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