Racing in Rain?

[chuno]

Hi all, with all this bad weather we are having, just wondering what all of the other clubs do with permanent tarmac outdoor tracks when it rains?

I race at Wrexham MCC and it seems to be nearly every Friday is chucking it down and we never seem to get a race! The last 2 Fridays it has rained quite a bit throughout the day, then stopped not long before our 7pm start time, but only a few people turn up as they don't want to race in the rain, although to be fair there has been quite a bit of standing water.

It's quite disappointing as I look forward to a race night for most of the week! The annoying thing is the club still has to pay for the rental of the track even when it is called off.

So what do everyone else do? Is waterproofing your car that i see people talking about on here really reliable?

[hotrodchris]

Lazy Goo works n the electrics but there is nothing you can do with the bearings!

[Dudders]

Modern off road buggies seem not to let water in. I've raced over the last few months in rain, spray and wet Astro and the insides are completely dry in a C4.1 and B44.1. Yes, the wishbones get dirty on some tracks with mud coming through the Astro and the bearings 'might' not like it time after time but buggies are meant to be raced in all weather.

So long as there is no standing water, race on! I think people are in two camps, race in all weathers or sunshine drivers only..... as for the rent, well, that's always an issue that some racers do not consider.

[chuno]

Sorry, should have said, we race touring cars.

[Dudders]

Originally Posted by chuno

Sorry, should have said, we race touring cars.

Yuk!, just spat my tea all over the laptop. Feel sick now

[neallewis]

I remember digging out the old off-road track to clear and prep the land for that tarmac track at Wrexham, back in the day, 21+ years ago. I always preferred the off road racing at Wrexham tbh, and the indoor carpet racing in the social club. I see the club is boarded up now, and the Owens Corning Fibreglass is totally gone.
I've had difficulty finding out about the current club. Thought it had folded.

Do you just race touring cars on there now, or buggies as well on your Friday meets?

In the wet, bluetac on sensor wires, balloons for electronics and tape up holes in the body. or just don't run :-(

[blue_pinky]

In offroad it's not always so bad in the wet!

The cars tend to be better sealed up between the chassis (or undertray) and the shell, so blutac'ing or Lazy Goo'ing the electrics is a reasonable safety measure as the insides of the car sty pretty much dry anyway to be honest.

If your track is astro, then the grip levels do reduce, and in some cases dramatically, but there are tyres that cope to a degree as long as there isn't any standing water...and it can still be driveable and fun...so stopping a meeting is less likely.

In onroad I guess you need to go to greater lengths to keep water out? I've never done it so I don't know...and water on tarmac is just not a fun place to race I would guess...although I suppose you must have wet tyres too.

I know a championship series it's more vital to get out there and run anyway...especially when people have traveled a long way, but for local club meets, I guess each person can only make a judgement on how much they want to risk a car and how much maintenance they want to do for a club meeting...and whether staying at home in the warm and dry is actually more fun.

I guess it's just the joy of racing in the uk!

[chuno]

Originally Posted by neallewis

I remember digging out the old off-road track to clear and prep the land for that tarmac track at Wrexham, back in the day, 21+ years ago. I always preferred the off road racing at Wrexham tbh, and the indoor carpet racing in the social club. I see the club is boarded up now, and the Owens Corning Fibreglass is totally gone.
I've had difficulty finding out about the current club. Thought it had folded.

Do you just race touring cars on there now, or buggies as well on your Friday meets?

In the wet, bluetac on sensor wires, balloons for electronics and tape up holes in the body. or just don't run :-(

You can race whatever you would like to bring - buggies are fine although most poeple do race touring cars.

The building is rented out to a company, but we still use the outdoor track in the summer. I think the club needs a new website sorting and I am in the process of trying to sort it out as we need more members.

New members are welcome to come along on a Friday night, we race from 7pm.

We race in bradley village hall in the winter months now.

[stoff]

You guys really do need to sort the site out!

I had a bounce back off the contact email on there.

With regards to running in the wet the guys that run in the nationals tend to have a second car which is all prepared for wet weather running. I understand that this is not feasible for everyone but a ebay special will do! You just need to think about lasting the run rather than being fast.

The suggestions above are all fine. I personally use a ABS project box from maplins with all wire exits sealed for the ESC and RX. The servo just needs a bit of silicone sealant round the case split and a load of grease on the gears inside. As for the motor a bit of sealant covering the sensor and power wires is fine.

[dale]

We've had similar issues at Bedworth this year with the crappy weather. A few meetings were cancelled due to rain, but it started to become clear that if we keep doing that we don't get much racing in this year!

As a club we've made the decision that we'll race whatever the weather, even if only a few turn up, so that people don't have a wasted journey. In the long term this should hopefully increase numbers as people will know it's worth getting a wet car or being prepared to waterproof their main car. We race outdoors all winter with reasonable numbers (even in heavy rain, snow and ice), so it's just a matter of being prepared to do the same in the summer.

From a racers perspective, the cheapest option is to buy a cheap tub-chassis car off ebay and stick some old brushed electrics in it. Get a waterproof MRT ESC, stick the receiver in a balloon and you're ready to go for under £100. Much cheaper than blowing up your top-spec brushless kit!

[Big G]

I ran round 1 at EPR national with the 4wd without changing anything and for 1 second on the last lap I can only imagine a drop of water did something and the car didn't turn for the corner.

After that I sealed my holes on the shell and popped some tape over the edges where the shell meets and no problems at all with the water

[franki]

Had no idea wrexham was still going on the outdoor track thought the rostrum was cut down etc ???

they really do need to promote this if its back up and running ?