pirespreto.com :: My first race

A wonderful day with temperatures around 25º (Celsius). A few days before I saw that I was doomed. In these races we have to use only Kyosho accessories and all the training and setup was made with HPI radials. When I changed to Kyosho slicks, the car was all over the place. Lap times decreased immensely.

So I was ready for a beating. Things were not exactly like that, as you will find, but the race was loaded with problems from beginning to end. Not only me, but all my friends had lots of strange things happening to them.

A friend of mine told me that I HAD TO USE the softer tires on the back and the harder on the front. So I did.
It was amazing.
In every turn a spin.

The first qualify was not that bad, the second place secured due to the number of laps, but the lap time was around 30 secs. I had to tune it better in order to have a better place on the grid. Then someone helped me tuning my brakes saying I needed very low brake (!!). I used the new settings and I crashed. Do you see a pattern here?

Then all the nonsense in the world gathered around my car and I screwed up the setup completely. I changed the front sway bar, the springs on the front and back, the angles etc etc etc. Result ? 37 seconds on the second qualify.

The third was a real pain. No brakes and no grip. The wonderful setup I had was to bad to be true. I could never guess that one could mess a car like that. However, due to my efforts I could do the 2nd time on the third qualify. I would be 8 in the main on a group of 11 racers.

I decided to take matters in to my own hands and use the same setup I had at the beggining, only changing tires - harder at the back and softer tires at the front.

Bruno was my pit man and also Luis Gonçalves pit man. We needed someone to refuel, and he came to help both of us. Without him it wouldn't be possible to race like we did

Just before the race I tested the car and it was perfect. I made a few laps until the car stopped. I had lost two screws that hold the motor mount to the chassis, causing the pinions to grind the spurs (that was really bad).

However, the race was delayed due to some problem, and this gave me the time to secure everything in place.

I was focused in the 30 minute race. And I knew that to finish in a good position, one has to be regular. Remember Keke Rosberg that won the 1980 Formula 1 championship with no victories? That was my strategy.

On the start everybody jumped, but my car was adjusted a bit rich so that it would cope with all the race, and I just started last. A good thing, because on the first turn there was an incredible pile of cars and I managed to pass that untouched and gaining 3 or 4 positions.

My car was very smooth, but lacked a bit of top end speed compared with the front 3 guys. I was using the stock pinions for 1st and 2nd gear. I decided to lap consistent times instead of going for the sky. Around me, in the drivers stand, I could here people cursing and some of them were raving mad... jumping and shouting.

With my tow boat rhythm I was 6th after 6 minutes of racing. I was 1 lap behind the 4th and 5th and I just didn't care. I would get them (I thought).

There was a green McLaren that sometimes tried to pass me (Paulo Inglês), but I guess he was not as regular as me. He just couldn't do it and keep in the front. So I had to go away. My lap times were around 29.5 secs and the best lap was 25.

I did NOT HAVE ONE SINGLE CRASH IN 30 MINUTES. This was the best driving I ever did. It was so consistent that I couldn't believe it myself.

Helder Peres better known as "The Uncle" (Tio).
He is just the best person you can find at the track. Very helpful, and his pit box has always something that you need. After the races he is the one with the eye that finds all the parts lost during the race. What can we say? A perfect sportsman

At lap 30 I heard that I was in 5th on the same lap that the 4th driver (Helder Peres). So I thought that if nothing happens to me and he crashes or looses time with refueling, I can be 4th!! So I did. I just kept my driving very soft, with no sudden bursts of stupidity. I slowed down a bit after the last refuel stop, just to be able to finish in a good position.

Helder Peres was having problems with a broken steering servo, and on the last 5 minutes he lost a lot of time. He finished in 5th place in spite of the problems. His car was sort of a moving target. Everybody hit him. Unfortunately he could be 4th at the end of the Championship if it wasn't for me. I just took the precious points he needed to do it.

Luis Gonçalves, my partner in RC Car stuff, was unlucky. During the day, a strange misalignment on the car was stripping belts one after the other. He managed to race after stripping down the entire car two times. At the race he was behind me in 6th position when he crashed a turned car on the straight, after we could hear that the track was clear. Then, one of the mechanics acting also as turn marshal, having just turned one car, was called by the Race Director. He stopped for a while and this was enough for Luís to hit him and get out of the race. Luis was raving mad (a little too much taking the circumstances into account).
He started to jump on the drivers stand like a lunatic. His weight is enough to rock the whole thing, and for a while I took my eyes of the car. He was really really mad!!!

Today (11/7/2000) I received an email from Mr. Francisco Valadas (the person that was hit by the car that I had referred as a casual bystander) explaining me the reasons for the accident. Here, I express my apologies for publishing a version that was not very flattering about the events. He was not a "casual bystander" at all. My witty comment was inappropriate. Mr. Valadas was not wandering around the track whistling without a care. He was one of the persons helping to make the race a pleasant and competitive event. I should have checked all the versions before rushing into conclusions. The fact that the site is better know among the Portuguese community makes these errors a very complicated thing. I just can ruin a potential good relation with a fellow racer. The site is assuming a similar responsibility as a monthly publication. If I mess up, I may receive a letter to the editor (BTW, I'm the Director, Editor, Columnist, Photographer and the Office boy of this site), and I have to honor the right to a published response. And if I was wrong, retract and apologize.
The idea behind sport (of any kind) is helping a colleague (or colleagues) in case of need, and take the sport for what it is - SPORT. When adrenalin takes charge (it was not my case, because I was cool, really cool and happy) one can take the sport too seriously and create personal problems with people that we don't even know.
I look forward to meet him at the track and express my apologies personally. I stand corrected. Luis as also published an explanation for his reaction (that I wasn't aware of) after he stepped down from the drivers stand.
It's good that we can make this mea culpa and go on like grown men. One of the things that I didn't like in the plane community, was the constant bashing between flyers. I almost did the same thing...

Luis Gonçalves. This guy is my partner in the RC car thing. Responsible for my entry in the nitro world and a very close competitor. Also a computer and video freak. It's a pity that I don't have a picture of him jumping and screaming on the drivers stand

4th place on my first race.
And the guys were no slouch drivers. I just trained like hell before the race. The only problem was my experience with electric cars and just setting up my electric. I had no time for tuning my nitro car very well.
On top of that, the fuel that I'd been using for training was not enough for the qualify and race, and I decided to use an inferior fuel. The car just does not accelerate and runs hotter with this other fuel. The shop that sells the good stuff was closed because the owner was at the European Off Road championship at Mogadouro. Bad luck.

I have some photos so that I can remember the nice Porsche body I had. It's not this beautiful anymore.
A few crashes the days before left the body a "little" less appealing...

The drawback of running these cars is the grime that we need to clean after the race. When I have to do that I swear that I'll only play with electric cars... The chassis are so dirty after a race that they take a few good hours to clean thoroughly.

	The drivers stand. This track has some of the best facilities you can find anywhere (that was the opinion of the reporters covering the Euro Champs in 1998)
	Helder Peres car. All the tuning secrets are under that body...
	Helder Peres car after the race. You can see that the cup for 5th place is much nicer than the cup for 4th (sniff sniff...)
	Here you have the 2nd overall driver. He's young and small, but he his a BIG MAN on the stand. Congratulations João Ribeiro!
	Luís Ribeiro, father of João Ribeiro and 3rd overall
	Rui Santos. Another rookie in this race. New car and new environment. A very nice guy. I had only two sets of crystals (I was the only one) and either of them was colliding with other drivers. He found a set for his car to solve the problem. Very cool.
	Rui Almeida, another rookie. Good driving skills but bad luck.
	Paulo Inglês mechanic adjusting the car. This was the car that was biting my tail. I won .
	And here it is. That car...
	Ramiro Franco the 1st overall and his "butler". He's not a mechanic, he is a true butler. I had to put his picture last. After all, he took the best cup...