Serious idea for winter racing.
 

Rob and I were chatting today about winter plans.
Neither of us are terribly confident about outdoor racing in winter - people say they are up for it now, but given how quick everyone scampers off home when it rains I'm not convinced yet.
Getting an indoor venue is tricky though - we need a lot of space, and we'd also need storage for carpets, track hose etc, and all at a really cheap price.

But following on from Matts thread about the Tomy GX's;

What about if we ran Micro T's and or GX's? They are much smaller, and we could easily find a room - even a pubs function room should be large enough. We might want carpet and track hose - but we are talking one roll, and garden hose which will fit in a car boot.
I'd favor the Micro T over the GX because its fully rebuildable and has proportional steering. JE sell them for £58, but I'm fairly sure if instead of buying individually we ordered in bulk through the club we could knock it down to under £50 (is this possible Stu?) which is no more than you'd spend on tyres racing 1/10ths indoors.
We'd run them stock, everything you need is in the box, but damage is repairable - a whole new gearbox cost me £7.
Only problem I can see is timing would have to be manual - they are too small for handout transponders and the stock electrics have no way of powering a PT.

Who's interested?

Im going to race indoors, im going to book in for chadderton defo and maybe worksop and then theres always batley indoors inbetween if we dont find an indoor venue.

Well yes thats great Matt - but none of those are anything to do with Bury. We could do with doing something ourselves, whatever that something is.....

i have got an idea ill pm you,dont discuss it in the open as eveything normaly is. lol

I think winter racing outdoors is definatly possible depending on which type of weather comes out.
Winter can be cold but dry, which would be ideal!!
However if we get days like today, when it pours down for 2 mins, 4 times within an hour, its not very fun!
Problem is were setting up for 'Hi-grip' ie not getting any grip roll, as the carpet is very very grippy. But when its wet, the carpet does the complete opposite. Which is fine if youve got time to fiddle about changing things, but wont be nice when its -2 outside in winter.

I don't think changing cars to suite the venue is a good idea to be fair. Especially when people spend that much money on cars in the first place.

Surely there is some sports hall available over winter? or some large space? in the Bolton/Bury area. Or maybe even look to racing on a Saturday?
is there no space at Coney Green on the Saturdays?

Like Matt says, People will just go elsewhere otherwise. I don't think i would get a Micro.

We've raced previously at the Bolton Community College at Horwich and at the Excel Centre in Bolton.

Are these still possibilities?

Mid week pleeeeeeease
 

If it was mid week indoors i would join, attend, set up and put away! I promise!!!

no to micro dude ...we race 10th thats what we do
reckon we try outdoor track see how it go s cant be worse than summer season

called at kieghthly today and got sunburnt marshalling for 5 min
manchester weather rules

No, micros don't appeal much after what i've poured into 1/10th scale in £££ terms. I'd prefer to race outside all winter anyway, unless the weather gets really bad i'll cope. That's what we always did in the old days.

Well it was just an idea.....

Money is not the issue Coleman, whatever people say. How much was your 410 Ultra chassis? If I'm right on discounts I reckon we could get 3 whole Micro T's for that money. Not chassis, not rollers, whole cars with electrics, radio, charger and even the AA's to run them. So any comments about spending extra is rubbish.

You won't change cars to suit the venue, but you will change days of the week? Maybe that works for you but it doesn't for a lot of others.

We have investigated several venues. So far its all too small, no storage or too expensive. Chadderton for example costs so much you needed 50-60 drivers at a tenner a piece to get close to covering costs. Rossendale got away with their venues because they had a van to cart gear around (ie no storage needed)

Its worth pointing out Jnunu's post - He was a Roundabout regular but Dave's finding it equally hard to get a midweek venue. Sundays are busier than mid-week in the winter for sports halls.

I'm quite happy to go with outdoor racing. I'm used to it - thats what I did as a kid. But the reality is that for a typical wet meeting only have the drivers that entered round 1 are still running come finals, and thats in the Summer. When its 5 degrees its going to be even less.

Personally I rather like the idea of racing in a pubs function room and pitting in the saloon bar. But if people don't fancy it thats fine.

Yup i spent a fair few quid on my Durango.... So the point of leaving it at home and racing a £50 "Toy" is what...

I'm not against spending another £50 but whats the point?

There is plenty of other places that are doing indoors, So if bury don't run something i would just go were the "Action" is.

£50 or £2000 they're all toys :D

Either way have you seen the size of these things? May as well jus get a big scalextrix :eh?:

No indoors this winter, outdoors and wrap up warm! After all it doesn't rain half as much in the winter months

I agree si,weve all agreed to race outdoors through the winter so lets sick with it,all im saying is that i fancy a bit of indoor,chadderton is only once a month and if its raining we can still race but at another club,i dont think we should be expecting to race outdoors every single week through the winter because of the weather.but if its not raining i will race at bury:thumbsup:

+ 1 matt

+2 :thumbsup: what happened to the sports hall in Radcliffe? was it last winter it was used?

winter racing
 

Hi guy's.
What about that warehouse that one of the racers has in trafford.
Roger was telling me that one of the guys had an empty warehouse in trafford that we could use.
You need to ask him about it.

budfish is going to bell him in the morning mate.

Hehe, i raced touring cars at Millenium way back.

Would it be big enough for buggy's?

Ive never seen the inside, but it looks a fair size.

Big enough... yeah, but ideally you'd want a bit more room, however if it's still got the pits area there it might make up for it being a bit tight.

I remember that!!

did you ever go to Jubilee Arena in Bury i while back? purpose built indoor venue?

also tourers at Geoffrey Kershaw Centre in Bury was always fun!!

indoor racing
 

if you are thinking of raceing micro or mini t i am in the middle of signing for a unit in whitefield its about 2450 sq foot it wont be big enough for 1\10 cars as i am using it for a doggy day care centre but i can hire it out for micro racing plenty of room you could use it on wed nights aswell as sunday it would help me out with the rent and help u guys out for a bit of fun racing

Chris, nope, nope, never went to those, after Millenium closed i quit TC's and went buggy racing at the old goshen track. Always preferred off-road anyway.

I raced at Bury in the mid 90's. when the fire happened burning down the rostrum, not realizing the club were still running shortly after sold all my off-road gear and went indoors. Stupidly not knowing the club sorted out a new rostrum and got the club running again.
I got very bored of flat touring car racing ( within a few months) sold all that gear and gave up.

Can someone let me know the budget for venue hire for the Sunday,
I'm going to ask about some space in our building.

M

I wouldn't bother wasting your time and effort matt

Why not?
Despite your belief there is no conspiracy at play here!


Coleman - There isn't a budget as such. We just need to be able to break even or better with a sensible number of racers at a fair price.
Chadderton is a big, expensive venue, but the answer was to hold big, expensive meetings. In contrast most weeknight clubs are much smaller and cater for only a few heats but at low cost.

Since we aren't really planning on a major series, just indoor club meets - consider 20 drivers paying a fiver as your bench mark. Obviously sometimes we'll have more, but its critical we never have less (or the meeting is a net loss).

Oh and bear in mind we'd need pitting space, somewhere for race control and storage for jumps, rostrum etc.

+1 Si

+1 the bear!!

Any where is worth a look. Nice one Coleman

Buds

This wasn't the case when he was offering his services on a Wednesday night so there could be a mid week bury event. That was until that was cast into oblivion and received the usual crap

Whats happened to everyone, I remember racing in the mud and sleet - take a flask, gloves and warm coat. I'll find it loads easier to attend from this week onwards and joined Bury 24 years ago when people didn't scarper when they got wet.

outside sounds best for me i did that 10+ years ago at bury and i sure dont mind doing it again just need to make sure the kettle is on after all when it snows dont need track markings then just shovel a track out lol

Sounds like more want to race outside than they do with indoor micros :thumbsup:

The big thing will be breakages, plastic and freezing weather usually makes parts break with much lower tolerances than in normal operating conditions.

Back in the day racing cars with a 19t motor and 1800 nicads they didnt take as much of a beating as a brushless lipo beast of today.

Racing in a pubs function room with cheap spec class cars. Then having a some food and a drink or two afterwards sounds like a good idea for a club, whatever time of the year IMHO. :thumbsup:

As I said - I too have done the outdoor meetings in the winter. I was running an RC10, 1400SCR's (1800's didn't exist back then!) and a 19x2 outdoors at Springfield back as a kid. In fact, I always used to win the Junior class every winter series as I was the only one who would be out there every meeting, rain or snow.
But thats why I'm concerned - because I was the only one coming every time.

The fact is, at a wet meeting lots of people leave early. Stuff stops working properly, people get cold and fed up etc.

However - there is good news. I was speaking to someone yesterday who was working in the clubhouse. The plan is to have a cafe working in there doing tea and pies. They will be serving out of the hatch out the side of the building (ie right near the track) but they will also have a room inside, with freeview TV and a few comfy chairs. That means it will be a good place to go and 'defrost' between rounds.

But Qatmix - I'm still considering this micro-t club idea, midweek, as it has real potential. Its the doing the racing in the pub bit I like.....

Lippy - Wednesday nights was a much more complicated concept involving use of some expensive club equipment by someone we didn't even know that well back then. Essentially there was no problem with Coleman helping, but a committee member would also have to have been present, which kinda defeated the point....
Racing on a Sunday, Rog would still handle all the clubs hardwear - its just that Matt would provide a location.
If you want to know what the problem was, look up the price of an AMB/Mylaps system and you'll see why we weren't going to just let people use it.....

What dont you mean? It was literally weeks ago weekdays were discussed and offered by Matt, since then he's been to bury twice, so you know him well enough to trust him now? I don't remember ever seeing you two in the same vicinity so how you know each other so well now I'd like to know.

OK, lets try it differently.

Would I leave Coleman (or you even) in charge of over £3K worth of timing equipment, plus packing away and locking up the outdoor track? No!

Would I store a few rolls of carpet and some metal girders in Colemans warehouse, have Rog bring and supervise the expensive timing gear (and take away with him afterwards) and thereby host a race meeting at said warehouse? Yes!

See the difference is that in scenario A, Coleman is running the meeting and responsible for all of Burys stuff and facilities, whereas in scenario B, Coleman provides a venue and looks after some low value (but bulky) stuff, whilst the important gear is still handled by Roger.

That is a massive difference. The difference between me coming to visit your patients and you leaving me in charge of them!

And I must add - this isn't against Coleman either. It would simply be exactly the same deal as we used at every indoor venue, and the same deal Roundabout used, Ribble use etc.

how much dous it normaly cost to rent a sports hall on a sunday?

How can you even say this when you know nothing? I've extensive IT experience and included in my CV is over 3 years working with British aero space IT support department (CSC Preston), so a laptop and basic timing system are hardly a challenge!

Tbh SI I find your whole judgement of people highly naieve considering your role as a teacher! If you wish to be the one that decides who and who isn't "qualified" for use of the timing system by all means go ahead, but it's a shame you feel me and Matt are so unskilled to using a timing system, next time I'll drop my CV in for you to actually see what I'm capable of!


:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

Qualified has nothing to do with it!

Its about liability.

If I break it, its my fault.

If I lend it to you and you break it, its my fault.

Whilst I doubt you are any more likely to break it than me, considering I get the blame either way you should be able to see why I'd be reluctant too.

Actually the above isn't strictly true - in actual fact the hardware is in Roger's charge. Only 2 other people have taken it that I know of, Stu and myself - both committee members. We'd not just let Buds or Johnny borrow it any more than we'd let you.

Those are the clubs rules to protect the clubs property. If Rog lent the timing gear to Buds to run a 'Bud Balls Grand Prick (I mean Prix)' and he smashed the AMB connection box (£1200!) meaning we couldn't use the transponders anymore you would be seriously p!ssed.
Stu blocked my suggestion about renting the track out to Dave at Roundabout for Wednesdays because he pointed out that, whilst they were unlikely to damage the astro - if they did, we couldn't race on Sundays. That was just about the astro - Dave has his own timing gear! I wasn't sure at the time, but I can see where he is coming from.

I'm sorry you feel that I'm in some way suggesting you aren't capable. That is not the point. Ultimately only certain people hold the liability of the clubs property.