Marton Toth Mibosport Cup R5 Race report Tamiya TRF419X

I travelled to the final round of the Mibosport Cup held in Hrotovice in the Czech Republic. The weather was really difficult and harsh and it was a weekend that invoked so many different emotions from the begging to the end.

I was going to race my TRF419X with WS alloy chassis in the Stock LRP class. The two leaders coming into the weekend were Oliver Havranek and Zdeno Kunak. However like the weather it was going to be an unpredictable weekend.

Before we jump into the details a bit of background:

My primary goal for the 2017/2018 Mibo season was to be as many times in the A-main as possible. Once noted how competitive the people in Stock LRP group became this year it started to be a “dream” for me, knowing it is also my first "ETS black" carpet season. Despite all the facts and circumstances of the large event and great competitors, I strongly believed in both my TRF419X and my hands along with the loads of sugar I ate during the races to keep me fit.

FRIDAY

Friday morning as I was taking my son to the kinder garden – he asked me to “get him some delicious victory”. This is in reference to the Mibo events giving delicious cakes for C1, B1 and A1-A5. I once got one for B1 and my son remembered it. Talk about pressure to perform J

I travelled again with my ‘Orange car friend’ J Zsolt Kalnay, who drives Xray modified and we had a great journey chatting for the 4 hours drive. Unfortunately when parking just in front of the hotel we had a small accident with a local truck driver (hit from the back L) which started our weekend pretty badly.

After checking in for the event we only found one free spot to sit in front of Zdeno Kunak (mod champ, second in stock overall this year) and his dad. It was good time, exchanging a lot of info (thanks) and having fun.

Track Layout:

Unlike many of the previous tracks which were fast and flowing, this track was much more technical and tight (at least for me) with lots of sharp corners.

Base setup:

I had created a plan what to test on Friday for free practice day to find something new. I also wanted to stick to my test plan and not to go off at a tangent :) which I have done in the past and learned is not a good strategy.

I was sure what to test, and I have 7x4 minutes practice sessions to try them. The list included : Springs, higher damper oil and new bodies (Mazda6 pro-light and Bitty 410 ULT) to see if I could improve the strong base settings that I had developed on the high grip carpet previously.

The following were the main things I found out at the test

• 600 oil generated a smooth feeling and easy to drive. We also realised 550 oil in my shock have pretty much same feeling as Xray with 450 – (Same brand of oil). I don’t know the reason but tested and this is what it is. 
• 3.2 springs all around: this is I liked very much. It fits to my "driving” style. However makes the car very stiff (vs 2.5-2.8 / 2.6). 
• Body: Bitty is just awesome. Quick, very fast in corners. I simple love it. Mazda6 pro-light was also very stable a bit too much. Difference max 0.1sec/lap, however I'm sure with slightly different setting of the car pretty much same result achievable, but the Bittydesign M410 just worked.
• Carbon stiffener: I decided to run 30g centre weight with 2 screws all time.

All my plans worked very well :) During free practice and controlled practice I was constantly in the top 3 with a very promising 3 lap time (41.146 vs 40.924 for Oliver). I knew Saturday would be a different day and the grip and competition level would both rise. Therefore I need to find a bit more, as in past events I was been competitive on Friday but Saturday I would have some bad luck....or just simply not keep up with the others finding the extra speed.

However my friend Zdeno said: "no big change needed on car for Saturday, simple have the good base setup and run it.”

We always changed something J to learn / test… he is right. If the car is good on Friday it should be ok on the Saturday (no change in condition a bit more traction). If you make big changes you might have more possibilities but probably will has less of a feel of the car and get a worse result. Most of top drivers goes with their end of Friday "base” setup and then only fine tune the chassis.

Overall I decided to stay with all changes I tested and chose to run the Bittydesign M410. I ended Friday in third position after controlled practice. I was aware that other drivers could become quicker and quicker on Saturday was to be somewhere A3-A5. The First and Second times were not that far off, but guys with those times were also competing for the overall championship so even if I was quick enough I wouldn’t have entered into their "battle”.

Saturday – Qs and Finals.

Q1:
I wanted to have a safe run without further setup changes. As I left the car on Friday evening, just ran it. To make sure I am in A-main. (bad experience from past to miss it due to further changes). Up to 3 minutes I was very competitive, was mentioned to lead for 1-2 laps overall, however last 1.5 minutes I got slower bit and hitting 14.0 lap times instead of 13.8/13.7. Overall ended A4.

Q2:
I missed a bit of speed in Q1 from 2nd half of the race so went up 6k diff oil and refreshed shock oil.
I did driving mistake but similar „effect”. Got lose the speed a bit towards the end. Still A4 position.

Q3:
Moved rear springs to hole 3 instead of 2 and didn’t warm up diff oil before the race. I turned the car very quick and responsive, found a bit too much. Despite it was quick it was also difficult to drive and I had a mistake which wouldn’t cost much time, however I got a hit also, body stack so DNS.

Overall I lost one more position by 1 second, A1 was about 5 second away.

For the finals I had a chat with my friends Zsolt and Zdeno and decided to do further changes take the risk :) Despite having a good base setup. I wanted to have more speed, a bit more reaction. So decided to change to "D” Suspension block and add + 0.5mm rear shim (keep 187mm length in rear) and removed 0.5mm bump steer, and moved the rear damper to position 2 and finally 5k diff oil.

So this is how I ended up with setup:

Final 1:

Starting from P5. I wanted to keep my position, that’s it and see if the revised setup is better or not. And no diff oil warm up, which we did during the qualifiers which could result in a lower speed for the 2nd half of the run.

The TRF419X was simply amazing. This all I remember well, since there was so many changes in positions. I also ended up somehow in P10 after couple of laps but recovered very quickly. After 4 minutes I found myself again P5 and battling for P4 with Lukasz – later he won overall. End of the straight I was able to pass him during corner entry. I ended P4, Lukasz P6, Oliver took the win.

Final 2:

No change in setup, just checking after crazy A1 round to see if my car setup didn’t change, de-tweak, etc. The race went smoothly, I was able to fight for P4 and had chance 3 times to attack but I was not able to pass Lukasz this time, who started from P4. He ended up P2, Zdenko win, myself P4.

Final 3:

No change in the setup but wanted to see how Mazda6 performs – noted I should adjust a bit for more steering, since I knew Mazda will be too stable for the chicanes, however wanted to try. I had given up the chance to be in the podium and wish my best to Zdenko and Oliver to close the race and championship fairly. Keeping A5 would be my best result this season, my son wish could come through... just keep position properly and not to let others behind me to pass was the way of my thinking.

My friend Zsolt last comment before the race was: this is your last race this season. After so many bad lucks, having small accident with your regular car, hope luck will turn on your side this time. I smiled ,walked up to the standing and waiting for the signal.

10,9,8……….Start…

Something happened in the front after few corners. Luckily I also was able to react not to hit them so I suddenly I ended up with Lukasz – driving serpent – as 1-2. Omg... I tried to see who follows us... was a decent peace so I could focus to try to catch Lukasz and attack. Mazda6 was not that responsive as Bitty but stable. After 2 laps being extremely close to Lukasz I was able to pass him again (within 2 finals 2x) and keep my position till the end. It happened very early of the race therefore I needed to keep this position which I had never driven before. Same feeling when I won my first stock category race in Hungary, 2016.

My hands were shaking, heart was out of control :)... amazing feeling, which can also have really bad impact on driving my driving. I was able to keep approx. 1sec distance from Lukasz, top guys were not able – luckily – to recover. Luck was my friend this time…During the 5 minute race I thought whether I will be able to keep my position with this body. Different driving of turning in needed vs Bitty. Thinking about it in retrospect, probably the Mazda6 was the right decision. Bitty is quicker but with all conditions above I needed only a stable car to win with my shaking hands. It was an amazing feeling and I was super happy that my hard work payed off.

Overall Lukasz won with two time’s second position. I got third, since we had same results (1;4) and points with Oliver, however he was quicker with few sec overall. This guy -Oliver Havranek- is going to be the next world champion in my opinion. He is so young and a talent. I was marshalling for modified A-main and was amazed how he followed Volker, Krapp.... he was there all the time. Obviously passing in modified at such level is almost impossible, he did couple of try. This was a big ShowTime for sure. I am proud to stand next to him on the podium in stock category.

So the question is whether I now have the best setup? :)  I doubt it, and I will try fine tuning my TRF419X further. It is for me already very competitive, but I also have the XR conversion kit and it would like to test that, along with looking at droop 6/5 or 6/4.7, rear roll bar 1.3, 6k diff oil etc. This requires more and more practice time. The entire season of 5 races were huge step improvement for me for sure, I had some great fun and created some great friendships.

With this weekend the Mibo carpet season ended, overall I found myself as 7th in the championship out of 66 entries in total (in average 40 racers were present), which is a brilliant result for me.

Thanks to Craig (TheRcRacer) also for the support who answered my questions many times during the races via facebook messenger.

Finally we arrived home 3am Sunday morning. I wanted to sleep more than 5 hours :), however my lovely son waked me up to ask whether his "Dream” came through :)

Additional pictures (Mibosport cup Facebook page)