Found this on
WWW.mytsn.com, thought it was a great article....
Driver Etiquette
R/C racing is a great hobby. It's fun and exciting, but occasionally, the fun is somewhat spoiled because of unsportsmanlike behaviour. The purpose of this article is to give a bunch of pointers on how to avoid high frustration levels, and keep the racing the way racing should be.
I'm not the Ayatollah of Radio Controllah, so I hope this isn't going to sound like 'The Koran of R/C' ;-)
Fundamental number one: Good Sportmanship. This is a hobby! I don't know about you, but when I head to the track on Sunday, I want to relax, have fun, joke around, meet some friends,.... and, last but not least: race my socks off and kick some a$$ :-)
But the point is: nobody's paying you to do it, you're not going to get your a$$ kicked if you lose. The only important thing is that you have fun.
Racing is a social event. Ok, on the track, you have no friends and everyone is a competitor. But the pits is just a place full of people with the same interests as you. Which makes them cool. If you take the time to socialize a little, you might even learn something.
For me, this is one of the greatest things about big international races. Often, you can fraternize with people from distant countries. It's always interesting, and sometimes hilarious 8-)
During qualifying, the rules say you should let faster drivers pass. That's only fair. During the finals however: it's game time! You can close the door for as long as you like, you can make aggressive passes,... And if you should unintentionally hit your opponent: the 'fair play' thing to do is wait for a second, and let him go out in front again. And after that, just start all over :-)
If someone puts an inside move on you: yield. If he comes down the inside, there's pretty much nothing you can do but avoid a crash and give way. In the best case, you can try to exit the corner on a different line and set yourself up for a move on the next corner.
Marshal like you would like to be marshalled. No smoking, no drinking, no eating, no talking, no dreaming,... You can do all that in the pits. If you can obey all that, it's sure to save a lot of frustration/yelling.
If you can't marshal yourself, that's fine as long as you have someone else do it for you. But preferably a driver, or someone with some R/C experience. No children or grandparents please. Girlfriends are OK, as long as they know what they're doing, and know how to keep their fingers away from the gears and engine.
Keep your mouth shut on the podium. Some people, like me, don't mind a little conversation on the podium, but others find it disturbing because it hampers their concentration. So it's better to be silent. Yes, I know it's hard to be quiet when your car is being used as a moving target, but please try to keep the expletives silent.
If you're one of those people who holds their transmitter a meter out in front of you, or if you happen to have a substantial beer belly, that's OK, but try to stand at the side of the podium, not in the middle. Otherwise, you create a kind of avalance effect, where everybody has to lean forward more and more to see their cars.
Be nice to race control. For one, they bust their a$$ all day trying to organize a race for you. And secondly, the race director is God. It says so in all govering bodies' handbooks: the rules are the rules, but in the end, race control has the final say. And thirdly, if you behave, you're making their jobs much easier. Which, in the end, could mean they'd make your race easier as well.
It may not always be possible for smaller races, but it's a very good idea to have a referee. Someone unbiased, with a big mouth and a lot of authority. That way, if any disputes arise, they can be solved right there and then.
As a general rule: don't be afraid to ask (politely). That goes for anyone: the race director, your biggest rival, that good-looking pit babe,.. 8-)
On a side note: I *demand* more pit babes on international events! The 2003 electric touring EC was a good start :-)
Man, I wanted to run, but just couldn't.
Anyways have you guys ever hurd of putting a woven graphite chassis on a nitro tc?? check this picture out!
LEAN
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