The first club meeting..........

I guess the logical next post should be about the club meetings.

I say club meeting as I’ll assume that no one is planning on their first race meet to be a Regional or National!

If you’ve been down to the club a couple of times for information before finishing your car then you’ll already know a couple of people there, especially the club organiser, so you should know where to put your stuff, where to grab a table and roughly how long the day/evening will be. If you haven’t been before then drop an email to the club’s email address off their website, or put up a post on their forum section if they have one, just so that you can get a couple of names, an idea of the time to arrive etc.

The best thing to do when you get there and are unsure of anything is just ask! I’ve never found anyone to be unhelpful or rude at a club meeting (despite appearances!), especially to new comers, so someone will help you find a seat, a table and a plug socket for you charger. Next thing to do is look for the man/woman sat at a table with a laptop as they will be the person booking everyone in, taking the entry fee and handing out club transponders to those without personal ones.

Something I wouldn’t worry about on your first night, but strongly recommend after you’re used to the format more, is helping build the track before racing begins and clearing it away after it’s finished. Just because the quicker the track is built and put away, the more time there is for racing (just one for the future rather than when first starting out).

Once that’s done you’re ready to go, the only thing left is to attach your club transponder to your car and then check the Heat List, once the organiser has finished all the booking in, to see when you’re out on track. The heats are normally grouped (or seeded) based on the organiser’s knowledge of the regulars so that the quicker racers are together and the slower/newer guys/girls are together also.

 

Most club meets will follow the following format each time:

·         3 or 4 x rounds of Qualifying Heats – 5 minutes each

·         1 x round of Finals – 5 minutes each (normally)

·         Each Heat and Final is normally made up of between 6-10 cars depending on overall numbers and skill splits.

Qualifying:-

This will normally be started in a particular order (first round in car number order, each round after that in order of fastest to slowest from the previous heats). The alternative is a mass start, but this is less common, where everyone starts on the sound of the buzzer.

Before the start the computer will give a warning countdown of beeps then if it is car-by-car it will call out the car numbers in order with a break of roughly 2 seconds between each one – that’s your cue to start. If it’s a mass start then after the countdown beeps there will be a pause of 3-5 seconds and a start tone for all to go.

The key thing to remember with qualifying is that it’s a time trial NOT a race!!! There is no gain from cruising up to the back of other cars and crashing in an overtaking attempt or in trying to hold up a faster car behind you. You are essentially trying to do as many laps as you can before the 5 minute buzzer goes, so it is a race against YOURSELF more than a race against the rest.

The target for qualifying in your first few meetings, and to be honest most of them after that, is a clean run. Simply, you’re trying to get around the track without crashing into others, crashing into the wall or track markers and also not ending up on your roof at any time! Sounds easy doesn’t it!!!

Especially in your first runs just drive to give it a shake down to check it’s all working right, and learn how to control the car. The best thing is to aim to stick to the centre line of the track, so avoiding the track markers and walls, along with just “rolling” over jumps and obstacles (this just means cruising over them in neutral or at most constant throttle) so that you limit the chances of breaking anything or ending up on your roof.

Remember, it’s clean runs and a lack of breakages that will help you improve more than stunning 10ft air jumps that end up in the wall! Take it easy and build up the speed as you build your understanding and confidence in the car. If someone quicker is coming up behind you just run a little wider on the next corner and let them pass, they are less likely to crash into you than if they try a racing style dive up the inside with you defending your line. If something doesn’t feel right then ask someone for their advice on how your car looks as it’s driving, they may even take it for a couple of laps between heats to get a feel if you’re ok with that, and they can point you in the right direction for changes or the most common reason for that horrible grinding noise coming from your car (hopefully not this last one!).

 

Finals:-

These will be created after the last qualifier based on either the best 2 rounds overall rankings or each person’s fastest 5 minute run of the whole lot, depending on the preferred format of the club (the former is normally what I found used).

This is where you are actually racing against the others. Everyone will line up in a staggered grid format on the main straight and after the countdown beeps there will be a pause of 3-5 seconds and a start tone for all to go, go, go!!! – Right into a pile-up at the first corner!!!

Normally the best approach for the first few finals is still treat them like a qualifying round. Just keep to the middle of the track, avoiding the markers and walls, to try and get a clean run. As you get more experienced, and gain more confidence, then start to try a few moves and overtakes in the finals, moving up the order and finishing higher than you started.

 

The main thing to remember throughout it all is to have FUN. Don’t get too worried about your position, focus on learning car control, going a little further in the 5 minutes each run and enjoying the chaos of the finals. Everyone there is doing this for a hobby, just like you, so as I said before ask if you don’t understand something as there is always someone willing to help. You will get better with time, everyone at the club started at the same level you are now, no one could jump straight into an F1 car and post pole position lap times, so why should you be able to when driving RC cars???