Iconic Cup 2024 - Race Reports

[Mad Ax 10598]

Hey folks!  This is just a placeholder for now.  In 25 minutes I will be setting off for Round 1 of the Iconic Cup at my "local" circuit, Mendip RC Raceway, which is about 90 minutes drive away.  This weekend I'll be doing both days - Saturday practice and Sunday racing - although for most of them I'll only be doing the Sunday.  This year we've got rounds in South Hants, West London, Broxtowe, Halifax, and Carlisle.

Provided I can get phone signal down at the track, I will be updating a few pics and reports as I go.  Stay tuned for updates!

[Mad Ax 10598]

Well, we have arrived! The sun is shining and the air is surprisingly warm. Traffic was light over the Mendip Hills so I made good time, got my camping pitch and my pit space sorted 

 

 

[Mad Ax 10598]

 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Track has been open for 20 mins now. Very grippy and abrasive, diff was too hard on initial laps but settled in quickly as the tyres warmed. However the EXP32 tyres on the front are past their best and after 3 mins had lost most of their outer glue. I decided to try bedding in the new D32s I bought last week. First lap, no front grip, second lap waaaay to much front grip, car was grip rolling even on the straight. Result: new wheel with 3 mins use is scarred

[Mad Ax 10598]

The new D32s are making the car very twitchy, and it's following the imperfections in the track a lot. I have dialled out some toe out, which has helped, and also removed a 10g weight from the front end (I've left 10g on the front and various weights at the back) . Also decided to put additive on the rears to see if they come in quicker. Ultimately the car is not too slow on a good lap,  but it's hard to drive.

The weather has stayed good but it's a little cold in the shade. Tomorrow may be cooler which may be better for the tyres. 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Been a taxing day so far. The D32s are too much for the front, no matter what I do, so I tried with the old EXP32s instead. Definitely better but not sure they will last the weekend, so I bought some EXP36s. No EXP32s or D36s in stock. Car didn't feel as responsive on the break in laps but nicer to drive, which is exactly what I want.

Burger for lunch was good too, but no photo because I ate it all

[Mad Ax 10598]

 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Well, that's practice day done! I was still having trouble with the car weaving on the straights so I put back in some toe out that I had removed earlier, and it all came back to life. Still lacking in raw pace and turn in but much nicer to drive now.

All packed up, now going to rest my legs and eyes for an hour, going for a curry at 7pm

[Mad Ax 10598]

The main reason to come to practice at Mendip is the curry night 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Ending the day with a few games of pool...

[Mad Ax 10598]

I wasn't going to bother with practice this morning, but it's way colder today than yesterday so I figured it would be good to get a baseline. I put the D32s back on and found them much better in the cold, especially after solving some other setup problems yesterday. Now getting prepped for the concourse 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Driver's briefing and concourse 

[Mad Ax 10598]

I have been placed as car 7 in the A heat, which is kinda scary given how badly I raced yesterday. Tyre warmers on for the first time, although it warmed up quickly earlier today without them.

If you want to follow along, live results are here. I am Alex Sparey in group 8.

https://www.rc-results.com/Viewer/Main/MeetingSummary?meetingId=11418

[Mad Ax 10598]

The trailer got lots of attention but wasn't eligible for concourse prize due to not being an actual race car

[Andreas W 2558]

The trailer and CRX are smashing. Looks like you have wonderful weather. Good luck racing. 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Round 1 wasn't a huge success. The track had warmed a lot since morning practice and the tyres were too sticky. It was a bit twitchy from the start, and I had a couple of grip roll incidents towards the end which put me down to 9th. Looking at my best time, I'm a fair way off the lead and lost 2 laps, and in danger of being relegated by some B drivers. Switched back to the EXP36 tyres, fingers crossed for next round 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Round 2 was a marginal improvement. My overall time was better and I was only 1 lap off the lead, but my best was several seconds off the top time and the slowest in the heat by some margin. The car drives nicely and isn't lacking speed on the straight, but either the car isn't able to maintain speed in the corners or I'm not able to get the best from it.

The diff has softened up a lot since yesterday so I have repacked it and will see how it goes in round 3.

[Mad Ax 10598]

Round 3 was a big improvement, at least in terms of consistency. The stiffer diff felt like it made a difference, and although my fastest laptop time was still 3s off the fastest lap time, I had a much better race, overtaking one slower car on merit and getting a couple of other places from drivers who were clearly faster but having scruffier races. No mistakes was a big bonus.

However, the times for that race are not showing online so I'm not sure if there was a problem. The result sheet was physically printed so there definitely were times, just maybe they have been removed or just didn't make it online yet.

No changes for round 4 except re gluing the front tyre walls. 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Mr Iconic himself gave me a coaster! 

[Mad Ax 10598]

Transit!

[Mad Ax 10598]

Final time! So round 4 went as well as could be expected, I finished 7th after some other racers had trouble. A clean race with no mistakes and lots of focus on lines. As a result I have qualified 8th overall and remain in the A, which is Mission Accomplished. Best result now is to finish better than 8th, although I know the driver in 10th is faster over a single lap and 9th was bumped up from B, so it could be a close race or a total disaster. Fingers crossed .

I considered changing to an older set of EXP32s as the track is getting colder, but I figured consistency is more important than trying to banzai or right now 

[Mad Ax 10598]

This is racing in super stock

[Mad Ax 10598]

Well folks, that's round 1 completed. The final could have gone better - I lost 2 places in the first couple of corners and they were way faster than me, however I managed to stay with another and was very close all the way. When he moved over to let a lead car through I pounced, took the place and held it, even pulled out some distance. Then a leader caught me in my least favourite corner, I tried to pull over but got a wheel on the grass and flipped. I clawed back the lost time and was within a second of 9th, but alas, ran out of time and had to settle for last.

It's clear that my car isn't as good as it was last year - or maybe it's me? The m05s have switched it up. So do I break my m05 out, or give the m03 some attention? I have some things to work on before the next round a month from now! 

[Andreas W 2558]

Thank you for taking the time to do this writeup. It's been nice to follow what have happened there over the weekend.

[Pylon80 3773]

On 4/14/2024 at 10:21 AM, Mad Ax said:

So do I break my m05 out

Of course!

Thanks for another great write up! (everybody enjoys a good MadAx trip report)