Here are a few updates for our race meet at Motown on Sun the 20th.
Motown will be closed the next two Saturdays due to family commitments that Gene and Jen have going on. The track will open at 9:00 on Sunday the 20th as usual for our races.
This will be a “normal” format race meet with three events. All classes will race on the normal tracks for each class.
- 9:00 AM doors open.
- Race #1 - 11:00AM – Can Am on the Hillclimb
- Race #2 – Pro Coupes on the Hillclimb
- Race #3 – F-1 on the Korkscrew.
Track conditions and setups:
I spent last Saturday at Motown and here are some findings………
Conditions were very good as always. Both tracks had good bite and I don’t expect any changes by race day. Your normal tires of preference should be perfect.
Can Am:
No new news for this class. Retro Hawk in a 105-110 gr car and 9/28 gears will be a good choice. I mostly run JK 8713 PP or the Equivalent Alpha (big full hub). I do plan to have at least one set of each narrowed by about 1/16”
Pro Coupe:
Pro Coupe Bodies: I tested the newly approved Red Fox Lola Coupe and Chevron coupe bodies. The Lola was as good as the current Parma and JK Lola that most guys currently use. The RF Chevron was better than the previous O/S Chevron that some, including me, occasionally run. However, it was better only in the sense that it fits the car a little better but not B/C it was faster. The Chevron still seems best for a fairly short car.
Pro Coupe Motors: I have been running progressively lower gearing over the last 6 months or so and while I’ve always said that around 5:1 (8-40) is about where you want to be, I’ve been messing with (72 p) 8-42 and even 8-43 lately and it doesn’t slow the car down in lap times at all and they don’t get as hot. However, I just tested one motor that IME is a complete anomaly. This was a fresh motor that I put together several months ago, never tested and eventually forgot I had. So, I found it and put it in a good car at 8-42 and it was rocket fast in the short chutes but had slow top end. I tried my more normal 8-40 and it was better but still pretty slow. I eventually tried an 8-38 (64p) and surprisingly got very good lap times. It was still not that fast in the main straightaway but it was good enough to maybe race b/c the speed was coming from the short straights and the fact that the car just came off the turns very solid.
I have no idea why this motor is this way. It doesn’t ‘sound’ especially fast but maybe it just puts the power down more smoothly. IAC, it may race better than the other motors I have. With big dogs being as fast (revvy) as they usually are, when you get one that seems a little slow or runs really hot, don’t be afraid to vary your gearing both directions to see what happens.
Pro Coupe Tires: Nothing new here. I’ll be using the same tire mix as with Can Am and I have a hunch that I’ll try some narrowed ones.
Pro Coupe Weight: Last time we raced coupes here, I had a car that was very light (100 gr) and it ran the fastest laps in practice that I’ve ever done. However, I was suspicious that it wouldn’t race very well and sure enough, it didn’t. Both cars that I’m going to bring this time will be weighted at 106-108 gr.
Formula-1:
Only a little new news here. The cars that I’ve had in recent months have been very good and have been a bit lighter than my usual at about 112-114 gr. In testing last weekend, I took one of these lighter cars and gradually added weight. I ended up with the car I raced here last time at 112 gr. and now at 121. It was just as fast as it was before but easier to drive. I’m going to keep this one car heavy and see how it reacts on race day. My go to tires for flat track have been the small hub JK 8703 PP or the Alpha full hub (sometimes called regular full hub). I think the Alpha regular hub (not full) is fine too.
Edited by JimF, 09 October 2019 - 03:35 PM.
clarified F-1 weight
