I hope by posting this others will follow and go and enjoy their cars if you have otherwise been shy about going to a club night.
At the tender age of 33 I have been thrashing about with RC Cars for over 20 years in the street, on the beach, down the woods, anywhere really. As nobody else I know is into them I've always been shy at going to a club no knowing what to expect. Last week I did a recce. Got there early whilst they were setting up so I could talk in a less pressurised environment, got to know the basics, lingo etc., etc. then decided this week I would go....... What a baptism of fire!
I prepped the best car I could out of various cars and built a new TT01 with hop-ups galore, all by Yeah Racing which is the biggest pile of pants I have ever bought (see below). I know it isn't the best chassis even before I went there, confirmed later!, but I'd rather smack that car around to see if I enjoy it before I start spending.
So how did it go?
Firstly on setting up I was welcomed by the previous weeks nice approachable gents who were my age ranging to mid 40's and promptly they set a table up next to them to help me through the night - a real welcoming touch which made all the difference. By the end of the night everyone had spoken and laughed along with me at some point. The younger lads opposite me duly began to unload what looked like a million pounds worth of gear and set up tyre warmers!!! 'What the heck'!! This was serious.
I duly went with my new comrade to sign in as a newbie when my first laugh of the night came. My biggest worry was frequencies and over this last week bought a budget lot of 27mhz crystals. Rather pleased with myself I asked "what frequency will I be racing on?" to which I got a raised eyebrow "Frequency...What have you got?" said the guy signing drivers on. 'huh' I thought, now sporting a rather smug face "I have them all". "Use whatever mate, nobody uses them anymore".... Through my slowly filling red face I felt a laugh brewing inside me as it turns out you all use some flash piece of kit that scans for unused frequencies now. As kids we all got our heads together and bought different crystals as they seemed like gold dust back in 1987! Learning curve number 1.
Heat 1 - After mounting the transponder I was set for my first race. To say the car sounded like an angle grinder was an understatement, as I saw everyone's head pop up from behind their cars they were eagerly preparing for their heats. A tyre flew past a marshall at a 100mph when I realised I hadn't glued them! - learning curve number 2. After 2 minutes, the time taken for the marshall to kindly put it's shoes back on, I then realised the use of this tyre carpet gripper solution I saw everyone using at the start of the night. I thought again this was a gimmick for the serious RC boys. NO - my car was now acting like a drift car - learning curve number 3. With me gaining some sort of control I eventually and inevitably hammered it into the track edging a bent every piece of alloy upgrade on it. Being a relatively low impact I now think that Yeah Racing parts are rubbish as it was nothing more than a glance in the same direction, hardly a frontal or sideways impact. They seem as useless as cardboard and quickly finished my opening race.
Heat 2 - Following the first outing and the rather large screaming noise of the TT01 fighting for grip I eagerly began doing my first bit of pit work by changing the pinion, thinking I had mounted the motor to the wrong mount for the gearing making it all too tight. A quick check and everything seemed to move OK and sounded much quieter. My next turn comes around. I place my car down, turned it all on and give it full throttle. 'Yeah that sounds much quieter' I think looking ahead of me expecting to see my Mondeo BTCC rep shell scooting up the floor in front of me? 'Mmmmm' ... I look down and see she's still sat there with the motor merrily buzzing away at top pelt!. The pinon was now not touching the spur at all and going anywhere - LOL! Head now sinking well and truly into my shoulders I sheepishly walked past race control, now looking around me to see if anyone has spotted me, telling them I'd sit this one out. Learning curve number 4.
Heat 3 - After many laughs between heat 2 & 3, some guys had now donated a set of wheels and tyres they no longer needed, exchanged light hearted banter and gave me invaluable tips. Still sounding like a bag of nails the car managed to finish a race! Yes I finished! The other racers in my heat were all driving like pro's and were inch perfect having a cracking race but laughing uncontrollably. This I don't know if it was because of me being a moving obstacle, or that they were bumpin' and grindin' with each other all the way round. They apologized every time they hit me but as I thought it made my car go twice as fast, as their super fandango'd brushless systems walloped the car from behind, I began laughing madly with them. 'It was 50points to those who clipped the Touring Car Replica now!' Although the race was much better and I can at least steer the car correctly it still struggled for grip! I finished that was the main thing.
Heat 4 - During the pit session that preceded this race I was offered some of this tyre gripper stuff and WOW what a difference. It now steered everywhere I wanted it to go and went like the clappers... for about minute. In my excitement of finishing and making new friends I'd not changed the battery over - Learning curve number 5. After another clip of the barrier, and it was a clip as it was going practically 5mph, it now broke the lower wishbone! Yeah Racing - Yeah Right! Then came the biggest laugh of the night for me. As it was now going 3mph with a wheel tucked up well and truly in the arch the bodyshell was catching the carpet making the car judder and shake it's way round. For those that have seen Disney Pixars 'Cars' when Mack the truck keeps falling asleep then waking himself up - that's exactly what it looked like. I had visions of me and my son at home laughing out loud to it.
That summed the night up really. A massive learning curve and a massive laugh. OK there were serious guys with expensive kit who were brilliant yet all made me welcome with my box of bits. Nobody laughed AT me but plenty laughed WITH me and it was great. Free parts, free advice and now I'm able to go and enjoy this with like minded individuals, something I've never shared any of my hobbies of Cars, Motorbikes, Mountain Bikes and RC's with.
Don't be shy go and have some fun you'll love it!
Chris
