Dominik Ruf ETS Daun TQ Tamiya TRF420 Race report and set-up

Anyone at round 2 of  the ETS at Daun would have witnessed a lot of great racing at a very technical and demanding track. As you would expect there were several TRF racers including Dominik Ruf who managed to score a very impressive set of results in the 17.5 class including TQ and a place on the podium.  Here is his race report.

Introduction

I had only just got the Tamiya TRF420, so before I got to Daun I practiced a lot at a small track near to my home with ETS carpet.

I got used to the chassis and put in hours of testing with the new TRF420 setup options (e. g. suspension mount inserts, steering pivot). I found a base setup with which I wanted to start on ETS using the aluminum lower deck with the 1.75mm top deck.

But then I heard about the mid motor chassis coming from H2RD and I wanted to give it a try. So I ordered two sets (one for me and one for a friend) hoping it will reach me before I would leave for the  ETS. Luckily it arrived on Thursday, one week before the ETS race and decided to give it a try on the already mentioned track.

All three options

To get a good idea of the comparison, I first ran my "standard" setup with aluminum lower deck, then I switched to the original carbon lower deck and finally tried the new Mid chassis, all over 2-3 hours.

To my amazement the new chassis worked better then I first expected as I could lower my lap-times by a few tenth. So I focused further on this, because it gave me a bit more steering, more corner speed and an overall more stable car in corners and under braking.

One of the good points of the H2RD chassis was the option to easily balance the weight of the chassis, which I didn't find that easy with the standard rear motor layout.

I then quickly found a suitable setup that I would use in the free practices on Thursday at Daun.

Practice

The free practices in Daun started of quite good. I could drive the second best 3 consecutive laps without being in the top heat and also lapping cars nearly every lap.

As the carpet got more grip, so my laptimes decreased a lot. However my competitors also got better. After four free practice rounds I was second overall, just 0.279s over 3 consecutive laps from the top spot.

During the free practice I did only small setup changes: A bit more camber angle at the rear and adding 0.5mm shim on the upper arm spacer at the bulkhead to have a more stable rear.

On Thursday evening I drove my first timed practice and was 4th overall. I did my best laps at the end of the 4 minute heat so I knew my car should be very good over the complete 5 minutes of qualifying. On Friday morning we had the second timed practice which left me to start 6th in the top heat. I maybe could have gone a bit faster but I just tried to get safely into the top heat.

Qualifying

In the first two rounds I made some stupid mistakes which cost me about three seconds in these two rounds. I then changed my setup a bit again. I added a 0.5mm shim under all suspension mounts.

The third and fourth qualifying went really well. I could convert the speed of my car into two very good runs with a lead of over 1 second without making any mistakes.

So I TQed the qualifiers and started from pole on the finals :)

Finals

In the first one I ran my second set of tires, because I thought my first one had to much grip and could make my car flip at the end of the straight. But already in the warm-up lap I recognised that it was the wrong decision. My car had a lot over under-steer compared to the qualifying and I had to push hard to have a bit space between Joachim (who started from 2nd) and me. I pushed too hard and made a little mistake, caught a carpet bump and flipped the car. "Luckily" I got hit by another car and I could quickly go on with loosing only two positions. The rest of the main I chased the second placed car but could not manage to get close enough for a overtake.

In the second final I switched back to my first tire set and my car felt much better. But again I could not capitalise on the speed of the car. I caught the kerb at the end of the straight and made a second mistake in that lap to see me fifth in this run. I was very sad and was disappointed with myself, but some nice words from many racers brought back my confidence and I new I could secure second overall with finishing first in the last final.

And so I did. Alexander (started from 3) was behind me the whole five minutes in under a second. But this time I made no mistake and won the last final :)

As already mentioned I finished second overall with my third place in A1 and my first place in A3.
I am really happy about the result and I am looking forward to the upcoming ETS in Berlin in a few weeks knowing my car has the potential to TQ again and win the race. We will see if the driver also has the potential to do so :D ;)

Here is my Final set-up from the event

Quick review to the mid motor chassis:

As already said the chassis offered a bit more steering, more corner speed and an overall more stable car in corners and under braking. I am sure my car would also have been fast with the aluminium lower deck, but it would maybe have lacked extra bit of rotation in the corners.

I still have to test a lot with the flex options at the rear of the chassis. I think there is a bit more potential in it then I could get out of it this weekend with a bit more of testing. Also the flex of the top deck is a think I need to test. At the moment it has very much flex at the rear, because if the motor positioning.

The kit itself has a very good quality. I think the 2.5mm thickness of lower chassis is the reason it works so well, because it is nearly as stiff as the aluminium chassis, but with an extra bit of stiffness while twisting it.

For more information on the H2 Racing Development Mid Motor chassis Click (here)
To order a H2 Racing Development Chassis, contact them via their facebook page (Here) 

Thanks again to Dominik Ruf. More TRF driver reports coming soon.

Additional Photos - RC-CARS-PICS.