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Arnaud Chaussard reports about the CF in Grenoble (22/03/2022)
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- Serpent SRX8 GTE WC 4wd 1/8 EP
The GT8E is on the rise and the first round of CF took place in Grenoble, so I'm taking the opportunity to discover the GT8 at a high level.
I assembled a Serpent SRX8GTE the week before the race. I have been a partner with Serpent for years, and it is the most popular GT car in France. The goal is to see what is the level of an out of the box car and then fight against the top guys from the class!
Registration done, the car will just be ready over the week of the race, barely time to see if everything is going right and hop.... towards the RACG.
The car is fast from scratch, however the electronics had to be adjusted, which were heavily used, in particular to keep up with the big name of the GT class!
It is also an opportunity to try the first prototypes of Jetko tires which are immediately very close to PMTs, the current benchmark. The rubbers are a little soft for the front, we will need harder rubbers for the final production tyres.
After safe qualifying I place myself in 6 positions, very consistent but I miss some speed : the car is too easy. I then have the Bitty seven 65 painted by my friend Valentin Peuziat, who describes it as understeering. Finally we will reverse the springs (front white, rear silver), then lower the front upper links (on the shock absorber support) . I feel more comfortable with same tires (same hardness front and rear), but the outside front suffers too much. For the finals, I get green light from Valentin to a better body, the Bitty Hyper GT that Valentin just tested in Bourg en Bresse! But how beautiful she is!
It's better but it's especially better when I switch to the 2.8mm rear anti-roll bar which drives the rear end a little bit lighter.
I slip into third place before the last final but I lose the spool drive pin just before the last final and I have to settle for fourth place which in the end for a car just fitted and a crazy result!
In the end, I only fitted one option, the 2.8 anti-roll bar (thanks Daniel). The oils are from the box, as well as the diff. greases, when it comes to tuning, it's regular stuff and we just let the car come up a little more behind (drop 6mm front and 7mm rear)
What I liked: the car so good and easy just out of the box, how strong the SRX8GTE is, the nice atmosphere of the drivers in the category, the fights on the track (Patriiiiiiick!)
What I liked less: the lack of cooling fan holder, no room to work on the receiver, the difficulties encountered with the motorization for a first race.
Many thanks to the RACG! I'm off to fill out my setup sheet before Bernard calls me back!
Arnaud Chaussard
Team Serpent France
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