Unamed Dirt Venue: New Video of cars driving **page 5**

[Karting]

Originally Posted by mrspeedy

When you say "mud" I hope you mean "clay" ....

Just as a note, the track will be clay but throughout the thread i may class it as mud by mistake, but it is deffently clay

[Karting]

Originally Posted by jimbot

A few years ago I found a unit in stevenage to open a unit i had a few issues that stopped me moving it forward.

The business rate on the unit was light industrial not leisure rate the local council had issues with me using the venue for this as they did not want children on the business park they also got the valuation office involved to work out the new business rate.
They suggested that I took a unit on the leisure park but the rent and rates were too expensive.
I would advise that if the main use of the venue is model car racing you check this out first there are ways round this, if one part of the venue is used or highed out for one off events you can get away with it.
I believe this is why dirt arena closed!
There is a myth going round that model car tracks don’t pay rates as they are no profit making this is not true I found out the hard way and are club got a back dated bill of over £6K
Please get everything in place first speak to the landlord about what you’re doing and council get it in writing as well.
This is different than running a club at a hall/sports ground where you hire room/land off them they will be paying the rate on the land/building.
Good luck

Noted, thanks i will look into it. My family own the unit outright but i will still talk to the council

[Karting]

Just a quick update:

Got all the wood onvoard of my van now, will be there nice and early tomorrow morning to get the rest of the track boarders built. Then will post more pictures tomorrow along with a walk around video and a exact measurement of the track length. Hopefully will then be able to start progress on rostum and orginising the clay

Sam (still looking for a company to sponsor the race track and ill name the venue in there honor)

[Karting]

Right, spent a good few hours there this morning and got nearly all the track markings/boarders done, so you can really see the shape.





The view from where the rostum will be (minus the blinding light );


Im now fully aware of the size of the track and i think it is the right width and length for 1/16ths but i also think you could get away with 1/10th racing but there may be quite a few laps done

Next weekends plan:

Tarpaulin the floor inside the boarders
Build Rustrum
Get in the clay

[Jamesk]

Looking good and id say you have put a lot of effort and time in to this project and all for a hobby too,i look forward to running my cars down there. Are you going to put some banked curves/corners in by any chance?

jK

[James]

Originally Posted by jimbot

A few years ago I found a unit in stevenage to open a unit i had a few issues that stopped me moving it forward.

The business rate on the unit was light industrial not leisure rate the local council had issues with me using the venue for this as they did not want children on the business park they also got the valuation office involved to work out the new business rate.
They suggested that I took a unit on the leisure park but the rent and rates were too expensive.
I would advise that if the main use of the venue is model car racing you check this out first there are ways round this, if one part of the venue is used or highed out for one off events you can get away with it.
I believe this is why dirt arena closed!
There is a myth going round that model car tracks don’t pay rates as they are no profit making this is not true I found out the hard way and are club got a back dated bill of over £6K
Please get everything in place first speak to the landlord about what you’re doing and council get it in writing as well.
This is different than running a club at a hall/sports ground where you hire room/land off them they will be paying the rate on the land/building.
Good luck

The first thing you need to do is check which use classes the unit has planning for, if you find it hasn't got planning for leisure use and just the usual B1,B2 & B8 you will need to apply for planning permission- the council will visit and they will not take kindly to you having already started works, it makes them far less likely to give retrospective planning. Don't underestimate the planners - you will do so at your peril!

[Karting]

Originally Posted by Jamesk

Looking good and id say you have put a lot of effort and time in to this project and all for a hobby too,i look forward to running my cars down there. Are you going to put some banked curves/corners in by any chance?

jK

Thanks its a labour of love, lol.

I will be introducing banked corners etc and jumps when the clay goes down. The boarders are there purly to hold the clay in place.

Sadly no videos atm but ill run my 1/16th Or 1/10th round thus weekend on the flat track and post vids

[colmo]

I was looking at a Losi Eight mini yesterday - this is the sort of venue it was made for.

[Karting]

Originally Posted by colmo

I was looking at a Losi Eight mini yesterday - this is the sort of venue it was made for.

I agree

Spent the morning door at the track this morning well 8-3 so more than just a morning.

Few things are changing, like the track layout going to include a crossover to make the most of the limited space i have

Today we spent the day building the rostum, its 16ft long and elevatedjust under 2ft off the floor. (its not finished yet)





Alot of the internal boarders are going to be removed and replaced with plastic tubing which will allow track changed easier

Sam

[teamorsum96]

i wish we had a indoor dirt (clay) track up here in the north.

looking great mate

[Karting]

Originally Posted by teamorsum96

i wish we had a indoor dirt (clay) track up here in the north.

looking great mate

Cheers mate, ive tried quite hard, does get frustrating at times. The only thing which is really holding me back atm is the search for Clay, once that is found and delivered then it wont take long after.

Rostrum is now completed apart from a lick of paint and the step. The base of the rostrum is now all bolted down the the floor so it wont go anywhere. Also had 6 people on it today and it didnt fall down! Also ive measured out that there is enough room on the rostrum for 8 people allowing each person to have 2ft of space





Also here is the one of the layouts im gonna settle for which is going to have a crossover just so i can utilise more of the space

(the picture isnt to scale or size, its just a rough one with layout on it)



Sadly im away at the first round of karting nationals next weekend so next progress wont be for a fortnight

Sam

[F1END]

A cross-over? Seriously?

[Chris Larner]

A cross over is a great idea to give a longer lap in a small area. Many great 1/8th tracks have done it in the past. As long as you use mesh or see through material so you can always see the cars. Also don't forget to put sides on to stop cars falling off.
A large thing to think about as well is being able to marshal/get to the cars if they crash on/under it.

[TARTMAN]

Cross overs are awsome if done right, terrible if not done right..... SO........

Do it right and will be great!!!!

Good luck.

Would love to come see it once done.

[Karting]

Originally Posted by F1END

A cross-over? Seriously?

Yes seriously

Originally Posted by Chris Larner

A cross over is a great idea to give a longer lap in a small area. Many great 1/8th tracks have done it in the past. As long as you use mesh or see through material so you can always see the cars. Also don't forget to put sides on to stop cars falling off.
A large thing to think about as well is being able to marshal/get to the cars if they crash on/under it.

Way ahead of you, i plan to use clear plastic, now do i choose corrigated or smooth? Will have sides on it aswell.

Originally Posted by TARTMAN

Cross overs are awsome if done right, terrible if not done right..... SO........

Do it right and will be great!!!!

Good luck.

Would love to come see it once done.

Hope to see you here too!

I need to raise funds for a transponder setup for track so will run practise days until i can buy one so i can run race nights

[MHeadling]

Looking good Karting! Keep up the good work.

I'v got my Tamiya 201 in rear motor ready to hit your track!

[telboy]

Originally Posted by James

The first thing you need to do is check which use classes the unit has planning for, if you find it hasn't got planning for leisure use and just the usual B1,B2 & B8 you will need to apply for planning permission- the council will visit and they will not take kindly to you having already started works, it makes them far less likely to give retrospective planning. Don't underestimate the planners - you will do so at your peril!

.....as you found out the hard way James.
Did anything come of your indoor project?

[James]

We have never done anything without planning permission - just to make that clear ! We just tried very, very, very hard to get permission for a building to house an indoor clay track, sadly we couldn't get permission for the building.

[russmini]

does this mean we're all soming to RHR for a week soon.....

Or is that the 'Special oOple Invernational Surprise' this year !!!

'Hint, you may need Holeshots' somewhere on the Entry Form.......

[Karting]

Not much of a update for a few weeks, so ill bang in a big-un.

First of all, a supplier for the clay has been found! Barring any problems clay should be delivered early next month.

Secondly, Track crossover is nearly finished, track has been swept and all nails and screws have been removed

Thirdly, thanks to MR Trueman i now have shed loads of track markings

Now for some pictures:




Hope to see you all for when its finished for; testing the track and advice/modding for jumps to suit from beginner to experienced. Plan to have one big feature jump, the crossover jump/bridge, one set of doubles/triples, one bit of 'whoops' and some other bits thrown in. With banked and off camber corners. Might even be able to get a wall ride in there too for extra length.

I think when its open i will:

One night during the week for racedays (will have to make sure it clashes with no other local clubs)
One day during the weekend for general practise days and beginners

Sam