The day started off a little stressful as we had to test motors, wire and install ESCs, and break in new tires.
Martin and Lory used standard setups with typical Norsemen option parts. Bob was testing prototype parts that stiffened the chassis flex. After an hour of practice, the tires came in and the team was ready for qualifying. Bob immediately realized the chassis flex was too stiff and modified his setup to try to deal with the front diving in too hard and causing oversteer in and out of the corners.
Martin TQ’ed with only a handful of laps. Lory also made the A even though he got unlucky with traffic in all of his fast lap attempts. Bob held on to B main with a difficult car. The Norsemen team qualified A1, A9, and B8. There were a total of 13 FURY cars amongst the 42 starting cars. 4 qualified for the A main, 3 for B, 2 in C and 4 in the D main. There were a mix of experienced and drivers new to the F1 class some even driving the car for the first time.
Yale being new to the class said after the race, "Great chassis, even with the box setup the car is very stable and easy to drive through the 30 minute race. Although I was involved in a handful of collisions with other cars the Fury held up well. Looking forward to work on the setup a bit and come back even stronger next time!"
In the 30-minute B main Bob spun on the first lap and went to the back, almost getting lapped. He typically sets his car up to be neutral for the race, so he stays consistent when other cars start to fade. This strategy helped him make up 3 places to finish 5th and earn 2 driver points. Unfortunately, the stiff chassis was too difficult to drive, making further gains impossible. Also note the top B main finishers qualified B5, B6, and B7.
Martin saved his tires and did not push on a warm up lap, thinking this would give him a traction advantage going onto the infield on the first lap. Instead, he misjudged the turn in point and piped it in the first corner sending him to the back. As he quickly worked his way up to the mid-pack a few laps later, he was taken out on the sweeper when a car tried a hopeless pass. Martin’s car smashed into the wall and broke a front bearing. After replacing, he was several laps down. He then concentrated on attempting the fast lap in the last third of the race. He finished 9th and got a point for fast lap, earning the team 9 points.
Lory’s A main run was mostly uneventful and impressive. Starting 9th, he drove a quick, consistent race and finished 3rd. There were a couple close calls with lapped traffic, but nothing to worry about. He earned the team another 16 points.
Norsemen are currently in second position in the SPG1 series.
Pictures are from Chasel and the SGP1 series.