David Spashett won his first
World Championship in France back in 1994. The class was 1:12 electric.
The biggest success of his career so far was the IFMAR OnTrack Worlds in
England 1998, where David won all three classes. He won his first Championship
with Corally but since 1996 he's been a Trinity factory driver. He had
been running for Losi in touring cars until this summer, when he switched
to Yokomo just after the Worlds warm-up race. He won his first race with
the Yokomo, the Euros in France, but the worlds did not go as planned.
I asked David about the MR4TC, RC in general and the future.
What do you do when not racing?
I like to spend time with
my girlfriend, movies, pubs clubs and I like to play basketball
What's your occupation?
I work with and for my father
as an electrical engineer at AEA technology,
working with management systems
for batteries.
Where in England do you live?
I live in the south of England in
a town called Eastbourne.
What are your goals for the 2001
season and for the future?
After quite a bad year I need to
sort myself out. I have tried to race too many classes and race too much
instead of practicing. I also changed teams during the season, which meant
even more work, and without any support made the task even harder.
Do you think you will ever get
tired of RC racing?
There are times when it does become
hard work but when you have a great race with someone and you have a lot
of fun it makes it all worth while.
Which is your favorite class?
I still love 1/12.
What's your best race ever?
For results it must be the world
championships in England but for races I have had a number of great races.
I think it was around 1995 when Oscar Jansen came over to race and in the
final we raced so hard we changed lead just about every lap, if there was
a back marker we would simply go around them as we were just so much faster,
it was amazing.
How can you be so competitive
in 12th scale? You are a 2 time world champ, you win the Euros almost every
year, you have been unbeatable at the Cleveland race the last 2 years?
I just love to race 1/12 and I really
enjoy the racecraft involved. I only wish I could practice more.
You seem to have a very smooth
driving style, has it always been like that?
Something which I have tried to maintain
and develop but lately I have become very untidy and really need to do
some practice.
What do you think is the main
thing(s) needed to be a good driver?
To be able to make a decision in
an instant and to be able to react to any given situation without a moments
notice. No driver has the complete package you just have to make the best
of what you have. Then there are the usual things like practice and preparation.
Why did you decide to leave Losi
for Yokomo?
I decide to leave because I had a
disagreement with Losi. Then I needed a drive for the worlds so the automatic
choice was to join Yokomo. I thought with their help at the worlds I could
get a good result. (how wrong could I be)
What do you think of the Yokomo
MR4TC car? What are its characteristics?
I really like the car. It has good
steering and a lot of rear traction. The only bad part of the car is that
it tweeks so easily and the set-up is nearly impossible to copy from car
to car.
Anything you would like to see
changed or developed on the car?
I would like to see a zero degree
bulkhead for carpet and a better front roll bar assembly.
Do you think that many people
take their RC racing too seriously?
Yes !!!. After all it is only a Hobby.
Yes we all like to win but when you have to be dirty to do it then it has
gone to far. What makes it even worse is when you have to get someone else
to do your dirty work for you.
What about the future of RC? What
do you see happening in the future? What would you like to change?
At the moment I really don't like
the way the electric section is going. All of these motor limits are slowing
the cars down and that is the one thing we all love, SPEED. You don¡¯t
see the gas section slowing their 70mph cars down and why not? Because
it is fun. Take away the fun and the sport will die.
Do you follow real F1 racing?
Favorite driver and team? Who will be world champion 2001?
I do follow F1 but I am not a fanatical
fan. I like watch Schumacher use his driving skill to win and then watching
McLaren and Mika win on strategy and hard work.
Do you follow any other motorsports
or sports?
Not really
What kind of music do you listen
to?
Anything except heavy metal
Favorite food?
Chinese and Mexican
Finally the classical question:
What advice can you give for those of us who are not champions but maybe
would like to be???
Work hard and practice. The main
thing I have learnt more than ever this year is that you need a team behind
you to win races. Without help and support from someone you will not win
races. Even if it is only your friends at the local track it is so much
easier to improve if you are in a team.
Finally a big thank you to David
for answering these questions!
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