Today’s qualifying doesn’t finish until 8pm, so 12 hours of action, that’s a long day!
Round 1 went as would be expected, another domination by the Americans for all the top places. Ryan Maifield took TQ for the round with his Associated RC8. He was followed very closely by Drake, Truhe and Saxton. Interestingly the next was also a group, not just Europeans as a whole, but specifically British drivers, with Neil Cragg, Darren Bloomfield, Graham Alsop and Lee Martin taking places 6-9.
It’s very unusual for drivers to group into their countries, but either way very good for any American or British rc fans. Round 2 was surprising again, this time for some unexpected results. Adam Drake was on his way to TQ the round when a little mistake with a corner flipped his buggy. Being marshalled upset his rhythm and gave Mike Truhe the TQ for the round. It’s interesting as this mistake was after then 5 minute mark, running 10 minute heats is making things different.
Qualifying Round 1
British driver Darren Bloomfield finally broke the dominance of the Americans, he finished in second place for the round with an outstanding time. Matias, Hernandez and Batlle all made it into the top 10 also, making for a much more diverse driver field. Also a point to note in the second round is that of the top 10 cars, 3 are Losi and 3 are HoBao. A very strong showing from both these companies.
Qualifying Round 2
The Europeans strike back! What a spectacular third round of qualifying, and it's really turning out to be a fight for seconds. British racers Darren Bloomfield (Losi) and Lee Martin (Associated) finished 1st and 2nd in this round. Spanish racer Borja Hernandez (HoBao) finished, ahead of the highest finishing American in round 3, Taylor James (Hong Nor). Round 3 results see just 6 seconds seperating the top 7 drivers, and that's 6 seconds over 10 minutes remember! Who knows what the next 2 rounds will be, with such a tiny gap anything could happen.
Qualifying Round 3
This is turning into a real battle, it’s very exciting so check back tomorrow and Monday for end of quali and the finals!
Detailed results here
Touring Car world champ Andy Moore was kind enough to take 5 minutes to answer some questions.
What are your impressions of the event?
I normally do electric races, this is only my second off-road race. My first off-road race was when I came here last time. This one seems even bigger and better then the last.
What are the main differences or problems you find with 8th off-road?
Well you're driving around a track, that's one of the only similarities! I race electric on-road, so there is no engine for a start. The surface has less grip, it's very different.
Do you find 8th off-road much slower?
Outdoor electric tracks can be as large as this or bigger. And generally the cars are much faster. Whereas here there is less grip and the cars are bigger and heavier, it does feel slower to drive. It's very different.
Do you have any aims for this event?
If I can get somewhere like I did last time then that would be great, so semi-finals. However it's more competitive this time so quarter finals would be nice
What do you think about electric 1/8th off-road, is it viable?
I think there are a lot of companies using brushless and lipo. It wouldn't surprise me if that's the way forward. I'm from on-road, so I'm on the outside looking in but yes it could be a good way forward.
Out of the Hotbodies drivers who do you think will do best?
It's hard to say, Marc Rheinard is going well.
Sunday - Qualifying
Saturday evening had some of the slower heats of round 4, so today started off with some of the faster rounds. Being earlier in the day the track was more slippery then usual for the fast heats. In what seems to be a typical fashion for this event, the results were perhaps a little unexpected. Drake retuned back on power, and this time with no costly mistakes he finished 1st overall for the round. Drake’s time was followed closely by fellow American and Losi driver Mike Truhe. Hong Nor/Jammin driver Taylor James qualified third in the round overall, so all together a return of the American domination of the top spots.
HoBao driver Graham Alsop was the highet scoring British and European driver, setting the fourth fastest time of the round. Alsop has been going very well all weekend. Portuguese driver, Miguel Matias, finally set a time more reflective of his skill and came fifth overall. Also a point to note is that the French drivers started to pick up pace, with Yannick Aigoin, Jerome Sartel and Jerome Aigoin all finishing in top 10.
With another round left, and with the top drivers varied results in previous rounds, nothing is certain. No overall TQ has been decided, so it all depends on how well the drivers go in the next round today. As has been seen with previous rounds, with racing anything can happen. And with 10 minute heats, there is twice as long for anything to happen in!
Qualifying Round 4
Well the 5th, and final, round of qualifying has led to even more interesting results! Finally we have an overall event TQ, but first let’s check out what happened in the round. British AE racer Lee Martin set the fastest time, just 1 second ahead of American driver Adam Drake with his Losi. The rest are fairly familiar names except for Kevin Brunsden who has been going well all weekend, and finally pushed up to the top 10. This British driver is running one of only two Xray 808’s at the race. The other 808 racer is Jerome Sartel, who also is in top 10. So not bad going at all for the new Xray.
Qualifying Round 5
Below you can see the list of overall qualifying for the whole event. So in what seems the usual fashion for this track, Adam Drake TQ's! It's certainly not conquered by Drake though, as Mike Truhe finished 2nd in qualifying just 1 point behind Drake. Also something to note, the American domination also never materialised properly after the all American top 5 in round 1. Overall, there are just as many British racers as American in the top 10. With all the top 20 going to semi finals, and bump ups for every final…. who will win, or even get into the A main is anyone’s guess.
Top 20 - Overall Qualifying
Detailed results here
Sorry for lack of photos, dodgy internet also making that hard. Text is main concern, I will update the report with photos as soon as I can.
HELLO!
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