2WD ELECTRIC BUGGY RACING OVER THE SUMMER

[Wacker1]

Hi all,
As theres only about 4weeks or so left, til the Indoor/Winter Season at the Hinckley Club ends, I thought I'd give everybody some details on the up-&-coming Outdoor Electric Off-Road Buggy Season over this Summer, which is at the Coventry Model Car Club. First of all, I will say that this WONT effect anybody thats planned to Race at the Hinckley Clubs Outdoor Saturday meetings over at the Bedworth Track, as the Off-Road meetings are on SUNDAYS(all but 2, which are Special Events).
THE COVENTRY MODEL CAR CLUB hold meetings every other Sunday, throughout the Season.(refer to Race Calender below)Over the Summer season, they generally use the GRASS Track, which is a big Circuit, that has been specifically made/kept for 1/10th Electric Buggies only, its a fantastic Track, incorporating a TRIPLE JUMP, BANKED CORNER & TABLE TOP, as well as the usual kind of bumps & jumps in an Off-Road Grass Track. On the Meetings when the Weather is'nt very good, they tend to use the All-Weather ASTRO-TURF Track, which is even bigger! Thats also a great Track, but is alittle more difficult to master, if your NEW to Buggy Racing!
Normally, arrival time is around 8.30am, which gives you plenty of time to get your Racing Kit Set-up & some Batteries put on Charge, ready for when 'Booking In' opens at 9am. After 'Booking In' is complete, its followed by a Drivers Briefing.........the 1st Heat is usually on the Line around 10am.
The RACE FEE is £5........for that, you generally get 4 Qualifying Rounds, followed by a Final(sometimes 2 Finals, if theres time & the Weathers ok)
The Coventry Club is easy to find, as its right next to the Coventry Airport. Its located at TRINITY GUILD RUGBY CLUB, BAGINTON, COVENTRY.

SUMMER SEASON RACE CALENDER 2008

Sunday 27th April - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Sunday 11th May - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Saturday 24th May - 3 Day Charity Event
Sunday 25th May - 3 Day Charity Event
Monday 26h May - 3 Day Charity Event
Sunday 8th June - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Sunday 22nd June - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Sunday 13th July - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Sunday 27th July - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Sunday 10th August - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Saturday 23rd August - 3 Day Event(Stoneleigh Festival)
Sunday 24th August - 3 Day Event(Stoneleigh Festival)
Monday 25th August - 3 Day Event(Stoneleigh Festival)
Sunday 28th September - Club Meeting(Summer Series)
Sunday 12th October - Club Meeting(Summer Series - Last Round)

I would really recommend BOTH the 3 Day Events, as quite a few of us have done them before, & they've always been good fun, competitve & had a decent turnout of Racers. The 3 Day CHARITY Event is being staged to raise funds for Leukaemia Research & Warwickshire & Northamptonshires Air Ambulance. This special Event is actually being held at the Coventry Club.There is a BAR there for food & drinks, which is in the Rugby clubs main building, eventhough many of the Racers bring BBQ's & Camp there for the Weekend! The 3 Day STONELEIGH FESTIVAL Event is held at the National Agricultural Centre in Stoneleigh.....it was originally called the 'Town & Country', up until about 2 years ago.This is a really good Event, as theres Classic Car Shows, Market Stalls, Horse Shows, Dog Shows, Refreshment Stands, Bar & various other things going on around the Park to look round, as well as us putting on a display for all the Spectators, on behalf of the Coventry Model Car Club & RC Racing! This Event also allows you to bring your BBQ's & has the facilities to Camp for the Weekend!
With the STONELEIGH FESTIVAL Event, you have to Pre-book, as they send you a VEHICLE PASS, so you can enter the SHOWGROUND + 2 ENTRY TICKETS for each day you Race!
If anyone wants an ENTRY FORM for the STONELEIGH FESTIVAL, please come & see me, or you can download them off the Coventry Model Car Clubs Website.
I think thats given everybody all the Information required, if anyone out there is considering a Summer season of Electric Off-Road Buggy Racing, which is GOOD FUN, CHEAP to do, practically has NO MAINTAINANCE, but still VERY COMPETITIVE!

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF COVENTRY CLUBS GRASS TRACK :

[Wacker1]

I happened to pop over & watch the 1st Round of the 'Mid West' 2WD Off-Road Buggy Regionals today, which were held at the Coventry Model Car Club. Due to the poor Weather conditions, the Event was run on the All Weather ASTRO-TURF Track......which did'nt seem to bother anybody at all, as there were nearly 70 Drivers there! Between the Rounds, I managed to get up onto the Racers Rostrum, to take some Photos of the Asto-turf Track.

If anyones intrested in Entering some of the 'MID WEST' 2WD ELECTRIC BUGGY REGIONALS, here are the 2008 Race Dates :

Sunday 4th May - Round 2 - Kidderminster
Sunday 15th June - Round 3 - Stoke
Sunday 3rd September - Round 4 - Marston
Sunday 17th September - Round 5 - Oswestry

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF COVENTRY CLUBS ASTRO-TURF TRACK :

[mark]

This looks good, people have been talking of racing at bedworth on a saturday so Bedworth has been
looking at saturday meetings

[Dale]

Dear Buggy Drivers,

It has been decided by the committee on Tuesday evening that Hinckley Members who desire to driver buggys will have the chance at JCC on saturdays, subject to a commitment by those interested to set up and pack away and generally aid in the running of a meeting.

I believe there is a strong following this year and both Scott Deakin and myself have agreed to run race control for a one off meeting for a date to be confirmed. The club will support summer buggy racing, but I need to know that you will support us and ensure that this part of the club is a success. If we can show that we can all commit our time to help, then there is no reason why a regular meeting cannot be accomodated.

I aim to provide a good venue for our memebers to race in a professional yet enjoyable environment, so I am looking for your feedback before booking the field at JCC in May.

Your thought's please......

[Richie]

Hi All

Yes both Becky and myself would like to race buggies at JCC on a Saturday over the summer, the only problem being is we don’t have a pair of electric buggies and understandably wouldn’t want to invest with no certainty that the meetings will continue. ………….But what we have is a pair of Losi XXX-NT 1/10th Scale Nitro Trucks.

These have similar power and size to the buggies, just as content on grass and are far gentler and quieter than their big brother 1/8th scale RallyX or Truggy. Indeed Bagington club normally race these on grass because there not powerful enough to dig up the ground.

So if no one has an objection we would like to race these with the electric buggies, at least try one meeting. Incidentally Associated also do a similar truck called the GT or GT2.

If acceptable would anyone else be interested. Pics below if I can figure out how to insert them.
Richard

[tomjgardner]

I would certainly be interested, count me in.
I also have a 1/10 nitro buggy and wouldn't mind running it once in a while, but how do we stand with noise from nitros at JCC??

[Dale]

Hi Rich,

I would be geat if you and Becky raced over the summer and I am sure that we would be able to accomodate you.

What we are doing on Saturday is agreeing a date for a trial buggy meeting at JCC (subject to the college approval and reasonable costs etc).

If the trial runs well (i.e. numbers and commitment from those involved to setup and take down track, it is a strong possibility that we will run these every two weeks on a saturday (to avoid CMCC weekend meets).

As a club we also have strong coverage for the West Mids region and a few of us are travelling to these meetings. If you were to get buggy's I can promise you they will get used throughout the summer....

The Buggy is back......long live the buggy!!!

Dale

[Dale]

Sorry Tom, missed your comment about Nitro's.

Let's see what the noise is like down in the dip and take it from there.

Regards

Dale

[Wacker1]

Hi all,
I'm really pleased to hear that the Hinckley Club & its Members are considering fortnightly Buggy Meetings at JCC over this Summer Season, if the Trial Meeting goes well.
Up until about 3 years ago, the Hinckley Club always use to Race 2WD Buggies over the Summer, which worked well, as many Racers enjoyed a change of Class/Environment, after running 2 Indoor Carpet Championships of the Winter Season. We generally had around 40Drivers+ there & found that it gave most Racers wallets a break for a few months, as the Buggy Racing was considerably cheaper to do!
I think that it'll be a step forward, for the Hinckley Club to hold Outdoor Buggy Meetings again........ especially for its young Racers, who have never experienced 2WD Off-Road Buggy Racing. I really think that once they've had a Season of it, there'll probably enjoy it more than Indoors!

[Dale]

Dear Buggy Drivers,

It is now our intention to run our TEST buggy meeting on 10th May 2008 at JCC.

The track will be situated down from the tennis courts on the grass football pitch with drivers standing on the hill (no rostrum at the first event).

We will be looking for those interested in coming to post a note on this forum to confirm they are coming to this first meeting (best idea of numbers etc will help us). Initial thoughts are to run 3 heats and then 1 final round, therefore four races per day. I am looking to start racing at 10.30am for an earlier finish, so we would need people to be turning up from say 9am to help put the track out. If we can run two finals and people want it, we can make that decision on the day.

Both Scott and I will be working through computer issues and race control logistics at the first meeting, so we will need at least 6 extra people getting the track out and laying it on the grass, although I am looking for everyone to pitch in. Race control will be from the large club gazeebo with some further room being available for pitting also, however, I recommend that you look to bring your own tents etc to meetings.

We will mainly be looking for 2WD buggy's, but I am happy to accommodate others such as Richard and Becks to ensure we offer as many members as possible the chance to run outside. For the time being 1/8th buggys are not being planned for, however if sufficient numbers approach me, then this is something I am prepared to consider.

Car parking will be as it is now in the same place and race entry will be £5.00. A permanent rostrum will be considered subject to school approval and commitment from the club for a regular meeting throughout the summers etc.

I must stress that this is a trial meeting and subject to your support, our intention is to run a meeting every other saturday throughout the summer months, so this is YOUR chance to enable this to happen.

I am going to need someone with jump leads and a rough understanding of a sit on mower, as I am going to look to mow the grass just prior to racing (someone with some unleaded fuel would be helpful).

It just leaves me to say my email address is dale.knight@ntlworld.com if you need me, other than that I will keep the forum posted with any developments.

Remember - YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU!!!!

[warren]

HI all what sort of motors do you run in these buggies. do you have set heats for drivers with the same motors in or is it free for all.

[Wacker1]

Hi Warren,
Going back around 5-6years ago, many Clubs, the Regionals & the Radio Race Car Events had 2 Classe's for the 2WD Electric Off-Road Buggies.....they were 27T Stock & Modified. When I first started Buggy Racing back then, I tried the 27T Stock Class.........I found that that they were alot slower than running 27T Touring Cars on Carpet, as the Grass surface created quite abit of 'drag', therefore making the Buggies very slow........I think thats why they ended up dropping that particular Class.
Since then, there has only really been a free for all/Modified Class for Buggies.....eventhough having an extremely fast Motor can be abit of a liability when Racing Off-Road(hitting a bump or pot hole at speed can easily flip your Car on its roof!). Anyone thats new to Buggy Racing, I would probably say that it would be a good idea to start with a 19T Pro-Stock /10.5T Brushless Motor, as it still gives you a reasonable amount of speed, but helps you get use to the handling of the Car, then, when your more confident with your Buggy, you could always drop a Modified Motor in it(Most of us have found it best to go no lower than a 12T Modified/6.5T Brushless Motor, as thats quick enough!).

[Dale]

I tend to run 12 t motors.

Warren, I have a 17x3 and a 14x2 and a 12x2 all new for sale £20.00. Any of these would be fine to start you off.

Regards

Dale

[Dale]

Hi Everyone,

It is the Kidderminster west mids regional on Sunday next week. Thomas Charlotte and I have now booked in.

If anyone is interested, its a fantastic venue and well worth a trip. Phil has emailed me and confirmed that interested parties should email him asap to confirm a place. His email is Phil Sleigh [phil@brca-midwest.co.uk].

He will need to know your F rating/crystals/transponder number etc.

I am going to ask if we can get the club gazeebo and all pit together.

Regards

Dale

[nick]

dale - i would be up for racing 2WD buggys at hinckley. if, as you have said, they were organised to avoid clashing with the sunday meetings at coventry then even better.

not being that familiar with the layout of the JCC - would we be able to pit from the back of our cars ? (like at Cov) i.e. not have to unload everything and set up somewhere else (i ask because i don't have a gazebo and the thought of lugging yet another piece of kit around doesn't fill me with joy)

nick