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JustMe
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Registered: 1-1-1970
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posted on 16-3-2008 at 11:00
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First Merlijn test session under the belt.
Hello everyone,
Yesterday late evening Racing for Holland went south to Merlijn, where the second EEC race is being held, to have a look on the accomodation, the
track and the counting system.
Well......
Good thing we went there 
Seems like that with some table-puzzling we will be able to host 24 teams, but it will be really tight.
the counting system is great, no worries there.
But the track......
First thing we noticed is that the track braids are... all over the place, differing in height, width, thickness every centimeter on the track. On
some places the braids came loose from the track.
Second thing was the track sections not being nicely alligned, or flattend. Meaning that as soon as we got driving, you hear the car bouncing over the
straightaways, always falling down 0,5-1,0 mm, and in two corners you have to 'hill-climb' a good millimeter.
And then, o shit, I hit lane 8. On lane 8 the boarding is just 1,8 centimeter away from the normal driving space, meaning that my Maser (and Tamars
Lambo) hit the boarding at 6 points every lap, hard.
Sometimes you could not even make the turn and you'd deslot, cause quite simply the car cannot turn into the corner because it's rear end is held in
the boarding.
This is being addressed seriously by the organisers because quite simply, one cannot race on lane 8.
Most likely a 8-team heat with 1 sit-out period, so 7 cars racing, not using lane 8 will result, but this issue is still under discussion.
So, my advise to the racers, is concentrate on your guide and braids, as on this thrack they are everything.
I killed my braids in half an hour, really distroyed them. So, I think, whatever you do, don't go to low with your guide, as it will tear your braids
apart. Also note that the track braids are damaged at several places, loose strands come up baked and burned by the voltage to a hard, sharp edge, as
seen on heavily used track braids in wingcar racing.
I also discoverd a 10 centimeter dead strip on the track........ right in front of a corner. Braking was really strange, until I put some masking tape
on the track to mark it, and when you brake on this strip, all is fine. I will make this strip again in two weeks, as a nice white line, cause this is
also the point where the counter is.
There was not too much grip yet, but fastest times where around 6,50 sec, and will probably drop to 6,30 in the race.
One last note, as in Barcelona, a Vitaphone Maserati caught fire 
Tamar was cleaning my tires on track with 'wasbenzine' , and it must have short-fused somewhere, cause WHOOM 
No damage on Tamar or my car, except a good burn mark on the rear left side of my precious girl Funny to see a carbon laminated body going really really soft for 15 minutes 
So get ready!
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