20th Jan 2012

[BleepyEvans]

Got a bit frustrated tonight, only got one semi-clean heat in and struggled with persistent traffic all night. Ended up 'retiring' from a quali and the final because I was getting too annoyed. I know its just a fun night and I shouldnt be getting frustrated, this just wasnt my idea of fun. It seemed to be quite bad tonight for some reason, and a number of drivers commented about it.

Someone can only ghost you for so many laps. If it’s obvious that they are quicker than you, don’t come back at them when they over take you. I lost count of the times where I got the inside line around a corner, had clearly got ahead, and then only to be tboned on the next corner by people who try too hard to stay ahead.
After Pete had told everyone to let people by if they are quick etc it still wasn’t any better.

Firstly if it’s just a qualifier, race your own race, at your own pace and against the clock, everyone else around you are trying to do exactly the same thing and by racing against them you ruin both your times.
In a final it’s obviously different but you should know if someone is lapping you simply if they have got past you previously or if they are on your tail for most of the race.

When racing Nitro or Electric I always get told by Adrian (my pit man :P) not to be so soft at letting people through, but there’s nothing worse than having the guilt of ruining someone else’s race, most of the time I just keep out the way and if someone wants to go past then I will most likely let them, that way I don’t lose any time crashing into them waiting to be marshalled and I can keep in the rhythm and flow of things. Once you get frustrated there’s no calming down and then your racing reflects your feelings.

Sorry if I’m being a bit over the top, but when committee members spend time and effort on Driver Etiquette notes, Marshalling Tips and just putting on the event and they aren’t followed, it’s a bit crazy. After all, everyone’s here to have some fun, and crashing into people isn’t what I see a fun tbu.

I didn’t really have any issues for marshalling throughout the night except in the final, it seemed we had a lack of and we shouldn’t really require volunteers. Then again, if you dont crash then you wont need marshalls right :P ?

Anyway thank you to all the committee for putting on yet another extremely popular race night.
Sorry I have to keep shooting off, but I hadn’t had any dinner and it takes a while to get home to an angry mother and brother who don’t like being woke up at midnight when he has rugby matches on a Saturday morning.

[tisher]

I totally agree with this I raced 2wd for the first time properly last night so I asked pete to not put me in the top 2wd heat mainly because it was the first time out with the car and i was only running a 10.5 motor. But also I knew I would slow people down In the top heat. This meant I was marshalling the top 2wds I must say poor ollie just got butchered all night and Andy had his fair share as well but they both managed to get a half decent position in the final. To me that shows that we just dont have enough high abilty racers to split the 2 and 4s up. its a nice idea but for me it does not work in the time we have. This must be the case as I ended up 5th in the A and 4th at the end of the final.there also was a big issue with marshalls for the 2wd A final as it seemed like everyone had gone home. This really is not fair pete tried his best to get us a 3 heats and a final last night it would have been nice if the people in the b final would have stayed. Come on guys if people are not going to do there bit pete will end up running less time so we finish earlier

[funkygrump81]

Easiest way too sort the lack of marshall's is if people dont marshall then they dont race harsh i know but its all part of racing if people dnt stay and marshall dnt let them race the next meeting will make people think yes no wat do others think

[tisher]

to be honest wayne I think if people can not be bothered to hang around after the final to Marshall because its getting late then the club will just have to reduce the amount of racing time down so we are finishing earlier and nobody will wont that to happen... again it comes back in a way to abiltys because the better abilty drivers tend to be the more experinced racer so you have more chance of them knowing how it effects the the next race not marshalling. That was proved last night as everyone from the 2wd A final came out to marshall the 4wd A final. In my opinon the racing is better run on abilty as even in the top 2wd heat last night the top placed driver lapped the bottom two 5 times

[BleepyEvans]

Originally Posted by funkygrump81

Easiest way too sort the lack of marshall's is if people dont marshall then they dont race harsh i know but its all part of racing if people dnt stay and marshall dnt let them race the next meeting will make people think yes no wat do others think

I think the popularity of the club is great but it's obvious we are havin issues with the ever growing numbers. There was talk of turning people away if the numbers got over a limit but when people have to travel to the location and then to be told they can't race is a bit harsh. So by not letting people race on race night if they haven't marshalled the week before is a bit iffy on the current system.
Maybe we could work on a pre bookin system only, that way we can save time at the start of the night and get more racing in. That way, if we do limit the drivers, we can close booking in online before people drive all the way to be rejected.
Or if that isn't an option then maybe we should set a fixed last bookin time so we can get racing underway sooner.

[singin pete]

Last night we had a number of problems which ended up giving us a poor nights racing.

The first of the night was missing the fact we had 6 heats not 7 like the last few weeks. With 7 heats we can only run 2 heats and a final. but with 6 or less we have 3 heats and a final. If I have given you 3X4 mins heats and a 4 min final we could have saved 24 mins, this would have made the last race at 10.25. For this mistake I apologise as it really spoilt the night.

The marshalling was at a good standard when the drivers got out, because of the short time we have to have between races it doesn't give you enough time to complete your last lap, pick your car up, take it back to your pit and put the cells on charge, and then get out to marshall. When I get back after my weekend away we will try marshalling the 2nd race after your race.


We will also go back to putting both classes together again until the AGM.

The AGM will be held on the 29th Feb which is a Wednesday at a pub local to the club. If you what to change the way the club is run or if you have any ideas that you think can help please let me know and I will put it on the agenda. PM only please don't post it on here.

We are having a weekend away next week with Becky and Pete. Eric is also away for a few weeks. Shaun and Jamie will be running the night next week so please be easy on them.

See you in a few weeks.

Peter

[b4phil]

Pete you of all people shouldnt be apologising you and the team do a great job week after week!! I understand that people are getting agitated with certain issues within the club but at the end of the day it is for fun. I myself am not an A finalist ( not in this life anyway) and last night was racing in the 4 wheel drive heat against Andy and much to my amusement spent most of my races counting how many times he lapped me!! But I personally thought the 4wd races were ok driving wise it's just a case of keep your eyes peeled and move out of the way. I understand people's frustration but personally don't know the cure. See what happens at the AGM until then keep your chin up.

[BleepyEvans]

Originally Posted by tisher

To me that shows that we just dont have enough high abilty racers to split the 2 and 4s up.

It's a tough one because 4wds are much more aggressive into the corners than 2wds. I think it was one of the main reasons we split them up in the first place.

There were some good drivers yesterday, I just think they may not have as much experience than other people do. I thinks it's something that has to brought up at the Agm to properly voice peoples thoughts.

[tisher]

Originally Posted by BleepyEvans

It's a tough one because 4wds are much more aggressive into the corners than 2wds. I think it was one of the main reasons we split them up in the first place.

There were some good drivers yesterday, I just think they may not have as much experience than other people do. I thinks it's something that has to brought up at the Agm to properly voice peoples thoughts.

yea 4wds can be more aggressive but that should not effect a heat if you or I were running a 4wd which we both have alot of times and you come up behind a 2wd you dont drive through them you go round and its them same the other way round so to be fair its down to the fact we have had a few bad etiquette drivers in the mixed top heat but the way it is at the moment you may as well forget about running 4wd because the ability mix is just madness and last night the top 2wd had to many low ability drivers in it thats why there was alot crashes in that to the meeting deffo runs smoother run on abilty

[funkygrump81]

This is guna be a tough one to sort out think it will be best waitin for the agm