MX-5 Cup - Round 4 - 14th Aug 2016, Wakefield Park

MX5_Club_of_NSW · Postby **MX5_Club_of_NSW** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 10:24 am

Started as a place holder for post-event discussion and posting of video links.
While there were no reported car-to-car incidents, as expected at an MX-5 Cup event, but there was plenty of good close racing through the field.
That racing, plus a few drivers having moments following mechanical issues, should make for some interesting videos.

david_syd_au · Postby **david_syd_au** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 10:35 am

A big thanks to David Johnson, his helper Richard (sorry, didn't get last name), and Cameron MacArthur's helper (sorry, didn't get any name) for helping fix my throttle issue car after it stuck wide-open at turn 4 in race 2 :shock:

Part of the reason I enjoy the MX-5 Cup racing is the friendly spirit of all the drivers. Thanks guys!

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:49 am

david_syd_au wrote:A big thanks to David Johnson, his helper Richard (sorry, didn't get last name), and Cameron MacArthur's helper (sorry, didn't get any name) for helping fix my throttle issue car after it stuck wide-open at turn 4 in race 2
Part of the reason I enjoy the MX-5 Cup racing is the friendly spirit of all the drivers. Thanks guys!

Had that happen to me at T.3 at last year's nationals. Not fun. Glad to hear you got out of it ok

chops · Postby **chops** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 1:32 pm

good fun days racing yesterday and no paint swapped across the field. Well done to Verne you were just too quick yesterday

quite a hectic day yesterday with power steering hose breaking, alignment issues, turbo studs backing out and the biggest spin I have ever had after my booster failed at the end of the straight and the pedal went to the floor and no brakes at 190 odd km/h. My driving suit will require intensive cleaning and I think we will still be finding rocks in the car for the next 5 years

david_syd_au · Postby **david_syd_au** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 2:52 pm

chops wrote:..;. and the biggest spin I have ever had after my booster failed at the end of the straight and the pedal went to the floor and no brakes at 190 odd km/h. My driving suit will require intensive cleaning and I think we will still be finding rocks in the car for the next 5 years

Hopefully you have video, so we can all cringe too?

chops · Postby **chops** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:55 pm

sadly not but hopefully Verne had a birds eye view

Wilko53 · Postby **Wilko53** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:23 pm

On Sunday I headed south to Wakefield for another round of the MX-5 Cup to take a few shots. Racing was quite close as you will see.https://flic.kr/s/aHskF6fbv4

Wilko53 · Postby **Wilko53** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:36 pm

david_syd_au wrote:A big thanks to David Johnson, his helper Richard (sorry, didn't get last name), and Cameron MacArthur's helper (sorry, didn't get any name) for helping fix my throttle issue car after it stuck wide-open at turn 4 in race 2
Part of the reason I enjoy the MX-5 Cup racing is the friendly spirit of all the drivers. Thanks guys!

Lots of activity under the bonnet. I wouldn't have been able to help so I took a photo instead.

forcedfive · Postby **forcedfive** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 7:09 pm

Great Photos Wilko and another great round of racing.

Best racing yet with you yesterday Cameron. Especially race three before that moment. I have a video I will get together to post it. Quite a moment and relieved that the outcome was as good as you could hope for in that position. I thought you had well and truly passed me prior to the incident but the video shows we were still quite close.

david_syd_au · Postby **david_syd_au** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:36 pm

Here is my race 4.
The first few laps are interesting watching David (black NB) and Greg (blue NC) dicing, but then I got past David (I learned later he had brake issues), and the rest is boring as I couldn't catch Greg.
The video reminds me how hard it was to see the apex at turn 10!

david_syd_au · Postby **david_syd_au** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:59 pm

My "Oh sh*t" moment in race 2.
The throttle cable spindle separated from the throttle body when I was going flat-out through turn 4, and unfortunately took the main return spring with it!
It was immediately obvious exiting turn 4 that the engine was staying at full throttle, so I killed the ignition, moved to the side of the track throught turn 5, waved past the following cars, then rolled across the grass to a safe spot. Bit of a non-event really.
The worst part was I had just got in front of GregT and put in some work to pull a gap. Grrrr.....

david_syd_au · Postby **david_syd_au** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:00 am

Wilko53 wrote:Lots of activity under the bonnet. I wouldn't have been able to help so I took a photo instead.

Thanks Rob, we could sense your moral support :-)

forcedfive · Postby **forcedfive** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:03 am

Nice quick reaction to get the ignition turned off david, surely you could have finished the race using you ignition kept as you throttle.
You just couldn't get close enough to Greg in race 4 to put some pressure on him. I hope Gaynor excused you for not waiving to her on two of the laps.
Looking forward to the final round at smsp.

Cheers
Verne

david_syd_au · Postby **david_syd_au** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:42 pm

forcedfive wrote:Nice quick reaction to get the ignition turned off david,

It's funny, at the time it seemed to be happening in slow motion. I bounced my foot on the throttle a few times, while it was still power sliding, to see if it was a stuck cable and would come loose, and then decided it was game over.

forcedfive wrote:surely you could have finished the race using you ignition kept as you throttle.

Yeh sure, funny man, and Cameron could have raced on using his feet for brakes, ala Fred Flintstone :-|

forcedfive wrote:You just couldn't get close enough to Greg in race 4 to put some pressure on him.

In race 1 he did a 1:08.5 when chasing me, so I think he had a bit in reserve and was just managing the gap.

forcedfive wrote:I hope Gaynor excused you for not waiving to her on two of the laps.

I wondered if anyone would work out what that was about :-)
She was worried about the bodgy throttle rework and asked me to wave if it was all ok. So I did, ... lots.

forcedfive wrote:Looking forward to the final round at smsp.

Should be fun

chops · Postby **chops** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 5:42 pm

Great photos Wilko, thanks for taking the time to do it. Good to see a few MX5's in the carpark and hopefully see more club members there for the final round at SMSP

nice work on the ignition cut David, never looked in doubt. I watched race 4 from the pitwall and Greg and David had a great dice, interesting to see it from your perspective

Verne you must have been pretty close to me as Natsoft has you in front over the start finish line and I can't have gained that much before the braking area. Pretty glad it didn't happen when we were side by side earlier. Could have ended much worse. The car will be on a hoist tomorrow and will see what we have broken