Racing by post - Round 55 track is up, taking us back in time to the former Tamiya USA Raceway. (Now with added 380 content!)

[TurnipJF 10812]

THE "RULES" AS THEY STAND AT PRESENT:

The postal races were started in order to give us something fun to do while the Coronapocalypse keeps us from our usual RC activities, and as such have very few rules as we want them to be as inclusive as possible. However since there have been a few procedural modifications, revisions and clarifications since this all started, and we have welcomed several new entrants since Round 1, I thought it might be helpful to summarise how it all works at present, in order to avoid the need to trawl through the following pages to figure it all out. So, at the suggestion of @El Gecko, I have edited the first post to show how things have developed over the last few rounds. Here goes:

1.  Each round starts with a fresh track layout. Check this thread to see the layout for the current round. (You may need to go back a couple of pages to see it.)

2.  Measure and mark out the track layout on the surface of your choice,  using the markers of your choice. You can set up the track anywhere you like, as long as it is safe and legal of course.

3.  Choose the car(s) that you are going to run. You can enter as many different cars as you wish. You can run any combination of chassis, motor and battery you like, as well as any body style, but please run with a body of some description rather than a naked chassis. This is a family-friendly forum after all! 

4.  Run your car(s) around the track for 5 minutes while counting your laps, and when the 5 minutes have elapsed, finish the lap you are on and count that too. Optionally, you can also measure and submit your fastest lap time. Keep these to yourself - don''t share them on the forum while the round is in progress. At the end of the round, the results will be collated and posted in this thread.

5.  Once you have recorded your best lap total for each car that you want to enter for the current round, submit your results by means of the Google Form found at https://forms.gle/1xzhEZAPsWDeez6D8, including the following details for each entry:

• lap count
• forum username
• chassis (and shell if you wish)
• motor
• battery
• track surface
• running weight (optional)
• fastest lap (optional)

6.  The person with the highest lap count wins the honour of choosing the next round's track layout. This can be one of their own design, or one suggested by another entrant. (Everyone is encouraged to suggest a track layout if they wish, and the winner does not have to design a layout if they don't want to.) When the track layout has been decided, the next round begins and we do it all over again!

During the round, you are encouraged to share experiences, advice, photos, etc, but please remember not to give away your lap counts or times before the Grand Reveal at the end of each round. Also, feel free to invite and/or challenge others to join in the fun. The more the merrier!

[markbt73 6115]

Interesting idea...

[SupraChrgd82 1434]

I have 2 friends and myself that are interested. 

[Grotty Otty 880]

Love this! Great idea, if I can fit the layout in the garden I'm in. 😁

[DeadMeat666 1677]

I have cones in the post, so I'm potentially in as well once they arrive.

[Wetman 417]

Different classes for those of us without lipo driven rockets? 

[Bash 358]

I''m in. I agree with @Wetman about having different classes. I personally think that we should have it open for all makes, but I'll leave it to @TurnipJF since it was their idea. Some initial thoughts off the top of my head on classes:

Stock Touring car: Any touring chassis, Sealed-can motor, 6-cell Nimh/2s Lipo Max

Mod touring: any touring, no restrictions on motor or battery

Monster Truck: Lunchbox, Blackfoot, Clod, Stampede, etc. More power would probably work against you so I don't see the need for many restrictions here

Buggy/Stadium truck

F1/Pan Car: Maybe separate classes for foam and rubber tires?

1/8+ : For those of us who have larger vehicles 

Crawler: Just for kicks and giggles

Open: No rules, whatever goes 

I also think a WTH class would be fun as well (Dancing rider, Micros, Crazy homebrew projects )

 

 

[SupraChrgd82 1434]

Since it's all for the purpose if amusement, I'm in for "run whatcha brung"

[markbt73 6115]

7 minutes ago, SupraChrgd82 said:

Since it's all for the purpose if amusement, I'm in for "run whatcha brung"

I would prefer this. Just keep it simple. No classes, no prizes beyond bragging rights, and if you want to claim the title of "Fastest Stock Grasshopper" and someone wants to try to best you, more (RS380) power to them. Besides, if the tracks are sized for typical driveways or back yards, no one will get going very fast anyway, so big power is useless.

[Carmine A 3134]

Great idea!!!💡 

I live in an Apartment Complex, so marking out a Circuit might be difficult (especially with my NAZI Slumlords).... 

But I'm absolutely going to observe from the sidelines, at least until I can figure out how to get away with it. 😜  If able, it would be my first "International Competition"!! 👍👍💯🏁

[SupraChrgd82 1434]

1 hour ago, markbt73 said:

I would prefer this. Just keep it simple. No classes, no prizes beyond bragging rights, and if you want to claim the title of "Fastest Stock Grasshopper" and someone wants to try to best you, more (RS380) power to them. Besides, if the tracks are sized for typical driveways or back yards, no one will get going very fast anyway, so big power is useless.

Yup, racetrack photos being the only requirement. 

I want to see pictures of racing machines, upside-down crawlers, cones wedged in bumpers, comicals doing wheelies on the back straight, poo in @•Axle's swingarms,  @Bennett Ironman's bruised toes, @Saito2's ThunderShotterBoomerCar, @Carmine A's superglued fingertips,  and @ACCEL' s submarine doing a victory lap. 

[Saito2 8297]

I dig this a lot! Perfect idea!

[Carmine A 3134]

@SupraChrgd82 - have you heard about me??? 😜😂😂  LMAO!

Okay, I've got a Warsh (as Midwestern people say), some rocky areas and at least 3 quite competent Crawlers - if we're also going that route... 

I agree with not making this a prize based thing. Let's keep it pure, and all about fun and bragging rights. 

I've done enough Trophy Racing in the 80's and 90's.

BIG PROBLEM! While speed testing my M05 earlier today, I decided to do a flyby with the GoPro 5 on the ground.... I ran smackdamn into it at almost 40mph - and DESTROYED it!! 😭😭😭

I have no chance of getting another - even used one till next year at least. 😖😞 I don't know where that's going to put me. My Phone Camera takes nice close pictures, but the VIDEO is PANTS!! (As my English friends would say) 

Guess I'm back to observer for awhile... but I'm still behind this great idea!

[SupraChrgd82 1434]

I had an idea during the commute home...

a) Track size is limited to maximum 6 meters by 4 meters (smaller is OK) in order to keep the "contest" accessible to everyone in lockdown.

b) Substrate is the contestant's choice as long as they follow the chosen layout (asphalt, grass, sand, your kid's bedroom, etc)

c) The winner from 1 week picks the track layout and criteria for winning the next week ( best lap time, longest wheelie, shortest skirt, classiest tie, etc) 

d) Based on the photos contestants take during the weekly race, winner from above picks the next week's winner, but you can't pick yourself

e) The "winner" is declared on Monday and the next round starts

 

[Carmine A 3134]

I like that...... But I don't have any short skirts!! 😜

[TurnipJF 10812]

Some great ideas here! Keep 'em coming!

[Bennett Ironman 100]

I think it's a great idea 😊 soon as I get my 'Hopper' built I am in 

[Re-Bugged 11926]

I like this, it would be fun to watch if participation isn't possible 

[TurnipJF 10812]

Great stuff! It looks like we have enough interest to make a go of this.

The suggestion of keeping the tracks small is a good one. 6m X 5m is tight, but not impossible. I think we might have some tracks that are really tight and technical, suitable for garden use, and some longer, narrower ones suitable for a quiet street or after-hours parking area. I also think we should alternate between them, so if one round's track layout doesn't suit your available space, the next one should do.

Keeping it all one class "run watcha brung" is a nice inclusive way of doing things. However I would ask that people submit their chassis, motor and running surface details when they submit their results, so that these can be shared. That way, if you want to see if you have the fastest 13.5t TT-01 on tarmac, or the fastest stock 380 Grasshopper on grass, you can do so.

The idea of a novelty aspect sounds like fun! However I don't think this would appeal to everyone. I therefore think that we should run this alongside the more serious (but still just for fun) racing aspect. The winner of the novelty category can have the honour of choosing the criteria for the next round's novelty category. Some criteria might be best judged on numbers, eg, longest wheelie, whereas others might be best done by voting, eg hairiest legs or whatever. The chooser of the criteria can also choose how it should be judged.

Another point - I think the results should be submitted via PM. One of the more exciting parts of postal contests is that you don't know how you have faired relative to other entrants until the results are collated and announced. We can preserve this here by having the results submitted privately, then collated and posted in one list which becomes visible to everyone simultaneously.

I was thinking that a round should last two weeks, thus giving everyone a bit more time to get an entry in, and a bit more flexibility to work around weather, family commitments, etc. During this time you can submit as many results as you like, so you can run different cars, try different setups, and if you think you can improve on a time already submitted, you can do so. Only your best result per chassis will be retained though, so for example if you run your TT-01 three times, only the top result will show, but if you run your TT-01, Grasshopper and XV-01 once each, all three results will show.

For the racing bit, the key result will be how many laps you can do in 5 minutes. Thus to compete all you need is your car, an area to run it, and a stopwatch or timer. If you have a timing app or a transponder setup, feel free to use it and post your average and fastest lap times, but these will be purely for interest and not required for competition success.

I will get a track layout measured up and posted later this afternoon. Then let's get racing!

[Carmine A 3134]

This is completely exciting!!! 

Question - is there more than a passing interest in Scale Trucks? 

Like.... SCX10, TRX-4, Redcat Gen 7/8, Element Sendero...? 

Now, there's NOTHING small or compact about Crawler Stages! 😲  BUT, what about something LUDICROUS like Racing a Crawler Truck on one of your Car Track designs!!? 😂 

Not entirely kidding. Since these are typically limited to around 10-12mph, and have the Center of Gravity of a FLAGPOLE, they could provide a measure of Driver skill - and an element of Comedy!!

[•Axle 146]

Love this, it would be great if there was some sort of grid layout phone app 6x5m drawn up as a grid, place your corner / jump etc in that square.

[TurnipJF 10812]

29 minutes ago, Carmine A said:

This is completely exciting!!! 

Question - is there more than a passing interest in Scale Trucks? Like.... SCX10, TRX-4, Redcat Gen 7/8, Element Sendero...? 

Now, there's NOTHING small or compact about Crawler Stages! 😲  BUT, what about something LUDICROUS like Racing a Crawler Truck on one of your Car Track designs!!? 😂 

Not entirely kidding. Since these are typically limited to around 10-12mph, and have the Center of Gravity of a FLAGPOLE, they could provide a measure of Driver skill - and an element of Comedy!!

Well, there is nothing stopping you from running one of your scalers around the track and seeing how many laps you can do. I also suspect that the terrain-conquering abilities of a scaler might come in handy for some of the novelty challenges too.

[TurnipJF 10812]

Here we go ladies, gentlemen and others:

 

Mark out the above layout on the surface of your choice, and let me know via PM how many laps you can do in 5 minutes! (When the 5-minute mark is reached, finish the lap you are on and submit that as your total.)

Please use the following template for your submissions:

 

Total laps:

Chassis:

Motor/battery:

Track surface:

Fastest lap (optional):

 

Results will be collated and announced in two weeks on Monday the 28th.

 

And @SupraChrgd82 since you suggested the novelty aspect, you can have the honour of choosing the criteria for the first novelty challenge. What would you like it to be, and how would you like it to be judged?

(Edited to show @markbt73's better rendering of the layout.)

[Carmine A 3134]

Just to be clear........ 

Are we to PM you the results first, or PM them only?  (I suppose PM only would prevent some numbers from being "altered") 😜 

Do the Vehicle/Track Specs get posted here, or also by PM? 

And the Track Stage seems simple enough.... 4X5M Figure-8.... But DANG those Turns are SHARP!!! 😜😂LMAO😄😜

[SupraChrgd82 1434]

43 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Here we go ladies, gentlemen and others:

Mark out the above layout on the surface of your choice, and let me know via PM how many laps you can do in 5 minutes! (When the 5-minute mark is reached, finish the lap you are on and submit that as your total.)

Please use the following template for your submissions:

 

Total laps:

Chassis:

Motor/battery:

Track surface:

Fastest lap (optional):

 

Results will be collated and announced in two weeks on Monday the 28th.

 

And @SupraChrgd82 since you suggested the novelty aspect, you can have the honour of choosing the criteria for the first novelty challenge. What would you like it to be, and how would you like it to be judged?

I think you denoted the criteria as "most laps in 5 minutes".  I'm in! 

Due to my lousy driving skills, I shall attempt to endure the entire 5 minutes without crashing into my own feet or breaking my car.