Is technology outpacing driver skill?

[bedsrcmcc]

It’s the elephant in the room that no one seems to want to give an honest answer to, so I’m going to put my head above the trench and see what happens!

I’ve been racing at club level now for more than 35 years and yes I still have the bug for RC racing. Even after time away from racing to have a family, I’m back again doing what I love week in week out. Like a stick of rock, cut me in half and I have ‘Club Racer’ running all the way through me. I have no intention of doing regionals or nationals, it’s just not my thing (have done them many years ago now and never liked it – drivers taking it far too seriously) but if that’s your thing I have no objections to you doing it and good luck in the big regionals that you enter yourself into.

So let’s get back to what makes me tick – CLUB RACING. This is about like-minded racers turning out at their local club each week to have some fun, enjoy some pit side banter and also on track action. We all go home, hopefully, having had a great evening (or day) of racing and look forward to doing it all again in 7 days. These clubs run their own Championships which we all participate in and hopefully walk away at the end with a little bit of plastic with our name engraved on a little brass plaque. If we don’t get one it doesn’t matter because that’s not why we turned up in the first place. Club racers go racing for fun and they want to have some great wheel to wheel racing on track and that’s that.

OK, so I’ve set the scene, now let me introduce the elephant in the room – Brushless/LiPo technology.

Yes, the Brushless/LiPo technology has changed the face of RC racing, in the main for the very good of our hobby. However there is a darker side to this technology, especially when it comes to electronics and that is the feeling I have that the technology is increasing at a far faster rate than driver skill is which means we are getting faster and faster cars and RC drivers who are unable to control these cars at such increased speeds, especially those who are new to the hobby.

I see it week in week out at our own club (and I’m sure we are not the only club that experience these issues) where those new to the RC hobby are kitting themselves out with equipment that far far exceeds their driving ability. It makes me laugh when I see people spending £100’s on equipment when they haven’t even learnt how to drive a car around a corner, let alone a lap, without either hitting the track edging or a competitors car! I feel like a scratched record when I say week in week out – drive slower and you’ll improve your lap times.

It also makes me laugh that I see members having spent a fortune on the very latest Hobbywing ESC and the latest motor and the hottest new LiPos that have zillions of amps and mega buckets of capacity available to them at the flick of a switch! Funny then that the expensive ESC has to run at its slowest setting (blinky) to even race in the class - GT12 in this case. So why do they do it – Simples (as a well-known Meerkat would say) it’s because they see highly skilled drivers with years of experience behind them (often sponsored drivers too) who have all the latest kit and they think they must be driving so well because they have all the best kit – WRONG. The best piece of kit they have at their disposal are the hands/brain that have hold of the transmitter on the rostrum and no amount of money can give you that.

I came up with a potential solution for the problem at the club I run with the introduction of a ‘Back to Basics’ class which has now morphed into a class I call 1:12 Trucks. The focus is on the driver and not the kit so we run a cheap standard Core ESC, basic Core LiPo (3200 only) and a 17.5 Stock Speed Passion motor (no other motor allowed). The racing in this class which we introduced for the first time for our club’s Spring Championship that has just finished has been fantastic. The drivers come off the rostrum after each race with huge grins on their faces. Whoever says that racing ‘slow’ RC cars is boring needs their head sorted. I haven’t had so much fun with RC racing for a long time and it takes me back to the good old days of what got me into RC racing in the first place – the fun factor.

Now this is the big issue in my mind that the manufacturers need to be made aware of. The future of RC racing relies on us all getting the PlayStation Generation out of their bedrooms and racing wheel to wheel with others. We have seen members come and go at our club and two main reasons why members leave are – fed up of being hit by other drivers and the fun factor is being taken over by a competitive win at all costs atmosphere.

What the hobby needs (and I hope a manufacturer is reading this) is for all the companies to work together to produce a Clubman’s standard set of motors, LiPos and ESCs that are simple plug and play items that have no means of being adjusted or upgraded firmware added to them, but are built to the same high quality standards of their more expensive and functionally enhanced products. Drivers can choice their preferred brand but in the knowledge that a Clubman’s Novak is the same spec as a Reedy one, or Hobbywing one. That way, clubs up and down the country where the vast majority of 1000’s of RC racers enjoy their hobby can help nurture the talent and members of tomorrow.

Don’t get me wrong, I love racing RC cars and racing them fast (but they are being run fast and under control), but I’m also keen to ensure we can encourage new blood into the hobby and keep them coming back week after week and provide them with the kit that will allow them to learn how to drive before they even think of going fast.

OK, rant over

However I would be interested to read what others think about this topic…