What year did you first start racing?

[Bagman]

Originally Posted by kaylon

I was at Stonehaven about then .. Lived in Westhill for 30 years

It's a small world.

J

You weren't the kid who nicked my junior championship by dint of attending more meetings than me were you? Not that I'm bitter mind you. I lived in Oldmeldrum and could only race when it coincided with my Dad being onshore.

[2FAST4U]

Visited my first club aged about 9 years old (1979/80ish), had my first RC car soon after. Started raceing in the early 90's with a Kyosho Lazer ZX-R.

[emzy]

I got a little Tandy toy RC for Christmas 1997 and we found the Brinkburn (South Shields) club... and by a total coincidence the 1998 onroad worlds were held in South Shields (Temple Park) leisure centre which got me well and truly hooked... I went to watch almost every day!

[telboy]

We went up there for the final day. It was pretty damn impressive.

Thats when I met the RRCi editor and since that day I've been doing shells for them.

[traffman]

I first started at a club in South Queensferry , just under the Forth Road bridge.

Ooh that must be around 1987 / 88.

I started with a second hand Kyosho Optima purchased from Marionville Models when they were near Middlefield on the Marionville road in Edinburgh.

After we went through a few clubs , including Bangour and ended up in Grangemouth .

Left the racing in 1992 and now back in it again about 2008.

[ScottyDogWoof]

Schumacher Couger Club 10 version 1.0 lol

1996-1997 been racing nearly 15 years now only ever really raced at mold model car club. wow time flys lol. only just started doing nationals, and only just TQ'd and won my first A final national too lol.

To this day i still have my club 10. cleaned up, fresh shell and shelved.

[panch]

Originally started in about 85'ish with a Tamiya Hotshot 2, Then moved to a Thundershot, Cougar, Cat, Procat, Bosscat, Lazer ZX...

Re-started in 2003 with a Hyper 7 Pro UK followed by a Hyper 8.5 pro then found my sense and got back into 10th electric

[G-46]

I started around 98 with an YR4 at Stoke club, after a bit we moved over to Stafford as it was more of an on-road club. When the TC3 came out we went for the change and never looked back. I raced up until 2002/03 competing in the TORC and BTCC with my best result being 2nd overall in the BTCC championship. but one race stood out the most for me was in the TORC's A final at Bedworth where I was 7th on the grid but managed to come in 1st with a 2nd & 1st in the final just in front of Mark Musgrove and Jimmy Maddison, I did a little TC in 2009 but we decided to get married and move so that put a stopper on that..

And now I’m back... with a car that likes strange looking tracks with something call GRASS, MUD and JUMPS -

[Whiskers]

Got my first car in August 2009 and have been racing on and off since then. Started racing properly in about October 2010 when the winter series started.

[wacattack]

What stands out and what concerns me is the lack of new drivers coming through. So far, of the 163 respondees just 34 started in the last 5 years. Of those 34, only 16 started over 2 years ago suggesting either a lot of people start up and quit soon after, or we have a new influx of drivers who started in the last 2 years.

[Mr_M]

Definitely before 1991

Although calling it racing may be stretching the definition a bit. Come to think of it though, I'm still pretty cr*p now

[Dreadstar]

I came to this very late compared to a lot of you,I only started back in 2007,at the ripe old age of 47. I suppose you could call this part of my mid-life crisis. I started off in 1/8th off-road nitro,using a Kyosho Inferno US sport RTR. I even managed to come in 3rd place over the course of my clubs winter season,not bad for a newbie. Over the following summer season,I could only manage 5th,then as we were rebuilding the track,we raced the 1/18th Maverick Atoms over the following winter,where I again came 3rd over the series.
I became very disillusioned with the whole nitro is everything mentality of the club,and changed over to Mardaves(circuit),where last year I came 3rd again in the SCC(I seem to like 3rd don't I?)

[James]

1988 to early 1997

10 years off

winter 2006 to present

[pugboy]

Originally Posted by wacattack

What stands out and what concerns me is the lack of new drivers coming through. So far, of the 163 respondees just 34 started in the last 5 years. Of those 34, only 16 started over 2 years ago suggesting either a lot of people start up and quit soon after, or we have a new influx of drivers who started in the last 2 years.

Good point that, perhaps many people return as it's the financial side that was restrictive in your teens may not be so much now. It's not a cheap hobby for an adult but cheap compared to real 1/1 scale racing for example. It's funny that people my age who aren't involved ask if i'm going playing with kids this weekend...well if you class men in their 20's /30's as kids!

[Spencer Mulcahy]

1985-6 ish with a mardave then a kyosho optima mid turbo LWB then cats xl xls top cat. Raced mainly at albion mill in blackburn. Stopped when I was 18 beers and women LOL started again at 25 touring cars stopped at 28 and started again at 32 still doing it and loving it.

[Mike Parker]

Originally Posted by wacattack

What stands out and what concerns me is the lack of new drivers coming through. So far, of the 163 respondees just 34 started in the last 5 years. Of those 34, only 16 started over 2 years ago suggesting either a lot of people start up and quit soon after, or we have a new influx of drivers who started in the last 2 years.

Hopefully it's the latter mate...

A lot of the shops support the hobby & local clubs so if anyone after buying a kit will be advised of local clubs if they wanted to take it further...

[BigBob]

At the risk of being called an old fart ................ 1971/72

First car was a PB on-road. Can't call it a 'kit' really, more a collection of bits and a full engineers' 'Blueprint' drawing.

Chassis was a bit of 4x2 allie channel which you had to cut/file to the drawing. Came with the plastic bits for steering, wheels etc.

Rear axle was a length of 1/4" steel bar and the drive was from the clutch via a toothbelt straight onto one of the rear wheels.

Half eleptical from 'Cart' springs and quarter eleptical rear springs which you had to cut from an ally sheet, form to radii specced on the drawing, drill though and bolt together. No shockers, damping was by friction - the tighter you clamped the leaves of the springs together the more 'damping' you had.

Still got it all, including the box in the attic somewhere - I'll have to try and dig it out sometime.

BB

[GRIFF55]

you old fart!! lol
not sure when i started, but i know i had a holiday buggy followed by bigwig (ooooh, technigold and 8.4 missile) then onto mini mustangs, maximas etc...
Wales had loads of clubs back in those days

[Dombrasky]

1996 with a spent 1\8 ic onroad at mendip(deliberate spelliing mistake )

[peetbee]

Originally Posted by GRIFF55

Wales had loads of clubs back in those days

And loads of racers too, those were the days