Racing On The "Other" Side Of The Pond

[Dangeruss]

Was watching one of Roach's videos I hadn't seen before:



...and he mentions in the UK, off-road tracks aren't open on non-race days, during races there are no practice sessions, and there's no divisions in each class.

So, if I understand him right, Brits don't get to practice, and everyone from first time racers to seasoned professionals race with no motor limits.

This sounds... incorrect... no?

I get Pop-Ups are big in England and that precludes the ability to practice. But specifically to permanent tracks... no stock, no mod, no beginner, no advanced, track is off-limits until qualifying... really??

[terry.sc]

Firstly practice, that depends on the track and yes, a lot of tracks are temporary. If you wanted to practice at the club I raced at last weekend outside of race days you would find a drivers stand in an empty field as all the track markers are put away at the end of the day. We went straight into racing, didn't even have time for a practice round beforehand as the less running on it helps the grass surface last longer.

Of the 'permanent' tracks, for some of them if you are a club member you can practice any time you want. The clubs near me include one in a sports facility and club membership gives you the access code to the drivers stand, although the temporary track markers are often removed as it is in a public area so you just have an astroturf rectangle. Another club is in a public park, members can practice on it any time but you will have to drag your equipment about 500 yards from the public car park nearby as the access gates are locked outside of race meetings. Another you cannot access outside of race days and official practice days as it is in a farmers field and they don't want random people driving through their farm at any time or day. We have an indoor permanent track attached to a shop, this is usually closed outside of race meetings but can pay a hire fee to book for the day which includes lap timing as it isn't normally staffed, but you would need 15-20 drivers there to make it affordable between you. We have one permanent track you can access any time for a small fee.

On road outdoors often have a practice session the day before big races, but for a lot of off road meetings you only have a practice round before the racing proper starts, so each driver has a 5 minute session for practice. The national championship will often have several practice rounds in heat order, but you still end up with 15-20 minutes practice time at most. It's made a bit simpler as for off road a lot of races have a spec rear tyre so you have the most important variable already sorted.

1/10th on road often runs with motor limits, but rather than what seems to be the american way of having 10 different classes running at one meeting generally everyone runs in one of two classes, for touring cars this usually means your options are 17.5T blinky or open modified. Vintage off road now has a 10.5T motor limit, this also used to be open but it was found running mid 80s cars with 7.5T motors made them a bit of a handful. I did used to run a 8.5T motor in my original Optima with a belt conversion.

For modern 1/10th buggy everyone runs in the open class, there are no spec or stock classes for off road and it's been that way since the 1980s. If you think you can handle a 6.5T, which is a common motor choice for the fast guys, put one of them in your car. No limits to your ESC either, so add as much turbo and boost as you want. If that's too much power for you, run a 10.5T, 13.5T or 17.5T. You don't have to put in the fastest, most powerful motor you can find because the amount of grip and the bumpy surface we have limits how much power can go through the rear wheels. We don't have the super grippy, rollered smooth tracks you have in the States, and we race in all weather, so we have a lot less grip and you choose the most appropriate motor for the track. Last weekend it rained on and off all day, racing on wet grass meant I found in 2wd a 17.5T motor with lots of boost and turbo for the main straight would lap faster than a 10.5t motor.

Club meetings will often have a beginners heat, where all the novice drivers are put in until they get to grips with getting around the track, but it isn't listed as a separate class and they usually aren't limited on motors. Everyone gets to compare their results with everyone else at the track, not just the 9 other people running in your class.

Here's one of the A finals from the first round of our national championships to show you what top level racing is like over here



and this is a bunch of average racers at a local club meeting

[RC10th]

[TRX-1-3]

I like how the "other side" seems to be a little more casual with their track surfaces....short grass, maybe some turf, and a dash of dirt. Seems like they are more determined to have some sort of a track that meets the minimums for "offroad". Instead of balls out all turf indoor or all hard coat clay/sugared/etc...

I might be way off with my lazy observation(s) though.

[Dangeruss]

How Australians drive standing upside down still baffles me.

@terry.sc Appreciate the response. So, Roach was half right... not bad considering he's talking about something 4,500 miles away while most weatherman can't accurately tell you what's happening on the other side of a window.

With national races everyone competing is close enough to being on par that divisions within a class aren't necessary. With club level racing, watching some of the local level UK stuff, off-road seems to be taken much more lightly while on-road appears every bit as serious as racing in the US is. The former looks to be a very "run whatcha brung" philosophy, especially with the outdoor pop-ups which appear to pit Wild Willy's against Grasshoppers against RC10's.

Practice though, it does sound like ya'll really don't get much, with only one of the five tracks local to you being open with a set up to run. I'd call that rough but there's a lot of places in the US that only have one track period so, you'd have four more tracks on any given "race day" than some here have.

Track surfaces though... talk about a whole conversation all on its own. I do think it's cool you guys reclaim football stadium astroturf for your off-road tracks and lay it to create rough tracks rather than the US style roller smooth tracks. I normally chock track design/materials up to owners doing the best they can to please the racers, making it hard to have one "best" track surface but... the whole wet grass thing... just makes me shudder.

I like how the "other side" seems to be a little more casual with their track surfaces.

Watched a video, track I believe in Japan... was under the embankment of a freeway overpass ...off cuts of carpets and rugs with different pile heights all laid out with jumps and bumps, downhill one way, uphill coming back, all the while 18 Wheelers and commuter traffic close enough to their heads they could touch the bottom side of the bridge.

The track surface was casual... the surroundings... intense.

[RogueIV]

I like how the "other side" seems to be a little more casual with their track surfaces....short grass, maybe some turf, and a dash of dirt. Seems like they are more determined to have some sort of a track that meets the minimums for "offroad". Instead of balls out all turf indoor or all hard coat clay/sugared/etc...

I might be way off with my lazy observation(s) though.

I like how their astro tracks are also not on flat land so it at least give you that offroad feel, meanwhile people here get all whiny if there's a small wrinkle in the surface. I'm still of the opinion that modern tracks in the US have too much grip and are too smooth and depend on big air jumps far too much.

[terry.sc]

I like how their astro tracks are also not on flat land so it at least give you that offroad feel, meanwhile people here get all whiny if there's a small wrinkle in the surface. I'm still of the opinion that modern tracks in the US have too much grip and are too smooth and depend on big air jumps far too much.

Always made me laugh over the years the number of times a US racer has criticised our astro tracks as not being 'proper' off road, while they are racing on a 'real dirt' off road track that's a supercross track made of clay polished so smooth there's not even the slightest ripple. Even the joins are just laid on top of the other piece and nailed down, the extra bump is just another feature of the surface to deal with.

[terry.sc]

With national races everyone competing is close enough to being on par that divisions within a class aren't necessary. With club level racing, watching some of the local level UK stuff, off-road seems to be taken much more lightly while on-road appears every bit as serious as racing in the US is. The former looks to be a very "run whatcha brung" philosophy, especially with the outdoor pop-ups which appear to pit Wild Willy's against Grasshoppers against RC10's.

For most club racing it's all modern buggies though, beginners turning up with something else will soon replace it with a modern buggy. Even at national level, apart from the very few paid drivers we have, the rest don't take it that seriously. I think part of it might be our unpredictable track surfaces, you can be on a perfect run but hit a random small rut or bump wrong and you go flying. Vintage racing is well established in the UK, most rules elsewhere are based off the rules we formulated back in 2014, and most clubs will run a vintage heat if there's a demand for it so people can run any older cars if they want.

Track surfaces though... talk about a whole conversation all on its own. I do think it's cool you guys reclaim football stadium astroturf for your off-road tracks and lay it to create rough tracks rather than the US style roller smooth tracks. I normally chock track design/materials up to owners doing the best they can to please the racers, making it hard to have one "best" track surface but... the whole wet grass thing... just makes me shudder.

Our choice of astroturf has been out of necessity, it's more consistent in our wet weather and means the track isn't damaged when racing in the rain. If you are lucky all the recycled astro comes from one surface so you have consistent grip, it can be interesting when you expand the track and you get different surfaces with different levels of wear. I know one club that added an extra strip at the end of the straight, when it rains you have to do all your braking before you hit it as it is like ice when it's wet. But then isn't that the essence of off road racing, you have to work out how to deal with the changing track surfaces.

As for wet grass, I did the Lakeland Classic vintage meeting last weekend. As we had light rain all day for me every round of 2wd was throwing on different rears to find some that worked. I also realised I have a bigger collection of wet tyres than dry tyres. Transmitter muffs to keep your radio dry in the rain is an essential piece of equipment here if you are racing outdoors, although plastic grocery bags are a cheap alternative.

Here is a video from last years event, the racing starts about half way through.


and at its worst it was a bit damp. Yokomo full spikes worked well then.


There's a reason air blowers are a popular piece of pit equipment here

PXL_20250614_121057106.jpg (72.18 KiB) Viewed 30 times

PXL_20250614_121057106.jpg (72.18 KiB) Viewed 30 times

4wd the next day was dry until it started raining in the final before mine, sticking wet tyres on just in time let me climb from 7th to third, which meant I won an engraved coaster!

[1911Colt]

Just a note for the Americans who might try to duplicate the British tracks: don't get your artificial turf from a baseball diamond . Football or soccer maybe, mini-golf is probably ideal.

I was lucky enough to be at a city park in North Vernon, IN (they have an RC dirt oval in the park) on the same day the baseball diamond was getting new turf. I loaded all of the old stuff I could fit into my Escape and intended to go back in my truck for more. I did a quick test, and it was like running through quicksand. Frankentruck once said driving in grass was like running in a swimming pool Driving on baseball turf is like running in a swimming pool with Rosie O'Donnell on your back.

I only tried buggies. It might work with monster trucks.

[Dangeruss]

Always made me laugh over the years the number of times a US racer has criticised our astro tracks as not being 'proper' off road, while they are racing on a 'real dirt' off road track that's a supercross track made of clay polished so smooth there's not even the slightest ripple.

Watched a video just last night, the clay was polished so high it was actually reflective like a mirror. The purpose of off-road is that the racing surface is supposed to be an obstacle all on its own... dirt, turf... dirty turf... it should have ripples and bumps and features that exercise the suspension of the car, otherwise may as well put an RC10 body on an F104 and call it a day.

For most club racing it's all modern buggies though, beginners turning up with something else will soon replace it with a modern buggy.

Ah, gotcha, my experience with British RC club racing is exclusively from youtube shoving Tomley and Popalong down my throat. The latter of which depict indoor racing as halfway serious and outdoor racing as a carnival on grass... bodies with stuffed animals poking through them, widely mismatched vehicle types, goofy stuff like that, which I get is their shtick but, paints a picture.

Speaking of pictures... if the question was "Wanna go RC racing"...



...my answer would be... "Not with my car"

...On second thought, maybe I'd take a "Rainy day" car, something built specifically for that kind of fun.

Something I like about British RC car racing is you do run Lunchboxes and such... I think a Stampede class or even LMT's/SMT's would be a blast on a stadium course.

4wd the next day was dry until it started raining in the final before mine, sticking wet tyres on just in time let me climb from 7th to third, which meant I won an engraved coaster!

Ok, this has nothing to do with anything but "engraved coaster" sparked an idea... I wonder if for club level racing something better than little plaques or trophy dust collectors could be made for podium finishes... like coasters, engraved/printed glasses... something usable. Not trying to change the world, just thinking out loud.

Just a note for the Americans who might try to duplicate the British tracks: don't get your artificial turf from a baseball diamond . Football or soccer maybe, mini-golf is probably ideal.

I was lucky enough to be at a city park in North Vernon, IN (they have an RC dirt oval in the park) on the same day the baseball diamond was getting new turf. I loaded all of the old stuff I could fit into my Escape and intended to go back in my truck for more. I did a quick test, and it was like running through quicksand. Frankentruck once said driving in grass was like running in a swimming pool Driving on baseball turf is like running in a swimming pool with Rosie O'Donnell on your back.

I only tried buggies. It might work with monster trucks.

This we learned as kids, and why I don't like running on grass... real or not. A lot of the grass races in the UK they seem to mow the track section of the grass real short... have you thought about that with yours? Laying it in the drive and giving it a haircut?

Oh, and by the way... the lineup walk from your videos... paint jobs on some of those cars is just rad:

Timestamps for the glamor shots:

https://youtu.be/gFV27-CLYDg?t=595

https://youtu.be/gFV27-CLYDg?t=800

.... raindrops are falling on my head.. they keep a fallin'...