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Old 12-02-2014
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manpossessed manpossessed is offline
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Default Attention TC Drivers - Touring Car Classes

Over the last few months there has been a great deal of debate over the advantages and disadvantages of TRCCC's open class. Several suggestions have been put forward as to the best way to go in 2014 and beyond.

As a club it is important that all members get a chance to have their say and to make suggestions and voice opinions to ensure all sides are considered when any decisions are made.It may well be we will arrange a meeting of TC drivers if there is a need for it.

Can I ask you to consider such factors as scutineering, timing, cost, when the changes should be implemented (2014/2015?) and heat number increases in relation to your ideas as early solutions to these problems will make implementation of ideas easier and faster.

Post your thoughts here or contact me at manpossessed@sky.com - I may post your suggestions anonymously to promote debate unless you tell me otherwise.

Many thanks

Gary Simmons
TRCCC Club Secretary
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Old 12-02-2014
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To clarify our classes at the moment we run two classes, Junior and Senior.

Junior class has no restriction on car or motor.

Senior is a touring car class conforming to a 190-200mm touring car format with option for 4wd or 2wd and no limitations on motor or speedo.

Neither class has age restrictions or entry criteria based on performance but it is generally viewed that Junior is the U13/beginners class and Senior is for those racers wishing to compete a little more seriously.
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Old 12-02-2014
Terry1965 Terry1965 is offline
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In 2012 we had 18 drivers attend but only 6 went on to come back in 2013.

In 2013 we had 18 drivers attend but only 4 completed enough rounds for the championship and 8 did 3 meetings or less.

We seem to have a problem keeping the drivers that visit us in TC and I think we need to find out why. Can anyone shed any light on this?
What do you think would make things better and encourage more racers to stay in TC?

Although in many ways I like the open rules we have I feel we do need a little more structure to our on road racing. Mendip are out recruiting TC drivers and although they race on opposite weekend to us most drivers will have to choose a club as most are not able to race every weekend. They have picked 13.5 boosted as their class but we are basically classless.

From the few drivers I have spoken to about joining us this is an issue as its leaving them confused as to what to buy. New guys don’t want to spend lots to have any chance of competing so are looking for an affordable class where they feel they can do more than just make up the numbers. On the opposite end of the scale I know we have had some very fast drivers in the past visit us and not feel they have had much competition. This is not so true now as the bar has been raised this year but we do need to encourage them back.

I personally would like 2 classes that are as wide open as possible to allow any TC to race but separate them in such a way as to give a fighting chance to anyone taking part. I propose we have an 'Open Modified Class' for any of the 540 brushless powered cars and a 'Standard Class' to include brushed motors and cheap Chinese 380 type motors that are popular.

Whatever we chose to do I think we must have a mid class to fit between out juniors and our open class. Somewhere for the juniors to move on to and still have a chance to compete in the championship and not just make up the numbers. It would also give the adults that either cant or dont want to invest in a top car or dont have the ability to fight at the top to win in a class that is right for them.

Feel free to tell me Im talking B******* but please do post your thoughts as time is running out and I want to see people enjoy their TC racing


Terry
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Old 12-02-2014
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gavsspringer gavsspringer is offline
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i like the way we do things now. Yes when i started i had a very old slow car and it was daunting being in the same race as the fast drivers but it was a challenge to me to improve my driving (still trying this ) and to upgrade my car on a budget which i have done so well that my car is now alot quicker than my fingers and thumbs. I don't think we need to create a separate class but i do think that we need to set a sensible top limit for the number of cars on track so we aren't tripping over each other. Looking forward to April. Can't wait to get back to racing.
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Old 12-02-2014
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Having raced at Tiverton many times over the last four years first brushed 19t then 10.5 brushless and finally 13.5 boosted I don't feel that running with 13.5 would be a disadvantage as your track favors a well set up chassis rather than a car with massive power, in fact with the mix of fast and slow corners modified brushless could be a disadvantage and would be more confusing to people racing for the first time, I would suggest two classes but stick to the 17.5 blinkey/27t brushed and 13.5 boosted type of classes run by most other clubs then it will be easier for people from these clubs to try racing at your challenging and tricky track.
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Old 12-02-2014
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manpossessed manpossessed is offline
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Thanks for your comments so far.

Couple of thoughts that have come my way by email.

- Match Mendip in running a 13.5 turn boosted class.

- Concern over numbers to support two classes.

- We would need a minimum of 6 racers per class to justify an extra heat.

- How would we control scrutineering?

- Do we need another class? Isn't our problem a mix of different speeds in one heat?

These are all points for debate so feel free to add you thoughts or opinions.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far, all contributions have been objective and positive.
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Old 13-02-2014
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My thoughts;

Terry is right our lack of class regulations does make racing seem confusing to outsiders.

Gavin is right that applying a set of regulations also means those drivers who have existing cars can't run.

Alan is right that power does not mean performance on our track.

Prehaps we we should think about next year rather than this year with a view to adopting the 13.5 boosted as a club class for 2015 but running alongside that an 'Outlaw' class for those cramming the largest gear possible into a little chassis (even those who have to hack bits out the chassis to get them in, eh Gav!)

This would work as we know that these cars can run similar pace due to the technicalities of our track and we could split them out into heats if there are enough racers present or run together if not.

Scutineering could be on a random basis by picking two cars from each heat to be checked and the open software means just the motor needs to be verified.

Would this work for everyone?
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