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Date: 5. + 6.10.2013
Race: DRCMU 1
Track: Søndermarkskolen – DK-Randers
Condition: Carpet – technical – 21 degr. C -
In the start a special mixed grip – later medium grip
Class: Formula 1 + Modified
Result: 1st + 2nd

Up to the race
A new indoor season in the DRCMU championship was to start. Whilst the rules were as last year in the classes Stock, Superstock and Modified, a new class had its debut at the race in Randers: Formula 1. The technical rules were: only 1:10 Formula 1 cars were allowed; tires were free to choose but had to be rubber tires, 21,5 T motor from the BRCA list with free ESC in blinky mode. The race setup was new: three qualification rounds of eight minutes each – round by round – two out of three to be count – eight racers in each main. The lower mains have one final race of 10 minutes. The eight racers in the A-main have to race a super-pole before the final. All eight cars have to park in front of the rostrum. The car in eighth position has to drive an in-lap, race a single counted lap and then park again. Then the car in seventh position has to do the same right until the pole car. The single counted lap will be used for the start position in the A-main. The A-main will start directly after the super pole for a single 15 minute race.

I had ordered the all new Serpent F110. A nice car to build – everything fits perfect together. I used plenty of time to fit the electronics. I needed to think about it as the space is very limited. I ordered Ride tires in soft and super soft compound on Ride wheels. I had really big problems to find a body. None had one to sell. I got one from Ronald Baar (thanks again) Friday evening before the race the next day. I had only a few practice sessions with the car and only a single long run for about 17 minutes. I drove all practices without a body. The car was very easy to drive on my home track. I did only few setup changes, as the car worked well with the standard setup. In my home club there were also other cars like Tamiya F103 and F104, but my Serpent was by far the fastest and easiest to drive. I used much time to build and get my F110 ready for the race that I didn’t practiced with my S411 Eryx as much as I normally would had done. I didn’t really knew, where I was with my touring car, when I went to Randers.

 
Practice at the race
The race in Randers was the first race ever the club had organized. They did a great job. They had bought a brand new carpet for the race. Unfortunately, the carpet was bad to drive in the start – later the grip got better. Especially the Formula 1 cars had really problems to get traction and my F110 was also very difficult to drive. For each practice session I tried to change something, but nothing seemed to work. Then I broke a link after a hard hit in a wall, and without any spares I had to retire. Lucky for me, Jens Otto Frederiksen (thanks to him too) had an F110 that he didn’t raced (he drove a WRC F1 instead), and I could replace the broken part with one from his car. I was back in business. In the last timed practice heat before the first qualification round I made a very important decision after about three minutes; I took my front spoiler of the car. My F110 had too much down force in the front, but without the front spoiler it was much easier to drive. Maybe it had a little understeering, but it was easy to drive and now I could drive without any faults.
My touring car worked ok right from the start, but it could be better. I made some changes, and after changing the tire additive the car worked as I wanted. I was among the four or five fastest cars, which were three other Serpent S411 Eryx and an Awesomatix prototype.

Formula 1
The race setup was: Formula 1 all to be driven on Saturday afternoon and early evening, and touring car practice on Saturday with qualification and finals on Sunday.
The Formula 1 qualification turned out to be right good for me. With a third, a first and a second again I was in second position after three rounds. A tiny 0,4 second after 8 minutes was the difference to Steen Graversen with his WRC F1. Jan Larsen with another Serpent F110 was in third position.
Then we had the super pole. It was an all new experience for us, but it was big fun for us racers and for the spectators too. The result: the three first cars had to start the A-main in the same order as after the three qualification rounds. I hit a curb in my super pole run, which cost me the pole, but I was happy with my result so far. When we had to start the A-main I noticed that Steens car was to start in the dirt. I knew, he couldn’t start well, and he did not. I was over him as the start sound came. I could not catch him in the first corner, but soon I could overtake him and I was in the lead. Steen had later huge problems with his car and he was in the pit for about 16 laps. After I overtook Steen I had no car in front of me for the rest of the race. After about four minutes I overtook the car in second place with a lap. After 15 minutes without any problems I won with my Serpent F110 the first Formula 1 race in the history of DRCMU with more than two laps to the car in second position. Jan Larsen completed the good Serpent result with a third place on the podium.

Touring car
Sunday morning we had two round of timed practice. They went ok, but they also showed, that Patrick Hornum with another Serpent S411 Eryx would be very difficult to beat. He was so quick and at the same time very stable. After the practice I was second on the board. The qualification gave the same result: a second place behind Patrick Hornum, and in front of Morten Juul Iversen also with a Serpent S411 Eryx. In fourth place the next Serpent S411 Eryx driven by Michael Hovgaard. In sixth place the fifth(!) Serpent – an S411 TE driven by Mike Hansen. It was a really Serpent train in the front of the Modified class. Five out of eight cars in the A-main were Serpents – 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 – almost the entire top.
In the first final I had a very hard but fair fight with Morten Juul Iversen. Patrick was driving out front. I lost the battle to Morten and passed the line as third. The second final turned out to be the same: Patrick driving out front and Morten and me battling for the second position. This time I won the battle and very important, I won it in a better time than Morten did in the first final. The third final was a bit disappointing for me. First I had a grip roll. Then I was held up by a crash, just as I had caught up to the cars in front of me. While I was waiting here, I was hit by another car and my body locked up the rear wheels. When I finally could drive again, I was in sixth position far away from the fifth car. The last final ended up with a six. Overall I ended up as second at the race, which I am very happy about. Patrick was simply faster than me and the rest. Congratulations to him. The Serpent train also entered the podium: Patrick, me and Michael Hovgaard were in the first three positions. Morten ended up as sixth and Mike as seventh. Young driver Victor Christensen with another Serpent S411 Eryx won the B-main. It was almost a perfect result in the modified class for Serpent.

After the race
Until the next race in the DRCMU championship in the end of November I will do some practice with both cars. I will also visit another tracks with another layouts and carpets. Especially I want to feel how the F110 react on different carpets and try to understand the car. I will test more tire compounds on the F110 and I will get another body, which I want to paint really nice to look superb on the track. With my touring car I will test different setups and drive as many practice rounds as possible. Soon I will receive new motors for my Eryx and I hope they will work well. I want to put pressure on Patrick at the next race.

Serpent
There was more Serpent honor at the race in Randers. In the Stock class young driver Sebastian Christensen and his father came to me and asked for help. The setup was not good on his car, and I changed the setup to fit his driving skills. The car drove much better after the changes. It helped him so much, that he later won the Stock class. He and his father were so happy with the Serpent performance and the result.

In the Superstock class my little brother Mads drove an old Serpent S411 TE of mine. He has only driven one year in the Stock and one in the Superstock class. After a tricky start due to the carpet the race went very good for him. With qualification results as seven, six, and six again he started as seventh in the A-main – his first ever in the Superstock Class. He has only been in a B main once or twice before. He was nervous but with a seventh, eight and a fifth place in the three finals he ended up as seventh out of 23 drivers at the race. He drove so nice. I was very proud of him.

I haven’t made a setup sheet of my F110. I used the basic rubber setup with the following changes:
- front 0,5 degr. toe out
- damper 1,5 mm longer (lengthen the shaft)
- weight only 1033 grams (rule: 1050 grams)
- additional weight 30 grams in front of the rear wing
- body Blitz F1
- front wing none
- servo Futaba S9551
- ESC Hobbywing V3,0 – blinky mode
- motor GM Pro 21,5 T
- gearing 3,1
- tires front Ride S2 (soft)
- tires rear Ride S1 (super soft)
- additive LRP Carpet / 30 min. rear – 5 min. front

I want to thank my sponsors Serpent, 2-Speed and Allans Køreskole for the sponsoring and especially Ronald Baar for helping me with the Formula 1 body in the last minute.

See you all at the racing tracks.

Best regards
Rasmus Tobias Callesen