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DRCMU 3 - Indoor - Denmark (31/01/2012)

By:: Reporter-2
Linked to:: Serpent S411 1/10th 190mm, Serpent S411 190mm Team Edition, Serpent 411 Eryx 2.0 190mm, Serpent 411 Eryx 3.0 190mm

Hi Racers,

Before the race

Despite the good result at the DHI Cup I've changed the basic setup on my Serpent. With the new setup I was able to drive very good lap times on my home track. Sunday before the race I was in Vamdrup practicing on the permanent indoor track. I was able to fine-tune my car and I tried various tire additives. The carpet is the same as in Herning at the DRCMU 1 - very tricky to drive, because the carpet has several spots with less grip. I was able to press my best lap time down to 10:81.

Practice at the race

On Saturday before the race free practicing was announced. With the new setup and skills from the practice the weekend before, I drove right away good lap times. I filed still on the setup and tested back-to-back additives, and my lap times went faster. On Saturday evening I had the fastest lap time (10.624) among all drivers. On almost the same speed were two Awesomatix - each driven by Patrick Hornum and Morten Juul Iversen. Patrick was at the latest DHI Cup in the A-mains, and in this indoor season I had always been around 2 or 3 tenths of a second per lap slower than Patrick. I was prepared for the qualifying Sunday morning.

Qualification

It turned out to be an extremely close qualification. In the first qualifying I drove very good and consistent lap times, and I was in the lead up to the very last lap. As I was turning into the straight, I caught a strip gaffa tape on the carpet. In practice I've driven more than 300 times over that strip and got stuck twice - ie the vehicle got traction roll due to the short-term increased grip on the gaffa tape. Other drivers have had this problem too, and like I said, it happened to me again in the first qualifying in the final lap while I had the lead. I lost about 2 seconds, and in the end I was second only 0.41 of a second behind Patrick. In the second qualifying I hit the strip once again - this time in the 10th lap. As it happened I was in the lead ahead of Patrick, and in the last two-three minutes I tried to catch up the lost time. If I only had one or two more laps, I maybe had won this round, because I lost the second qualifying with only 0.15 of a second. In the third qualifying I made a few minor driving errors and for the third time I ended up second behind Patrick. Difference: 0.43 of a second. If you add up the three qualifying rounds, after 15 minutes qualifying (+ overtime) I lost the qualification with a total of 0.99 of a second. That is close race. I had "only" to start second in the A main.

Mains

In the first main I had a bad start and was soon overtaken by Morten in the third position. I immediately put him under pressure, and after about five laps he made a small driving mistake, which I used for overtaking. Unfortunately Patrick was now too far away that I could not catch him. In the second main I had an even worse start. I was short in last position! I drove all or nothing and could overtake many cars. In the end I was in third place. A really good result, because in the first round I was almost a lap behind. As Patrick also won the second main, I could not anymore take
the victory in Vamdrup. The last main I drove safe. I had to defend my second place overall against Morten. Only in the first round he came close to me, later I could pull away from him. In the end I was rewarded with the second place.

After the race

A part of me is happy with the result. Before the race the second spot would have been a super result. Another part is unhappy, because my lap times were all weekend very good, and my GM equipped Serpent S411 was superb - extremely easy to drive. Other drivers and spectators told me, that my car was looking very good on the track. If I had a request, it would have been nice, if there had been no gaffa tape at the entrance into the straight.

The next race is once again a DRCMU race in Tinglev. I look forward to the race, as I think, with the new basic setup I can go for the victory. This is definitely my goal.

Serpent

The whole weekend I had no problems at all with my car. The major thing I did to my basic setup, was to replace the standard top deck with the new flex top deck. I also changed the suspensions blocks in the front now using 1,5 in both ff and fr. The small tuning I made to the setup during the race - linkage mount in the front from 4 to 5 mm and droop in the rear from 5 to 5,5 mm - turned out to be just right. I was very happy with the performance of the car.

Up to the next race I will try out different roll centre setups. Different linkage and suspension mount to see, how the car reacts with the flex top deck.

Please attached find my setup sheet from the race.

Please also find a photo of me on the podium. You will also find a photo with me and Serpent driver Steven M. Olsen, who in the Superstock class also ended up as second in Vamdrup.

Regards
Rasmus Tobias Callesen