Monsanto

Since the track was recently sealed/painted, the grip level was higher than at previous events at this track. I started practicing with my modified setup that I had run at the large track in Coimbra the previous week, but it was simply too aggressive. After fine tuning the setup a bit, I was very happy with the handling. The car started out a bit too "on the nose", with the rear sometimes wanting to step out mid corner. A few key changes are mentioned below:

1.2 front anti-roll bar instead of 1.1, to keep the front end flatter on corner entry, and to maintain better cornering speeds.

More front droop (lower downstop number) to slow down the initial reaction, and to reduce the drastic weight transfer to the front wheels off-power. I came back to my usualy 0.2mm stagger between front and rear, which smoothed out the car a lot.

Shorter wheelbase, which was achieved by more rear caster (2.5 instead of 1.5) together with my preferred front caster setting for the stock class (5 degrees). The shorter wheelbase, and more rear caster, helped to lock in the rear more in certain sections, which meant that I could go on throttle harder out of turns.

Bodyshell - I've received a lot of questions about my bodyshell choice. I opted for the LensBodies Ghibli. This bodyshell has the most initial steering out of any shells on the market right now. I prefer it over the Twister and Speciale, on tracks where those bodies are usually the first choice. It also has more overall downforce than the Wolverine. I used the L version, mounted at 65mm, and with a Twister wing (important). If the Twister wing isn't allowed (for example, in BRCA rules) then a Speciale wing is my 2nd choice for this bodyshell. LensBodies are working on an optional wing. This is how I mounted it height wise:

• Front, 7th hole, 0 holder + o-ring

• Rear, 7th hole, +1 holder

• Horizontal: 64mm to the upper corner edge of the rear bumper (very similar to Twister/Speciale height).

Battery choice. I decided to use the Nosram 8100 pack, since the 7400 had a bit too much fade now because of the higher grip levels! The 8100 is an excellent pack for the 13.5T class outdoors for most track types and conditions.