Recapping of the 2023 SIC event which this year had over 500 entries yet again. I heard from numerous people that were really new to the hobby or returning after a decade plus away. So that was good to hear and hopefully portends to some growth. This years layout was fast with a couple big jumps. No blind spots (except where a couple marshals stood) made for some great close racing and battles. I ran 4 classes at this one and kept plenty busy.
Tire wise I kept it really simple all weekend. I ran the new AKA SSLW Diamanté tires on both buggies. In nitro truck I ran SSLW Gridirons and in E truck I ran SSLW Impacts. The fastest run all weekend by any class was my etruggy Q3 TQ run.
Qualifying beyond that great run was pretty solid throughout. I got 3rd in Q1 and Q2 of both buggies to also qualify me 3rd overall. In nitro truck I qualified 5th and in etruggy I qualified 2nd. Everything was working well regardless of if the track was a bit more moist or if it was drying out. The track got a bit rougher as the event went on in a couple sections but overall all my Kyosho rides handled it well.
Come Sunday morning I was there to marshal the first race at 7. Then I volunteered for race 2 as they needed some help and I rolled my ankle jumping over a car and heard a pop from my foot. I was pretty sure I knew immediately what I did as I had same feeling and sound about 6 years ago. A hairline fracture of 5th metatarsal which I have confirmed today (Tuesday) at the urgent care. So that slowed down my physical pace the rest of the day but I was determined to still race strong.
First we had the nitro Truggy main which I was a bit off pace on. My truck being a bit too rolly in the corners leading to some mistakes. I fell back outside the top 10 but fought back in the end to finish 8th overall. Next we had etruggy A1 where I and a pair of blistering fast kids battled it out at the start. I would make a mistake though and fall to 3rd and they ran clean and that’s where so would finish.
A1 of ebuggy was next and it was going well. I ran top 3 for a while getting to 2nd for a bit but made some mistakes and fell to 6th after a pretty crazy finish as 4 of us tumbled across the line together.
Nitro buggy had the 30 minute main up next and my Kyosho MP10 TKI2 was feeling pretty good. I preemptively went up in diffs for the main from 6-6-3 to 8-6-5 and I think it was a good decision. I made a mistake on lap 3 falling from 3rd to 7th but made my way back into 3rd within 5 laps. I then had some good racing with Mason Fuller for a while. I would run clean the rest of the race and be able to put a 5 second cushion between he and I and I was able to come home on the podium in 3rd overall. A great result to begin the season.
Finally we finished out with the A2 runs of the E classes. Etruggy I battled again at the beginning before making a mistake and again being 3rd. I started having some fun over the front double doing a front flip fakie where I would bring it back for the landing after having it upside down. I didn’t realize the leaders made mistakes and one bowed out and suddenly I found myself in the lead and took the A2 win which put me 2nd overall. In Ebuggy I had a solid run just slightly off the consistent pace of the top 3 and I would bring home a 4th which gave me 4th overall.
Overall a solid start to my 2023 campaign to build off of! :-D
**Set-up Notes - Buggies started with 6-6-3 and only went to the higher value noted for the A-mains.
**On the trucks, the CF tower outer hole for the top shock mounting hole is the same as the middle hole on the Aluminum tower.
