Racing or Qualifying, it’s a choice…

[andy east]

Hello all,
For the past 18 months I have been racing as and when I can at Lawford Buggy Club. Now there is little different about that compared to hundreds of others who get up early on a Sunday morning to drive R/C cars at their respective clubs. However, there is one small difference that seems to separate Lawford Buggy Club from all but a few of the other clubs in the country. At Lawford they do lap racing.

Before racing at Lawford I had never experienced lap racing, I was very comfortable with the UK format of 5 minute qualifying heats and 5 minute finals, it’s a system that works and has done R/C racing proud not just in the UK but worldwide too, a stable and familiar platform which helps to make the larger National, European and World competitions fairer for all involved.

Since racing at Lawford I have been growing familiar and fond of lap racing. It has certainly re-kindled my love and passion for a sport that had previously been dragged out of me over time.

Lap racing requires a different mind-set compared to the standard format we are all so comfortable with. It is about outright speed just as normal, but consistency can also win you a race and a bag of points. Because every run is a true race against all others on the track it requires a greater need for race-craft throughout the entire days racing. It’s a difference that I personally enjoy because the racing is the reason I get up in the morning (well, that and to avoid going to church!).

The racing schedule seems to be the major stumbling block for lap racing, the concern of putting your equipment through back to back races appears to be the biggest concern of many. However, unless numbers are very low and classes have to be mixed it is extremely rare that you will need to worry about it, with 2 classes running alternately it won’t happen at all.

During the course of the day you will get to race a single competitor more than once, but will almost certainly not race the same group of competitors twice, making every race a different race with new factors always coming into play to keep you on your toes.

I have really enjoyed my racing since racing at Lawford Buggy Club and I would encourage anyone to give lap racing a fair crack before writing it off. If you fancy trying something new and giving yourself a fresh challenge then I would certainly recommend giving lap racing a try.

Andy

[Belsten]

Sorry to sound stupid but how does lap racing work then?

[mattym0310]

you don't sound stupid belsten, I was wondering the same thing.

[VintageRacer]

I'm guessing you race a fixed number of laps rather than a fixed time??

[losidriver70]

I'd rather do ifmar starts and lap counting than that bullshit! run your own race period!

[ben]

Isnt that like the reedy race format?

[Chris Doughty]

sounds like Reedy race format to a set number of laps instead of a set number of minutes.

Reedy Race format sounds great, I certainly would like to do a proper Reedy Race event!

[telboy]

Sounds like it to me. Racing different people in each race.

how do they decide the start order/grid at lawford then?

[JohnM]

Originally Posted by telboy

how do they decide the start order/grid at lawford then?

About the only difference that we have at Lawford compared to the Reedy system, is that we don't have a grid start until the finals, just a good old bundle line start we do have a line several meters from the start, so that if there is a pile up and cars are on their roofs before this line, the race will be restarted, doesn't happen as much as you'd think.

We have six qualifing races with six cars in a race, the winner scores 5 points, second 4 points etc, down to 0 for sixth, chap with most points after qualiy gets pole. In a tie, number of wins decides, or if still tied, the fastest winning time decides the position.

Like Andy said in his post, this system brings back the fun which I find is missing in what is thought of as the normal way of racing, where you only get the one race in a day.

[mw02veg]

http://www.oople.com/forums/showthre...ht=laps+racing

been down this road before

[Tim Ward]

We do this at our Micro Club - it's brilliant!

However, for our up-coming foray into tenth near Newark we have stuck to qualis/finals format as we thought Laps may deter potential racers from coming!

[RogerM]

Must admit that it sounds like everything I'd definately NOT like to see in racing, just my personal preference.

I actually prefer qualifying of staggered start to the finals .... I know that puts me in the serious minority but for me you could quite happily do away with finals "racing" all together!!!!

[Steve.T]

I enjoy this format so much that I regually make the 240 mile round trip from Reading to take part.
It is "Racing" from the word go rather than qualifying.
Lets face it, do you watch the grand prix, touring cars, motorGP, world super bikes etc for the qualifying or the racing?

[Steve.T]

Mind you saying that imagine trying to run a national using the lawford club format.
The problem would be trying to maintain the standard in the heats so there was no chance of a driver winning too easily