Surrey & Hants . . . The Revamp.

The Farnborough based club run by the inimitable Neil 'Dudders' Dudman has undergone something of a transformation.

I had heard about all this hard work and, being a nosey so and so, decided to pack up the hauler and pop along to take a gander.   

Turns out the hype was all true.

Dudders has put to work his band of merry men in the creation of new features and the laying of new astro and collectively they've made massive strides forward with their venue.

It took just a handful of laps to realise that all the hard work was well worthwhile.

Gone is the patchy astro full of pinion killing sand, Frankenstein joins and unpredictable grip levels.

Replaced by a clean, predictable and grippy surface that is a pleasure to drive on.

The track has a nice flow to it and the fact that one isn't likely to get caught out by a dodgy track join or have a chassis like a beach at the end of a heat is a joy.

Clearly I am not the only one to have heard the good news as nearly 40 people turned out to give it a try.

In preparation for the upcoming Apex GP Dudders decided to run a Reedy race style event whereby every round was a race in which racers accrued points that counted towards their overall result.

This was a fun format and bodes well for the main event next month.

It's a 50 mile drive to SHRCCC but I'm glad I made the trip, as I think anyone would be.

If you've never visited SHRCCC, or if you have and thought it wasn't for you, then now is the time to give it another go.
It's moved up a notch, I think you'll enjoy it.

And if that recommendation isn't worth a free race entry I don't know what is!

TORCH Winter Series Rd1

So beginith my adventure into the world of 2wd.

A couple of weeks back I was at TORCH for the first round of their winter series.

I have written about TORCH before so anyone who visits regularly will know about this great club in the south of England.

For those that don't know TORCH is a club that boasts a national level facility based around a high grip astro track with a lap of around 25-30 secs depending on the layout.

The committee put on some great events and regularly change the track in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Whatever the layout racers are guaranteed a fun but challenging circuit on which to test their mettle.

Being a bit of a slow learner this doesn't particularly suit me and usually just as I am getting the hang of one layout the buggers go and change it!

2wd Mid South Regional at Stotfold

Sunday was an exciting day for me, I was visiting a track that I have never raced at before.
Stotfold Model Car Club were playing hosts to the 5th and final round of the popular 2wd regional series.

I love to go to new tracks even if it does mean dragging myself out of bed at 5.15am . . I must be mental!
Rob Elmes was to be the driver for the day despite my reservations about sharing a cab with him and JR on a Sunday morning. If we ignore JRs navigating our journey was fraternal and relatively odour free!

(Click on pics for full size version)

We arrived in the sunshine at this secluded countryside venue and set up camp amongst many familiar faces. The host club had clearly spent some time preparing, the grass was cut and wherever one sat there was a speaker not far away keeping all informed of ongoing events.

TORCH Summer Series Round 4

The RC gods smiled upon us for once this summer and granted us a decent day on Sunday to go racing.

I took full advantage of this and headed off to TORCH for round 4 of their popular summer series.

The TORCH committee have worked hard over the last year or so to turn this venue into a top notch off road destination for southern buggy racers that now regularly attracts national and even international drivers to darkest Hampshire. This season they have already played hosts to a round of the 2wd drive mid south regionals with a round of 4wd scheduled in a couple of weeks. 

(Click on any pic for full size version)

As has become the norm these days there was a decent turnout for this event, I estimate around 70 drivers.

All were catered for with a wide range of ability across 2 and 4wd classes. There was also a juniors class who were to be rewarded with trophies for their efforts at the end of the day.

2wd Mid South Regional at SHRCCC

Ok so I am a bit of a donut.

I forgot my camera on Sunday so there are only a couple of pics of a great days racing under a glorious blue sky.

SHRCCC were the hosts for round 3 of the BRCA Mid South Regional Championships. I was pleased to be visiting a familiar venue for my Regional debut.

I had hurled myself in at the deep end as this was to be my first Regional event and a 2wd one to boot!  I was also rockin' a brand new car, my sparkly new Cougar SV2 was popping its racing cherry.

Oh well that's how I roll!

To make things fair for everyone the SHRCCC crew had made big changes to the track unveiling a completely new layout, perhaps their best yet.

Layin' down the astro at SHRCCC.

 Everyone loves a bit of old school grass action but when the weather doesn't play ball the post race clean up can become a little tedious. This, coupled with the inevitable wear and tear of a grass track, has prompted SHRCCC to up sticks and relocate just down the road to a year round astro based facility.

I made the trip on a nippy Sunday in April for the innaugral meeting.

The enthusiastic committee, headed up by Neil 'Dudders' Dudman and Darren 'Tartman' Parker, have put in some hard graft to turn a 5-a-side footy pitch into the bristly green oasis seen in the pics below. The various members have bought their respective skills to bear and produced an interesting track with something for everyone.

(click on the pics for full size versions)