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How
are races run?
In the USA, off-road races are currently four minutes
long. In the rest of the world (and in international
competitions held in the USA), the standard is five
minutes. Even five minutes is not a long time, so
bad luck or bad driving early in the race can put
you in a seemingly hopeless position. But anything
can happen in racing. At the really big races they
run the main event (top ten drivers) two or three
times and combine the results to determine the overall
winner.
Generally there are more entries in a given class
than can run together on the track, so there is
a qualifying phase followed by the main events.
Qualifying is done by dividing the entries into
qualifying groups, then having each group run some
number (often two or three) of races. A driver gets
some score for his performance in each race; drivers
are then sorted into main events according to their
best qualifying race score. The "A" main
contains the ten (or eight, or whatever the track
will bear) top qualifiers, the "B" the
ten next, etc. Everybody runs a main event.
The most common system is to run each race to the
time limit, then it is "finish the lap you're
on." The score is a number of laps and an elapsed
time. For instance, ten laps in four minutes, four
and three-tenths seconds -- written 10/4:04.3. You
want the most laps and then the shortest time.
The technology used in timing off-road races varies
a lot. For small races you can do it by hand with
a sheet of paper, using a watch for timing the last
lap to the nearest second. These days it is more
common is to use a program running on a PC, with
an operator to punch in the car number each time
a car goes by. The most common system uses radio
transponders to count the cars automatically. Transponders
give more accurate timing and reduce the race organizer's
labor, but they aren't an unmixed blessing since
fussing with transponders always slows down the
racing program.
Another system is sometimes used when no timing
computer is available. In this system the track
is divided into some number of sections, say ten.
The race runs four minutes; during the four minutes
somebody counts laps by hand. When the four minutes
are up, you stop your car and count the number number
of sections. The score is the number of laps and
the number of sections. You can run a fine race
using this low-tech method. The main drawback of
this method is that it doesn't produce lap-by-lap
results at the end of a race, so it doesn't help
you understand why you finished where you did (were
you slow every lap, or did you have a couple of
very slow laps due to crashes?) and it doesn't permit
easy correction of lap counting mistakes.
When there's only going to be one main in a class,
it may seem silly to run all the qualifiers just
to determine the starting grid for the main, but
that's how it is done. Even when there's only one
main, the qualifiers give people a chance to work
out their set-ups and generally have fun. And being
on the pole can be a big advantage in the main.
Some tracks run the mains on a bump-up system. Rather
than filling the mains strictly according to qualifying
scores, the race director leaves one or two spots
open in each main except the lowest. Then the top
one or two finishers in the lowest main start at
the back of the next higher main, and so on up through
the "A" main. This system slows down the
program because of the extra time it takes for the
bumped-up cars to get ready.
At some tracks the heats are not packed as tightly
as the mains - say 8 per heat and 10 per main. Really
small heats are bad because the drivers from one
heat are the turn marshalls for the next heat. A
small heat means poor turn marshalling or delays
in trying to scrape up volunteers.
If the track has narrow lanes or is very short then
it will usually run fewer drivers per heat and also
in the mains.
Prizes vary a lot. Some places give hobby shop certificates
as prizes -- you can buy a new set of tires (or
make a down payment on a set) if you win. Other
places give plaques or trophies. Sometimes the only
prize is bragging rights until the next race.
A typical entry fee these days is around $10. Often
there is a discount for the second class you enter,
so it might cost $18 to run both a buggy and a truck,
or to run one buggy or truck with both stock and
modified power.
How is racing organized at a national level
in the USA?
There are two national sanctioning bodies for electric
off-road racing: ROAR and NORRCA.
ROAR is the original, largest, and most powerful
sanctioning body. ROAR's power derives from its
membership in IFMAR, the international sanctioning
body for R/C racing. Because ROAR is a member of
IFMAR, ROAR has a voice in setting international
rules, and ROAR controls US entries in international
championship events. Internal political struggles
and mismanagement reduced ROAR's effectiveness through
most of the 1990s; ROAR is functioning pretty well
at the moment, though.
NORRCA is run by Mr. J.R. Sitman of California.
He casts NORRCA as the organization that cares about
racers, in contrast to ROAR which (in this view)
cares more about equipment manufacturers and their
financial well-being. Certainly NORRCA has been
more innovative than ROAR over the past several
years. NORRCA has created racing classes that separate
pro drivers from the average guy, and recently has
experimented with tire limits at major events to
hold down costs. NORRCA's national championship
events are considered less important that ROAR's
national championships, but the major teams contest
them both.
What's the difference between stock and
modified classes?
The stock class is meant to give all cars limited
and approximately equal power at low cost and low
technical sophistication. When these goals are met,
the result is an interesting class of racing that's
more accessible to beginners. The cars are easier
to drive because of the limited power, and with
equal power the focus becomes setting up the car
and driving clean lines.
There are many stock motors to choose from, and
these motors allow tuning through the replacement
of brushes and springs. The advancing technology
driven by the economic competition between motor
manufacturers, a stock motor can become obsolete
overnight.
To run in stock class, you must use a ROAR stock
motor and a six-cell battery pack. A ROAR stock
motor
1. has an armature that spins in bushings (not ball
bearings),
2. has an armature wound with at least 64 inches
(at least 27 turns per pole) of wire that's no larger
than 22 gauge,
3. has at most 24 degrees of timing advance.
What is the atmosphere like at races?
R/C car races generally have a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
Even at big events most people don't take themselves
too seriously. The racing is competitive, yet most
racers are not secretive -- if you ask, they will
tell you exactly how they've got their rides set
up. (Often they will tell you even when you haven't
asked.) Most race venues have strict rules against
the consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs on
the premises, and against any sort of abusive behavior.
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