Starting up in Radio Controlled Model Car Racing

Getting into RC

My Personal Experience

   When I first got into racing RC, all I had was a three year old clapped out Tamiya Boomerang, a silver can stock motor, three step mechanical speed controller, two 1400Mah stick batteries and basic Acoms stick transmitter.

   I was the newbie and most of the guys I was racing against had all the latest models, modified motors, matched batteries and top spec radio equipment, but I was still beating them easily. Why? The answer is simple: Practice. I had been driving that old car around my back yard and in the local park for almost three years. The others bought their cars only a few weeks or months earlier, and had pestered their parents for the latest and most expensive car, motor etc, but did not have the experience to be able to control it. While I was steadily trundling around the track, they were crashing out on every other corner, popping ball joints, breaking wishbones and generally causing havoc.

The Moral of this Story

   The moral of this story is all too obvious and anyone starting up in RC who wants to race please take note. You don't need the best equipment to win races. You can start with a cheap basic kit and with a lot of practice in some wide open spaces where you will not cause any damage, learn how to control your car. Remember don't try to run before you can walk. Stick with that silver can motor for a while and upgrade to something a little faster only when you have mastered the old one.

You Don't Have to Buy New

   You don't even have to buy new. If you go down to your local RC Club, there are always cars for sale. They may be battered and bruised, but if you get an old brushed silver can motor, a cheap 5A ESC, a couple of Nicad, or Nimh batteries, charger and simple radio gear, that is all you need to start practising and after a while, winning races, then who knows - you could be the next world champion!

Your First Race Meeting

   When you finally find a racing club near to where you live, that initial experience of stepping up onto the rostrum and looking down over the track can be very daunting. But soon, as the race starts, adrenaline will kick in and away you go. For the next five minutes, your focus is on nothing but getting your car around each corner, avoiding all the other cars on the track and just getting to the end of the race.

   Maybe your batteries dumped or you crashed and the car was damaged, perhaps you didn't actually come last, whatever happened, it doesn't really matter - you are well and truly hooked.

After the Race

   When the race is over, don't be afraid to ask the more experienced racers questions about setup, driving tips etc. They have all been where you are now, and will be more than willing to help you. Show them your car, get some tips on tires, gearing and general set-up for the club track.

   Then, when you get back home, go through all your races in your mind. Try to identify the things you did wrong, and figure out how to avoid those mistakes next time. Think about what all the more experienced racers told you, and change your settings as they advised.

Practice, Practice, Practice

   Put down a few buckets or cones in the back yard to practice driving round, something that if you hit it won't damage your car. Get someone to time you for say ten laps, and each day after school, try to beat that time. The adage, "Practice makes perfect" holds true in many things, not least the sport of RC racing, and as your confidence increases, your racing skills improve, and the trophies begin to line up on your bedroom shelf, you will one day yourself be the guy all the newbie's look to for advice, and you will remember that day, you nervously stepped up onto that platform for the first time, looked down across the track and how your whole life changed in that fleeting moment.

My First National

   When I first started in RC, way back in the late 1980s, I would turn up to the weekly club meeting, with my Tamiya Boomerang, Acoms transmitter, two sets of crystals, a couple of 7.2v batteries, a charger and a tool box with a wheel spanner and a few spares.

Club Racing

   It was three five minute qualifying rounds and a final, and every month we would have a trophy meeting. The trophies were donated by a two of the older semi professional guys who basically ran the club and over the years had collected what must have been hundreds of trophies and had no space for them anymore. The lure of a trophy always brought out the "not as enthusiastic types" and the small church function room was always packed on those nights.

   About a year in, my collection of B final trophies was beginning to clutter my room, and my dad bought me the new Tamiya Manta Ray. That was the big turning point in my RC career.

The Start of my Top Level Racing Career

   From then on it was A finals all the way. Then one day in the summer of 1992 the club organisers (the semi pro guys) asked me if I would like to go to a BIG national meeting way down south in Malvern. I asked my dad and with a bit of prompting he said "why not".

   When we got to that meeting we found there were around a hundred competitors, with ten groups of ten. I was in group "H". a two of my friends went down with us and they were in group "I" so were on just before me.

The First Round Race

   I remember that first race like it was yesterday. It was a staggered start and I was away next to last. I had never raced on a proper outdoor dirt track before. My only experience was on indoor carpet, but my old Manta Ray took off like a bullet. Most of the others in my heat were rookies, and by the end of the third lap I was up with the leader. He was good - very good - but I stuck to him like glue. Each twist, turn and jump brought me closer and closer, this guy was fast, but I was faster - for a while anyway. A lap before the end my old over worked 1400mah battery, was struggling to give me what I needed to keep up with him and my buggy got slower and slower. I ended up third in that first race, but wasn't about to give up that easy.

   There was a shop at the meeting and straight after the race I nagged my dad to get me a new battery. In those days money was tight, and normally before dad would spend anything he would consult my mum, but this time she wasn't there, and after watching my performance in that race he didn't need much pushing to get me that badly needed new battery.

The Second Round Race - Dad saves the day

   Waiting for the second round seemed to take an age, but when it arrived I was pumped up and ready with steely determination. I was away third away after finishing third in the first round, so my duel with the guy who beat me before carried on where it had left off. Two laps in and I was on his tail. He wasn't going to beat me this time. We lapped a couple of back markers and were quickly catching up to a third. He slipped past him in a flash, but when I moved in, the idiot drove straight into me, knocking my Manta Ray on its back. The marshal was oblivious to my plight. I shouted my head of but the marshals eyes were fixed on what I guess was the car of one of his friends in my race. The next thing I saw was my dad, bounding across the track like a gazelle, picking up my car, putting it on the track and giving me the thumbs up. I drove like the wind, passing car after car, slowly working back up to third, where I eventually finished.

   But it didn't end there. Because my dad had ran out onto the track, I was disqualified - we pleaded our case and eventually were allowed to continue.

The Third Round Race - A close thing

   The third round heat arrived. This time I wasn't going to let anything stop me. My focus was to win that race, and beat that guy who had all the luck so far. Because of the previous race I set off last. Car after car was left in my wake, until once more it was me against him. Mano a mano, he saw it was me and he upped his game. Lap after lap we duelled for the lead. Coming into the very last lap I was a nose in front and pulling away. With each corner I could sense the battery was once again giving up and my car started to slow down. Corner after corner I could see him getting closer and closer. We got to the final straight and he was right on top of me, breathing down my neck. I held my breath, jammed over the throttle leaver and just crossed the line before him - I had won my first national heat race - and it wasn't to be the last.

The Final

   That win put me in the "F" final, which ended my day on a bit of an anti climax - I crashed on the first corner and popped a ball joint. By the time the nice helpful marshal had fixed it and dropped me back on the track, the race was long gone and I finished plum last.

Success Soon Followed

   Even though the meeting ended poorly, it set me on course for a fifteen year career in RC. I moved over to 1/10 electric Touring Cars in 1995 and after a number Regional and TORC podiums, wins and top ten finishes, including a third and a fourth overall season placing, in the Year 2000 I won the "Radio Race Car International" TORC Open Championship.

   At present, the RC Model Manufacturers, Brands and Distributors covered by us are: ABC Hobby, Academy, Acme Racing, Agama Racing, Amewi, Ansmann Racing, ARRMA, Team Associated, Atomic RC, Axial, AYK, Bolink, BSD Racing, Capricorn, Carisma, Carson, Caster Racing, Cen, Corally, Custom Works, Durango, Duratrax, ECX - Electrix, Exceed RC, FG Modellsport, FS-Racing, FTX, Fujimi, Gmade, GS-Racing, Harm, HBX, Helion, Heng Long, Himoto Racing, Hirobo, Hitari, Hobao, Hong-Nor, Hot Bodies, HPI, HSP, Intech, Integy, Jamara, JQ Products, Kawada, Kyosho, Losi, LRP, Maisto, Mardave, Marui, Maverick, MCD Racing, Megatech, Mugen, New Bright, Nichimo, Nikko, Nkok, Ofna, Pro-Pulse, Protech, PTI, RC4WD, Redcat Racing, RJ-Speed, Robitronic, Schumacher, Seben, Serpent, Smartech, Sportwerks, Step-Up, Tamiya, Team-C Racing, Team Magic, Thunder Tiger, Tomy, Top Racing, Traxxas, Trinity, Tyco, Vaterra RC, Venom, VRX Racing, WLToys, X-Factory, Xmods, Xpress, Xray, XTM, Yankee RC, Yokomo, ZD Racing and Zipzaps.

   This is an ongoing project, with new and "lost in time" RC Models and Brands being added as they are found and although most of those listed above have been covered in relative detail, some are still being researched and will be completed in the near future.