Set ups, tips, tricks, whatever you got...... Please!

[/tobys]

Originally Posted by Skye

Ok, so now I have both cars built and raring to go I need some track time with them!!

I live in north Northamptonshire, so am 35 mins from Silverstone, 25 mins from Huntingdon, 40 mins from Leicester, 40 mins from Coventry.....

So..... without having to travel the length of the country are there any tracks within say a 90 minute one way trip that I can freely practice on?

Failing that, do any of the midlands tracks have any race meetings on? I would prefer not to race to be honest, simply as I have never driven the B44.1 a yard yet and havent raced for nearly 20 years so am going to be seriously rusty and have no clue on how the car will handle or set ups.

As a result I am thinking racing may just tempt me to push too hard and stack the car!!

But, I am going to have to take the plunge and race soon, I would just prefer a little practice time first!

If there is anywhere suitable then suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Broxtowe (5 mins from J26 of M1) race on a Friday night - usually someone there from 5pm-ish. Check in the Broxtowe forum for further details.

NDOR (3 mins from J26 of M1) race Thursday nights - http://www.oople.com/forums/showthre...569#post521569.

Coventry race on a Thursday night and if you are a member there, you can practice on the track pretty much whenever you like - for free!!!

HTH

[Skye]

You make an interesting point there about BRCA membership!

I dont currently have a memebership so will need to get that sorted. Do you need this membership before you can race anywhere at all?

Could I race at Moto Arena on a tuesday night without it or is it needed for racing absolutley everywhere?

How much is it?

[Skye]

Thanks for all the replies, some useful information for me to get my teeth into.

How do I become members of all of the relevant clubs you mention?

[Gonky]

I think there's a 'grace period' before you need a membership card, 1 or 3 meetings i think but i may be wrong. certainly no reason why you can't attend Moto Arena on tuesday and join via the Silverstone Club and you'll be able to race that night.

[Skye]

Thats good news Gonky, thanks.

I will need to get myself a membership with the BRCA and Silverstone model car club as a bare minimum by the sounds of things.

Just contemplating their winter series, but maybe that would be trying to run before I can walk?

[Gonky]

No harm in getting booked in for the winter series at Moto Arena as i'm sure it will fill up pretty fast!

Plus the first round isn't until the beginning of October so plenty of time to get the thumbs warmed up with some practice!

[Skye]

Thanks Gonky. Just had a look and I see you have to rate yourself 1-15 based on ability. At this stage I would have to be a '1' as I havent raced in 20 years and have never raced with brushless / lipo setups. Will anyone else enter in this class though or will I be involved in walkovers every week.

[Gonky]

The ability rating is just to sort the heat listing out, puts ability levels together so you race against people equal/around your level (as long as people are honest!)

All essentially competing against each other for the fastest time, but lower ability drivers tend to go in the first heat and the top drivers go in the last heat.

[Skye]

Ah I see, that makes sense then. So someone rated a '1' will probably be in heats with others rated less than '5' for example.

Ive just registered my details on the BRCA website and am at the stage of payment. What is the difference between 'affiliated' and 'full' membership?

[Gonky]

I think the only difference is that it's slightly cheaper if you join through a club to become 'affiliated' to that club. I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong though!

[Skye]

I see... I guess that means as I am not yet 'affiliated' to a particular club that I would need full membership. Its only £2 more so will just go for that option!

[Gonky]

Yeah, not much of a saving, although every little helps!

usually for most people, when you re-new your local club membership at the beginning of the year it's just as easy to do the brca at the same time through the club!