How'd you get started in racing ? [Archive]

bert digler

21-10-2006, 02:51 PM

I found a photo last night of me and work mates racing out Tamiyas in the work carpark at break time in 2002, a lil after this I got a XXX off ebay and it was so good I decided to pop along to batley buggy club to have a go - the rest is history.

http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/misc/rally.jpg

my dad bought me a rough rider in 1979 i was four used thrash it round the park joined marstons car club in 86 been racin since

PaulRotheram

21-10-2006, 03:24 PM

I used to play with r/cs for years.. the lil crappy nikko ones and always used to watch programs.. like model mania and the sort. One episode was of a rally car being built preped and painted, then they went to a meeting to race and i'd always wanted to try it. Needless to say i'm yet to find a rally car club!

We found a poster in a shop i think, of southport radio car club. On easter DAY, 2000 - my dad took me to victoria park (it was actually raining that day too haha) and got talking to a few drivers.. I ended up buying a second hand B3 from a guy who left the club months ago. I got 6 packs of batterys, an old mtroniks sprint esc, a standard servo, radio gear.. loads of tyres and spares etc all for £100 with the car. I took the car home and a few days after somthing went wrong..(slipper and diff i now know!) we called the guy who we bought it off and he offered to come fix it! Those were the days..

My first motor was an old non rebuildable schumacher 17 turn.. i still have that motor too! :p

Unfortuantly the people who i talked to on the first day, only one of them are still at the club, being Phil the club secretary. Coincedently were they pitted.. is were I pit every meeting to this day..

ashleyb4

21-10-2006, 04:12 PM

I used to have loads of fun playing with the little nikko type rc's that used to do about 30 mph for about 20 secinds on s full battery. Then i really wanted a new car becuase my car was startng to die and go slow so i was going to buy another nikko type one but i bought a cen nitro touring car that i raced around a big carpark every so often but then. my mum bought me a RACER book from sainsburys and thats then it began i asked for a tc4 for christmas so hobby corner in wrexham tryed really hard to get me one for christmas and they did so i built it and it looked really cool and i run it i had a msonik speedo i drove it into my dinning room and it stopped and it went up in smoke. And stunk the hole house out mum didnt really like my cars after that. (but i dont know why):D

A

dallasv8

21-10-2006, 04:34 PM

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o148/dallasv8/OR016.jpg

when i was a first year apprentice in 1993 i bought a gold tub rc10 from a garage sale which was new built never ran for 100 bucks.that was the best car i have ever had the pleasure of thrashing :) (its currently getting an overhaul)
my first racing experience was where i live now about 3 years ago when i started racing stock buggy with my Tamiya Super Astute(pictured).raced that for a year and stepped up to a B4 and T2 both in mod now.getting parts for my T2 isnt so easy now but, smashed a front shock tower and bent the nose tubes during practice a week ago :(

DCM

21-10-2006, 04:44 PM

I started in 1988, I was in college, one of the guys on the course was competing nationaly, he brought his car in, and a lecturer decided, with one of the technicians, to make building an RC Car project, that was cool, so me freind was selling an old Kyosho Rocky 4wd with everything, and I took the plunge.

It started to get money spent on it when I started an apprenticeship in 89, took a break in 1997, came back at the end of 2003 to find the popular class was now on-road and the same arguments in stock still reigned, lol.

Chrislong

21-10-2006, 05:45 PM

About 1985 my uncle bought me a Tandy RC car, it wouldn't go much faster than i could walk and the controls were no proportional, might aswell just be a switch. This was the toy I played with all the time, i used to drive it around the house following it, and id make parking spaces out of shoes or garages out of boxes to reverse it into. LOL.

Then about 1987 a different uncle who used to race 1/12 pancars (might not have been) decided to get rid of his racing gear, so he put stuff together to make a working car and gave it to me. It had a 540 motor but a label on it (faster?) sponge tyres covered in silicon which were attached to tubes, and could slide on and off the wheels, spur gear on the wheel and no differential. wedge shaped shell with open cockpit... at a later date I realised it looked very mardave-ish as the chassis looked vaguely like a ministock chassis (it wasn;t tho). With this id just go as fast as I could past myself, do a U-turn and go back, and only on smooth carparks.

Then in 1989 my dad bought me a Tamiya Suburu Brat. This was awesome, as I could now go on any surface, jump and drive over things. I put the gold wheels on from a monster beetle, and put internal limiters in the shocks (without them it was so high that it would roll if I turned sharp). I raced/street bashed this against my friend who had the Vanquish, he discovered Bury Model Shop Buggy Club and his dad took us both to a race meeting. He never went again after his first visit, but I kept going weekly from then on with my dad with the same truck for a few months, til I got a Lazer ZX for Christmas or birthday (can't remember).

k£v!n

21-10-2006, 06:27 PM

jim76

21-10-2006, 07:20 PM

a friend had a Boomerang in about '86, so i got one also ( i still use the buggy bag it came with!), started racing at a local club that started in my home town. Saw a Kingcab review in RCMC and had to have one, the first proper racing truck? The novelty soon wore off this and i fell in love with the Procat i saw in RCMC. splurged £350 on the car 40mhz radio, fast servo, and speedo, cells and schumacher PC3 charger.
Gave up in 94 when i went to Uni, and started back 3 years ago.

P_B

21-10-2006, 07:44 PM

First time out, about 1991, friend at school got a Tamiya Manta Ray and I thought it was the coolest thing. Got a Schumacher Cougar not long after that and we took a trip Oldham Radio Car Off Road Club, that had me sucked in until '94 or 95 when full-size cars, beer and women took priority.

Second time out, 2004, and my best mate gets a B4 RTR to go racing and bond with his new stepson. Soon after I'm the proud owner of a B4 too and a regular at Bury Metro. Damned addictive hobby!

telboy

21-10-2006, 09:19 PM

always used to watch programs.. like model mania and the sort. One episode was of a rally car being built preped and painted, then they went to a meeting to race and i'd always wanted to try it. Needless to say i'm yet to find a rally car club!

You know the focus that they built?
when they started painting the shell?.....and then a few moments later said "this is what the finished product looked like"?.........there was a week and a half between those shots........cos I painted the shell!!!!:p
It was RRCi ed peter emery, i did put some stickers on to say it was painted by me......but they took them off.:(
If you look, they made a mess of the first one because they didn't mask the red off.:D
My claim to fame!

I started rc racing after a work experience lad came to work at our place in 1993. I was interested in rc anyway (having bought a tamiya manta ray) and he asked if i raced it, and i was like, eh? wot u on about?
so he told me to go to a local club that ran at a school, that was it then, i was hooked!

My parents just happened to know Jamie booth ( i didn't have a clue who he was back then) so, seeing as he worked for tamiya and was running the manta ray too, I got loads of 'team' parts off of him. by the time i'd done the car was virtualy a works car.
Wish i'd kept it now, it was a clas car.

losidan

21-10-2006, 10:13 PM

i have never raced but the first time i encountered rc was watching my older brother race his hornet and then boomerang when it came out at.....batley buggy club. he gave up and it was all forgotten till a few years ago when i decided to give it a go after my younger brother got a car and i had a go with it

buzz

21-10-2006, 11:03 PM

started about 2003 when they use to race down at rothwell sports centre, I went, I watched, I loved! :D

I bought....

....u got it, a TC3 :D :cool:

rest is history and still in the making ;)

MikePimlott

22-10-2006, 05:42 PM

I started racing about 10 years ago when my dad bought me a mardave meteor from chorley model shop. We used to go to L U T club at leigh racing on a wedneday night. The meteor was soon swapped for a Schumacher Cougar with a firebird 25t motor (fasteset at the time) and then went to other venues such as a Church in Chorley and Fred Longworth high school (on my street) on a friday night. Stopped racing when the LUT club burned down and recently started again at Bury Metro and Regionals.

sosidge

22-10-2006, 06:53 PM

Christmas 1987 - Tamiya Super Sabre for Christmas. After a few months of running it outside the house learnt that there was a club in Canterbury. Etc etc.

stefke

23-10-2006, 11:09 AM

I had been bashing around the local parcs for years with first a Tamiya Wild One, then a Monster Beatle and finally a Manta Ray. when I was about 14, a new toy and modell shop opened in my area and the guy running the RC section was a Tamiya factory driver at the time (somewhere in the early 90'ies). He encouraged me to go racing and he took me with him to my first race, a regional. There I astonished even myself by promptly finishing 4th with my then brand new Super Astute, a borrowed LRP motor (I think it was an LRP White E), Orion cells and of course a copied setup.

I raced for 5 years first with the Super Astute and Manta Ray, then when Tamiya abandoned off road, I used a Losi XX an CAT2000 and finally a B2 and a B3. I stopped for several years because of university and work but started again 2,5 years ago with a B4.

Southwell

23-10-2006, 11:18 AM

I was going to the local dirt track and on the way saw the racing club going, i saw someone had a Cat 2000EC for sale and annoyed my dad for a hour or so until he bought it for me :D, this must have been around 95?

BenG

23-10-2006, 11:43 AM

I went swimming at spen swimming baths, noticed an event on at the batley outdoor, and went to watch. It was ace, and I wanted a buggy bad. Then my neighbour who (supposedly) raced well in the BRCA 5th scale nats years ago, told me to get a TC. Went to Rothwell TC club, watched, bought a tc3, one my first c final right away ,got all the racing equipment( which i was still paying for 2 yers later). I think that was 2003, since then i have
worked in a modelshop, bought about 20 cars, raced lots, and will be doing the nats next year:D

Now wake up LOL

daz_75

23-10-2006, 11:44 AM

My dad first got a Tamiya when i was about 4. There is a pic of me and him looking at it on the beach :D

My first car was a Tamiya Sand Scorcher (wish i still had it, probably worth a bomb) It had this weird shell made out of solid plastic. I used to race at Cheadle Bowling Club and then started in doors at Poynton.

My dad raced out door at the Tamiya Championships, and i started soon after, we won enough vouchers between us to get 3 boomerangs for free :D

I've had a fair few cars, mostly buggies, but some saloons and 1/12th's
My faves were the Kyosho Scorpion, Pro Cat and my all time fave and the one i was still driving when i gave up the Losi XX

My dad still races, but mostly Saloons (i found these boring). He still runs Chapel Radio Control in Hazel Grove, but i think he treats it too much like an extension of his hobby :rolleyes:

Bathy

23-10-2006, 11:47 AM

Bought my 1st ‘proper’ RC car when I must have been 14/15 I think, was a PB Mini Mustang. Never raced it and grew out of toy cars quickly at that age, some 19 years later I’ve grown back into RC cars and started racing them just over a year ago (absolutely love it).

I must have bought my Losi XXX-4 not long after you got started in the hobby Jimmy… and I thought you’d been messing around with them all your life, I remember that oOple was one of the very 1st RC websites I found (when searching for XXX4 images), the sites moved on a whole lot since then, tis ace.

Bathy :bom:

Nick Goodall

23-10-2006, 11:52 AM

I got a Tamiya Madcap for Christmas in 1991, some lads round the corner had Nikko cars.... they were actually quite good for Nikko but I can't remember what they were called now, Dandy something i think....

Anyway, they used to go up Newbury R/C Club ran at a School so i went up there, struggled like hell against all the Pro-cats and RC10's so my Dad came up with me and quickly realised there was a lot more to this hobby then basic kits from Beatties. He knew a guy at work that raced, so bought an old Kyosho Optima Mid for me and that's when it started... we quickly upgraded to a Lazer ZXR, then we bought Andy Shaw's works Bosscat (with the rear shocks mounted on the back of the wishbones) and started doing the RRCi series and it went on and on from there really.

Did my first year of Nationals in 1997 with a Losi XX and Cat 2000, managed to get my F1 license, then in 1998 made 5/6 2wd A Finals and finished 7th overall, qualifying for the 1999 Worlds and Euro's - then it started to get serious :D

We packed up early 2002 but recently i've started to get more and more interested, and with Lee's track down the road i simply couldn't resist getting an old B3 going, so i'm looking forward to racing it for the first time in almost 5 years this weekend at CML Raceway....

johnnyboy

23-10-2006, 02:54 PM

Got my first RC car in 1985 (Marui Big Bear) drove that for about a year then bought a Tamiya Hornet. First race was with the Hornet at a Hobby Show here in Toronto in 1986. I think I was in the B Main (they ran a under 18 Jr. class there). Raced off road till about 1992 then became a Pro Mountain Biker and dropped RC all together. Still biking, but not as crazy (getting old...lol). Just bought a B4 (new Yokomo coming over the winter) at the end of this season and will be back racing offroad for 2007. Electric off road is making a comback over here.

Alfonzo

23-10-2006, 08:11 PM

1989, the Tories are in full swing, illegal raves and The Stone Roses. My mate gets a Kyosho Rocky for Christmas. Ace. His mum spots an advert in the local paper for this RC club www.lawfordbuggyclub.co.uk (http://www.lawfordbuggyclub.co.uk) who run a championship using Tamiya Quick Drives (RTR) in the local park and woods. The following grows. A year or so afterwards the club introduces 1:10th scale races alongside the QD event. We're talking Tamiya Boomerangs, Rocky, Hornets and the delightful Mardave Meteor. Happy Days. We used to cycle 5 miles to the club with all our kit and a 12v car battery in a rucksack on the back. I swear I couldn't do that now! As we got older the paperound money & summer job farm money increased. The kit got a little better - Pro Cats, YZ10's, Kyosho Lasers etc. Halcyon times, y'know - endless hot summer days etc..

Girls and Uni finished it off.

2000 - took up racing again. Discovered hangovers and RC don't really mix. Gave up. (The RC, not hangovers)

2006 - took up racing again. No hangovers anymore, just the hard sobre facts that I'm utterly talentless but still really enjoy the scene :)

Gemma

23-10-2006, 08:35 PM

Well my big Bruv started racing in 1990 summit:o , he use to race the Manta Ray, and then upgrading it to a very top notch Top Force............... Whooooooooo!:D ! As I was the little sister:cool: , who got dragged to car racing at the age or 11 or summit, my father (bless him:flower: ) decide to make me a "Mixture" Car, which basically cost him nothing. The Nothing car was made up of a few Top Force, Lazer ZXR, and CAT bits and that was my car. I use to race regionals in the early 90's and it kinda started from there.

13 yrs later I met the love of my life, and Stopped!!!:bom:

But I have been back about 6 ish yrs (I think) and been doing National and Regionals ever since!!!:p

Thats my story!!!