new multi track venue at silverstone circuit

[MattW]

Dale, Yatabe has been carpeted!! Not sure if they are leaving it down now the worlds are done, but it has had carpet down for a while I understand!

Moto arena looks great, and anything that brings new people to the hobby, has to be a good thing.

[Ben Cosgrove]

Originally Posted by rich_cree

I wanna go now, but I need a car to use!

Anyone want to lend me a TC?????

Can be arranged mate

Ben

[Ben Cosgrove]

Originally Posted by Dave Treacy

The track design was changed today...Nick Daman made some suggestions which have been incorporated which should add another 3 seconds to the lap. Bear in mind that this layout is transitional, once everything is bedded in then the pipes will be replaced with "racetrack" corners which will allow for different layouts.

Exciting times...

Is that 3 seconds with Nick's lines? Could be 2 seconds for others (Sorry Nick)

[rich_cree]

Originally Posted by Ben Cosgrove

Can be arranged mate

Ben

I'll be in touch when the track opens!

[Neil Skull]

Rich,

You can borrow mine and i will deliver to your house.

[PTRU]

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

[rich_cree]

What do we reckon is going to be the big class here then?

Electric TC, F1?

[c0sie]

10th offroad. Only class worth talking about Rich (Other than micro, of course *cough* or until they cater for indoor 8th rallycross!)

[Ben Cosgrove]

Originally Posted by Neil Skull

Rich,

You can borrow mine and i will deliver to your house.

LOL, your call Rich....do you want it to handle or not??

[mattybucks]

Originally Posted by c0sie

10th offroad. Only class worth talking about Rich (Other than micro, of course *cough* or until they cater for indoor 8th rallycross!)

There not having a 1/10 off road track, hopefully they will.......

[Neil Skull]

Originally Posted by Ben Cosgrove

LOL, your call Rich....do you want it to handle or not??

The only reason i was offering was so he could set it up for me

[dale]

Originally Posted by rich_cree

What do we reckon is going to be the big class here then?

Electric TC, F1?

It may be the ideal venue for GT10s and F1s which have struggled to find a good home. I popped over last week and the surface looks super-smooth, and being indoors the grip will quickly build up to quite a high level.

Don't see the world changing overnight though, so TCs will be the main class to start with.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by dale

It may be the ideal venue for GT10s and F1s which have struggled to find a good home. I popped over last week and the surface looks super-smooth, and being indoors the grip will quickly build up to quite a high level.

Don't see the world changing overnight though, so TCs will be the main class to start with.

You have never driven on **** tarmac over a winter/cold day? Unless the track is kept warm it may not have the grip your looking for.

i missed **indoors** but i think you got that

[dale]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

You have never driven on tarmac over a winter/cold day? Unless the track is kept warm it may not have the grip your looking for.

Actually I race outdoors throughout the winter, have done ever since the Ashby days, and will be doing the Bedworth winter series this year as usual. Personally I think lower grip makes the racing more fun, not less, but obviously not everyone agrees or the F1 class would be mega popular and no one would go home when it rains!

My only experience of indoor tarmac in cold conditions is Bingley Hall (IC racing in a big warehouse, anyone else remember that?). On the first day the grip was non-existant, but by the end of the weekend the grip was very good due to the rubber buildup, even though the track temperature was unchanged (it was about minus 6 outside and seemed even colder inside, with lots of cold air being sucked in to make sure we didn't choke on nitro fumes!!!).

[sosidge]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

You have never driven on tarmac over a winter/cold day? Unless the track is kept warm it may not have the grip your looking for.

As I recall, the short lived "Jubilee Arena" which was in Bury, Lancs (I think) started out with a tarmac surface. But the grip was very poor and they laid carpet over it.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by dale

Actually I race outdoors throughout the winter, have done ever since the Ashby days, and will be doing the Bedworth winter series this year as usual. Personally I think lower grip makes the racing more fun, not less, but obviously not everyone agrees or the F1 class would be mega popular and no one would go home when it rains!

My only experience of indoor tarmac in cold conditions is Bingley Hall (IC racing in a big warehouse, anyone else remember that?). On the first day the grip was non-existant, but by the end of the weekend the grip was very good due to the rubber buildup, even though the track temperature was unchanged (it was about minus 6 outside and seemed even colder inside, with lots of cold air being sucked in to make sure we didn't choke on nitro fumes!!!).

i know you do many moons ago i raced against you when your dad was faster than you

i did mean indoors the grip is not allways there as the tarmac does sweat

[taz5311]

Shouldn't a new venture like this also be looking at new classes to try to promote?
People keep mentioning new blood,I am a 40 year old newbie, but how many of them can afford TC's or any of the other 'serious' models that would be competative or even handle straight out of the box? and the size of the track itself precludes certain types of cars unless you start spending lots of money on ESC's, Motors and set up.
I race a TAMIYA mini (yes I take it seriously, it's my version of people's TC's and hate it when more expeienced drivers view the word 'fun' to mean bash and crash!) but unless I spend lots more money upgrading it my race at this venue would probably last 2 laps.
Yes I will be visiting this venue as I will be interested to see what it has to offer, I'm just not sure yet as to the true benefit to the R/C world.

[JCJC]

True benefit to the R/C world, I am sure the R/C world will survive without the moto-arena, but I am guessing it will attract new owners & racers, not just from around the Silverstone area but all over the place, visitors to the centre may return home looking for a local club to provide support and a place to practice & race. Just look at the numbers of 'new' posters it has provided to this thread !!

[dale]

Originally Posted by taz5311

Shouldn't a new venture like this also be looking at new classes to try to promote?
People keep mentioning new blood,I am a 40 year old newbie, but how many of them can afford TC's or any of the other 'serious' models that would be competative or even handle straight out of the box? and the size of the track itself precludes certain types of cars unless you start spending lots of money on ESC's, Motors and set up.
I race a TAMIYA mini (yes I take it seriously, it's my version of people's TC's and hate it when more expeienced drivers view the word 'fun' to mean bash and crash!) but unless I spend lots more money upgrading it my race at this venue would probably last 2 laps.
Yes I will be visiting this venue as I will be interested to see what it has to offer, I'm just not sure yet as to the true benefit to the R/C world.

So you want a fast car, that handles well out of the box, and doesn't cost much to buy or run? Kind of sounds like a fantasy, but such a car does exist; the 1/14th Carisma.

[Douglas]

I would like to clear up some of the speculation on behalf of Moto Arena.

Firstly regarding which classes will be there, the venue is designed to be completely flexible. Both indoor and outdoor tarmac tracks surface features are not permanent but on fixing points. This means box sections can be placed on top to create any track type or scale there is enough demand for and also subdivide the track and run 2 classes at once for smaller scales.

Secondly is this a place for a club racer/enthusiast or corporates etc. Let me assure you that I have known Grant Collins for over 20 years and we have worked on this for over 5 years, he was a serious racer as a child and loves RC. He suggested I build my first one 5 years ago when stuck at home after an accident, I then built 3 more, which I suspect you will find him driving alongside you at some point. I accompanied him to a few races but did not like the facilities after spending hundreds of ££'s on kit and upgrades so Moto Arena has to attract people that like RC like me(as well as the fanatics) but do not love it enough to be somewhere with either a chemical toilet or none at all and a burger van if lucky(fanatic like Grant was).

Moto Arena we expect will cater to different groups at different times.
Weekends will by necessity involve some of the 1.2m visitors to Silverstone each year though of course we would want to have several serious races over the weekend to provide spectacle to the first time visitor and an audience for the drivers. We are very happy to welcome the MK club, the first of many clubs for different classes that could operate during the weekday evenings.
Weekdays during school time we have the education side which has been set up with partners and the corporate market.
We have a clubhouse area for members and I note the comments about membership costs but a regular racer on the Gold package pays no entry fees for the venue or most race series so will quickly make it back.
Re comments on tarmac grip. We cannot due to health and safety run intro indoors so it will not be very cold in winter there, we have heating. The tarmac itself was made with a specially fine gravel referred to as dust by the best specialists we could find and it has been polished more than once to get it as flat as possible, if anyone else can do better I would like to see it. As the rubber builds up so will the grip but a lot more of the tyre should be in contact with the surface than on normal tarmac with 7mm+ stones in it.
We are not just about cars, we also have plans to hang nets around the indoor track and possibly lay down scenery such as a model airport for in door flying events.

Come and check it out next month when we open.