Round 2 of the Ausdrift 2016 Championship has been run and won at Perth RC Arena. The overall standard of driving was very high, especially in RWD class where most of the battles were only separated by a very small margin.
2016 Round 2: drivers and judges, Photo: Craig Jacka
The atmosphere for the event was fantastic with a total field of 16 entries and plenty of spectators. We welcomed four new championship competitors for this round; RWD – Stephen Galvin (first time drifting of carpet), AWD – Scott Hobbs, Andrew Marriott & Hugh. New drivers are always welcome and it’s great to see some new faces at the club. We also welcomed back former club president Robert Dack, it was good to see him at the club drifting again after hanging up the “gone fishing” sign earlier this year.
Grand final: Luke Veersma (R35 Skyline) vs Bradley Burge (camo 86), Photo: Criag Jacka
Semi final 1: Luke Veersma (R35 Skyline) vs Jordon Vukojevich (S13 Silvia), Photo: Craig Jacka
Luke Veersma: Sakura AuperD (with SkyRC Toro TS120A), Photo: Peter Veersma
14 year old prodigy Luke Veersma had a fantastic night with a T.Q and 1st place in RWD class. His driving was close to perfect all night with a 92.67/100 qualifying score. Though he faced stiff competition in the top 4 battles with some very tough calls for the judges. Personally I was lucky to get away with a T.Q and 1st place in AWD class after some scrappy top 4 battles.
AWD final: Noel Gettingby (FC3S RX7) vs Scott Hobbs (S15 Silvia), Photo: Craig Jacka
Thanks to the judging panel; Soorian Ang, Ken Leong & Peter Veersma for your hard work in making the tough decisions and to my fellow admins; Michael Smith, Anthony Tottman, Jayden Goncalves and Soorian Ang for helping to make the event a success.
Special thanks also to Craig Jacka for photographing all the action and to Amanda Walker for capturing video for the live Facebook feed.
Entrants; AWD class – 5, RWD class – 11
Judges; Soorian Ang (head judge and competition director), Ken Leong & Peter Veersma
Hi I’m Noel and I’m a new contributor to Aussie RC, I’ll be focusing on the RC Drift scene primarily in Perth WA. RC drift has been my main hobby for the past 4 years. Like many, I was initially attracted to the casual nature of the hobby meaning that even competitions have a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
Driver: Jordon Vukojevich, Photo: Keri MacDonald
The drift scene in Perth has come a long way in recent years. As recently appointed president of Ausdrift, a club which meets at Perth RC Arena twice weekly, I am amazed at the ongoing changes in RC drift globally and at a local level. Over recent years drift has progressed from touring car based AWD chassis to countersteer (AWD chassis with overdriven rear axles to induce countersteer) and now onto RWD chassis with dedicated drivetrains and the necessary steering range to allow true RWD drifting. The emergence of RWD has been a huge leap forward in the realism of RC drift with the experience getting closer to full size drifting all the time. Likewise the tuning of RWD drift cars now has more in common with 1:1 drift tuning than traditional RC tuning.
The chassis common at Ausdrift sessions demonstrate the variety of ways that RWD Drift can be accomplished with all manner of layout (FR, MR, RR, belt drive, shaft drive, gear drive, purpose built or converted). Many also feature rare or boutique upgrades from various tuning houses to the driver’s preference.
Huge ~160m3 drift track area, Photo: Soorian Ang
Driver: Paul Hayes, Photo: Keri MacDonald
Battle practice, Drivers: Luke Veersma & Scott Warren, Photo: Criag Jacka
Drivers converge twice weekly to practice at Ausdrift’s home venue Perth RC Arena, with ~160m2 of indoor drift track floor space and about the same again for the shared pits area. Regular competitive events are held every 2 months on average with drivers competing head to head in 2 classes (AWD and RWD) to decide honours. Entry is open to all from kids and beginners right through to pro level drivers.
Round 2 of the Ausdrift 2016 championship is being held this weekend. Keep an eye out here for event results and a wrap-up of all the action.
Ok, so the Traxxas XO-1 is fast, real fast in a straight line. How would it fair against a tuned 1000hp Nissan GTR, well surprisingly well considering the rough (for an rc car) surface of the runway they are racing on. Yes, over a longer distance the XO-1 would be destroyed, but over this distance it’s a surprising race! Enjoy!
It is strange the things that motivate you sometimes, after racing at a major race meet on the weekend, and being perfectly happy with my RC Fleet, I find myself desiring a Stadium Truck once again after having a HPI E-Firestorm many years ago which had a number of modifications for racing, only to have nobody to race against!! Unfortunately Team Durango are no longer making their DEST210R truck, so maybe I need to convert my Short Course DESC210R with a few parts….
However this, combined with teasers of the new Xray XT2 Stadium Truck got me thinking about what is available out there, so let’s have a look! I’ll look at racing kits at this stage, I will cover RTR Stadium Trucks another day as there is a lot of them out there.
Now don’t be fooled into thinking that all stadium trucks are electric, this is far from the case with many nitro powered trucks appearing over the years and a few that are still available. Kyosho and HPI both still sell Nitro powered Stadium Trucks, they have just fallen from favor when 1:8 Truggies started taking center stage.
Now a little history for those who may not be aware, Stadium Trucks, often just referred to as trucks are based on 2wd buggies with truck bodies, wider arms, larger tyres and often longer chassis. And while that remains true of many of the original Stadium Trucks like the Tamiya Stadium Blitzer, the same remains true today.
Team Losi / TLR
So the current ST from TLR is the 22T 2.0 which is an upgrade from the original 22T released not so long ago as a part of the re invigoration of the Losi racing range under the TLR banner. Rear or mid motor mount is your choice in this kit in a very sleek design with a narrow (and not so spacious, chassis.
Xray
The newest Stadium Truck on the block, and the one about which we know the least! We presume it will be based on the XB2, and that is about all we know. When we know, you will know!
Team Associated
RC10T5M or the shorter name it is most commonly known by, T5M is the latest from Team Associated, however with the release of the B6 and B6D there may well be a new version out some time in the near future. This kit can trace it’s roots back to one of the original Team Associated Classics, the RC10T, and what a classic that is. Honestly with the original RC10 being re released, I am amased the RC10T has not followed suit.
The T4.2 however is also still available in it’s rear motor mount only setup, but as an RTR, so that is for another day. The T5M conversely is mid mount only so you really need to choose a kit to suit the surface that you are driving on, loose dirt or high traction clay or carpet/astroturf.
Kyosho
The Ultima RT6 is the latest truck from Kyosho released not too long after the new RB6 buggy. Kyosho design and quality is hard to go by if you can afford it. All in all a beautiful truck that has all the adjustment and tuning you could ever need. It almost goes without saying that Mid and Rear engine mount configurations can be built from this truck kit.
Team C
Team C isn’t a name you hear that often about the traps, but they do still sell a Stadium Truck in the form of the TC02T truck based once again from their buggy. Whilst it is a slightly older design than some of the other trucks available, it will still put a smile on your dial.
X Factory
This one is slightly from left field, but X Factory have been making conversion kits for Team Associated cars for many years. Their X-60CF kit takes a T4 / 4.1 / 4.2 and turns converts it to the X Factory ST with a carbon fiber chassis and Mid motor configuration, something Associated only has done with the T5M recently.
Team Durango
Last but not least I do have to mention one sadly departed kit, the Team Durango DEST210R. Yes, I know that it is no longer in production, but I mention it because A) I hope a new version will appear, and B) because it was the first ST (correct me if I am wrong here) to come where you could choose a Mid or Rear mounted motor position right out of the box, and switch them as needed. Team Durango’s kits have been doing this since they released the DEX210 in 2011 and this feature has carried through to the Stadium Truck and Short Course Truck based on the same platform. As i’ve gotten back into ST’s I am thinking that I will buy the needed parts to convert my Short Course Durango into a Stadium Truck (Chassis, body and wheels), so i’ll let you know how that goes!
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