!= swarf 
Update time!
Turns out WFB bushings develop play in the kingpin hole, and this bushing has seen 3 sessions of use. The plan: for now just deal with it.
Also I changed bushing setups, I’m running 100/100 fatcone wfb in the rear and 93/95 wfb tapered barrels in the front. In the beginning I didn’t really like the change, made turns too low effort (not enough rebound/ support).
This is very visible in one of the tightest T-race laps of all. But then I forgot that I changed the bushings and went to the Brno race. Also forgot to take the extra bushings with me, which I take to every race…
3 Likes
Then Brno came
I finished 2nd, which is not a bad result at all, but I was going there with high expectations and at least wanted to give David a good close fight for first place which I just wasn’t able to do for multiple reasons. Instead I was fighting hard for that second place with Vasek and Lukas.
One of the things was the bushings, I was on a very low rebound, very low effort to turn setup that I didn’t even get properly used to beforehand.
When I got on the track in the morning freeride, I felt like I had very little power compared to what I should have, the board didn’t feel like how it usually feels. This set me up for a not so optimistic mood for the rest of the day, and it’s hard to be fast when I don’t feel confident. Also doesn’t help that I only managed to find an explanation to it after the race.
This power gremlin actually turned out to be that the battery was too cold in the morning, and was sagging crazy. The 20s lipo pack was charged to 82v (like I usually do), but it was sagging so incredibly hard that lap after lap my top speed was increasing in the straight, very visibly in the racechrono log
I swear I was full throttling the acceleration and brake all the time and watch that top speed increasing… also the top speed seemed to be limited to like 65 whereas I usually reach 70 and the issue was not the length of the straight… even through the whole freeride, I didn’t manage to pump enough heat into the battery to be in the optimal temperature where it doesn’t sag so much.
Then I started charging to 83.5v to gain a little more voltage and after some heat accumulated in the battery it actually started feeling good. But the whole first direction I just didn’t feel good at all.
Then second direction it was just freeride, by that time I had enough heat in the battery and probably also got used to the different setup feel enough to not mind it as much, I actually started feeling good on the track and had the fastest freeride lap in that direction. I was really looking forward to the heats. But it started raining just before…
While I am not that happy with my performance in this race, a 2nd place is still a 2nd place and it’s just enough points to still give me a chance for first place in the seasonal ranking if I win Pitland.
6 Likes
Also I ordered a second set of rims and a set of rain tires to try, which should switch on quicker at Pitland especially that now we will be racing in the cold. Really want to give myself the best chance next weekend. Was hoping for some practice beforehand, but the weather has not been good since the Brno race. Seems like it’s starting to clear up now, so I might be able to have some practice in the coming days, I’m really hoping I can.
Another set of clearance sale bridgestones for 8€ each 
after ordering I realized that these are 11” dia but they will still work because they are for 5” rims thankfully (11x5-5). I promise I won’t get any larger diameter tires than this for the raceboard
5 Likes
Absolute monsters. Seems like they’d sit neutral on a 6” width rim though and I have 5” width… so it will be squeezed a bit, hope that doesn’t affect the ride characteristics too much. The shoulders definitely feel significantly softer than the slicks. The compound feels incredibly soft.
Not sure what to expect, but excited to try them soon!
4 Likes
We have tested and raced the Bridgestone and MG and Vega rain compounds.
The rain compounds are instant cold track grip.
As we hit track temps of 135f (57 C) we should begin to see the rain compounds limits and switch back to tires that need temps to fire off. You will like these rain compounds. Reminds me of some of the dirt compounds we ran back in the day.
3 Likes
Sounds good, can’t wait to try! I’m a little worried that the softer carcass will make the ride feel less precise than the slicks’ low slip angle feel and perfect predictability, but I expect that the raw grip at low temperatures will compensate for it.