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#1
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Driving Etiquette
Driving Etiquette
So, here we are in first few weeks of the next championship. How is it all going? Well, I have to be honest and say that I am a little disillusioned – or maybe misguided! We are all supposed to be racing for fun. You get to the end of a stressful week at work and think “oh good, race night tonight”. Meet up with like-minded people, help each other out, have a race and a bit of banter and go home happy! Onto the heats, 5-7 cars line up, drivers of differing ability and cars of very different ability. In F1 there are a number whose cars are markedly faster than the rest for whatever reason, good cells, lucky G2 motor etc. OK no issue there. Onto the race: Within the first few laps after start incidents etc have all settled down the lapping begins! Mid fielders are happily fighting for position, racing each other, trying to improve and keep it clean when they hear “lapping” shouted out. At this point they seem to be expected to move over and get out of the way of the faster car. Never mind that they are also racing. Then maybe a bit later it happens again. Ok now what, well, maybe said faster cars – God forbid – actually have an incident or EVEN make an error. So, whilst they are in a mess you manage to drive round them and pick up a lap only to hear “lapping” again as they whistle past. Now maybe I have this wrong in which case please correct me – gently now boys – but I thought that we are all supposed to be racing. If you are quicker – be it your ability or the car or both, surely you should be able to overtake as per full sized racing. I am NOT advocating blocking or dirty moves here, just pure racing. Yes, I know if you are holding someone up you may be ‘blue flagged’ but…… To add to this, there was a driver recently who called lapping so I duly moved over. Having overtaken he pulled over to adjust his Tx. Next minute he pulls out, catches up and calls ”lapping”. After the 3rd time this happened I was ready to go home! Taking this to an extreme we may as well just run 1 car at a time on an empty track and the fastest time wins J Now then chaps, let’s hear feedback on this BUT REMEMBER 2 things: 1. Play nicely – this isn’t a bun fight 2. We need to encourage youngsters and lead by example |
#2
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At the risk of poking my head above the parapet...
In all forms of racing, model cars being no exception, the onus is always on the person doing the overtaking to do so if and when possible without making contact with the car being passed or impeding their progress in any way. I tend to agree that shouting out 'lapping' when approaching another car can be quite off-putting, much better to bide your time behind the slower car and overtake when the opportunity presents itself. Having said all that, there is also no benefit to be had for a driver to block a lapping car by defensive driving. No-one should be expected to jump out of the way when approached by a lapping car, however it would probably be prudent and result in faster lap times for all if they went wide at a corner when they were ready to do so without compromising their race and let the faster car through - but only if they were being lapped, not when fighting for position. Most drivers are aware of the difference without having 'Lapping' shouted at them ! RC racing is huge fun and a little bit of consideration shown by all would prevent it being spoilt for some, which would be a great shame. I guess I'm probably guilty of being one of those drivers whose car is 'markedly faster' than most - Rest assured that there's nothing special about my car, motor or batteries other than careful setup, tyre choice and motor maintenance. I'm happy to help anyone with car setup issues anytime - just ask. Happy racing to all |
#3
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I love it when a can of worms is opened...
I've run many clubs over my 30+ years of racing RC cars. This is an issue that every club up and down the country will have experienced at some point, it comes with the territory. Having said all that, my personal thoughts, and they are my thoughts, not club rules I must add are:
At the end of the day we all have our off days, and as most would agree it's all meant to be for fun - yes we can all have those moments when in the heat of battle the red mist comes down - but as soon as the race is over we should all remember why we do this at club level. If you are really into this hobby in a big way and want to step up a level, then as members of the BRCA you can enter regional events and national ones, but be warned, at BRCA santioned events the rules are more strict and you might just come back and realise why club racing is so much fun To summarise, always remember the P's
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#4
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Exactly
Ah, good replies. That is what I expected. Let's keep that up. My point about kids is true too. Ali has noticed that since the adults have started to say sorry to them for silly crashes, some have started to do the same! All good club stuff.
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