Live from Lostallo - The Josh & Jonny Socko Show!!
 

Live from Lostallo - The Josh & Jonny Socko Show!!

Hello Everyone!! Well, we survived the 8 hour flight and about 5 hour drive from Frankfurt here to Lostallo. We took lots of pictures along the way so I will try to edit some tonight before I head off to bed.

Along the way we stopped at the Shepherd Micro Racing office to get a tour and load up the gear into the motor home to head down to Lostallo. Along the tour, I was able to see production samples of the V10 that look really good! I am super excited now to bring a car home to begin preparation for the GLC and ROAR Nationals. The diffs and brakes are awesome let along the rest of the layout.

We arrived at the track here at about 6pm here we set-up a bit and I managed to get out on the track for about 30 minutes worth of running. I've heard all the crazy stories of how big this place is but really once you get on it, it's a lot of fun to drive. The layout is great and I'm always a big fan of the banked corners and slight elevation changes. I manged to keep the rubber side down and so far it was a great start. I can definatly see how fuel milage can be a problem but overall it's a blast.

Along the way, we took a bunch of pictures so I will try to post some as I get time to edit them. We'll try to post a little here and there each day so stay tuned!!! :nod:

I forgot to mention one of the best moments of the day - We were able to stop by Hockenheimring track where a ton of different cars were out on the track for what looked like morning practice!! Definatly cool and impressive to see. Rick got a bunch of pictures of that so I'll post those also!

Hey guys, have fun this week, wish I could have been there too.

Some Pics:

More:

And more:

Hi Josh,

Thanks for posting the pics, interesting.

Also, for anyone wanting to get a taste of Lostallo from home you can check out VRC http://Virtualrc.com. They are holding a series race there this week and will also be holding a race at the same time of the IFMAR Worlds. The track is free right now. http://www.virtualrc.com/events/even...=7360&epid=157

Hey everyone. It's my turn to update today. Josh is whooped and so am I. 500 laps in a day will do that to you!! :eek:

No pics today too busy wearing out tires and pitting. Daniele arrived this afternoon and ran several tanks. More drivers are expected tomorrow and Wed.

Hey Drew,

Better start working out now for marshalling and stock up on smokes too!!:lol:

NICE...CANT WAIT FOR PICS!!!

I will ask my son to join this week if he has some time, he will also attend the Worlds :D

Good luck at this great track! Now you understand why 5 minutes is a real problem ... lol

is this 10th scale or 8th scale or both?

1/8 scale

nice....where can i find many pics?

Here are some http://www.radiocontrolledtrucksblog...o-switzerland/

nice...when does this race begin?

Hey guys have a great time. looks like a wonderful track!!!

Good lucks guys. Josh bring me back some good info. Hahahaha

DJ Apolaro

Does anyone know what the official website is to this race? This is the Pre Worlds correct?

Steve

Thanks for the picture Josh.
Hope to see you in Hong Kong for the Shepherd Cup end of this year.

Good luck at the Pre-worlds Josh.

Btw: Congrats on your new venture with Shepherd, I'm sure you will do well. They sure are popular in Asia now.:nod:

Keep the news & the pics coming, I wish I was there.

Yes thats correct. http://www.srcca.ch/index.php?id=276

It starts today (practice) till the 28th.

Hey snowy... come to HK for the shepherd cup. Dont worry, I have few spare Velox for you to drive.:sweat:

Good morning everyone. At least for me (Rick is still passed out..lol). Yesterday, we logged a lot of laps which really has helped with my comfort level. More people were showing up at the track and I am sure there will be a few more today but I believe most are set to arrive tommorow.

One of the most interesting things about this track, is the weather. With being in the valley here, it's crazy to experience the weather changes. One minute it's sunny, warm and no wind and then the next you have big gusts of wind and clouds/over cast rolling through, a little chilly but minutes later it's gone again. Also, Rick and I were sitting on the back section of the track watching cars for a bit, with the sun out slight breeze and everything was looking good when we suddenly started to get rained on. Maybe just the winds from the mountains around carried some rain over and down onto us but for sure there was nothing in the sky around that looked like it would produce rain. For sure there was some precipitation around as the mountain to the north of the track had a ton more snow on it compared to when we arrived!!

I think with this weather/wind is the difficult part of this track. Patrick mentioned it which I later noticed a lot more - the wind that comes through the valley is basically a head wind for the car as you go down the straight. Calm winds and you are .2-.3 faster per lap. Heavy winds make you feel like you pulled the hand brake on the straight. Patrick was breaking in an engine running up and down the straight, in the normal direction it would not shift but when he ran down the straight in reverse it shifted immediatly. 5 minutes could be so much easier running in the other direction!!:weird:

I think they said the fastest laps ever run here were 20.0 and most being around the 20.2-20.4 range. After day #1, I was able to run a fastest lap of 21.0 so we still have quite a bit of work to do. The nice part though is I am being quite conservative with the engine so I have been running about 5-5:15 on a tank. I'm sure if we push the limits a bit more with the engine/clutch I can pick up a few tenths but at the risk of not making 5 minutes which I really rather not do. We have a lot still left to test so hopefully today/tommorow can be productive and get us closer to the pace we will need to run to be competitive at the WC.

Off to breakfast and then the track!! :)

Josh, you are the man! Thanks a lot for taking the time an letting the rest of the world participate in your trip and the training sessions. You are really an enrichment for our sport and hobby. Keep up the good work!

All the best for the upcomming event

Stefan

+1 on that comment.

Team driver or not, without people like us buying stuff, there would be no use for team drivers.....

Unfortunately not all team drivers share this opinion with me....

Josh/RV
Looks like you guys are having a good time. Only 500 laps? Thats like 1hr of running in Mahomet:lol:
Good luck and have fun.
J

ice
 

Ice works well to wake Rick up

Does anyone know if there will be a live feed somewhere?

Thats Funny!

Calling Mr. Vessell, Calling Mr. Vessell.

Time to make the Donuts!!!!!!!!!!

DJ Apolaro

Come on Martin, buy a Velox and I share your opinion! :D

Hey Josh/Rick

Are you sure that is rain you are experiencing???? :D:D
Thanks for the pics!! It's sure looks nice! Wish I can be there as well. I guess I will see you guys when you are back.

Good luck guys hope you lay it down..Thanks for the info Rick:lol:..

Drew

Thanks PMSorber.

where are pics?

Well, how many tanks today guys?
J

I think that those maniaks are still driving, taking a quick Pizza around the corner :smile:
Track is usually open till 19:00

Is there any drivers list that are going to race this weekend??

Here it is:

http://www.myrcm.ch/ch/mrtm/25062009...V8T/index.html

thanks

Hello Everyone,

Well, we are now complete on day #3 (technically 4 as I was able to run a little Sunday night). A bit of a struggle at times as I've been stuck at about the same speed. For a while I was starting to wonder if it was me but the car was a little off and not carrying the corner speed you need. Again, thinking about how everyone says this track is all engine - it's really not. This track asks a lot of the car to turn the fast laps. It has to turn in very hard but also be effiecent enough through the corners to keep the rpms up on the engine. As my car has improved the 2-speed has been tightened every few runs and I can run higher gearing for more top speed on the straight.

Today saw fast laps from Shimo, Picco, Ielasi, Salven and others but to me the most impressive was Collari. Usually, he looks ok in practice and early qualifying but this is by far the most impressive I have seen him this early before a Pre-WC let alone a WC. His car turns extremely well carrying tons of corner speed. The hard right/down hill run after the back straight I would say he is at least .1-.2 faster than anyone as his engine barely changes tone through this section. If the car is turning well, you can run it flat out but everyone goes through there and their car loads up enough to where they drop down into 1st gear for a second or they just lug the engine (like I do) and it stays in 2nd gear. Collari's car barely changes tone and rips through this section of the track. I was on the track and got to run a few laps with him. For the most part I was happy - he had a little more straight (go figure..lol..) and the rest we ere pretty close except that down hill right hander he killed me. I ran a 20.7 trying to keep up to his 20.4-20.3's.... We have a list of 7+ things to test tommorow to try and catch up the few tenths I am still missing.

The real question will be fuel milage once racing starts. To pit 2 times in 10 minutes is going to cost you around 7-8 seconds. To over come this you will have to run about .3 per lap faster so really it's going to be interesting to see everyone's strategy. I've been opting to run 5 minutes and can run about 5:15 on a tank but it does leave me a little short on HP compared to the others. Tommorow, I think we will see more people out on the track testing their milage and either opting to try and run faster to pit twice or motoring back to try and make 5 minutes. Either way, it should be interesting to see which style prevails.

Sorry for the lack of pics... We've been thrashing and I'm a little under the weather with a sinus infection and there aren't really any stores around here to get anything to take so I just have to deal with it. We will try to take some tommorow and include some funny stories of the few we have taken but have not posted yet.

Bye for now!!!