My first regional event

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I am a fairly new racer and was persuaded by a few chaps at DMS - yes you Chidders - to enter the 2WD regional event yesterday with my son in the open class (as we don't have 2WD ....yet).

I have only ever been to the DMS Thursday club night or to Lees Wood outdoor astro track previously so it was a bit of a shock to see over a 100 people bundling in through the doors to try and get their favourite pit spot.

The track was probably twice the size of any I have driven on before and quite a challenge - at least to me and my son and I was having a lot of problems with my motor over heating and lost track of which battery was charged at one point which meant my first round ended with a DNF due to heat, my second was a DNF with running out of power and my third heat was also a DNF; I had changed a pinion thanks to advice from Darren (Boyle) to help the overheating and must have norsed up the mesh as it stripped the spur in 3 laps.

Equally my son had crashed and broken a turnbuckle (the only one we did not have a spare for) in the first round, stripped a spur gear in the second round, broke what we thought was the slipper in the 3rd round but turned out to be a broken pin in the transmission but did not correctly identify until after the fourth round which meant he did not get a proper run until the final.

My last round finally went OK with the car working well but I took it very steady so as to get some laps in. We both managed to complete the final and enjoyed the drive.

Many thanks to the DMS team who built the track and helped me with my various problems especially Darren for advice whilst trying to run race control as well. We both really enjoyed the day and will be better prepared for the next one I am sure.

See you on Thursday!

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