Christmas meeting

[hashiriya]

Count me in. TC

[bedsrcmcc]

Come on guys, who's going to be joining the fun on our Christmas Party meeting we are running on Friday 17 Dec?

We are going to be doing an endurance race split into 2 halves. In between the racing we'll be presenting trophies for the winners of the Autumn Championships and also doing the Raffle prizes plus enjoying the nibbles...

We want as many of you racing, you'll all be racing your own cars in 3 or 4 teams depending on the numbers. We'll make sure the teams are well matched so don't worry, not all the F1 drivers will be in 1 team. I'd like to pull the names of the hat on the meeting before the 17th Dec, during the AGM if possible so please confirm you'll me racing, thanks.

[HPI Paul]

I will be there with the mardave

[chunkytom95]

ill be there

[bedsrcmcc]

Following on from last nights meeting, we now have a good list of drivers whoo want to race in the endurance race at the clubs Xmas Party meeting. Now both Andy B and Craig have ticked both TC and Mini. Based on the current numbers, if both Andy B and Craig run Mini's, we would have 9 TCs and 9 Mini drivers. Therefore we can have 3 teams of 6, with 3TC/3Mini in each team which I think would be a good mix, plus with 6 team members, you'll have enough people in each team to sort out marshalling and pit change over strategy.

So Maz, can you plan a good track for the nights endurance race, allowing for an area on track to make the pit changes as teams will have to change cars on the track and not in the pits. I'm sure you can come up with a good design

The drivers for Touring Cars are:

Luke
Maz
Jonathan
Tom
Nick
William
Edward
Matt G
Keith

The drivers for Mini's/Micros are:

Paul
Andy B
Lewis
Matt R
Nathan
Callum
Russell
Steve
Craig

Of course if others want to join in before we sort the teams out next week then we can either have larger teams or we can create a fourth team.

Don't forget that to race YOU MUST decorate your car for the seasonal festivities...

We might even have a prize for the best dressed car

[bedsrcmcc]

Thanks to all those who put down on the list what they would bring in terms of food for the Xmas meeting. If you haven't put anything down yet, this is what we have so you can decide on something else...

Drinks/Cups
Mini Sausages
Crisps
Sandwiches
Veggie food
Sausage Rolls
Pringles
Mince Pies

[Jon R]

Looks like a good list Scott, glad there a quite a few people wanting to race

In terms of food stick me down for chocolate/sweets. I know its boring but I will bring along a tin of roses or quality street.

In terms of track design, I just had a quick look at the current layouts used for carpet. Track 13 looks like it could be good. Either the middle right (as you look away from the stage) section or the lower right section could be modified to allow for a pit area. Meaning that the very right hand strip of carpet in either section would be the pit area. Does that make sense?

We also need to have 3 individual pit boxes marked out in tape and the teams get to decide which box they have based on a game of rock paper scissors or something

See you all at christmas!

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by Jon R

Looks like a good list Scott, glad there a quite a few people wanting to race

In terms of food stick me down for chocolate/sweets. I know its boring but I will bring along a tin of roses or quality street.

In terms of track design, I just had a quick look at the current layouts used for carpet. Track 13 looks like it could be good. Either the middle right (as you look away from the stage) section or the lower right section could be modified to allow for a pit area. Meaning that the very right hand strip of carpet in either section would be the pit area. Does that make sense?

We also need to have 3 individual pit boxes marked out in tape and the teams get to decide which box they have based on a game of rock paper scissors or something

See you all at christmas!

I like your thinking, this might work...



Of course we would have to put some track edging along the area of the pit, drivers would just pull up and team members would lift the car off the track to make the change

[hashiriya]

I'll have a look at track designs in a bit as well to see what we can do to make the track as big as possible whilst keeping an area for pitting. I think a crowded pit area is going to be a bit more exciting though.

As for food, I'm useless at picking stuff like that so can someone just tell me what to bring and I'll organise it

[hashiriya]

As much as I like the idea of individual pitting areas, I think the space required for it would be a bit much. The layout above would lose you 12m² in pitting and the layout already has some dead space in it already. Essentially you only need a safe space to pull off and put cars back on as the main transponder swap could take place on the bar counter to the side. there's no real need ot keep the cars on the track to do the swap.

So here's my track suggestion. Complete with dimensions so its easier to build


Some more noted on how the races could be run so that we don't have to think about it later.

I think there is a feature on RC timing where you can combine the total laps and times of multiple races to get an overall result. We should do this so that the overal result is the combined times of both races.

The reason why I say this is because of the way that the numbers work out with the race duration and the number of members in a team.

You could declare that the first 15 minutes of Race 1 is Mardave section, then the next 15 be TC, then the last 15 is Mardave again.

This is then reversed for the 2nd 45 minute race so you get 15 of TC, 15 of Mardave then 15 of TC again.

In total, TC get 45 minutes on track and Mardave get the same.

Breaking is down further, in each 15 minute session, you have 3 stints of 5 minutes each which would work out nicely as each member gets a leg each. There might be a little variation in the exact amount of time each person runs for due to cars having to pit early or something but at least the guide is in place.

Maybe we could have a mini prize for "best team name" "Best dressed car" and also "driver of the day" "pitman of the day" "marshal of the day" or somehting. Obviously they don't have to be big or proper prizes, just a litle something to recognise achievements for the day would be good I think

[HPI Paul]

Maz - agreed, we don't want to lose area to pits - your design looks spot on We can tweak it slightly to bring the pit box in front of the serving counter if necessary.

- bring some mini samosas

[hashiriya]

Paul, you're thinking the same as I. I figured with the locaiton of the pits its close enough to the serving counter also.

I'll bring Mini Samosas

[mi3.5]

Hi

Is it too late to come along to the Christmas meeting?
I forgot to put my name down on Friday....

I can do either TC or Mini whichever is more helpful.

Tim

[hashiriya]

Tim I'm sure you will be fine. There are a few more usual suspects who arn't on the list yet either so I'm expecting them to appear soon

[HPI Paul]

Originally Posted by mi3.5

Hi

Is it too late to come along to the Christmas meeting?
I forgot to put my name down on Friday....

I can do either TC or Mini whichever is more helpful.

Tim

Only if you Bring man size samosas.

[hashiriya]

Sorry I was looking at the wrong numbers. I didn't see that the races would be 40 minutes each no 45.

Just out of interest. Are we doing any other races that night? Just thinking that we could start racing by 8:00 and would need to finish by around 10:00-10:10. Would be need such a long break in the middle?

With the track design organised and the dimensions drawn out, I reckon we could have the track ready and raceable by 7:45 (no practice) and then we could run 60 minutes till 8:45 for race one, and start race 2 at 9:15 and go for another 60 till 10:15. We get everyone to help pack away at the end and we should be out in time.

If we're late starting of course we could reduce the time of the races but I think if we can squeze in 2 60 minute races, then a team of 6 drivers would get 4 runs of 5 minutes each which is the same as a normal meeting.

Am I being overly optimistic?

[Jon R]

Originally Posted by mi3.5

Hi

Is it too late to come along to the Christmas meeting?
I forgot to put my name down on Friday....

I can do either TC or Mini whichever is more helpful.

Tim

YEAH TIM! Hope I'm on your team!

In terms of track design I do like your proposal Maz. There is just part of me that would like a pit lane. Maybe something like this (I hope you dont mind me using you image Maz):



Where the Red lines are guttering and the Blue lines are simply tape to mark the entrance and exit. The pit would only have to be 2.5 cars width wide. I also think it just affords people a bit more space. If we do use this we would need to say the usual rules apply with the car on track having right of way.

Also what happens if someone has a technical problem on the night just before their run, will we be allowed to choose another driver to take their place?

[Jon R]

Originally Posted by hashiriya

Sorry I was looking at the wrong numbers. I didn't see that the races would be 40 minutes each no 45.

Just out of interest. Are we doing any other races that night? Just thinking that we could start racing by 8:00 and would need to finish by around 10:00-10:10. Would be need such a long break in the middle?

With the track design organised and the dimensions drawn out, I reckon we could have the track ready and raceable by 7:45 (no practice) and then we could run 60 minutes till 8:45 for race one, and start race 2 at 9:15 and go for another 60 till 10:15. We get everyone to help pack away at the end and we should be out in time.

If we're late starting of course we could reduce the time of the races but I think if we can squeze in 2 60 minute races, then a team of 6 drivers would get 4 runs of 5 minutes each which is the same as a normal meeting.

Am I being overly optimistic?

Maybe slight overly optimistic but nothing wrong with that! I do like the sound of 2 x 1 hour races. If Scott agrees to one hour races then I think we just need to vary everyones run time to fit everyone in. For example

6 drivers per team with 3 driving twice (as you said Maz) = 9 driving slots per race.
Would mean = 6 mins 40secs each (60 mins divided by 9).
- So 6 drivers = 6 mins driving per time and allowing 40 seconds +/- for pit stops.

Following this on:

8 drivers = 12 driving slots = 5 mins in total so probably around 4mins 30secs driving each.

Odd numbers of racers is where it gets interesting lol. We could do uneven race lengths, for example with 7 racers:

Race 1 = 7 racers race once with 3 having a second go = 10 racing slots.
5 mins 30 secs per racing slot gives a race length of 55 mins.

Race 2 = 7 racers race once with other 4 having a second go = 11 racing slots.
again 5 min 30 secs per racing slot = 60 mins 30 secs (this can be rounded up or down).

Does that make sense?

Which would give everyone 3 races and would keep it within the 2 hours total of driving. If it helps and we are allowed in early I can be at the hall anytime from 6:30pm

[bedsrcmcc]

There is going to be the trophies to hand out, the raffle to do and a chance for people to have a break to charge batteries and nibbles, so I think 45 mins per race is more than enough time Maz.

We want the evening to be very relaxed and chilled out so no rush to get racing...

As for the pic I added with the track and pits - maybe I didn't make it clear, when I labeled them Pit 1,2,3 I didn't mean that's where everyone is with tables and kit, just where the car is pulled in and PT transfered, so teams would only be in those squares during a car change. Still plenty of track to enjoy.

As for the racing itself, again, we tried to make it very simple so that after halfway through the 45min race I will announce the change over from TC to Mini/Micro. All team members only need to complete 1 lap in each 45 minute race for the team to qualify for the overall positions. It's up to the teams how they decide to split up the driving stints, as some drivers could run for 8+ minutes if they wish. Trying to oversea how long people drive for will be a nightmare - so it doesn't matter how long drivers are on track.

Let's leave it to the teams to decide how they want to race, that way it makes for a more interesting race - will long stints and less changeovers be quicker then short stints and more change overs - can drivers run for 8+ minutes without fatigue...

At the end of the day as this is the Xmas Party Meeting we should follow the gold rule of KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid

Can't go wrong then...

[bedsrcmcc]

Don't forget to decorate your cars...