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Australia: WA IC 2009 Nationals; 720 win, 720/966 TQ (01/06/2009)

By:: Reporter
Linked to:: Serpent 720 -09 1/10th scale 200mm

Paul Pattison TQ's at the West Australian State Titles.

On the weekend of 30-31 May 2009, Paul attended the West Australian State Titles at the Bunbury On Road Car Club with his Serpent 720 and the new Serpent 966.

Below are the highlights for the weekend

1st off, the 720 and the 966 TQ'd
new 10 min lap record. 36 laps for tourer, and 39 laps for 8th scale.
new lap record 200mm - Serpent 720 with 15.9 seconds. first tourer ever to hit the 15 sec bracket.
new lap record for 8th scale - Serpent 966 with 14.877, first 8th scale to hit the 14 sec bracket.

Paul also took out the 10th scale 200m win for the weekend

Serpent would like to congratulate Paul on his achievements

Well done Paul !!

Team Serpent Australia

Pauls report:

2009 WA IC State titles

This weekend is the WA state titles held at the Bunbury On Road Car Club.
Weather again this weekend looked like rain again. After a 2.5hr drive south of Perth, My pit man Mark and myself get setup for a weekend of racing. We had controlled practice early, got everything setup, tire selections were made, and finally got to drive the 966 in good conditions. First off was the tourer practice, a quick tuning session then put some laps down. Was a very competitive start to the weekend! Official practice saw the lap record get broken, once, twice, three then four times. The 720 was first up, setting the pace at 16.3, then the Xray of John Moyle hit 16.2, the 720 then did a 16.1, then a 16.05 and the first tourer to hit the 15 second bracket, with a 15.9. Practice for the 966 was the first time really to drive the car. a pipe change and tank lid saw any previous issues from SA disappear. This practice session also saw the lap record going to the 966 with a 15.045. Both cars worked well straight away.
Qualifying 1, saw a frustrating time, was hard to get a clean run early on. A battery issue with the tourer and run time issues saw me not finish up the first 2 qualifiers. A gearing change and header change saw better run time, and the 720 set TQ in the 3rd round, with 36 laps. Was time for a break, and I sat out Qualifier 3 for the 8th scale.
A fresher outlook, and some time to work on tires and strategy, saw Qualifier 4 with the 8th, set a new lap record again and the first 8th scale to hit the 14’s with a 14.9 then again with a 14.877, that qualifier saw the 966 on TQ also. That saw the end of the rounds for Saturday.

Sunday, we headed to the track and it started to rain. After a few hours the track started to dry, and the decision was to head straight into the Finals, with a 10 min practice for all classes. This gave the chance to see what the grip levels were like after the rain, and to select the tires for the finals. First up was the tourer final. Was a clean start at the front, but there was some incidents at the first corner. After a few laps, saw back markers and one was the Xray of John’s. so to be so far in front so early, I still pushed hard to get a buffer at the 10 min mark. The next 5 mins I conserved the car, tires and batteries. Then with 10 mins to go pushed hard again. The 720 finished 8 laps in front, and gained the WA 2009 200mm nitro tourer title.

With a 10 min break between the race, I then got into gear for the 8th final. Got a great start and pushed hard for the first 10 mins of the race. The leading gap was around 5-6 seconds, and stayed that way for another 5 mins. After pit stops Brent Lockwood closed the gap to 2 seconds. A small error saw the gap out to 6 seconds again. At the 20 min mark the gap closed again, and the pressure was on. This was looking to be a great close race. The last pit stops and the buffer was down to 4 seconds again. A small error saw the serpent loose control onto the back straight, and from then on the steering wasn’t good. Had to move the trim 6 clicks to get it straight again, and was hard to turn in. then the steering servo just all locked up and the car went crashing out with 4 mins to go. Unfortunately there weren’t enough laps done to hold on to a top 3 spot, and the 966 ended up in 4th place. Later inspection saw the front belt missing 5 teeth in a row, and this was causing the over steering issue that saw the incident happen in the first place. Over all , the weekend went well, and both the Serpent Cars were going the best they ever have.

Again the thanks go out to Adam at Serpent Radio Control Cars, for all the help in parts, and the awesome 966. Aaron at OZ Spec Hobbies for the great Capricorn tires, and Nova Rossi engines, with out these Guys, the results wouldn’t have happened. So thank you Very much and for Serpent for the great cars, and the Pit Man Mark for all his help over the weekend, and a special thanks goes out to Chris Schmidt, for helping out to the move to the serpent in the first place. Have Fun in Europe Chris, wish I was there.