We’ve got 20 MRT transponders available which we will be selling for £40 each. Priority will be given to those that put their name down on the list at the last meeting followed by those still using club handouts on a weekly basis.

NO RACING NEXT WEEK – 12th April 2017

Please spread the word. Sorry for the short notice but we only found out this week. The driveway up to the hall is being resurfaced 😃

Results Updated

Another busy week with the number of entries topping the 50 mark. We had a quick drivers briefing highlighting a few issues around safety, practice and the efficiency of the whole evening.

1. No young children to be on the track during practice.
2. We’re looking at ways to control practice better.
3. A reminder of the 7.5 turn motor limit and the 8.4 volt battery charge limit. Random motor inspection and battery voltage checks are coming… 🙀
4. You must book in before you go out to practice.
5. We’re looking at incentives to encourage people who forget to book in to not forget to book-in in future. A popular one seems to be to make them run in the bottom heat…
6. In order to get the track ready quicker, we’re going to have track layout sketch available each week. This will allow people to help build the track to Kyle’s design.

Personal Transponders For Sale…

As part of our efficiency drive (reducing the amount of time it takes to get the meeting going), we’re putting an order in with MRT to get personal transponders to sell at cost. We’ve got 11 people on the list so far but there will be a few extras if anyone else would like one. Price to be confirmed once I hear back from Terry @ MRT.

Out and about…

Round 2 of Barham’s Summer Series is a week on Sunday. Gary has stepped down from running the club and the whole kit and caboodle has now been taken over by Les and Bob. We wish them both good luck in their new venture and would encourage you all to take a trip over there to give them your support 🙂

NO RACING NEXT WEEK – 12th April 2017

Results Updated

Truck week next week 🚚🚛🚚🚛🚚😍

Ouch update…

Following on from last weeks post, and just to reenforce the point that safety must come first, Alan has informed me that regrettably the injured marshal ended up in hospital after his wound got infected. He’s ok but is on antibiotics for the infection. Tonight I saw 2 of our youngest drivers running around on the track marshalling their own cars during practice with little regard for the traffic around them and towards the end of the evening a young girl was walking across the track with no shoes on which obviously could have had serious repercussions. Safety is not something we can take for granted and is something we all need to work together on to improve.

Results Updated

If you’re a Junior and are not in the Junior championship, let me know and I’ll get you added in. In case you missed it, The Leg 2 videos have now been added to Winter Series post below.

Ouch…

We had a stark reminder this week that model car racing can be dangerous with a marshal getting hit flat out on the straight causing quite a significant injury to his foot. With that in mind:

Drivers:

All practice laps should be considered ‘slow‘ laps and you should be ready to stop at any point on the track since there are people going to and from both the rostrum and the marshal points. It is the drivers responsibility to ensure the track in front of you is clear and safe to drive on. Never assume the person on the track will get out of your way. Not everyone has the eyes of a hawk and the agility of a gazelle…

In addition, the straight is one way only at all times!

Marshals:

It is your responsibility to ensure it is safe to leave your marshal point when going to marshal a car regardless of how enthusiastic the driver is being in getting you to hurry up! (Incidentally, crying out for marshals before you’ve even finished crashing is a sure way to get yourself marshalled slower…). You should ensure your footwear is appropriate for what can be quite a harsh environment. Anyone choosing to wear flimsy or open-toed shoes or saddles does so entirely at their own risk…

Results Updated

Winter Series Round 6 of 6 this Sunday

The Final round of this years Winter Series is this Sunday. Doors open 7:30 and as always some help would be appreciated early on to get the Astro and track out 🙂. As per the last 2 Sunday meetings, Bacon rolls and Jacket spuds will be on offer 😎. At the end of the meeting we will tally up the championship points and there will be a prize giving and photo opportunites 🍸.

So I got a new app on my phone and well, I’ll just leave this here…

Results Updated

Results Updated

44 in the buggies plus another 12 on top . Thank you all for getting booked in promptly so that even with 8 heats we were still out the door at a reasonable time . The new championships have started (Best 12 from 15) and there are also Junior championships this time. If I’ve missed a Junior let us know next week and I’ll get you added in.

The great outdoors…

With Spring knocking on the door it’s time to start planning your outdoor racing. Here is the calendar for the BRCA Nationals and Regionals plus the new Racer Off Road Series which has 3 rounds hosted by southeast clubs. There is also the Short Course National being held up at Eden Park if anyone fancies something a bit different

RORS Details: http://www.rcracer.com/2016/08/racer-off-road-series-2017/

RORS Entry : http://www.dmsresults.co.uk/

UPDATE: It would appear the RORS has been cancelled.

SCT Nationals : http://www.ukshortcourse.com/

Results Updated

It’s been quite some time since we’ve  got close to the 50 mark with the number of drivers. Last night was 48 and it wasn’t even truck week. Next week is truck week so please make sure you book in early so we can all get home at a reasonable time… It is also the start of the new championships next week and I will be reviving the Junior championship(s) once I’ve identified the juniors and their age groups.

Club Guidelines

A massive thank you to Dave Andrews who has taken the time to refresh the club rulesguidelines. They are in the post below. I would encourage you all to take the time to read through them for the benefit of yourselves and your fellow racers.

Club Owned (Handout) Transponders

The club handout transponders are intended for use on a temporary basis and not week in week out by the same people. Their primary use is intended for new racers getting into the hobby and to help existing racers on a temporay basis for example when they have forgotten their own transponder etc. Next week will be a prime example since it is truck week and not everybody will own a second transponder for their truck.

If you have been with the club long enough to consider yourself a regular then it is time to get your own transponder.  Why?

1. Every transponder we have to allocate adds an overhead to the start of the evening. We have to find out which transponders have not been returned from previous weeks and assign the remainder accordingly. With attendance numbers increasing at the moment, this is time we can ill-afford to waste.
2. Many clubs do not own any transponders. It is expected that racers will provide their own.
3. There is an assumption of ownership of a particular transponder because it has been used before. This assumption is incorrect.
4. We only have a limited supply of transponders…

If enough drivers are interested, we will bulk buy some MRT transponders at a slightly discounted rate for sale at the club.

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.