building and review of the TEAM ASSOCIATED RC8 PROTEAM

Before we started driving we tested the King Headz part we got and compared them weight wise.
This is the result:

So if you hop up the car fully with King Headz parts you still are on the same weight as with the original car.

hello

here is an other report about race 2 and 3 from the brothercup

race 2

location: Oberhausen Germany.

The track layout was (like in Purmerend) complete new for this race.
For this weekend there were two races at the same time planned the Brothercup and SM lauf that means there were more than 100 drivers.
So on Saturday there was practice with name tags.
This system works very well with this amount of drivers.
I did about 5 rounds of practice on the Saturday each round was 10 minutes.
My main concern on the Saturday was to get enough steer (grip) as the track was dusty and very hard (clay).
On Sunday the race started early because we and the SM lauf hat to qualify and run the finals.
Qualifying went well and I qualified in the half final.
The half final also went well and I was in the main final.
That main final started and everything was OK
But during the final I lost grip more and more.
The tires were getting worse and worse I was using the Pro line bow-tie with the m3 compound.
It seemed that that was the wrong choice (the winner was running the xtr compound).
At the end I finished 3 in the Brothercup.
A good result after all.

There was not much that I did change on the set-up.
I used 14 degr. camber and I went thinner in the front shock oil to get more steer.

race 3

The third race was planned at mach-one in Helmond but they had to leave there old track and are mow building a new track at another location.
Because of the bad weather last months they were not able to get the track ready in time.
so we went to Purmerend again for this race.
Saturday was a very wet day and the forecasts for Sunday were very good but because of the rain I did not do a lot of driving.
I put 3000 in the rear diff but after a few rounds of practice I changed it back to 1000 this worked better for me.
One negative thing I found was that the rear king headz toe in plate was completely worn out there was a lot of friction on the rear lower arms.
So I hat to use the 2.5 degr. plate instead of the 3 degr. One.
I made a lot of mistakes during the qualifying and ended at the 9th place, good for a half final.
Half final I had some problems to but I got to the main final.
During the start everyone was fighting for a good place after the first round and I settled on the 5th place.
During the final I lost more and more steer, I thought I had an empty or broke receiver pack after getting in the pit and a closer inspection it seemed that the servo saver nut was loosened.

End of the final for me.

I ended at the 9 th place.

Next race will be in Germany Warbeyen in the weekend from

Race 4 Warbeyen Germany. 7-8 June

I was not able to come to this race on Saturday so I did no testing or practice at al.

The track is again a complete new astro turf track.

There was also no possibility to practice on Sunday for the race.

After some first rounds it became clear that it was a very bumpy track.

This was a problem I kept fighting al day.

After the first qualifying I noticed that there was a lot of slack on my rear suspension arms.

After inspection it seem that my king headz D-plate was the problem.

The holes for the hinge pins were completely worn out.

I had to replace the D-plate for another one instead of 3dgr. I was now forced to use a 2.5dgr. one.

I am not happy with the D-plate and thinking to use the stock ones or a set from another supplier.

I qualified in the 1/4 final and was able to bump in the semi.

In the semi final I had a problem a lot of drivers have these days an overheating futaba fastt receiver.

So that was the end for me that weekend.

After all I do not think I would have been able to bump into the final.

The set-up (and also me) were not good enough that weekend.

So another race weekend.

Race 5 Den Helder

Again this was an astro turf track.

The track is originally an big-scale track so there were no jumps and also no pitlane.

It is a track with a lot of very tight corners (180dgr.)so a good off-power steer is very important..

We went to Den Helder on Saturday so we were able to do some hours of practice.

During practice I had the same problem with my receiver as I had in warbeyen.

We did not know then it was the problem of overheating.

After the race in Warbeyen we went to our local shop and they told us the problem was most likely an bad receiver battery pack.

So I bought new ones and used them in Den Helder.

After getting the same problem I switched to an "old style" transmitter and receiver with xtals.

First problem solved.

On Sunday the qualifying went very well and I was able to qualify in the semi final.

Also the semi final was good for me and I was in the final.

During the final i could keep up with the rest maybe there were one or two drivers that were to fast for me.

Then I had to face the next problem .

Lately when i am driving for a longer time (more then 10 minutes) my finger and thom fall a sleep during driving.

I do not feel anything more in those two fingers.

I have to come in and swing my arm/hand for a minute or so .

Than I can resume my race but after a 5 minutes the problem comes back.

This means I have to come in maybe 6 times on a 30 min. final.

You can imagine what that means to the result for that race.

I think it is about time I go see a doctor for this problem.

I finished at the fifed place but I think third place or maybe even second would have been possible.

The car was for my feeling very good and I liked the set-up very well

Some things I did change are.

300 front shock oil

yellow hong-nor spring front

steering rack rear

ae clutch system with 3 alu shoes and 1.0mm springs

Groningen 30/31 Aug.

Also an big scale track

Here is a race report of race 6 of the BC .

The race was suppose to be held by REAL 80 in Groningen but a few days before the date there was a call from REAL 80 that the race had to be cancelled.

After some calls the track from MACH-ONE in Helmond seemed to be the best place to race.

I did some practice on Saturday and did have no big problems (it is my home track).

The only thing I did change was the anti squad angle to maximal.

The car was more stable now when braking on the bumps.

On Sunday I had no problems and qualified straight into the semi final without a problem.

Also during the semi final the car was good and lap times were getting faster and faster..

the final started as planned after my first 6 minutes I had to come in for fuel.

After fueling up I drove of and bumped into an other car that was standing in the pit lane (they were fueling it up in the pit lane).

After calling some names I resumed my race .

In the same round I last steer and my race was over.

After inspection of the car is seemed that my servo arm of the steering servo had come lose.

this is the setup I used this race

FRONT MIDDLE REAR

camber -2 -3

toe out 2 in 3

anti sqaud 3 up

kick up 2 up

hinge pin 2 down

diff STD 10000 STD 5000 STD 1000

shocks hong nor super big bore

spring HN bleu HN bleu

piston 6x 1.3 kyosho 6x1.3 kyosho

shock oil 700 600

arms in in

tower middle middle

steering rack back

anti roll bar 3.0 x-ray 3.2 x-ray

caster 16 degr.

clutch 3 alu 1.1 spring associated

bell 16t

tires pro-line crimefichter m3 compound

Race 7

This race was planned to be at the track of MACH-ONE in Helmond so it was another home race for me.

I had a race at our track 2 weeks earlier so I did not change anything at the setup of my car.

On Saturday late in the afternoon I changed cars with Jorg Van Leuken for fun.

He is the 2007 champion an will most likely be the 2008 champion.

He give me a tip of lowering the whole cars driving high level so I did that.

After this change my car was going much better it was a huge difference with 2 weeks earlier.

The rest of the weekend I did no changes to the car.

After qualifying I was in the semi and bumped into the final.

The final went very well and I finished on the 4th place .

Unfortunately just outside the prices ..

Race 8

Race 8 was the last race of the season and traditional takes place at the astro turf track of MVW in Purmerend.

As I told the track of Purmerend is also an astro turf track so I did no changes in the setup of the car for Saturday..

After some practice on Saturday I felt I needed a bid more off power steer .

I changed the caster angle back to 14 degrees.

Also I did change the anti squad back to 2 up i.o. 3 up.

On Sunday I had one good qualifying head that was enough for a semi final.

I bumped into the final without a problem

The start of the final was very good and I started at place 3 .

The first part of the final I drove well and hold my place very well.

The second part of the final were not so good from me I made a mistake .

I lost concentration and made mistake after mistake ending at place 6 in this final.

In the overall standings I ended at place 4 .

Not bad if I look back with the trouble I had this season.

The problem with my sleeping finger has cost me a lot of points .

I can say I like the car very much and had no big problems wit it.

There was some wear at some of the parts but this is not more than I had with my other cars.

I have NOT broken anything in a crash no hubs, arms or anything else.

The only thing I had problems with are the King-Headz A-B-C-D plates they wear a lot and do not have the lifetime I think they should have..

Al the other King Headz parts I have on the car do not give any problems.

I like to thank Associated (Richard Saxton and the crew) and Jim from King Headz for providing the stuff I have drove this 2008 season.

After all I think I had a good season with the Associated RC8 and I am looking forward of driving it the next 2009 season.

Mark for TEAM TWF8