Tamiya Asia Cup Malaysian Qualifying Round 1, 2008
Date: March 30, 2008.
Venue: Bangsar Shopping Centre
Classes: Buggy, Tamiya M-chassis, Stock, GT
Organisers: Tamiya Underground
Sponsors: Bangsar Shopping Centre, Tamiya Underground.
Our country is hosting the Tamiya Asia Cup finals this year, so we are given eight spots in each class. This means the top eight in the qualifying series will get to represent Malaysia in the finals. For me, it is also a chance to wrap up my DF-03 Dark Impact review. There were only three DF-03's as most racers preferred to run the newer DB-01 Durga. I'm only reporting on the buggy class as that's the one I ran in.
I was seriously considering skipping this race because of some external factors. You know your mind is not really focused when you forget to bring a charger to a race - which was exactly what I did. I had half a mind to go home and forego my race registration fee but my wife convinced me to at least give it a try before quitting. My friend Ng loaned me the use of his charger between charging his batteries.
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There were three jump ramps on the track. The first and biggest one was about 2 feet high and angled quite steeply. There was no landing ramp, so we landed on the carpet. An extra layer of carpet helped provide some added cushioning. |
Qualifying 1 -
The DF03 had a tendency to nosedive on the big ramp. I don't know what I did, but I was somersaulting through the big jump half of the time.
Spent a lot of time getting rod ends snapped back on by turn-marshalls. Finished the race with only 10 laps. Fastest guy (Zahari) did 19 laps.
Qualifying 2 -
The buggy was still somersaulting through the big jump but finished the whole race with 14 laps.
I was really rusty in the infield too, so I drove very slowly. My fastest lap was only 17 seconds.
Have to figure out how to drive this thing fast before I break it. Fastest guy was Azman with a blazing 21 lap effort.
His fastest lap was just over 14 seconds. Mine was a pathetic 17.2.
Noticed some yellow marks at the bottom of the chassis near the rear arms. Figured it was paint from the jump ramp.
It might have been linked to the somersaults the buggy was doing, but I didn't think about it at the time.
Qualifying 3 -
The buggy wing came partially off and was hanging on by like 2mm of screw thread.
Without a functional wing, the nosediving was even more pronounced. I pulled the buggy off the track to keep it from further damage.
| Another look at the scary jump. |
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Two thirds of Team Big Big Planet. |
| Getting some driving tips from a member of the pit crew. |
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Pretty buggies before we started breaking them. |
| Assessing the damage after each round. |
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A-main 1 -
The organisers let all 11 of us compete in the A-main since it was pointless to have a one man B-main.
I start 9th on the grid, ahead of the other two DF03's. Neither of them managed to finish a race during qualifying.
Did 4 laps and saw my rear turnbuckles pointing at weird angles. The ball stud had ripped out from a rear hub.
A-main 2 -
Used a different hole for the rear ball stud and changed inner ball stud positions but got weird suspension angles.
The wing came totally off early in the race and the buggy was somersaulting through the big jump, but somehow landed on its wheels most of the time.
The few times it landed on its roof, the rear shock tower took the brunt of the impact and passed it onto the gearbox, so that cracked in the end.
I finished another 14 lap race.
A-main 3 -
I was thinking of not running. Borrowed some CA from a fellow racer and patched up the crack.
After a minute or so, there were only 4 surviving buggies left on the track.
My DF-03, with its the creaking gearbox and dislocated wing mount, was one of them.
I learnt how to straighten the buggy in mid air with my steering, which got rid of the somersaults but the landings were still clumsy and
I often missed the next jump ramp, so I had to turn back for it (we were required to take all the jumps).
In the end, I still only managed 14 laps, with a fastest of 17.1.
Final position - 9th
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The front diff cups starting showing some signs of damage but survived the day okay. |
| A ballstud ripped right out of a rear hub. The rod end usually pops off before this happens, so my best guess is I had forgotten to tighten back this ball stud after it had come loose from the previous heat. |
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Buggies with arms and wheels missing were quite a common sight. |
| 1st place went to Azman, 2nd went to Terrence Ang from Singapore and 3rd went to Zahari. |
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DF-03 conclusion -
It's quite a robust chassis considering what I put it through.
As the plastic is soft, the screws need tightening after every round - especially kingpin screws and studs.
The rear gearbox is a weak spot, but to be fair, it only broke after the wing came off. The wing and wing mounts
are the first line of defense whenever the buggy lands on its roof.
Jumping it was quite tricky for me but I'm sure this was from my lack of practice more than a fault of the buggy's.
I almost feel guilty for not doing better because I had wanted to end the DF-03 review on a reasonably good note
to reflect what I personally felt the buggy was capable of. The fact remains that the three DF-03's that competed
took up the bottom three spots in qualifying as well as overall positions. I want to say the DF-03 could have done
much better in the hands of a better driver, but that would be speculating.
Special thanks to LK Ng for charging my batteries and CJ Mac for saving the day with superglue.
