FORCC Club Guidelines

Faversham Off Road Car Club – Guidelines

With a membership that boasts both the quantity and quality that many clubs could only dream of, there is as you would expect a turnover of membership which means that not everyone is aware of the “guidelines” that the club is run to. As you know, there is no appointed committee – just a dedicated band of senior members that give their time and effort to promote the club and the hobby in general for the good of the sport. As such there have never been any hard and fast “rules” as this tends to go against the fun nature of the club – but having said this, time has come to perhaps remind our members of the “guidelines” that the club is steered by……

  1. Please be considerate when arriving at the club – the approach road has speed bumps for a reason and is not a race track!
  2. When parking at the club, please make sure that the 2 disabled parking bays nearest the hall doors are left clear – unless of course you have a blue badge and are entitled to park there.
  3. Most drivers have their own preferred pit space, but please bear in mind we don’t have a massive area so please share tables where possible along with extension leads. If you’re new to the club and worry about where to pit – just ask!
  4. If you need to route an extension lead across a walkway, please ensure it’s taped down so it doesn’t present a trip hazard.
  5. The first task for every race meeting is to get the Astroturf and track components out from the stage area and back storage room. Unfortunately, this is a thankless but necessary task and one that’s not fair if it’s left to a few individuals. There’s nothing worse having 4 or 5 members hauling everything out to build the track when there’s double that number in the pits sat watching! You’ll have plenty of time to get set up once the track components are out and the track itself is being built.
  6. Whilst the track is being built, booking in will open. Please book in before you go and practice – it’s your responsibility to make sure you’re booked in, nobody else’s – and waiting for drivers to book in costs a lot of time at the beginning of any meeting.
  7. No cars are to be on the track until the track is complete. Again – feel free to help with the track building – the more that help the faster it gets done!
  8. Practice gets very busy very quickly. There are all mixed abilities trying to get some track time at once so please be considerate of other drivers. It’s only practice – not a race – so no prizes for breaking your or anyone else’s car before the meeting has even started. Also, we know that with modern lipo batteries you could practice for 15 minutes straight but we ask that again consider others that are waiting their turn. Have 5 minutes – let your car cool down and someone else have a go – then if you need to have another 5 minutes.
  9. When practice is called to stop it means just that – no more cars on track to allow time for the track to be re-fettled if needs be. The heat listings will be published and the race meeting itself can begin. Please double check you have the right transponder number, and that if you have one of the club handout transponders on loan for the night that it’s plugged in and ready to count.
  10. All heats in Round 1 will begin in the order 1,2,3,4,5,6…. Rounds 2 and 3 starting orders are based on the previous finishing positions – so please make sure you know your car number and where to start in each round. The grid is staggered with odd numbers on the inside, evens on the outside, spaced evenly using the white lines on the AstroTurf.
  11. We have a small hall – we know that – and contact is inevitable. If you’re racing for position and cause someone to crash – wait for them to get back on track and resume racing. If you’re being lapped, pull to the outside of a corner as soon as possible and let them past as it’s the quickest means for both parties to carry on racing. Likewise, if you are lapping someone, give them chance to get out the way – they are racing as well and trying to enjoy their evening without being shouted at for not reacting like a scalded cat.
  12. If you crash or lose control and jump a section of the track, you must make the effort to re-join where you left. If that’s not possible you must wait and only re-join the race without gaining an advantage – it’s your fault you crashed and you should not benefit as such.
  13. Each race is only over when the final buzzer sounds. Until this time the track is still live and you should only pull off where safe to do so once you’ve heard your number called. Don’t leave the stage and start wandering across the track – additionally the marshals must stay at their posts until the final buzzer sounds.
  14. Please be aware of people on the track during the swap over between heats. Keep hot-laps to a minimum and be on the grid in the correct position, ready to race when the countdown begins.
  15. You are required to marshal the heat after you race. There’s plenty of time to put your car back on your table and make your way to your marshal position on the track. If you cannot marshal, please make sure you have someone to take your place. You wouldn’t appreciate it if your race was spoilt due to a marshal not being present – so don’t do be that marshal!
  16. Marshal cars as you’d wish to be marshalled yourself – quickly and efficiently – but overall safely. Only go to a car when safe to do so – put it back down in the correct direction of travel when it’s clear to do so and not right in front of another car. Then make your way back to your post again when safe to do so as quickly as possible.
  17. At the end of racing, everything needs to be put away. As with getting the track out, it’s not fair to leave it to “the few”. It’s always been an unwritten rule that the last 2 heats put the track away but that seldom happens. If everyone mucks in it takes 10 minutes to put everything away and everyone gets to go home at a decent time. Please do your bit and help – it’s not much to ask for a little help for your evening’s entertainment that costs less than a pint of beer!!

As stated these are not rules – these are guidelines that we hope will be adhered to for the benefit of everyone at FORCC. Construction rules are available at www.brca.org. Rules specific to FORCC relating to motors or tyres are on the club website www.forcc.co.uk but in brief the basic club rules are:

  1. We run a rear control tyre (Schumacher U6786 Block tyre in the Yellow compound). Front tyres and and Short Course Truck tyres are free choice.
  2. We run a 7.5 turn brushless motor limit.
  3. We run an 8.4 volt battery voltage limit regardless of battery chemistry. This includes current and future generations of LiHv batteries. Batteries should be charged either strapped into your car or inside a lipo sack.
  4. If you have borrowed a tranponder from the club, it is your responsibility to ensure you have returned it before you leave the venue.

If you have any questions about any aspect of the club, just ask! We’re a friendly bunch.

Enjoy your racing!

Regards,

Faversham Off Road Car Club.