Smurfette

[Zarizi Tech]

A little update before the comp tomorrow!


Motor guards for them pullers have arrived! Thanks to Troy at Custom Fiber!


Now attached. Awesome product this.


Ready to scratch them!


It will be finnish series opener tomorrow in middle part of Finland, Kuopio. Famous for beign probably the northermost comp in the world.


Last comp didn't went so well. There is eight drivers registered and I would say top five is there to be taken. It all depends on the day. Fingers crossed for a good one!

[Zarizi Tech]

Another pro comp done with Smurfette!


All set for takeoff.


Sofi drove quite well in pro all day. No stupid mistakes like in shafty.


And the rig. Well. It's working!


Course one here.


Sofi finished three out of four courses. Same that I did.


Every second behind the wheel is improving her driving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG0mIVVhs34
Course two here. Third best score from this course to Sofi!


There's still some cathching up to do before the final break thru! But the direction is correct.



Smurfette is ready for the next challenge tomorrow.


RFOT's Crawl Cup Comp 5 will be driven in southwestern part of Finland. Rauma. Unfortunately there is only four registered drivers to pro class, but every comp counts! As usually pics and video will follow next week.

[Zarizi Tech]

We are back from RFOT's Crawl Cup Comp five!


Here is Sofi going for the third course.


Smurfette working great as always.


Sofi didn't quite have as good day as she had in previous comp. It seems to change between her two rigs and the comps.


She managed to drive one course to the finishing gates. But I'll have to admit that the courses were made to get a good practice for Nordics.


This was yet another good four courses of training. Sofi's main target is in November at Eurocrawl.

https://youtu.be/I05xOSQMDtA
Here is the fourth course on video, which Sofi was able to finish. And with a decent -35 point score!


Four rigs in the comp and Sofi was able to place on third.


Here are the results. There is still lot to improve. Luckily there is also many comps before Eurocrawl.

Sofi will now have one and a half month crawl free time and she returns to it in July. Then the true training will start on it's full force.

[Zarizi Tech]

It's been a looong time without updates. But the rig and the driver are coming back to action and start training for EuroCrawl in November.


In the mean time, I did shoch tech for it.


Ready to hit the rocks next weekend in the third round of Finnish National Series. Sofi will return from her travels on tuesday, so there will be no testing and training before the comp. So no bigger goals. The training starts here!

[Softy]

So, time to start racing again tomorrow. Have to say that I might have some pressure on me because it has been while since I've driven last time. Samu has been taking good care of the rig so I think that driving tomorrow will be as pleasant as always! All in all it's just good to have some training before the big comp in November

[Zarizi Tech]

First comp in long time is now behind. With a good result!


Terrain was the best that this part of the country can offer.


Sofi starting course two.


Some nasty sounds were in the air from the front axle. All that wheelspeed... Probably one of the bearings or gears is starting to give up.


Courses of saturday were really tough. Only few drivers managed to get to the finish on the courses. So didn't have any luck in terms of going to the finish, but bearing in mind the break from driving, this was a great result.


Here is Sofi leaving to the final course.


Sofi's strenght compared to the other drivers was tactic in this competition. Just trying to get to the finishing line no matter what.


Another really tricky gate on the third course.


Last course was cancelled due the heavy rain which started during it.

PICTURES: Heikki Halme & Arttu Ahtiainen

https://youtu.be/E_MgzQ-ak20
And here is Sofi on the really hard first course. Only three drivers made this to the finish. Sofi drove well and managed to get to gate nine.


Sixth position of a twelve driver field. That's respectable after one month break.

Next comp will be after few weeks. The Finnish Series continues in south-eastern part of Finland. Before that, I think we'll check the front axle and do some training?

[Softy]

A comp behind and feeling good about the result. Actually I'm surprised that I did that well because those tracks weren't easy! Driving with Smurfette feels still really nice even though this time the front axle made some nasty sound. Now I'm just trying to keep my training on. It's still lot to do before EuroCrawl

[Zarizi Tech]

Time to make this thing ready for the comp on tomorrow!


Some front axle problems have been discovered. (Or heard)


Yepp. That's our guy!


Put a new gear in and tore it back together.


Had to solder the wires back together. The black wire got dismounted in our practice last weekend.


All set. Should be another pretty day on the rocks! As usual pics and vids will follow!

[Zarizi Tech]

Round four of Finnish National Series is in the books now.


Comp ground was really tough. Lots of sharp edges and tons of grip on the rocks.


These pics are from the last course.


Sofi had a couple of good courses and couple of small misses. Allthough it has to be said, that the courses were really tough this time.


She did well especially on the second course, where she managed to get better score than most of the guys!


I didn't give her too many tips this time. This was just to get the basic performing better.


Bad luck on the last course...


Both of the upper suspension screws snapped. Time to put steel hardware there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLEdto8zF18
Here is the second course on video. Really good driving!


And here are the results. With this type of courses, every course which was finished was a big plus!

Next comp will be after one week. The last round of Finnish Series in western part of Finland. Till then some fixing!

[Zarizi Tech]

Time for another pre comp update!


I put longer screws to hold the rear suspension.


Otherwise it's pretty much ready to compete this one. Over ten registered drivers to the final competition of Finnish National Series this year. Should be a good fight! Sofi is currently eight at the championship points, but with a good comp it's possibly to gain many postitions. Fingers crossed for Sofi!

[Zarizi Tech]

All five comps of Finnish RC Crawling Series are past now. A real suprise came on the last comp.


In the morning weather was pretty, but unstable.


Sofi feeling confident in the drivers meeting.


In the middle of the comp a little rain stopped by.


After that we were ready to continue on third course.


After two first courses Sofi was on the third spot!


She made the best score to the first course and drove really well on the second too.


This third couse was really slippery cause of the rain.


But Sofi continued driving really well.


In this couse she hit two markers.


And on the last one she drove well and was able to finish it.


No bigger mistakes in the whole day meant, that the result could be really good.


Finishing the third course.


Really nervous at the prize ceremony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sry_YNZgmqU
Here is video from the first course. Best score of all drivers from this one. Pretty awesome driving!


After the little excitement on the prize ceremony, Sofi heard her name third last! First podium in Finnish Series pro class! Phenominal driving!


Sofi left behind some seriously talented drivers! Her basic level with this rig seems to be there already. And we still have a lot of time before EuroCrawl.


In the series points Sofi ended up in sixth spot! That's really respectable in this field. Congratulations Sofi!

Smurfette will be on action next time in the middle of october on our local comp and right after that in november. So it's two more comps to go before the big one. EuroCrawl!

[Softy]

Feelings after these few comps are great! I've had ups and downs but luckily the last Finnish crawling series comp went extremely well! Rauma is amazing location to drive even though the weather wasn't that good. I think that tracks gave a lot of challenge but I manage to calm my nerves down. Now when Samu had fixed Smurfette it was back in shape and driving with it was as phenomenal as always Actually third place was a huge surprise for me. I knew that I had driven well but so had other drivers too. I guess that in this comp everything fell into place and that's why I ended up third! Also it was really nice to improve my position in our series.

Now there few more comps to drive in Finland and then it's time for EuroCrawl!

[Zarizi Tech]

Beginning to get set for the comp on 17th.


I had set of ripped VooDoos, so I thought I make non-slidy MT-4's for us!


Rig is working well, so there was nothing to do on it's behalf.

Comp is second to last before EuroCrawl. Basically maybe last with a proper dry rocks. We'll see if Sofi's amazing performances will continue!

[Zarizi Tech]

RFOT's Crawl Cup Comp 10 in the books!


Sofi walked in the comp with really good performance in the last comp. It was time to see if the rocking touch is still there.


Really hardcore courses in this comp, but Sofi managed to drive a couple of good and couple of worse performances.


But the epic touch seems to be there in times. All she needs now, is to make it more regular.


Sofi was sitting in the last position before the last course. She drove last and with a good drive possibilities for second position were alive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks_q8qKwE8E
This was one amazing performance. Sofi climbed two positions with this wise and good performance. That's the right way to do it!


Second position is the best, that Sofi has ever made in the pro class! Congratulations!


Three point difference to Saku. Epic job on the last course!

Next comp is just around the corner after two weeks. One last training before our main target.

[Zarizi Tech]

Time to get set for RFOT's Crawl Cup 2015 #11/12!


From the window you can see our new sponsor. We will be using PURPMART's talents in near future.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... qU/pubhtml
Here is live scoring for comp on 7th of Nov. It starts at 09:00AM CET. It will be the last comp before EuroCrawl, so we are really looking forward to it. Last possibility to do training in comp mode.

[Zarizi Tech]

Last comp before leaving to Spain is now done!


We had extremely difficult conditions in this competition.


Wet, dark and cold.


Sofi didn't have her best day on the rocks. This first course went ok, but second and third were something too hard this time.


It began to rain after the first course and these rocks were extreme to drive on. We even had to cancel the last course, cause it would have been too dangerous to drive it.


Sofi was able to pull fourth position this time. Well, I have to be honest and say, it would have been difficult for any driver. Me included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh5-oDX9Ebk
Here is the first course. Everything went well till the nineth gate, where Sofi got bit frozen. Well, finished performance in any case.


Here are the results. With this fourth position Sofi managed to secure the third spot in RFOT's Crawl Cup 2015. Well done Sofi!

Now it's time to forget this comp and start focusing mentally for EuroCrawl. Some training will be done there on thursday, but I think the preparation have been really good for it so far.

[Zarizi Tech]

Time to prepare Smurfette for the long journey south.


This is it after the last comp. All electronical devices are operational at least.


Opened up the axles completely. Everything in perfect shape. Just added some grease and filled the shocks and it was ready again.


Hopefully everything will continue to work in this rig as they have been for the whole season.


Tires washed and it is ready. Sofi is flying to Spain on wednesday. She'll have whole thursday time for training.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... lI/pubhtml#
Here you can follow live scoring of the competition. Pro will be driven on saturday.


With total of thirty participants in pro class I see realistical chances to top 15 with good driving. It will be really interesting how Sofi can manage them nerves.

[Softy]

Tomorrow evening is time to head for Spain! It's actually my first "big" comp in pro class. I've only drived pro class here in Finland. It's going to be interesting to drive Smurfette in a different kind of terrain compared to the one we have in Finland. Pro class has felt extremely good and I feel like I have improved all the time. Yeah and like Samu mentioned it's down to my nerves now. Hopefully we'll see some good performances! But let's all have a fantastic comp weekend!

[Zarizi Tech]

The big comp is now behind and what a weekend it was!


Sofi arrived in Almuñécar on wednesday and we got straight to the rocks on thursday.


What a weather for training!


Training went well, but I don't think there was enough practising with this sort of grip. Not enough time to get used to it.


Going for the first bonus on course one!


Driving in the first course was really nervous.


On the next course Sofi got rid of them shaky hands. This was really good effort!


Good lines to the gates and finished performance!


This was the only gate, where she had to fix the line couple of times.


Gate seven went better for Sofi, than many of the other drivers.


Rig was working perfectly for the whole trip.


Making the most of RcBros Course!


After the last course Sofi had three finished performances and three DNF's. It's an ok performance, but with more training on the beach rocks, there would've been few more positions in reach.

Time to see the performances on video corner! Sorry about the filming. Trying to be spotter and filmer at the same time isn't too good combination. I really wanted to see Sofi successing and the filming was not the number one case there.

Krawler Konceptz Course (+24/-40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQTm3Vz04e8

First course in a big competition in pro class for Sofi. Naturally a nervous performance. Shaky hands and throttle control. Been there myself, but this course could have been better. But some confidence to the driving showed in the progress of first bonus. I like the attitude.

Fanatic RC Course (-19/-40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpQEPMyUX-4

Sofi drove really well on this course! Dedicated to drive to finish she didn't go for the bonus gates this time and only made a couple of mistakes in terms of the lines. -19 is really respectable score from this course!!

Holmes Hobbies Course (+15/-40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHmShsIAILI

This was one of the hardest courses of the competition. Sofi got too much speed approaching the second gate and got marker. Before the course she decided to straddle the third gate to save time and trying to finish. Third gate was gate number seven. Again too much speed. We need to do some downhill training before next season. I told her after gate seven, that there is no more points for gates. Amazingly she drove last two gates with only one reverse. Stunning performance! And a finished course!

Crawler-Keller Course (+28/-40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeZxnKS6Rgs

This course was yet again tough for Sofi. Especially the gate three turned out to be a real time and point catch. When things start to go wrong they just go. No more to say about that gate.

Team Ottsix Course (+28/-40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKbzoFRr-4Y

On this course Sofi drove really well the first six gates! No mistakes until gate seven. And then the time runned out. Five minutes is really brutal time limit for this sort of courses. But I was really proud of the first half of the course. Really good driving!

RcBros Course (-17/-40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikSq0FeEbbM

The last course of the day for Sofi. Not a single mistake all the way to gate ten, where she took three reverses and a gate just to finish the course. This was definately one of the highlights of the comp for Sofi. Epic way to end the comp!


Here are the final results. Position 21 from 31 driver field. Sofi can proudly say, that there is now ten asses kicked! But definately with more wheeltime she could brake into top 15.


Big thanks to all of the supporters of the comp! Would not be same without these awesome vendors!


Our trip to Spain ended up in beautiful sunrise. Sofi got some really important experience from this level of competition. Now it's time to take a little break from driving and continue on training after the winter for the next EuroCrawl!

PICTURES: Jorge Teixeira

[Softy]

EuroCrawl behind! What a weekend! First of all I want to thank the organazation. Second of all I want to thank all of you guys who came around. All of us made this weekend perfect! Then of course thanks to all the sponsors and especially mine Ottsix, Krawler Konceptz, Holmes Hobbies, Offipaita and Purpmart huge thanks! Then to the race...

In my opinion my driving was OK. There were some good performances and some poor ones. Samu filled you already in with the details and said everything probably the same way I would have said them.

In EuroCrawl I managed to screw up the first course both in Pro and Shafty. The course was drivable but when you are too nervous the result is not that good. Luckily I managed to calm my nerves down on the second course and I'm really happy with the -19 performance.

Third course, Holmes Hobbies course and the so called "Norwegian course" . This course looked a bit tricky. I had already decided that I'd straddle the gate number three but unfortunately I took the gate number two as well, that was a stupid one. Then when I was heading down to the gate number seven Samu filled me in with the points. I honestly didin't know how anyone can do the gate seven clear, quickly and without loosing nerves. Somehow I did it. It's still impossible to understand how

Fourth course, the krawler-celler-course, not so good. Third gate took all of my time. Let's leave that there.

Fifth course, the Team Ottsix course looked like a nice one. Unfortunately my time ran out on the gate seven. It's always so sad when you are driving well but just doing it too slowly

The last course, sixth one, RcBros course let me finish the EuroCrawl with a smile on my face. Unfortunate last gate but honestly at that point I didn't even care. I just wanted to cross that finish line.

All in all, like I already said, something good something bad. I think my biggest obstacle was the terrain. When you have learned how to drive in a cold and slippery rocks it's really hard to adapt to the Spanish terrain. But of course I really enjoyed the terrrain, and the sun, and the beach, and the beach- bar

Now it is time to take some time of crawling. EuroCrawl was definetly the best way to end this season. Thanks again to all of you! It was the best comp where I've ever been and probably one of the best weekend in my life also. I've got my rigs in a perfect shape for the next year. Looking forward to the finnish series, Nordics and of course the amazing EuroCrawl. Hope that we'll see such as musch or even more participants next year. Can't wait!