"WARNING" - 1/12 racing can cause smiling!

Horsham RC Club was my destination on Friday eve to give my Corally SP12X its first outing.

I was a little trepidatious as I have heard varying reports about how easy or difficult these little firecrackers can be to drive.

I wasn't expecting anything of the car or myself and had decided I would be happy if I could just get it round the track without causing too much distress to myself or any body else!

I was quite pleased when I turned up to find that, due to the holidays, it was a fairly quiet evening. A good meeting at which to cut my 1/12 teeth.

I bagged a spot next to a pal of mine, Greg Fairlie, an experienced 12th driver and Corally owner to boot. Excellent, just the man from whom to gather valuable advice and to steal Jack the Gripper tyre additive off of, the sauce of choice amongst the Horsham guys.

Gregs Corally on the left with a shiny new shell . . . not for long!

The time came to take to the carpet.

Horsham is a compact venue and although they run 1/10 TC the track, which changes weekly, is perfectly suited to the smaller classes like 1/12, Mardave and micro buggies which are also catered for.

I put the car down and pulled the trigger, just imagine my glee when not only did it shoot off in a straight line but it even went round the corner at the end of the straight just as I'd hoped it would.

These cars are great, they turn on a sixpence and respond immediately to any transmitter input, you can almost think them round the track. On the flipside you can find yourself nosed into the hoses just as easily, quick reactions and good concentration are attributes that can be put to good use in this class.

I improved over the course of the evening and ended up with a lap time that was around half a second off the quickest guys, still a fair way off on a 7 second lap but I was happy with my progress and put in a decent performance in the final.

I felt a tad underpowered with my 13.5t motor but if you take a look at the pic below you will see that job number one this morning was to solder in a 10.5 motor and load some boost software onto the speedo.

I had a great night and have certainly whetted my appetite for more of the same.

Thanks to the Horsham guys for making me welcome and for treating me gently, we'll see how long that lasts when, or should I say if, I become a little more competitive?!

These little cars are top fun and I would recommend them to anyone.

I can't wait to get back for another go.

Good things really do come in small packages!