Re-Opening of Torch 2nd January 2011

[SteveB]

All,

We have complete 95% of track work for racing this Sunday, I have had a little go around the track and is superb to race on, very fast and flowing and is much more forgiving. We have managed to acheive another 10 seconds to a lap, so less overtaking will be better for qualifing.

We aim to be track side from 8.30am Sunday, and dependant on numbers race best part of the day.

Standard Members fees are £6 adults and £4 juniors. If we race all day an additional £1 will be added.

Non member fees are an addition £2 or £3 dependant on if all day.

The track is really superb with total astro covering the whole track area and we managed to install a table top feature, more to follow :thumbsup:

Our main area for pitting is also now covered with astro, so no more muddy pitting.

Like to see a great meeting back to start the new year and of course this will be a little shake down and changes may happen depending on feedback.

Look forward to Sunday, post if your coming this week :thumbsup:

[focusmad]

Hi,i would like to a say a big thank you to steve and dan and everyone that help with the new track,it is a great track with fast corners,slow corners,a banked corner something for everyone,looking forward to racing sunday on the new track :thumbsup: chris

[David Church]

Let's see some pics please:thumbsup:
Shame EPR is on this Sunday, I might have popped down.

[martin so16]

i will be down on sunday cant wait looking forward to get back raceing :thumbsup:

[SteveB]

Let's see some pics please:thumbsup:
Shame EPR is on this Sunday, I might have popped down.


DC dump EPR and come race at our track, we would value your feedback.:thumbsup:

Thanks Steve

[mikeyscott]

Picture that Steve sent me

[Dudders]

Looks good. Might be plus 2 as you run a shorter day to EPR.

Need to go out lte PM :cry:

Any idea of 'Le Fin' times?

Also, set up idea's would be wicked!

[DHB]

I will second what Steve said, It drives well, should be an interesting year now our track records are void. Thanks to all that have helped get it this far its been cold and heavy work at times. Thanks Chris, Mark and Neil for Tuesday Sorry I could not stay. Looks good though guys. Least we can get back to racing and finish bits around that.

Dan

[mw02veg]

looks like youve put the hours in guys :thumbsup: is the track much bigger? im sure we might be able to arrange a little visit once it warms up a bit :)

[M.Andrews]

Can't wait for the weekend :thumbsup:. I'll be there as long as my back and shoulder pain has gone from finishing off the track on Tuesday!!.:thumbdown:

[TomS 96]

Track looks great cant wait to be back racing. Flight, weather and jet lag dependant I hope to be back on Sunday. :thumbsup:

[David Church]

Track looks sweet!!! Cant really F Off EPR,its me home track, but will plan a trip down sooner rather than later!!!
Oh Good job on a hard job well done:thumbsup:

[RobW]

Looks fantastic guys and you have even managed a table top already!

Sorry I've not been able to manage last couple of weeks so well done to the guys who made it all happen at the end.

Not sure if I can get down to race this sunday but will definitely try and get down for an hour to see how the cars get round.

Cheers

Rob

[AlisdairO]

Fantastic work guys :)

Wish I could make it this sunday, but alas the wife is leaving for holland the day after, so I probably can't swing disappearing!

[SteveB]

The picture is not the best as was taken from a blackberry and the fog was quite thick.

The track is about 30% larger, but we have utilised the land much better. So lap times from what I have testing on Tuesday will hit between 35 - 40 seconds in wet for the average driver, so 7 to 8 laps in five mins, so really long. Its a demanding but rewarding design and a real flow to the driving line. A little bumpy at present, but will soon be resolved when a roller or wacker plate goes back accross the track as fairly soft underground at moment.

There are opposite cambers and up and downward sections to make things interesting. Track markings are great, as you can no longer get stuck, unless you roll on your roof. So less marshalling and more racing. There are safe zones for marshalls around the whole track so better for marshalling and any on coming traffic will have a barrier between to protect cars. Also no metal stakes holding track down, so no unecessary damage to cars.

There will be the odd issue, but the planning and thought process that has gone into our track is in the best interest of all levels of racers and the future of the club.

Pitting had not changed too much at present. The main pitting area is all covered with astro. We also have the use of the raised section to the right of the track. You can get 6 - 8 cars on there reasonably well. We will try to challenge the farmer to get the space to left cleared for the dryer months to come.

Look forward to seeing you all this Sunday.

[mikeyscott]

Not sure what I'll be running as err lots of cars, but nothing really ready..

So who's going to beat Steve on the first meeting ???

[dibble34]

Track looks great, not looking likely i will be there this weekend, but can't wait to get down there soon :thumbsup:

[jkonline]

Looks really good, hope to be there on Sunday.

[Dudders]

Hi guys

Slim chance Jnr and myself can come down tomorrow.

Only worry is car set up and tyres.

I guess you guys can advise on both but do you have a shop or stock of tyres as we only have indoor carpet tyres.

Any advice?

[mikeyscott]

Plenty of people there to help with these sort of things. Friendly, knowledge sharing club ;)

[rob8246]

So who's going to beat Steve on the first meeting ???

That will be me then ;)

[wylie]

I should be there. Good luck Rob beating Steve's time, it will be good to see you down here.

[MrMagoo]

I'll be there with the mighty Ansmann, still in rear motor guise. I'll also have my membership paperwork:thumbsup:

Which car are you running Rob?

[Crazy L]

I'll be there son:thumbsup:

[Crazy L]

Which car are you running Rob?

TRF201?

[jpmatrix]

Hi.

Just wandering, what is the minimum requirements if you want to race?

I have just completed building the Mad Rat a couple of days ago and she all seems good and runs fine. I have installed a set of ball bearings and have swapped the bog standard 540 motor with a 10 year old but new schumacher gold rush motor (brushed) so its a little quicker but obviously a snails pace compared to all the brushless systems everyone has.

No doubt I will upgrade, but I wish to practice with a slower car and improve. Ive only got the 1 battery car pack which is 3300mah.

I have dabbled in rc 20 years ago, but not as far as going club racing so I am at 'Novice status'.:D

Pic of car

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/jpmatrix/rat.jpg

Basically, all I got is me, the Rat and an allen key to bring to the track atthe moment.


Happy New year

James

[Dudders]

Gotta start somewhere James

You'll find that most will be happy to lend tools etc if needed.

Pop down and have a play, see how you like it.

Still awaiting news on if we can make it or not.

Thanks all for your help, if we come we'll be in good company.

Neil

[rob8246]

TRF201?

Will be using the 511 ;)

[SteveB]

Hi.

Just wandering, what is the minimum requirements if you want to race?

I have just completed building the Mad Rat a couple of days ago and she all seems good and runs fine. I have installed a set of ball bearings and have swapped the bog standard 540 motor with a 10 year old but new schumacher gold rush motor (brushed) so its a little quicker but obviously a snails pace compared to all the brushless systems everyone has.

No doubt I will upgrade, but I wish to practice with a slower car and improve. Ive only got the 1 battery car pack which is 3300mah.

I have dabbled in rc 20 years ago, but not as far as going club racing so I am at 'Novice status'.:D

Pic of car

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/jpmatrix/rat.jpg

Basically, all I got is me, the Rat and an allen to bring to the track atthe moment.


Happy New year

James

Hi James

Car will be fine, may need a change of tires depending on track conditions, we have never raced on the new astro yet, so we have a little to learn from tire selection. Yellow mini spikes for dry and Balistic Buggys for Wet condtions as a rule with most tracks.
How good is your charger and will it top of your battery fast enough between races?? Otherwise Ill deig some old batteries out, are you using tamiya type connectors?
Some tyres will be on site for people to purchase if needed.

The transmitter looks quite vintage, so to confirm are you on 27mhz or 40? There is a plane club next to ours running on 35 I think?

Hope this helps a little.

Steve Brown

[SteveB]

Will be using the 511 ;)

Hello Mr Nollywood, hope you have some set up advice for 511, as yet to run mine, and I here your the man on form.:D

Be nice to see legend again.

[jpmatrix]

Gotta start somewhere James

You'll find that most will be happy to lend tools etc if needed.

Pop down and have a play, see how you like it.

Still awaiting news on if we can make it or not.

Thanks all for your help, if we come we'll be in good company.

Neil

Cheers Neil.

I will pop down. l would love to have a run the track.

I was joking regarding the allen key. i do have some tools and even a table and chair. I also got a generator as i dont have a 12v dc chrger if i need to re-charge.

Just no spares at the mo and just the 1 bat pack.

James

[jpmatrix]

Hi James

Car will be fine, may need a change of tires depending on track conditions, we have never raced on the new astro yet, so we have a little to learn from tire selection. Yellow mini spikes for dry and Balistic Buggys for Wet condtions as a rule with most tracks.
How good is your charger and will it top of your battery fast enough between races?? Otherwise Ill deig some old batteries out, are you using tamiya type connectors?
Some tyres will be on site for people to purchase if needed.

The transmitter looks quite vintage, so to confirm are you on 27mhz or 40? There is a plane club next to ours running on 35 I think?

Hope this helps a little.

Steve Brown

Hi Steve,

Yes the transmitter is 27mhz. I got green at the mo but do have a spare set (orange). They are Tamiya connectors.

Well Im not sure the length of charging as it had a bit of charge in it. The max i can charge at is 2.5A with the battery being 3300mah. I know it was between 30 40 mins.

James

[dibble34]

I'm In too, will have membership form with me. Hope to run an X5 for the first time :thumbsup:

[AmiSMB]

I will be there with the Fandango!

[wylie]

Wow!!! Looks like a busy meeting :thumbsup:

[rob8246]

Just got back from todays meeting and really enjoyed it! :thumbsup:

Great work from Steve, Mikey and the rest of the TORCH boys to get the track that good considering all the bad weather ;)

It's got loads of potential being that the racing area is massive!

Nice basic layout today to get things up running but I'm sure there will be jump sections coming very soon.

Good work lads and see you all again soon. :thumbsup:

[Lee Martin]

And did you beat his time?????

[showtime]

saw the pics on facebook. looks good & like mentioned already, bags of potential :thumbsup:

[mikeyscott]

Sounds good, sorry I couldn't stick around.

I'll get the results on-line once I've got the laptop back.

Well done to the TORCH team that ran it today.

Was it the Durango or Tamiya that won...??

[jpmatrix]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I didnt manage to arrive in time to compete in the races, but was allowed to have a free practice during the heats and just before the finals. Cheers Steve:thumbsup:. Much appreciated.

My car (mad rat) performed very well for what it was, and enjoyed the track very much ; I can see you have put alot of effort in this track and to keep it up and running.

Looking at those brushless buggies makes mine look like a snail, I definitely will upgrade in the near future when funds allow.

Bumped into a couple of other guys whos names I cant remember who gave me some good advice.


Looking forward to actually race next time.


James

[MrMagoo]

Had an excellent days racing today, the new track is excellent and proved a great challenge for an electric newbie (must stop with the 'nitro-blip'!). A big thanks to all who put in so much effort to get thing sorted in such as short time and with such lousy weather.

The mighty Ansmann stood up to the abuse all day, and to say I'm chuffed with 7th would be an understatement. Now I need to put some work into the set-up, and definitely some work into the driver!

[Dudders]

Ditto to everything that's been said. Had a fab day, low key and friendly, thanks all.

Now, really must increase my tyre stocks :o.

Table top jump was ace and also blasting around the banked corner was great - even if it wasnt the quickest line!.

I must ad that although the track is fast and flowing 37 sec a lap is a tad to long for me. Would like to see it 10 or 15% shorter but hey, you cant please everyone!

Great worth TORCH, we'll see you again :thumbsup:

[wylie]

Fantastic :thumbsup:. Track was great, a BIG thank you to all those that helped.
It was good to see so many racer's down today and let us spread the word about the only track in the south.
Well done everybody, and that was a great A final between Steve and Hollywood.

[Crazy L]

I had a good day today, cheers guys:thumbsup:, a few ding dong battles with Tony "RC" Scott made the day better.

At 1st when I saw the pic of the track last week and how small that jump looked, I had reservations, It looked a bit, er...crap, but now I've driven it, I thinks it's great, albeit with too few jumps, but I trust they will surface soon;). Overall, I like it, looks more changeable than the old one, so that's a plus point fo' sure.

The Durga ran fairly ok, shoulda made adjustments during the day really, but was only there for a bit of fun. Made a few at the end of the day and it ran better. Finding me a set up requires me pulling my finger out of my arse, so I'd best crack on.

Roll on next time:thumbsup:

[mikeyscott]

Sounds like a great battle between Steve and Rob. How TQ'd and won?

[dibble34]

Had great day :) New track is superb and a challenge to drive. My only comment is it would be nice if the straight was a little longer, but i expect that is just me. Can't wait to race again.

[Robocop]

Looking forward to coming back up to you guys when the weather gets a bit warmer,came up last year on august bank holiday from cornwall,with a cougar,fixed the diff problems i had and will try to bring more people with me next time.

[Dudders]

Had great day :) New track is superb and a challenge to drive. My only comment is it would be nice if the straight was a little longer, but i expect that is just me. Can't wait to race again.

And smooooooooooooooth :thumbsup:

[jkonline]

Great days racing the track seems to flow really well (not that I have raced anywhere else) and I did not do to badly which helps.

I took some photos and have uploaded photos here on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/51074310@N06/sets/72157625605151735/detail/).

The first are of the track later ones include some of the races however there were to many to upload all so I picked a selection.

[SteveB]

Thanks for comments all, just a start when it comes to features, there will be a double/triple jumps being inserted somewhere, also a couple of singles. The track will evole and can change very easily and make more challenging racing. The straight is only a little short as the ground need rolling to stop any nasty accidents.

Rob`s and my best laps got down to around 32/33 seconds, I reckon another 4 - 5 seconds will be shaved off once dry. So a 11 - 12 lap for the betters drivers. This is a long lap compared to the old track but I feel its works for having less lapping and everyone making the best of qualifing. Some more feedback would be great.

Glad people enjoyed the new track, more will come, hopefully Tony and others will sort some features out, looking at being portable feaures, so thing remain interesting.

More work on surrounding area, with parking etc. Please watch the Torch forum and see how things progress.

Thanks to Martin, Mike, Rob and Ale for supporting meeting today and everyones commitment towards a relaxed meeting.

Steve

[SteveB]

Great days racing the track seems to flow really well (not that I have raced anywhere else) and I did not do to badly which helps.

I took some photos and have uploaded photos here on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/51074310@N06/sets/72157625605151735/detail/).

The first are of the track later ones include some of the races however there were to many to upload all so I picked a selection.

Great pictures John, thanks for sorting out, just a little worries about Mr Hollywood and how vain he is, where the Pics of Racey`s car and Mine :lol:

[mikeyscott]

And did you beat his time?????

Comng down soon Mr Martin ;)

[Dudders]

My Flickr sets:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16658684@N08/sets/72157625605965613/show/

[MrMagoo]

I've blogged a report of my antics today @ http://mrmagoo-rc.blogspot.com/2011/01/torch-grand-re-opening.html for them's as are interested, feedback always greatful received!

[SteveB]

I've blogged a report of my antics today @ http://mrmagoo-rc.blogspot.com/2011/01/torch-grand-re-opening.html for them's as are interested, feedback always greatful received!

Superb report, results will follow shortly.

Thanks Steve

[Dudders]

Look forward to that, I have no idea where I finished!

[Lee Martin]

Is it open during the week at all?
For sure I'll come down soon....

Lee

[SteveB]

Is it open during the week at all?
For sure I'll come down soon....

Lee

Hi Lee

We have a deal with the farmer the track only get used Weekends, so Saturday with a commitee member on site is fine and we race every sunday weather permitting. Would be great to see you trackside at Troch and get some constructive comments. See you at Petit.

Thanks

[Randall34]

Great to see the track has been well received, worth the hard work. Glad we bothered to put the jump in. It may be a bit make-shift at the moment but i will work on getting some materials together to remake it and some other features. I will get some dimensions and suggestions from trackside.
Despirately want to get down and debut the ex-Mikeyscott Cat SX, or the Cougar that is.
Hopefully be there on sunday.
Cheers
Neil

[mikeyscott]

Many thanks to those that attended.

Please find the results here - http://www.torchracing.org.uk/results/2011/mtg53/index.htm

We'll be tweaking the BBK settings as we've done before with the old track to get them spot on for the track.

[Dudders]

Well my heats were nothing but consistant!.

Over the four heats my times were all within a 6 second time frame:

7L 12 secs
7L 9 secs
7L 4 secs
7L 6 secs

How spooky!. Very pleased with my second meeting out of retirement though!

[tonymon]

this is looking very good, you guys have put a lot of work into it. ill see if i can get down very soon, hopefully this weekend should i get an assignment done.