My Blog - TMSC
I thought I would do something I have never done before, writing for a hobby which I enjoy and for something which doesn’t get a grade at the end of it. Firstly I do apologise for grammar, spelling mistakes etc, English was never a strong point on paper. And secondly I will be writing this blog at each of the Midlands Super Cup.
Before I get to today’s events, I will start by introducing myself; my name is Mark or Thorny for those people who don’t know me. This will be my second full year of nitro racing, and I must thank Greg at RC Disco for the support, Mark at Derby Model Shop and my closest friends James, Abi, Bran, and not forgetting my wife Sarah and son Jacob.
I hope you enjoy!
NDOR – Round 1 – 22nd April 2012
I recently changed car manufacturers from Losi to X-ray some 2 months ago, its gone very smoothly so far, “touch wood”; just learning another car is fun.
I will start this instalment some 5 days ago. I have just stripped all of the components from the car and found that I set the car up wrong, I put the plastic front arm holders in the wrong way round (the plaster inserts in the hinge pin holders), never mind, interesting setup I went for. Lol. Anyway the car is as clean as it was when it came out of the box, new oils all round, bearings checked cleaned and reoiled. And I have spent 2 nights spraying a new shell up ready.
5.30am – Alarm goes off, decide to have 10 minutes extra in bed – bad idea. After a short McDonalds breakfast stop meeting Abi and James – (who were late as usual), we made the short (20min) journey up the M1 to Ndor. We arrived and got the dome setup for what would turn out to be a day of both sunshine and rain (which seemed to come when I was on the track)
Round 1 – I am always indecisive when it comes to picking the correct tyre, on this occasion after having Habao’s on, then spikes, I chose the first ones. My car seemed fairly good (seemed to be missing something, don’t know what), managed to drive cleanly missing back markers and traffic (which sometimes is an accomplishment in itself) and finished a respectable 30th overall (Dave Bailey topped the charts). I was happily thinking that better results would come. What a mistake I made with that assumption.
Round 2 – A little tweak here and there with the car, and off we go to round 2. This is where the problems started – the heavens opened up, and to stay I had no grip would be an understate! Any way, tried to keep the car in the right direction, but kept getting myself into trouble. This round reminded me of when I was young bowling at superbowl in derby using the bumpers with the ball pinging off each side. I won’t bother you with my overall in this round; let’s just say this would be the round I dropped.
Round 3 – A few more tweaks here and there, no rain, track starting to slowly dry. The car seemed a lot better than the first round, driving around traffic, I seemed fairly happy with the car (note to self learn to set the car up better). After round 2 I didn’t think the day could get any worse, the engine cut, no crash, plenty of fuel, just stopped. Absolutely pig sick would be an understatement, new engine needed! Anyway I dusted myself down and finished 47th overall, not happy one little bit.
I took the car back to the pits took the engine out, changed the bearings and gave it a new glow plug for the E Final.
E Final – Starting 3rd on the grid I thought my chances of bumping would be fairly good, the only thing I didn’t take into account would be other 12 cars behind me. After the first couple of corners, a few shunts from behind, and a little shouting, I was dead last, chances of bumping up in smoke. It must have felt like a life time to settle down into the race, I started to work my way through the field with a suspect engine which would go rich then lean and then rich again, I started to pick everyone off one by one. Finishing what I thought was 4th, feeling fairly happy that I had managed to work myself back into contention. I took my bits back to the pits, getting ready to marshal and was informed that I had finished 3rd because the 3rd place driver had cut out on the triple and was carried across the line. Brought a smile to my face.
D Final – Starting last on the grid, the engine gremlins returned, cutting out with 4 seconds to start. I drove as best as I could, but couldn’t settle down into a rhythm, for some reason the car seemed to squirm all over the place (I will learn more about the car the more I drive it). I only improved a couple of positions but I bet this was by other cars cutting out. 2 minutes to go engine cut again, this time I had enough, engine very hot. I retired, not happy at all. New engine being ordered Monday.
I had to leave early due to work commitments, so didn’t pick up my nice little trophy. A little disappointment, but with money being needed for the new engine, it was a must.
A big shout out goes to Ndor’s Crew for holding a great opening round, And the T-M-S-C team for running the event. We as drives are in good hands for the rest of the series if today’s events are anything to go by.
That’s it for my first instalment – Roll on Round 2 Ledbury!!
I will try and promise to keep the length down. LOL
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Originally Posted by thorny97
Nemo Racing; Bullitt Engines 
