Matt Francis

I am in agreement with the limited practice schedule at races. I think all races should be like this, that way we don't have to go in 5 days early. A limited practice schedule lets the racer enjoy himself while at the event. Right now we go to these races and spend 12-14 hours at the track and then spend another couple preparing for the next day. Wouldn't it be nice to practice 3-5 times per day, know exactly when those runs will be, and be able to set a race schedule that allows us a little time to think. In Europe, the races are ran on a much tighter schedule, and obviously by the results of last weekend, this does not seem to slow them (Europeans) down......Example Marc Rheinard.

MF

rayhuang

iTrader: (5)

IN Enduro Karting-Practice is Friday-usually everyone stops around 7 to 8pm -has a nice dinner-you go out with friends you only see at races and back again the next morning bright and early. It seems only in RC racing-like Matt says do you thrash to get out as many times as you can till its so late no restaurants are open, youve got a headache from the fumes and your eyes are bloodshot and burning....

I think Scotty Ernst runs races well and gets people out of the building early. ONe bi reason I cannot wait to do the Novak Race. A sane schedule!!

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

Lostallo looks dialed! Here are a few pics of one of the many tracks in Japan.

Some of those dots are 1/8th scale cars.

Kakegawa Circuit

Seven Cars in a sweeper with lots of room to spare

You can drive the oval part of the track using trim on your steering wheel (set at larger increments of course hehe)

James Nguyen

Amen!

Hodapp

Matt - I could not have said it any better.
I think if we limit practice at big races here in the U S, it will be good for everyone, not only will it lower overall cost for hotel rooms and rental cars for the shorter week, but especially for Joe Sportsman Modified Old Dude Truck Stock Modified Guy. There are a lot of people that show up on Thurday to an event such as The Mod Nats, and by that time, all of the open practice is over and this poor fella, who is already at a disadvantage going up against the big dogs, is stuck with 3 T-times to try and get dialed in, while everyone else(mostly the factory guys and people who were fortunate enough to get the time off from work) already have a good 2, 3 or even 4 days of practice on the layout.

Yeah! Them Europeans, as well as the Japanese, definitely have it all dialed in. I mean the complete package. Driver, car,mechanics, you name it they have it nailed down to perfection. That, is the main thing that makes Touring car so much fun for me, the challenge is always what makes something fun, even if it is frustrating at times.

T-Money86mcss

Ya, i have been the guy that has to show up late to a big event and try to run heats with little or no practice. condensing the races to 3-4 days instead of a week would make big events hectic, but more fair to the general population of racers.

DerekB

At some point the average GI Joe racer is going to have to come to the realization that at a Worlds Event it's not a hobby, and realistically they have as much of a chance as winning the lottery to place in the top 50%.

Half the thing that hold Factory level events back is that we are worried about some guy that even if he had every part and trick still cannot win....but that's another topic.

T-Money86mcss

I disagree, I'm from orlando and a lot of guys i know here that aren't factory guys got a chance to race the worlds. It isn't about having a chance to win or even get into the top 50%. It is just the experience of racing the same track and pitting with the best guys in the world.

J.Filipow

iTrader: (15)

I have been hoping for the same for years. I think attendance at ROAR Nats would increase if there was ONLY controlled practice, and LIMITED at that, because of the reasons metioned above. I think that it would also be much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

DerekB

I didn't say the chance of racing, but competing. 3-50 days of practice isn't going to make that much of a difference for the average racer. The WORLDS isn't a club race its where the worlds best drivers are supposed to race.

David Joor

iTrader: (1)

I am for changes as long as it doesn't change right before the event. 3 of the 6 national events I went to this year changed the schedule of practice either a couple of weeks in advance or right during the middle of practice. There is nothing you can adjust to once reservations are made. I would be very pleased if everyone had 6 runs on the track, it always seems though that I get the 6 runs and everyone else has a good 15 or so.

alf.skaar

Marvelous done Oscar , you sure are a hard working man

Thank you for all the help

And i hope all the nice people got home safe.

Take care all

:-)
Alf Skaar, Norway

rangulo

I agree with Matt and Hodap in that there is to much practice at these events. People that race at this level can and should know enough to set the cars up in the few controlled practice sessions allowed by the rules of the event. Having 8 hours of practice for three days usaully wears me out and I want to go home by wed. The week of the nats are to long and practice should be done locally. I would be happy with 4 to 6 controlled sessions as long as the track and the layout has not been run by anyone.

johnbull

I have been reading through the last 24 hours contributions, most of which make alot of sense.

From an economics point of view, and also from the physical point of view, Matt and Greg's suggestions about reducing practice make alot of sense. It would mean that everyone starts on an equal footing.

But unfortunately this will never happen. Why? Because so long as you have fixed circuits that are open to the public 24 hours a day you will get drivers practicing 24 hours a day.

I don't blame them of course, but it will always put those who can't afford to be there from weeks before an event at a disadvantage.

Of course I don't know what the solution is. It certainly isn't the IFMAR idea of changing the track between the warm up and the race. That, in my opinion just complicates the matter unnecessarily and makes the warm up an unnecessary expence, as Anders pointed out earlier.

At Worlds level however I would expect teams to be settled in from quite a few days before an event to get as much practice, testing and setting up time as possible, so that when official qualifying begins everybody is ready, and hopefully equal.

Just my 2 cents.

Now can anybody give me a top 20 on FTQ - in other words the 20 fastest races run before the mains. I'm sure it will look very different from the 10 that were in the A mains.

Tim Johnson

Mabe look at the Full scale racing community. I don't know a single form of racing other that r/c that have that many qualifing rounds. Practices are like 2 hours max, split into two sessions. Testing usualy always happends, but only for the teams that can afford it.

as far as testing(coming to the track early), you can not stop someone from coming to the track early and getting some practice in. But what you can do is the night before qualifing, you can change the layout. And no one can see it untill the morning of quaifing. The only advantage the guy that was there all week will have is knowing how his car changes as the temp rises and lowers, on that asphalt.

Another ideas would be to changes the class system abit. Have a factory class, Only people that have full factory backing can race that class. Then you will have other classes. I need to think about that part more. These other class would consist of people that don't have full factory backing, and most likly would not be there all week practicing. I will explain a little more, latter, need to put more though into it. But an idea. You would have a factory World champion, and a non factory world champion........More thought coming...lol