Having it large
 

Well how about that then eh? 58 drivers last night - the most we've seen for many years and virtually back to the sort of numbers we had when the club first moved to Boughton under its founder - Ron Barrett.

I know it takes away from some of the leisurely approach to the racing, but with those sort of number (and 8 heats!) we really have to run to a strict timetable. 2 minutes between heats isn't much, but it's time enough to return your transponder and put your car on charge. The relief marshalling seemed to work well last night too.

We're going to try and get underway earlier next week, so it would be appreciated if people can get to the hall as early as possible. Heat 1 on the line at 7.45pm latest would be great - earier if possible so it doesn't become too late an evening for the kids.

One other thing - please can the amount of practicing inbetween heats be kept to a minimum. I know you want to see if turning that shock collar half a turn has made all the difference to your setup, but with only 2 minutes between heats and a lot of human traffic, unless you have a serious problem to resolve it really doesn't help getting the next race gridded up. Not a whinge - just a request.

Thanks to Lewis last night as well for the track design - Petit influenced at all at the end of the straight? :D Oh and thanks to everyone who helped put the track away :thumbsup:

Anyway - onwards and upwards. Let's make next week even better and see if we can make Alan pull out the few remaining hairs on his head trying to book everyone in :thumbsup:

58! Wicked! roll on next week!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Pitty i continued my naff driving on from the weekend.:blush:....must try harder!

Thats great news! FORCC is the place to be!

I was gutted I couldnt make it as I had a cup Basket Ball game at Herne Bay but we beat them so worth it!

A certain Mr Baker has a new car to try next week!.................. its very blue!

Can't believe I had to miss last night:cry:. Sounds like a great night was had.

was a good track but :D
But then by what i have seen since i have come back them seeem to be good every week :thumbsup:

You were missed pal - hope that whatever caused you to miss it has been sorted. See you next week hopefully.

i'm gutted i don't have a decent indoor club like Faversham near me. I used to love running at Deal, Capel etc on polished floor with 27t motors. Frantic close racing and dirt cheap!

We need more clubs like yours. Keep up the good work

Thanks for the words of approval Jim. It's nice to know that FORCC is viewed in such a positive light.

I overheard quite a few people at Petit RC talking about us - people who I didn't know from Adam - so our reputation must be spreading :thumbsup:

FORCC is the bestest :thumbsup:

58 people and it sounds from this thread a few of the regulars did not make it including myself :cry:

60 soon me thinks

Just wanted to have my say on last weds,

wow what a turn out 58 drivers and 8 people missing from the previous week.

I know we had to run to the clock but is that such a bad thing, we pick up so much time doing it that way.

Now here is my big moan to just about everybody who runs at the club, tell me if you will where you think we lose most time in the course of the evening, well i,m going to tell you, it,s not the time we get there as Mr Crew has the hall open very early, it,s not the building of the track as yet again the same man has that one well covered, it,s not the setting up of the computer as we have probably the best man in the land for this job ie Mr Peters, it,s the bloody time it takes me to book you lot in.

Me and Jodie started the booking in at 6.30 last week and finally finished at 7.40, thats an hour and ten minutes.

Now i know some of you get there a little late at times and that i have no problem with, it's the fact when you enter the hall the first and only thing on your minds is to go out and practice and this is most of you from the top to the bottom.

The time we lose in booking in is incredable and something we must improve on, do you think it's fair that me and jodie spend so much time chasing you lot to book in.

Hope you understand where i'm coming from on this one and maybe from now on you will take booking in more seriously as could you imagine if i brought in a rule which says no practice till booked in.

Kind reagards Alan

ps feel free to post your comments on this subject.

views
 

My personal view i would rather have anouther round/final than practise Wednesday night was a prime example, the stage was full all the time with mixed abilitys meaning no one gained due to traffic or just faster cars tagging slower ones. the track gets smashed to bits so when you do get to the heats the track you practised on has changed, cars are either broken or not ready to go for the start of the meeting.
I know people are going to say we need to practise you cant do this but really once you have a setup in Forcc you dont change to much to warrant loads of practise, The Pettit was an example, 1x 5min heat practise no time to change much in 5min so really a waste of time!.
An extra round means you get to run with cars that are near to the same abilitys which has got to be more benificial for all.:thumbsup:

Fair point Neil,

These are the points that i am looking for, please keep them coming, can not promise that they will be implemented but if we do not here them we can not consider them.

Im with Neil on this one.... when i first run at the club i went out to practice because it was what everyone else was doing, however recently i have felt less and less need to go out. Take the winter series for example when i got there late and turned up just in time for my round of qualifying. Missing practice had no affect on my day at all and i think its possible to learn more by getting out under "race conditions" with only 6-8 cars in a heat. So yeah lets get started sooner and use an extra heat as "practice" if you like.:thumbsup:

Think that's a good idea personally. Not that I get much time to practice as I'm usually fixing cars lol :D

i have to say im all for it neils sujestion as it does work if you take maritime racing for example they run practise 3Q and 1 Final and they have 8 heats pretty much every week they start racing at 8. ok you would finish at 11 ish but there is no reason we couldnt shorten practise down and start earlier and still get 3Q and 1Final.

What i will say tho as it runs at the moment its very good and is proven but i cant for the life of my figure out why Edd is never in the top heat with myself neil dave etc as we all know he will be there pretty much every other week and takes the top spot pretty much every week.

with neils sujestion this wouldn't be so bad at least he would get to race with us all once in the eve. (just my opinon)

stu

Stu - heats have always been sorted on the previous weeks' finishing order. If you're not there 1 week, you're not at the top next week.

I believe Ed will be back on a more permanent basis now anyway so he'll be back in the top heat.

hey dave

yeah i apritiate that but why isn't he put in the the lowest heat in that case.

in my opinion the heats should be done by a persentage of weeks attended and results this way you will end up with even standard of drivers in all heats for example edd comes every 2nd week and wins he would have 100% neil would be there every week and wins every 2nd other week which still gives neil a good 99% but when he misses a week it wont effect his percentage lets say for example kev lee turns up on a club night and finishes 2nd but you dont see him for 6 months he then comes back and because he finished 2nd he would have a 99% average so the heat would look something like edd neil kev etc doing it this way kev would be happy edd would be happy i would be happy because we can all have a good race other than neil running around 2 laps faster than every body in his heat edd running around 3 laps faster than his heat and kev running around 5 laps faster than his heat. can you see where im coming from.

stu:thumbsup:

heats
 

For me being sad im there every week so never really happens for me, but it can be fun and can make you think about racing i.e
for example Ed comes every other week (as of Feb there every week):thumbsup: not always in the top heat so for him its now not a race on the track but one against the clock the same for us which can work in favour for Ed as the lower heat lets him get on with it (sometimes) were as the top heat :woot: are busy (sometimes) so busy doing the pages of the kamra sutra they slow them selves down.
I like the change never is the top heat the same people which adds to the fun .
the term youve earn't it you desrve it comes to mind:thumbsup:

to be honest we go on wednesday purly for the racing we all like to do the best we can and we all wanna race we other people with the same ability in my opinion the championship is a pointless exersise as there is no reward for it and you would need to go every week to be in it thats why a driver gradeing system would be much better for racing than the current one in use like i said we go to race not. how it is at the moment is like marc rehinard (current tc world champion and Off road euro champion)turning up on a wednesday night and racing with the absolute beginners. it doesnt figure.

WE JUST WANNA RACE

Stu:thumbsup:

Even if we had no practice and when straight into 3 rounds of qualifying then had maybe a final or two :)

i think two finals would be a little over the top and i also think a practise is needed just to give the cars a shake down things do go wrong and a practise is a good indecation if the problem is cured.

I think your right Stu, 2 finals is a bit much to squeeze in. But this brings us back to running an extra heat intead of practice. How about (if we are all on time and booked in fast enough) 1 extra heat at the start of the evening in our heat orders/positions that was maybe a set 5 minutes but no lap times that way there would be no pressure to perform but would give us a shakedown of the cars and a feel for the track just like at a national, and then on to the normal 3 heats? rather than a final as such?

the problem with a timed practise as such we would still need to consider the youngsters and after all it is club racing what i think would need to happen after the track is built practise opens and at a set time practise will be stopped the tr loop put down and racing starts early enough to race 3 rounds and 1 final.

stu

All good points boys so far but as you can see the commity are mostly keeping off this post to let you guys have your say.

As i said last night it's great to hear these suggestions but obviouslt we can not promise to change the way we run the club.

Myself personaly and this IS my own personal opinion we do need to change something but trust me it's not as easy as it sounds. My origional point was regards the booking in ie. the time this takes and thus far i have not heard any of you discussing this point because all your suggestions are based upon us making up lots of wasted time and where do we waste most time BOOKING IN!!!

So keep the comments coming guys but please think hard regards the booking in one please.

Kind regards Alan

Ok, my contribution. We have a club to be proud of!
Enviable numbers with quality drivers and some outstanding talent in the young blood.
We are mollicoddled at Faversham and perhaps we should be more appreciative of those who run the club and at the same time adopt race nights that follow the regional/national set up.
This would be booking in first, 3 qualifying rounds and subsequent finals.
2 minute intervals and relief marshalling are good disciplines.
Those who are unable to get there before 7.15-7.30 should make sure their car is ready the night before with battery charged!
Finals in ascending order, should enable the young ones to finish at a reasonable time. If they are talented, then tough, they will have to stay later! (my old age envy!!).
Why don't we give it a trial and see how it goes...

On a separate matter, what's happening with the outdoor track?

I think having a time limit may put some people off. Im pretty lucky as i can get there early (which gives me no excuse for booking in late! sorry alan!:blush:).
However for those who live further away, leave work later or get lifts in, it may be hard to get there on a time limit.
How about we simply move the bookng-in sheet to just inside the door? You pay as you enter and that way you have to pay before you get anything set up?
At the moment its very easy to walk in get everything going and completely forget to do it.

alternativly if you cant make it before booking in closes maybe a text or somthing to alan or whoever to have you booked in all you would need to do is pay at least the numbers would be correct for john to do the computer stuff.

Firstly I think Alan, Dave & John do a great job running the club. :thumbsup: especially trying to keep us all in line..

I like the idea of a time limit on booking in, and also 3Q's and a final.

The auto timing between races also worked really well last week. With the numbers we are getting at the club, something will need to change, otherwise we will be there until midnight..:(

As long as i could drop Alan a txt to book in that all works fine for me. Cant get over as early now due to job.

We might also need to look at the pit area, as if you don't get there early you have nowhere to pit. With the high numbers every week this is going to get very tight..:woot::woot:

i often let allan no if im running late but that isnt realy an ideal resovle as he would have to spend ages either reading txts or answering calls ,we have the same problem with booking in at kmrc as we the same way as forcc to not put preasure on people ,i think there should be a time set for last booking in so that racing can start at a set time .how about pre booking for the next meeting ,that way jodi could tick off names and take the money as allan could bookin the others?that could save quite a bit of time.also if the track was open for practise between say 6.45-7,15 and then closed that would give 15 mins for those that havnt booked in to do so before 7.30 .another idea would be to book every one staight in on the pc rater than paper then on to the pc that could save 10/15mins (i no that isnt as easy as it sounds),the other point some ome mentiond was the lack of pitting space when i started at forcc the were 3/4 around 2 tabels since then we have put another tabel at the end and went up to any whare between 5 and 7 around the same space last week there was 8 of use and not realy enough room to put your car down maybe if we keep geying these numbers could we use the back of the stage area for extra pitting or ask the hall owner if they can make some space buy moving some of the chairs or other stuff in a few of the corners to a less used part of the hall???? that was only ment to be a quick reply lol

You could do a pre booking in on the web or people pay for a month of racing if u have a print out of people you could mark next to them who has paid and how long for maybe just a idea .. more ideas gives you more of a chance of finding a good one :D but it is always hard to get it all done i think just because we all turn up set up then think about paying:confused:

mark has a good point if everybody who races has an ability level and a percentage in the computer system like i previously maentioned and the booking in was put straight into the computer it would save a lot of time as alan wouldn't need to sit down next to john manualy entering the information the computer system would produce the heat listings to ability level rather than previouse weeks results which in my view can only be a good thing. after all we just wanna race.

stu:thumbsup:

lol that would have saved me a lot of this typing malarky if d thaught of it lol

I normally know if i will, or will not be racing the following week. If everybody (or the majority) was in this position then, as suggested earlier, the booking in could possibly be done the week before.

Because we race on a different track each week, practice is helpful to many racers to learn the track. however i feel the majority of the gain would be in the first couple of mins, maybe any practice round need only be 2 mins? (if we were to have one).

With 58+ drivers, personally i feel it would be dificult to offer finals. We have the kids, but also most of us have work the following day, and some get up early.....

We have pitted on the stage before, this could be a possibility for the future.

I think we could aim for a 7:30 start if pre-booked in with the computer ready to go... we will have to work out if this is realistic.

The formula that we currently run to would not seem to be doing us any harm. I understand your point stu, about the grading, but the way we run is that the individual members race for position the following week. if we insert casual drivers into the top heat individuals that have earned the position need to be displaced. I think if somebody is comming regularly like ed this could be looked at, and there are other problems putting fast drivers into the slowest heats. In general i think Alan does a great job in juggling the heats about to get a good evenings racing, but i feel there is a rock and a hard place here. Not easy.....

its late, and i'm rambling sorry, i guess there is much to discuss....

Ollie

Question

1: Who wants good close racing?

2: Who wants to race against the clock?

Was thinking about the issue of a driver being absent for a period. Although at the moment we do it based on the previous weeks performance, it could be possible to do it based on the last individual performance, therefore if a member comes 3rd and cannot come for a couple of weeks then he could be entered in at position 3 the next meeting he attends. Like a joint 3rd.

If individuals have a bad week and drop down a heat, i think that is fair enough........

Also if we were to introduce a table on the stage for the cars and transmitters we could potentially shave a bit of time between rounds. with so many heats charging will not be a problem.

stu: i'll have a stab....

1: I think that is what the system is trying to deliver. As far a regular members go it is not too bad a system to run. Guest drivers and drivers who cannot commit to weekly racing are the problem, but in general these are in the minority. My personal opinion is that 13.5t motors actually compromises 'good close racing' throughout the club, 17.5 or 21.5 would be better but we are down a particular alley.....

2: Nobody, that is why you try to do well and qualify for the appropriate heat...... to race against individuals of a similar standard...... for 'good close racing' !

With regards to pre-booking in, i know we will always get individuals who turn up on the night, if we were to close 'on the night' booking at 7:10 say, that may be enough time to get racing on the start line by 7:30. Everybody who gets in a little later would have to be pre-booked in.

if we had a qualifying format and finals with grading it wouldn't matter about next weeks listings or people not being able to turn up every week you would always race againts people with simular ability and if you have a bad eve you would still be racing againts people with simular ability that night in the final.

it seems to me we only race for next weeks starting postion why is this:confused:

7.30 is a pretty viable time to start actual racing i would say but, what time is acceptable to finish racing? Bearing in mind the younger ones that race.

Reason for asking is, with the numbers turning up at the moment running 3 qualifying rounds and then finals with the 2min turn round would mean last race finishes at 11.10pm!! Thats a bit late in my opinion! Thats only allowing for 8 heats of 7 and 7 finals of 8, (56 people). There was more than that last week without Ollie and myself so a couple more would mean yet another heat and last race around 11.35pm, much too late.

As for what Alan said at the start about time lost booking people in. I like the idea of doing it when you arrive. If we can sort something out there it must be a good thing, not just for Alan but also to get the racing going earlier:thumbsup: