"The final race of the year in China was held at the RCI indoor racing club in Shanghai. In the top class 11.5T, JJ Wang driving his HB TCX cruised to victory over second place driver Zhang Fang Zhou, also driving a TCX. In third place was Ed Clark from the UK driving a Tamiya 417. This was a control race using Hobby Wing motors and Team Power tires. Other classes in the Christmas shoot out included 13.5T sports class, and Formula One."

Still, not such a bad result. Didn't have enough to challenge the front two, but was comfortably ahead of the rest, so third it was. Car wasn't great, but improved a lot during the day, and then found some more stuff that made it better still after racing!
Track was mega traction, tight indoor asphalt, and not helped by running very soft compound tyres, so traction roll was a big issue. Had to soften the car off to make it stable and let it roll, but still was a tendancy for it to fall over the front if I got too aggressive initially.

Anyway, setup is attached, major differences are:
- Smokem FX chassis (loads of front end!)
- Stiffening the car back up a little with non-cut top-deck and steering brace. - Softer shocks (carpet style)
- Wider front (D/B, 1mm axle shims)
- Long camber links.


In the testing after, I found Silver/blue to be a better spring combo, and going to 3.5mm on the rear wheelbase shim better as well. Was really struggling in the tight sections of the course, lacked mid-corner, basically making the car a little too stable. So, next time out, I'll be trying shorter links, and also going back to the flexy top deck... that is, after I play with the new toy

Ed Clark

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