Dirt track

[Southwell]

We get ripped off then lol.

Nah, just had some stuff on, back at stotfold!

[Garry Driffill]

Lee what sort of features in the track would you put in?

Like features from other tracks that you have raced on abroad, like them "mogles things" from the Japan worlds just gone...

[Lee Martin]

Well, not really thought. but it would be very american.

fast rollers.
step ups.
berms.
triples
doubles
fast step downs
whoops

[Chris Doughty]

and with it being dirt you can just get the track rotavatored and re-rolled into some new shapes!

I looked into the places to get the semi perminant festival type dome/tent things, that would be pretty ace! should fit an RC track under there and have enough through ventilation if needed

[cjm_2008]

I've been thinking about how to do this very thing for quite a while.

imagine guaranteed dry racing all year round - it'd be immense, and a lot of people would travel to race, as you'd know exactly what was in store.

and any resident model shop would be likely to make a small killing selling bits onsite.

don't tiverton have a barn they race in?

some farmer somewhere must have an empty barn of suitable size that they'd be willing to rent out.

the ultimate solution would be a pre-fab steel structure (like a large industrial unit) with a retractable transparent roof, so you could landscape and put down grass - open the roof to feed the grass, and the transparency gives the light required.

how grippy is dry astro?

I'm going to buy lottery tickets this weekend.

[Chris Doughty]

Originally Posted by cjm_2008

I've been thinking about how to do this very thing for quite a while.

imagine guaranteed dry racing all year round - it'd be immense, and a lot of people would travel to race, as you'd know exactly what was in store.

and any resident model shop would be likely to make a small killing selling bits onsite.

don't tiverton have a barn they race in?

some farmer somewhere must have an empty barn of suitable size that they'd be willing to rent out.

the ultimate solution would be a pre-fab steel structure (like a large industrial unit) with a retractable transparent roof, so you could landscape and put down grass - open the roof to feed the grass, and the transparency gives the light required.

how grippy is dry astro?

I'm going to buy lottery tickets this weekend.

seriously.... if its coevered why would you bother with grass or astro??

[cjm_2008]

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

seriously.... if its coevered why would you bother with grass or astro??

because wet grass soon turns to a muddy slippery mess

dirt would be easier to maintain though - and a nice change.

[Lee Martin]

dirts just the best form of racing1 the ultimate!!!! Grass suxxxxxxx

[James]

What size structure are you thinking of, about 100 x 80 ft ?

[millzy]

we only have you word on that dude

half of us will never get to race on what you do in the us and europ.

so if your willing to put the effort in so us joes can taste the dirt racin then i say good for you and go for it

[Chris Doughty]

Originally Posted by cjm_2008

because wet grass soon turns to a muddy slippery mess

dirt would be easier to maintain though - and a nice change.

thats the thing, we only race on grass and astro because of our weather.

if weather is a not a problem as its indoors then why would you not choose dirt?

[sparrow.2]

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

and with it being dirt you can just get the track rotavatored and re-rolled into some new shapes!

Wish it was quite that easy

Even a small jump about 2m wide will require about 10-15 wheelbarrows full of dirt and you have to remove it before rotavating it or it just doesn't go away and becomes a small hill...

Unless you are going to tip something like sodium hydrochloride on the track to get it to bind you are going to have a very dusty tent! You can get the dust binding chemicals at morrison mud co in Wareham. That stuff will make the track last a whole lot longer and you will get a nice blue-groove. corners don't break up as much either.

[cjm_2008]

... because a lot of us are already used to racing on grass, and we quite like it.

"I raced on grass and I liked it" (currently number 1 in the uk singles charts).

wouldn't a compacted dirt track require a big set up change, including a new set of proline tyres which come with the associated kits and normally end up in the bin ?

what's the wear rate like on dirt?

[millzy]

nothing more than what we used ot do at tivy

drop the oil 5 is brown fronts green rears

walla one working b4 on dirt

[Richard Lowe]

Originally Posted by cjm_2008

wouldn't a compacted dirt track require a big set up change, including a new set of proline tyres which come with the associated kits and normally end up in the bin ?

what's the wear rate like on dirt?

Yep, setups and tyres are very different. Tyre wear depends on the dirt's condition, sometimes on blue/black groove slicks are the tyre to have the grip is that high (!)

[Chris Doughty]

'indoor' grass is rubbish, its like racing on a grass track with constant dew and moisture all over it.

on dirt front tires last for ever, and depending on the type of dirt and how wet/dry it is rears can last a similar length of time to schumacher or ballistic on grass or astro.

racing on dirt is much more fun

[Kopite]

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

'indoor' grass is rubbish, its like racing on a grass track with constant dew and moisture all over it.

ahh, indoor grass. Did you ever race at Worcester (Malvern) at the three counties showground? They had that huge indoor track that had grass, polished wood etc.... huge effort made to be fair!

[Lee]

Have to agree here, the US style dirt tracks are awesome, lots of fun to drive, and very rewarding when you get it right.

I didnt enjoy the collegno track personally but i know others did.

What would be the ideal sized warehouse for a track?

[footey]

it would need to be big lee as it needs track and pitting space

[Lee]

I know but if we have a 5000 sq ft track (100ft x 50ft) and then a 10000 sq ft space for pitting that is still a very small warehouse. I can get a 70,000 sq ft one tomorrow if anyone wants but its not cheap