NORA today, 12/06/2011

[msxmre]

I just wanted to say a massive thanks to all the guys who put their time and effort into making this track possible. Had a great days racing today. Thought the track and it's unpredictability was an excellent challenge. Both me and Dale had a great time and I can't wait untill the next round. This track's only going to get better and better in the future and I look forward to seeing the evolution of it. Once again Kudos to you guys and see you at the next round.
Scotty and Dale....

[dhann42]

Thanks got a good days racing enjoyed my 2wd final tusel with young Dale. Look forward to the next round

[raymondkerr]

yip, was a great day guys. Weather couldn't have been better, I've posted up some pics on fb. Roll on the next round.

[pbiggy]

Was there with my wee girl and she was thoroughly entertained by the carnage at the landing off the triple.

Track and whole setup is A+ for effort looks great guys well done, has definitely encouraged me to come back for a try, mind you has been about 20 years since I was last on a track

[D20MCK]

I'll be back when we have a track to race on, the surface was terrible, I know it's off road but that has to be the worst surface I have ever raced on.

I still had a good days racing and I liked the track layout.

[discothesnake]

Originally Posted by D20MCK

I'll be back when we have a track to race on, the surface was terrible, I know it's off road but that has to be the worst surface I have ever raced on.

I still had a good days racing and I liked the track layout.

Thanks for the positive input Dave. That whole set up was done by about 7 people. Shame you feel like that. The track will only get better as the season goes on. At the end of the day, it is the best (and only track) we have in the country. Sorry you did'nt like it but it's early days and will be better next time.

Dave

[Mr Eccleston]

Originally Posted by D20MCK

I'll be back when we have a track to race on, the surface was terrible, I know it's off road but that has to be the worst surface I have ever raced on.

I still had a good days racing and I liked the track layout.

David

What surface did you not like, the grass, astro turf or earth.

We are continually improving the venue, if you think you can help to improve the surface be glad of your help.

I think the track is challenging, those that had made changes to setup did improve, you couldn't just use the setup from Stonehaven, tried it and it didn't work.

Anyway, all going well there should be some major changes to the track for the next round (Dundee Round 5) as we are trying to get more astroturf.

Derek

[Donutt]

BTW - great event and thanks to Dunfermline DRCC for hosting Round 4. Round 5 won't come quick enough...

I think you hit the nail on the head there Derek.
It's not a track that is like anything else we race on. It's a challenge, and you need to get your setup head on to work out how to deal with it.

A lot of tracks we are used to, are either mostly speed, or mostly bumpy.
If a track is 90%+ one or the other, then you set the car up to deal with the majority.

NORA is 50-50 - top qualifiers will be quick down the straight, quick across the features, quick through the tight chicanes and cope with the bumps. Of course, it's a very narrow setup window to get a car to do all that.

Plus it makes drivers think about throttle and steering control as well. They should be thinking about that as well as setup. You can't go at it 10 tenths for the whole lap - the track will bite back. I think you've got to drive with the head first here.

I know it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a proper track with proper challenges. Best thing for everyone to do, is to come along to the next Dunfermline club round this coming Sunday, and spend some time on different setups - see what works for you AND your car(s).

After all, some of the cars were VERY quick there and that proves it can be done.

PS - I'm not slagging any other tracks here - they're all great and serve different aspects of "off-road" but IMHO, NORA is the equal of the rest - it's got different challenges, and it's great. Besides, believe it or not, we are all driving the same track, with the same challenges.

If anyone is struggling with the track, they should be there this Sunday and spend the day playing with setups. It'll pay dividends for Rounds 5, 6 & 7 which will all be at NORA this year.

I think it'll broaden all drivers race and setup experience. What you learn at NORA combined with Falkirk and Stonehaven, will help cope better when we go down to England-shire for the EOS finals. It's all experience...

[D20MCK]

Originally Posted by Mr Eccleston

David

What surface did you not like, the grass, astro turf or earth.

The holes in the ground between the grass and astro!!! Did you not see them!!!

I'm not going to bother saying anything else about the track because if you ever have anything negative to say about this type of thing in Scotland everyone gets so defensive. I'll come to the last round and hope the track is in better condition.

[KennyClark]

Sorry I couldnt make it due to work.
I will be along this sunday to race at the club round.
Look forward to trying out the track.

[Mr Eccleston]

You missed a good meeting, cars are amazing down the 37 meter straight, track was consistant all day as can be seen from the lap times. The weather was brillaint all day as well.

[jonnyb]

Originally Posted by D20MCK

The holes in the ground between the grass and astro!!! Did you not see them!!!

I'm not going to bother saying anything else about the track because if you ever have anything negative to say about this type of thing in Scotland everyone gets so defensive. I'll come to the last round and hope the track is in better condition.

nobody getting defensive bud, your entitled to your opinion! think everybody myself or derek spoke to had positive comments! if everybody puts in their input nora can easily become an amazing track. loads more astro on way plus there are still 2 big sections of track under construction. didnt think track would get as bumpy but hey it was bumpy for everybody! we spent a lot of time putting in drainage etc so ground will flatten out over time but it is off road! cheers to all who attended,
john b

[dhann42]

The track will get there in the end I had a good days racing but the sound system need fixed me Mark and Raymond pitted on the grass alone as told to then ever one Pitted over other side but you can't here any thing over there i miss my first race and you can't here when racing it was the same at the indoor at Dunfermline it needs sorted
David H

[Mr Eccleston]

PA point taken, it will be changed for future rounds.

[Donutt]

I don't think it's a bad thing to say if you didn't like the track.
I don't think it's a good thing to say it's great, if there's something that could be improved.

David has a point about the surface, but he's also said "I know it's off-road".

Please everyone, don't not say something because there'll be a backlash.
We all need to be free to say how we saw the track and it'll all be taken on board.

Of course, if someone says anything one way, someone else may put something contrary to that, but that's just discussion and we're all keen to make sure everyone else knows we like/dislike something. There's nothing wrong with that.

I think it's great we can talk here, say things that are important to us, and I hope that in future we can all listen and see the same things under different lights.

I think there are improvements still to do, some to the track, some to the facilities, but I think what we've got here is a rough diamond. All we need to do is speak our minds, sensibly, listen and take on board the comments, and plan any changes down the paths that leads to.

We all know how it should be done, and the more input from us that Dunfermline get, will help them make the track bigger, better and something the Scottish RC community of 2011 can be proud to say they contributed.

I've been racing since 1985 and these opportunities to put something in place that, potentially could last longer than many of us, don't come along often. They appear, they have a moment in history, then fade away as we turn to look at the next bright light.

Lets not do that this time. Lets all look at NORA, as the start of a facility to rival the classic tracks. But we'll only do that, if we stand a bit of growing pains, and have patience while the "child grows up to be an adult". And it has to be us that build it - it won't be built by one person - it'll be the work of everyone who races there and supplies their input into the project. NORA isn't complete. It's just phase 1...

Rome wasn't built in a day - NORA won't be built in a year. But we do need to support it so it has a chance to change into what we imagine it could be.

I look forward to many years of improvements and growth. Maybe one day, it'll get it's own exit from the A92!!! Who knows what could be done?

[Racing Snake]

Guys,

I'm going to put up some positive & negative points:

Positive:

Good potential for a good track
Good rostrum
Decent pit area
Track will be better once fully astroturfed

The triple was good & I think it was just the lack of a run up that didn't make the triple possible (almost got it with my 2wd). But it did allow for the more skilful drivers to gain time

Negatives:

Track surface wasn't the greatest which made it difficult to be consistent (early days as astro will improve this)

At one part infront of the rostrum the field drain was hidden (minor issue)

In my opinion the big table top needs adjusting in either of the following ways :- 1) up ramp made steeper so as to increase the height & distance cars can jump (with aim that cars can reach the down ramp), 2) turn the table top in a step-down (step-up in reverse) table top.

Please take my negatives as constructive criticism

Can I also ask is the site planned for holding bigger events in the future? I ask as the venue appears to lack space for parking/pitting for large numbers that ie a national event would have attending it.
I probably didn't see the space with not really knowing the site.

Good job for getting the facility up & running so quickly

Regards
John

P.S. Roll on the astro

[Mr Eccleston]

John


Thanks for the input, as you are aware we did talk a number of times regarding your involvement in building NORA, but until now we've not had your thoughts due to your family committments etc

I guess this was your first chance to supply feedback and it is appreciated.

Interesting point about inconsistant lap times because I thought that would be the case as well, but having checked a lot of different peoples lap times they were just as consistant as any other track we have raced this year. I would have thought where the earth started to break up a bit it would have effected lap times, but apparently not.


As Dom said previously, it's a track that has to be driven, and not 100% all the time, the layout was fairly basic this time with the challange being in what you did with the thumbs.


Regarding the 45deg table top, it's working as designed. The entire track is designed to be as safe as possible, but still off road. We never intended for big air as it has the potential for accidents, both car and people. We do however have the tabetop in front of the rostrum, once that is incorporated into the track it could be jumpable in one direction, we built in different up ramps each side.


Thanks for the feedback, in case you are not aware we did manage to get some astroturf down last weekend on the finsihing line corner which improved it. Once we get more down it will get better. We're hoping to get enough astroturf down for the next SORC round to allow significant changes to the track.


If anyone can help with laying the astroturf please pm me and I'll let you know when we are planning this, it's not a one man job due to the weight of the rolls.


Regarding future meetings, we can extend into the field in future, but for the time being we decided to concentrate on building something that would satisfy club meetings and the regional series. I would happily extend the facilities if the demand was there weekly.


Thanks again for the feedback.

Derek