Time to get down to some racing

So with my new losi 22 built, and with all electrics ready it was down to my local track (Seaham youth centre) to start racing again.
I arrived with no idea of my setup and completely the wrong tires, my newby brain had confused mini spikes for mini pins and bought those.
I had no tools or spares or anything like the kind of kit some of my fellow racers had.
in fact my fingers were still sore and numb from the build using alen keys (not something I would recommend for any budding enthusiasts)

So my first race meeting was all about some of the friendly people helping me out to get my car sorted out so that it went in a straight line and got round the track.
I had forgotten everything and was literally starting from scratch.
But that one race meeting was all it took, and that was me hooked.
The HPI Flux pro 10.5 motor I had chosen to kit my car out with was a good choice for my ability and the close confines of the indoors hall. it was quick enough to get around in good time but not so quick that it was difficult for my abilities to control.
I no doubt finished stone last, but I cared not, I had had fun and was looking forward to the next race.

The next race turned out to be one of the BRCA North east regional events held at Netherton Park Equestrian Centre.
It was a large barn type building with a strange synthetic type dirt surface used for horses. Its a hideous and brilliant surface for RC racing, hideous due to the fact it literally gets everywhere and brilliant as it was like running outdoors on dirt but with a roof over our heads.

I was a complete novice and had no idea what to expect when I turned up. I had no chair, no table, no power source for charging, I had foolishly thought there would be electrical sockets available. but I was wrong.
Some Videos from the event are up on youtube here,  here, here and here. (sorry for the shakiness they were only done on my old HTC desire HD)

Fortunately some fellow racers from Seaham took pity on myself and another fellow new racer that went by the name of Dexter. As we had started at roughly the same time "Dex" and I became good race friends very quickly and developed a bit of a rivalry on the track with the typical friendly banter associated with a good rivalry.

After all was said and done at the end of the day I finished 6th in the D final which was the first final of the day.

The next big race meeting on the calendar of the BRCA 2011 Regional series was at Robin hood raceway
A purpose built and permanent outdoor astro turf track that is revered as one of the best in the UK
Myself and Dexter set off on a Saturday afternoon and headed down for some racing action.
Once we arrived we set up our tents and gear and settled in with a couple of cold ones for the evening.

We awoke early in the morning ready for the day, with me feeling slightly worse for wear having had a horrible nights sleep in my tiny sleeping bag and cold tent. But it was time to put my aches and chills aside as it was racing time!

The first heat I didn't finish as a result of my front carbon shock tower coming off as I hadn't used long enough screws to attach the thicker carbon tower. Lesson learnt, problem sorted and ready for the next heat.
My result were less than flattering and as a result I was placed in the E final alongside Dexter. as a result of Dex having some technical issue he was not able to run the final so by default I was given the trophy and placed into the D final so I could at least get a race where I finished 9th.

The next regional date was a few weeks away and would be on grass at Nissan.
This was to be the 2nd last outing of my Losi 22, although I'd only had it a few short months, it was proving to be a tough car to get setup right and due to having nobody else that had one, advise was somewhat lacking, and most posts on Oople were mainly discussing different conversion kits for the car to improve its performance. Not quite the world beater I was expecting, which is a shame as it is deep down a good car, just perhaps not for the UK market despite its mid motor option. The lack of space internally for mounting electrics is also a large factor in what people don't like about the car as it can be quite restrictive in what electrics can be fitted.

So back to Nissan and due to the venue and perhaps the running of both classes in one day it seemed like there wasn't much support for the event as I ended up placed in the C final. Starting 9th on the grid and finishing in 9th place.

The Final outing for the 22 was to be the Buggy GP held at some garden centre.
it had the potential to be a great event and al through the planning stages that were posted up on line it looked like it was going to be awesome. Sadly though it fell rather flat, an odd track made of astro over concrete with strange metal objects sticking up out of the concrete on some of the corners making it difficult to see your car. The weather was also a major deciding fact. as it ended up absolutely chucking down with rain. which made it difficult to run the event.
Another reason for getting rid of the 22 was due to the fact I had just purchased a second hand a "new" Team Durango Dex410R 4wd buggy.

The Box for the 410R

4wd being a class I had become very interested in as a result of watching the top guys running them and the quickness of them was impressive, they also seemed to be the dominant class at my local track.