South / South East Indoor Venue that allow Buggies and Mini-Pins

[andy east]

Hello all,
I'm looking for an indoor carpet club venue that allow the use of Mini-Pins and buggies in the South or South East Area (South East Preferred).

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Also (long shot!!!), back in 2004 I went to a venue in Milton Keynes that was a shop and an indoor carpet track (TC) that was situated on an industrial estate above a bakers... for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it... does anyone know of it's name and if it is still going?

Not for the first time I have to admit I need help!

Thanks
Andy

[Battle_axe]

there is a club in aylesbury races on a friday they have just started allowing buggys look at there site search A.O.R.R.C

NB also dont froget there is the dirt at the proline dirt arena in bicester

[jim76]

i think Newbury allow buggies, hopefully someone from the club can confirm that

[JCJC]

Originally Posted by andy east

Also (long shot!!!), back in 2004 I went to a venue in Milton Keynes that was a shop and an indoor carpet track (TC) that was situated on an industrial estate above a bakers... for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it... does anyone know of it's name and if it is still going?

Not for the first time I have to admit I need help!

Thanks
Andy

We all need help Andy () think I remember trying to find the 'Racing Drome' in MK once on the way back from Ikea (see what I mean), I got lost a gave up, cannot find much reference to it on the web. There is a MK club that runs TC.

Not sure what the buggy situation is with Newbury Jim, the web site is: http://www.newburyrcclub.co.uk/

Of course DMS runs a club in Watford, some buggys I believe, depends where in the south you mean, but Battlaxe is right - buggys on clay with bowties & ribs, indoors, is pretty good & testing, Bicester. There must be other stuff out there.

[jim76]

Chatham maybe? The Maritime Raceway i think it's called, but again not 100% on buggies. They did host the Petit though, so hopefully they have buggy interest

[B&H Racing]

As far as I know Maritime generally run Mardave/minis on a Tues and Touring Cars on a Thursday.

Saying that they are running the next petit race http://race.petitrc.com/

Faversham club run buggies every Wednesday Night indoors but its not on carpet its on slippery wooden floor with yellow full spikes.

[Rocking Donkey]

You could try Centralbooking.org . They have many clubs posted with a map to show you where they are. I would have suggested Langley Model Car Club in Slough, but they had to close last week due to lack of interest :-( .

[Darren Boyle]

As mentioned by JCJC we run buggies indoors with minipins every week on a thursday night here in Watford at our own DMS Model Car Club.

Our weeks at the club alternate betwwen Touring Cars and Buggies (although there is always at least 1 heat for the "alternate" class too).

This coming thursday (29th Oct) is "buggy" week, we average between 20/30 racers on a dedicated buggy night (with a few saloons in their own heat too) and the track will consist of mainly carpet with some slippery floor sections, a mixture of 4 or 5 jumps with possibly some other "off road" obstacles too. Good close, competative racing each week.

[andy east]

Thanks for your help here fellas,
I would be travelling straight from work in Woking, so, traffic depending I could possibly make either the Newbury or the Watford clubs. I would certainly need the mobile numbers though, just in case the traffic is heavy.

Aylesbury is pushing the boundaries of travel against time unfortunately. I think a 45min journey on a good trip is about the limit.

For what I want to learn I need to run the car on carpet with mini-pins. I want to get the car fully loaded on a smooth and consistent surface, so carpet racing ticks all the boxes.

My understanding is that Maritime don't allow mini-pins and are quite strict on this... so they are out. It seems that the Petit event is a special one-off for them.

Racing Drome sounds familiar, thanks for your help on that one too!

Work is not the most reliable or consistent on finishing time, so are there any clubs that run buggies with mini-pins that run on a weekend? This would be my preferred option as then I could ask a couple of friends to join me too.

Thanks again for your help
Andy

[Darren Boyle]

Hi Andy, when our club run on a thursday, we only get there for an 8pm arrival, track is laid and practise start around 8:30/8:45. Practise continues until almsot 9:30.

Racing proper starts at 9:30 with a round run every half an hour until 11pm. Of the three rounds of racing your best TQ time counts for you on the evening.

So the start time is quite late, but if you knew you were going to be late on a night just call us at the shop before 7pm (when we close) and we can have you all booked in and ready for when you arrive. That way you could turn up as late at 9:30 (all charged up and ready to go) and that would only be if you were likely to be in heat 1 otherwise you could arrive even later if needed!!

Hope that helps, Darren

[Smartalec]

Andy, the Racing Drome has been closed for a few years now (ten minutes from my house). As Darren says, DMS run on Thursdays indoor, Aylesbury on Fridays indoor and if you fancy some dirt action get to the Proline Indoor Dirt Arena on a Wednesday. .......... but you can't run your yellow minipins, has to be Proline. Numbers are growing every week and the competition is tough, with national A finalists/winners and Euro A finalists attending regularly. Maybe not quite what you're looking for but worth considering?

[Mash Potato]

Originally Posted by andy east

Thanks for your help here fellas,
I would be travelling straight from work in Woking, so, traffic depending I could possibly make either the Newbury or the Watford clubs

Some time ago I raced at Newbury, but I'm pretty sure they are on road only at the moment, which is a shame. Better double check if I were you.

[andy east]

Indeed, Newbury are out, no off road any longer.

Also found out that the Racing Drome is out too (out of business), right on there smartalec.

Lord Roberts had to cancel a meeting, but are still going... so a possible

DMS are a very (and likely) possible too.

Still no-one available for a Sunday meeting as yet.

Plan is to drop by the Lord Roberts meeting on Monday evening, then have a look at the DMS venue on Thursday (I will call you during the week Darren).

In the mean-time I will keep looking for a venue that runs buggies on carpet on a Sunday... Been racing nearly 15 years, I never thought it would be this difficult to find somewhere to race!

The Dirt Arena is something I will likely do at some point, but it's way longer than a 45min journey and the circuit is not what I am looking for. It would be a giggle though!

Thanks again for all your help.
Andy

[JCJC]

Originally Posted by andy east

Still no-one available for a Sunday meeting as yet.

Not wanting to labour the point, but PDA in Bicester has a winter series,
December 6th, January 10th and February 14th *Sundays*
with the King of the Dirt big weekend 31st Oct practice > 1st Nov race day.

A chance to race on an American style surface with 10th buggys.
Its just another set of wheels in your kit bag, and they last a few meetings.

[JohnM]

Originally Posted by JCJC

Not wanting to labour the point, but PDA in Bicester has a winter series,
December 6th, January 10th and February 14th *Sundays*
with the King of the Dirt big weekend 31st Oct practice > 1st Nov race day.

A chance to race on an American style surface with 10th buggys.
Its just another set of wheels in your kit bag, and they last a few meetings.

But, as Andy has said several times so far, he is looking to race on carpet, not dirt

[Battle_axe]

Originally Posted by JohnM

But, as Andy has said several times so far, he is looking to race on carpet, not dirt

hence why he said not laboring the point

[andy east]

The Dirt Arena on a Sunday will definately be on my 'to do' list for this winter. It does look like a challenge on the videos I have seen. It would also be nice to see some of the top UK drivers in action.

Is their a race calendar for the Dirt Arena for the 2009/2010 winter season? The website is a little sparse on this information.

Primarily though, I want to get my car on carpet. I wont get the information I want from it anywhere else.

Andy