Essex Meet on a real offroad track

[jozza]

Good news, the chairman of the offroad track at Braxted in Essex has contacted me re use of the track, and it looks like they will be happy to hire it out for the day. However, I need to talk with him about likely numbers, so can anyone who would be interested in a day out at the Mid Essex RC Track please let me know so I can gauge if it will be worthwhile.

It would probably happen sometime in late July, (I will have to confirm the availability of the track first) so would be an ideal prep day for Kidderminster []

Please let me know if you would be likely to come to a day's meet here, as I don't want to waste the guys time if there aren't enough people interested, it would be good if we could get 20ish people together for this, as it could make for a regular Tamiya Club meeting location with all of the facilities we need..

[wriggleandgiggle]

I'd be up for that, it's pretty close to me.

Best I get an offroader sorted out!

[ChrisB]

I'd be up for that - late July should be OK, I'm guessing a weekend right?

Cheers,

Chris

[jozza]

Okay, I've spent a while on the phone today talking to the guy who runs the club, to sort out when we can use it and what it will cost. He has been extremely helpful, they will only want enough money to cover their overheads + a bit for charity. They are also willing to lend us their lap counting equipment if we want to do some proper racing..

Cars allowed would be 1/10th electric offroad and 1/10th or 1/8th nitro offroaders, no 1/6th scale monsters though as the track is not up to that.

The dates possible are:-

Saturday 17th July

Saturday 24th/Sunday 25th July

Saturday 31st July/Sunday 1st August

Note that Saturdays would be the better day, as some of the Sundays may not be available due to meetings already booked.

Camping is available at no extra charge, just need to know who would want to camp in advance, so if it's to be on a Saturday you could camp on the Friday night (so that might persuade some of you from the frozen north (nottingham []) to venture down to Essex for the day! They've got toilets and cold (drinking) water, no hot water and I'm not sure about mains power (forgot to ask) but I would assume they haven't got mains.

It's possible that we could make it a whole weekend event, again depending on the availability of the track on the Sunday.

More details of the track location are at http://www.mercc.co.uk

Please can you let me know if you are up for this, as I can't really arrange anything without a rough idea of numbers of people who would be there. I'd like to know:-

(a) the best day/days for you

( would you want a 1 day or all weekend meet

© how much would you expect to pay (I'm thinking along the lines of a similar price to Snet, but this obviously depends on numbers who can make it).

then I can get back to the club chairman and have a chat.

Thanks

Joz

[ChrisB]

Saturday 17th July would be my first choice, followed by Sunday 1st August. I can't make the weekend of the 24th July sadly [V].

I don't know how much these things usually cost - £20 quid for a day?

Will we be able to just use the track for bashing rather than racing? Only reason I ask is my only real off road Tamiya's are the Hummers and they won't keep up with your normal buggies [xx(]

Do you think the track would be OK for TB01 based rally cars? If so I'll get cracking on the build of my Lancer Evo []

Cheers,

Chris

[wriggleandgiggle]

I think a Hummer would be good competition against an XC Pajero.

I think I've got a TB-01 somewhere, I'll have to have a rummage!

[jozza]

I shouldn't think £20 for the day, I'm hoping more like half that or less if possible, depends on how many people will be able to come and can pay up front. I just need an idea of numbers so I can negotiate a price with the track owner. Still not many who've said they can come, any more takers? (I need some definites or I'll need to tell him it's not on, and I really would like this day to happen as it's an ideal chance for a proper offroad get together).

[oli1983uk(2)]

Hi, i would be interested in coming for the day aswell! but would by Savage SS and my landmax be allowed? they r both 1/8th scale nitro models

[Dirt Racer]

Im Up for a laugh, Gt Braxted track is only 30mins drive []

[The Slayer]

Jozza,

If i can wangle a shift swap at Tesco i would be well up for it (meet that is [:0]) but only for the sat - a tenner sounds about right []

[jozza]

Okay, that's 8 people so far including me and the lads, need another 12 at least to make it a runner. I might be able to make up numbers from some local friends, they might not have any Tamiya's to run though, so it would be better if it's people from TC.

Re the nitros, the track is fine for 1/10th Nitro and 1/8th like Savage should be okay too, but the big Marder's are a no-go as the track is too delicate.

The most probable date looks like being Sat 17th July (4 weeks from now, and 6 weeks before Kidderminster), that gives a bit of time to prepare for it, and plenty of time after to fix up cars in prep for Kidderminster.

Anyone else interested?

<edit> The most likely date is changed - Saturday 1st August. I'll confirm this when I've spoken to the track owner tomorrow </edit>

[jozza]

AS I've not had enough definite interest in this, I've had to cancel the idea of hiring the track exclusively []

But I have spoken with the chairman of the club, and he has said that we can run a Tamiya heat in the racing on August 1st (Sun) if enough people are interested. Cost would be £6 per head, and you will get at least 3 races during the day. Transponders will be provided or manual lap counting could be done if you don't want to damage your car.

I need to know if anyone's up for this today though, as I've got to give him a definite yes or no, so if anyone who would definitely go can let me know before 8pm today, I can get the wheels in motion. Otherwise I'm going to have to say it's off.

If there's not enough takers, I might be able to look at hiring it for a day later in the year, cost would be somewhere between £5 - £10 if enough people were interested, so please let me know if that would be a preferred option.

[ChrisB]

Sorry Jozza, been away for a week or so so didn't see this [:I]

Afraid I can't do the 1st of August[]. I'll keep an eye out on this thread for future dates though. Thanks for going to the hassle of trying to organise this - I know its a pretty thankless task!

Cheers,

Chris

[jozza]

Well, it's definitely not going to be on now, due to lack of interest []

But I will see about another one sometime, probably will do an informal meetup somewhere in Essex, and if people turn up then all well and good, otherwise it will just be me and my lads..

[tamiyafiend]

After browsing the forums for months, I've just signed up to the site, and I was impressed how many members seem to be from the Essex area. I would be interested in meeting up with some tamiya club members for a meet (either at braxted or elsewhere) I have a couple of mates who also have tamiya cars who might join in. We have touring cars and some (mainly old) buggies.

[jozza]

It's a shame that nothing came of the Braxted meet, maybe next year. But, I did go to Epping Forest the other week, and there are some good spots there, especially for crawlers too. I've got some pictures what I took, will post them up tomorrow if I can remember and we could sort something out, perhaps a Saturday towards the end of the summer would be a good time to meet up there.

(Saturday is better than Sunday, as I've heard that it gets pretty crowded there on a Sunday).

There are loos, a small cafe and a pub at that location too, so it can't be bad [8D]

If any Essex Boys/Girls want to come along for a day, post away here and we will sort something out.