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.