Track layout

[Colin Williams]

For anyone who wants to have a go at drawing up some new track layouts, here are the dimensions:

15m from the rostrum lengthways x
approx. 12m widthways accross the hall.

The max we can do is 15m, because that is the blue/grey carpet length. The width is limited by the hall, and the 12m is a result of 6 widths of carpet - each around 2m wide.

The principle I always try to take is to put as much of the guttering where the carpet joins as possible, so that tape use in minimised and we avoid too many "bumps"

Have fun ;D

[sax_bomb]

Colin, i have sent you an e-mail with a track desgin ;D

Please get back in touch with me,
Matt

[gatesy]

Hey Colin, Ive got a pretty good track design, inspired by what I raced on at Watford, will be fast, with some tricky sections. I think it will be a track where overtaking oppurtunities are ripe, and we should see some exciting racing. Any chance we could run it on Friday. I will send you a picture when the final design is done. Its like nothing ever seen before at Burton/Kettering MCC!
P.S Me and James will be in charge of track laying and getting people helping, so a night off for you.

Stuart

[Alex]

I hope it wont be too complicated, the Watford hall is considerably bigger than our own!!

[jatros]

Nah mate i have seen the plans and it looks proper good. it would be good if we could possible get funding for some domes or 'bot dots'.

[gatesy]

http://mysite.freeserve.com/myracing/images/0-picture.gif?0.39959517698814306

The idea is:
A short burst of power down the first strait, then slow for the 'Right-Left-Right' 1st corners to bunch the cars up.

A full power burst then takes you to Hairpin 1, and then you must get the correct line to allow quick circulation of the circle (lots of overtaking here, and believe me, this was the best corner at Watford)

Then keep tight through Hairpin 2 and dash to the 'bus-stop', get hard on the breaks for the snappy 'Left-Right' for more overtaking and tension before crossing the line.

[sax_bomb]

DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have jus seen Gatesy track, and all i can say is...WOW! :o I personally elect we run his track on Friday, its top dog!

Matt 8)

[Colin Williams]

Nice work guys, both new tracks look interesting - and if I don't have to lay it out, that's a bonus ;D

Only thing i'm not sure about is how you're going to make the circle :-

Both new track layouts have been put onto the club website for everyone to see.

[sax_bomb]

Thanks alot Colin, but it doesn't seem to have succesfully worked. Would youlike me to convert in into a Jpeg or GIF image for the site?

Matt

[gatesy]

Circle will be made with rope, or maybe some nice dot-bots if we could get our hands on some!
Design has been altered again to make it trickier. Wll upload it later today.

[Adrian Heslop]

Bot Dots !

Rockingham Club have approx 150 metal dome dots as used at the Rock last year ! . . . . . BUT . . . . . . . the ones we have are still bare metal (the actual ones we used were from HPI) and have not been finished ie. edges smoothed, de-greased and not painted Red / White as yet.

These can be possibly made available if I discuss it with Gary, Alan and Craig, but as I said they will need to be preparred and painted before they can be used. There would be costs involved for painting etc

This would enable us to create sweeping corners and circles that are 'car friendly' and would be good for the exhibition in March at Raunds as they do not move on tarmac.

They look fantastic and work really well though !

[Colin Williams]

Thanks alot Colin, but it doesn't seem to have succesfully worked. Would youlike me to convert in into a Jpeg or GIF image for the site?

Matt


It was OK, but the image files mustn't have uploaded to the server properly. It woulkd be great if you could send it as a graphic file - much easier to handle!

Cheers,

Colin

[gatesy]

Well it looks like ive stirred peoples imaginations with the sweeper idea! :o
So anychance we could try it on Friday to see whether it would work or not?! ;)
Cant wait to race now!!
Also, when thinking about dot bots, what about the plastic things they sell at JJB Sports, used for football/hockey markers at school. They would be cheaper maybe, and smaller which would be good indoors, only problem is they are higher than dot bots, and would need to be taped down.

Stuart

[sax_bomb]

They need to be of some decent wieght to avoid people just....running over them basiclly, maybe we colud use some kind of chain with more wieght and stababilty.

Matt

[gatesy]

Right here is a proper picture of my original track design:
http://mysite.freeserve.com/myracing/images/1-picture1.jpg?0.3188476616605763

And then with a few modifications to make it trickier:
http://mysite.freeserve.com/myracing/images/1-picture2.jpg?0.4771008189402096

[Adrian Heslop]

They need to be of some decent wieght to avoid people just....running over them basiclly, maybe we colud use some kind of chain with more wieght and stababilty.

Matt



Errr HELLO !

The metal Bot Dots are PERFECT !
Avoid them = OK
Clip them = unbalance car
Hit them = Roll car

They are heavy enough not to move at all on carpet

The 4 tracks we use at the moment use virtually all of the limited area we have, and is interlinked so it wont move much
It wont hurt to try some new ideas

As for Chain :o

[sax_bomb]

Whoa!

You got the wrong end of the stick! I was on about the plastic ones from sports shops!

Matt

[Alex]

Both look pretty fast, will have to see how they are when they get laid out.

[Adrian Heslop]

We've looked at a lot of different styles of 'Bot Dots'
and the problem with the plastic ones need taping to keep them in place, its a pain and looks horrible

I think we used to have some of the 'cone with the top chopped off' style markers a while ago but the went missing

If you want dots you cant beat Road Domes !
Expensive but they are the Muts Nutz !

http://www.wildhobbies.com/Projects/supernitro/cones2.jpg

[Colin Williams]

I'm all for trying something new - so let's give it a go.

I don't think we should start adding too much complexity in at the moment, or start looking at plastic chain, etc.

As Adrian says, if we want bot dots, we can probably get some but it will take time / effort.

What we do have in the cupboard are some lengths of fire hose and we have some plastic markers, like the sports ones described (or at least we used to). It may also be that using short sections of guttering and the 45 degree corner sections we can make up a reasonable sweeper in combination with the other parts.

You could in fact modify Stuart's design to only have a semi circle at the top the sweeper, and straight pieces out from the rostrum end to the centre line of the circle.

[Colin Williams]

I think we used to have some of the 'cone with the top chopped off' style markers a while ago but the went missing



Oh, maybe they are not in the cupboard any more then!

[Paul_U]

is anyone having problems viewing matt upsons track on the website

Paul

[Colin Williams]

is anyone having problems viewing matt upsons track on the website

Paul


Something must not have uploaded from my pc last night - I'm going home now, so I'll take a look at it later!

Colin

[gatesy]

You could in fact modify Stuart's design to only have a semi circle at the top the sweeper, and straight pieces out from the rostrum end to the centre line of the circle.

Thats what I had thought colin, but I drew the full circle anyway. Just thought a sweeper might make a change from the Full-Lock 'Flick Thru' corners, and maybe we could see a 30 lapper?!

[Colin Williams]

Matt's track CAN now be seen on the website. ;D

[gatesy]

So come on then, how did everyone find the new track? I personally found it a little frustrating, and I wasn't help by the huge lack of rear end grip (any excuse eh!! ;D)
The Trostler Gate I think must now me re-named Stuarts Smasher, for obvious reasons!!

[Nemysys]

I liked the track. Even after breaking two driveshafts. :-

Darren

[sax_bomb]

It was a great track, very tricky aswll though. Any chance of doing my track next week? ;D

Matt

[Alex]

I thought the track was good, next time we use it though we'll have to do what Colin suggested and use the grey carpet on the inside rather than the outside. It will be interesting to see what effect it has.

[Colin Williams]

It was a great track, very tricky aswll though. Any chance of doing my track next week? ;D

Matt


Don't see why not - are you going to set it out ;)

Colin

[Colin Williams]

I thought the track was good, next time we use it though we'll have to do what Colin suggested and use the grey carpet on the inside rather than the outside. It will be interesting to see what effect it has.


Well, I've now adopted the new track as "track 5" on the website - along with your new 35 lap record!

We can try the carpet differently next time and see if it makes any difference. Adrian has also suggested getting rid of "Stuart's Smasher" and just making that a curve - similar to what we would normally have on that corner, and extending the length of the run into the "bus stop" a bit more to use the space created. That's likely to make the track even faster!

What do folk think?

[sax_bomb]

Don't see why not - are you going to set it out

Colin

Of course, it would only be fair! It WOULD be nice if a couple of others helped though.
;D
Matt

[gatesy]

The whole idea of my track was to try and come up with something unlike anything we have run before, the smasher was in there to make it more of a challege, I dont mind putting a strait piece in as Colin suggested last week so that you dont clip the corner pieces, but every track we run uses that same 90deg corner, so I wanted to get rid of it. I dont mind having small alterations made, but taking a whole section out is going it bit far isnt it!?

[jatros]

i think we should leave the gate in it because if we go back to the 90 degree thing it will the same old boring track, wots the point in racin if its just going to be round the same kind of track time after time, we need some variation in the meetings, maybe round the corners of a bit, but definatly not take the whole thing out.

[Adrian Heslop]

I'm sure James in your capacity as Junior Representative 8) you do not want to see our 'less experienced' racers breaking their cars on the track :'(. I think taking the Trostler Gate out and just having a 90 deg corner makes no difference to the track, the racing, the lap times, only to Dads pocket :( 'cos he wont have to fork out for a set of wishbones
;D

Other problem is that it takes a lot longer to set up a new track each week, we end up losing a round of qualifying. Maybe if we are using a new track we could start to set up a little earlier - say 6.30 ?

What do you think?

[Colin Williams]

Here are the two versions;

http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/Knibb_track5.htm

http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/Knibb_track5a.gif

It's interesting to look at who broke their cars last week - all experienced racers pushing hard to keep the edge (well almost ;))

[oliverro]

I certainly enjoyed last week's track - once the Mission started handling better. Although as I'm a newbie I'm still learning all the tarcks anyway. Couple of thoughts though on Track 5:

1) If you don't want to break your car on tough corners then slow down! - I believe these modern FET speedos are proportional?
2) Make the "gate" more pronounced so there isn't a straight line through it - more like one of the chicanes at Monza.

[jatros]

I think that is quite a good idea if we got rid of the gate the track would lose all it characteristics, then what would the point of designing a new track be if people are just going to change the track should keep the gate to keep the Excitement !

[Adrian Heslop]

Its a great track . . . but . . . the 'Gate' is horrible.
I cant condone a track that breaks cars, a small change and everyone will have a better nights racing and go home with 4 wheels on their cars !
Nothing wrong with some constructive criticism?

[gatesy]

Adrian, I disagree with pretty much everything you have said!

"I cant condone a track that breaks cars"
Then slow down!! The whole idea of the gate is to be something different, to test the drivers skills, if you break your car then your skills arent quite up to it, or your going too fast, solution = Slow Down

Also, if your not happy with the track, then design one thats better, dont just critisize.

Also,
"Maybe if we are using a new track we could start to set up a little earlier - say 6.30"

For quite a while it was just me and James setting the track out, then Richard, Colin and Alex helped out when time was getting on, Maybe if everyone had chipped in, then it would have got done a bit quicker!!

Rob - I do agree with maybe trying the Gate as more of a chiccaine, on my first drawing it was a lot more chiccaine like!

[Adrian Heslop]

Get you fact straight before you make comments

I did not break my car,I had no problem with it, others did, It is NOT a forgiving corner, it really should to be changed

Your right some drivers skills are not up to it and thats the best reason yet to make sure they have a safe track to drive / race on.

I am not happy with the track and I have made some amends to it, as a suggestion only - Take it or leave it.

This is not a criticism of your track design ability 'cos you dont know how its going to translate from the 'drawing board' to actual racing until its been raced on.

Its just a shame your calling my comments criticism when all I am just trying to do is adapt the track so that it works for ALL abilities.

As for turning up early and helping with the track, don't even go there

[sax_bomb]

Guys, Guys!

I afraid this could turn into a serious arguement, look, each of you have made your suggestions and i take it have been taken into account. Lets not get to over the top! Can we top this before it gets even worse.
PLEASE

Matt

[Adrian Heslop]

Your not wrong, I'll leave it there ;D

Maybe we could sell spare wishbones, the club could make some money . . . :-

Sorry, I'll get me coat :-X

[Colin Williams]

OK,

I've been watching this escalate and to be honest everyone who has commented has a valid point to make - nobody is wrong, and it's been a really useful debate - so let me try and summarise:

everyone (who's commented) seems to likes the newest track design in principle and found it good to race on the "trostler gate or stuart's smasher" as it was laid out last week tempted you to go fast through it and wasn't forgiving if you got it just a bit wrong everyone seems to find my tracks boring!
Fair summary?

OK, so should we change that corner and if so, how?

IMHO it needs to change, purely because as it was laid out it does not challenge your skill as much as your "luck" depending on how you clip the corner and the faster you go, the more damage that's likely to be caused.

It seems to me we have three options:

1. remove it altogether (Ade's design)
2. try to "soften" the unforgiving nature (my suggestion last week)
3. redesign the corner to retain some challenge, but try to minimise damage

I don't agree that option 1 makes the track any less enjoyable to drive - as for most of us it's still about getting the right line and keping momentum through the corners with an eye to catching Alex. However I do agree that option 1 makes the track less technically challenging.

Option 2 is a halfway house, and in reality will probably end up no more technically challenging that option 1 and option 1 is easier to layout.

Option 3 I think takes up the challenge posed by Rob - to make it a real chicane.

I've bodged Ade's picture to try and get it more like I think Stuart originally intented - but I can't post it from here - so you'll have to wait 'till I get home........

[gatesy]

Right here is an updated attempt:
http://mysite.freeserve.com/myracing/images/0-picture.gif?0.7774178163058671

but there is no way I'm putting a 90' in there

[sax_bomb]

That track looks simplt amazing! I don't see anything wrong with that really. Looks v.good. Well done! ;D ;)

Matt

[Colin Williams]

That looks good Stuart, but I think your scale is a bit off on the track size, so the "twiddly bits" probably won't fit, it is more likely to look like this when laid:

http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/knibb_track5c.gif

I think that track helps retain the technical challenge but forces you to slow down a bit more, so hopefully less breakages!

Interestingly now though there is no long strait!

Now runs for cover and hides as Ade prepares his ripost ;D

[Adrian Heslop]

The man from Corby 8)

He say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . YES ! ;D

I Like it !

Lets ROCK

[jatros]

I have to say i agree fully with stu on this matter, there is no way a 90 degree should go in instead of the gate i like option 2 and 3 the best,

i also think stu is right bout slowing down, i for know the full strenght of the gate wen a unforeseen technical hitch and then other drivers failing to get thru it making a mobile chicane.

But i like colins designs for the track.

I still stand by my oppinion that a 90' will just make the track borin

The End

[Colin Williams]

OK, so now we (maybe) have a track your all starting to like, can I please make a request of everyone posting?

Please take a few minutes to cool off if you're feeling a bit annoyed before you post, then use preview to re-read it before posting.

Lets play nicely - you can get points accross without aggresion, after all it is meant to be fun ;)

Thanks,
Colin

[Adrian Heslop]

I still stand by my oppinion that a 90' will just make the track borin

The End



As you say just an opinion, not right, not wrong
not a criticism, just an opinion !

Design a track, we will debate the layout and in the end we will have a great track.

In the past we have had some horrible car breakers.
I just as much as anyone else want to drive challenging tracks and use as much of the limited space we have at the moment. Thats why we have tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and now 5

The End Again

Look the band is still Rockin'

[Paul_U]

If you are after a track which is less of a car breaker, i would suggest insteed of having a 90' corner coming onto the straight have a hairpin, much slower and safer

Paul

[Colin Williams]

I suppose you could simply mirror the left side of track design in my previous post on the right - it would use more of the carpet.

James / Stuart, any thoughts?

[oliverro]

Colin - I like the design, looks good.
I have a slow car so like the idea of no long fast straight!

[Colin Williams]

I have a slow car ......


Ha, Ha, Ha, who are you trying to kid! ;D


Anyway, I think we should run Matt's track this Friday and then maybe try the "revised" track 5 the week after.

[gatesy]

Colin, I think if we run a mirrored track, then we would end up with a track full of swithcbacks, much the same as other tracks. But I suppose if my revised design doesn't work, then we can try to mirror! ;D
And yes, thinking about it, those extra bits that stick out to form a chiccaine are a bit out of proportion!! :-[

Notice the calmness today!! ;D :D ;) ::)

[Dave I]

Well what have I missed not checking this for a couple of days!

Stuarts revised track looks good. The gate was good, when you got it right, you could gain a lot of time by holding your nerve and hoding the throttle flat.

But, when you got it wrong it hurts! A track should punish drivers in time, not in broken cars.

By making the gate a lot more pronounced then it will make people slow and hence should only punish in time.

Cheers

Dave

[jatros]

well dave you have missed a rather heated debate

[sax_bomb]

Changeing the subject a bit...can i leave my track for tonight????? I want to modify it a bit, and i don't want to waste time again as last week, setting up a new track. Maybe nect week??

Matt

[gatesy]

Mr Upson, I love your track mate!!
It was really nice to drive, and cant say it was a bad result for me either at the end of the day! ::)

[jatros]

Yep i must agree, the track was superb, it was really nice to drive and was quite flowing. It was a great track. ;D

[Colin Williams]

Changeing the subject a bit...can i leave my track for tonight????? I want to modify it a bit, and i don't want to waste time again as last week, setting up a new track. Maybe nect week??

Matt


Matt the track was pretty easy to lay out, and was fun to drive. Looks like we have a new track 6! Check out the website later for a photo - when i've had a chance to work on it ;D

[sax_bomb]

Brilliant!

Thanks alot guy, i really sorry i couldn't make it and help out a bit but i had slight problems with my charger.

Thanks again,
Matt ;D

[Colin Williams]

The web site has now been updated!

[oliverro]

Concurring with everyone else, I like Track 6, unfortunately my car doesn't!
Good to see a track that keeps our club superstars below 30 laps!

[Colin Williams]

There are 3 new tracks for your comments on the club website, all drawn up by Richard.

Let us know what you think.

[Blandy]

;D Very good job on moding them to the right widths ect. Cheers....

So what do you guys think of those? I have some others that I will sort out soon. It's nice to get a bit more variety... I was thinking about the possibility of putting up a weekly voting system on here to choose which track we run each week? How does that sound Colin?

[Colin Williams]

Yes, you confused me there for a bit with the deliberate mistake on the width ;)

Problem with voting each week is that not everyone comes on here and to be honest I'd prefer to stick to a rotation system - but let's hear what other people think.

It would be good to get some feedback though especially any tracks folks would rather not run.

It's amazing how many variations you can get in a relatively small space isn't it!

[Alex]

I like the look of track 7, track 8 looks pretty good too, im not sure about track 9, it might be a bit too tight and technical and even with stock motors i still like a nice long straight. I definately think track 7 would be the best though.

[Colin Williams]

I've just realised, that if you look at track 8, it is a mirror image of track 6 :o

[Blandy]

;D Well I didnt know the exact widths and such so i guessed and thought you'd be able to sort it out after! lol I personaly like track 7 as well.... track 8 was intended to be the fast track with track 9 being the slowest and track 7 being the in between.

[Colin Williams]

Looks like we're giving track 7 a go this Friday then :D

[jatros]

Does this mean with it being your track you will be setting it up ;D

[Colin Williams]

Does this mean with it being your track you will be setting it up ;D

Why do you feel you've dome too many now James ;)

[Blandy]

::) of course.... lol

[jatros]

No its just me and stu set r own track so is blandy gonna set his own track up ;D

[Adrian Heslop]

Oh C**p i've just bitten my tongue off !

[gatesy]

Why?

[Blandy]

I meant of course I will set my own track up silly! lol I do liek to help out every now and then! lol

Adrian what do you think of the track this friday?

[Blandy]

OK BLANDY FANS.... What did you all think of my first installment IE the track??

Let me know what your thoughts are and what you are looking for next time.

[Alex]

I thought it was cool, pretty technical but fast at the same time. More of the same please.

[Dave I]

I must agree. I enjoyed the track very much. It was fast but flowed. One little thing though, can we have a track with less hairpins? I know... if you dont llike it come up with something better yourself! I'm working on it!

Cheers

Dave

[Colin Williams]

I liked it pole in the B final ;D ;D ;D

[Blandy]

I think what I will try and do is come up with set's of 3. that way I can make the fast track, the slow track and then the one in between which is how that track came about. Less hairpins? MMMMMMM Yes ok.

[Colin Williams]

After yesterday's Cambridge meeting, I would like us to try and see how we can develop more "flowing" tracks - but it will mean making up new corner pieces to fit into the guttering. I've drawn up a couple of ideas - and I know Dave's had a go at something, so perhaps we could have a quick chat on Friday.

[Blandy]

Im up for that... I will draw up some ideas as well.

Colin do you have Andrew's number. I want to see if he would like to sell his airbrush.

[gatesy]

Yeah a flowing track would be nice. I really enjoyed the track on Sunday.
I just hope I can repeat it on Friday

[jatros]

The track on sunday was absolutly wicked, if we could have a track like that it would be really good for the club. me thinks we should race the same track on friday as we did on sunday and see how it goes. what do you all think.

[Nemysys]

I like the track on Friday aswell, but it would be nice to have more flowing tracks occasionally with 'softer' corners.

What about two 45 degree corners, linked with a short (1m-2m) bit of track. Sort of a double apex?

[jatros]

sounds pretty cool. or just have hairoins than are just the end of a piece of track, just run them a bit wider with a bit of hosing or something??

[Colin Williams]

I like the track on Friday aswell, but it would be nice to have more flowing tracks occasionally with 'softer' corners.

What about two 45 degree corners, linked with a short (1m-2m) bit of track. Sort of a double apex?


Damn! you just nicked my idea - I drew up 4 tracks at lunch time today, each of them using double apex's from the 90 deg corners, and taking between 1-2m of track width!

Only problem is we need a whole lot more corners :( I think Nathan made the last lot - I wonder if he's up for making some more ;)

I don't think we can reproduce the Cambridge circuit easily without more track pieces, but we could try the "modified yet again" version of track 5:

http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/Knibb_track5b.jpg

[oliverro]

Does all the guttering need to join up? Could we use strategically placed "bot dots" (if the club has any) or whatever they're called now on certain corners where there is no risk of a head on occurring.
No need for more guttering 45 joins and also the chance for some enthusiastic kerb jumping just like the real touring cars do.
Rob
PS Excellent track on Friday (says he from the heady heights of the C Final!!)

[Colin Williams]

Does all the guttering need to join up? Could we use strategically placed "bot dots" (if the club has any) or whatever they're called now on certain corners where there is no risk of a head on occurring.
No need for more guttering 45 joins and also the chance for some enthusiastic kerb jumping just like the real touring cars do.
Rob
PS Excellent track on Friday (says he from the heady heights of the C Final!!)


I think the important thing we have to remember is that the club caters for all levels of ability, and therefore, the track has to be able to cope with those who could be regarded as "beginners" (we all started there at one time or another ;)) as well as the more experienced racers. Having guttering helps to "bounce" the cars around the track, so helping folk to stay on their side of the track (except for perhaps the buggies) and having the guttering connected means it doesn't move around very much, if at all when done properly.

I would have a concern about using "bot dots" indoors, as these tend to make the cars roll, or even launch across the track, potentially causing cars to be damaged, or creating safety issues.

The idea of more 90 degree corners which are curved would be to create a more flowing line, but one which stayed put. If we used plastic to create the edge rather than rubber, then the car should "slide off" more easily rather than getting stuck - maybe :-

[jatros]

Even though these problems arise i still like the ideas of bot dots because they add an extra challange to he track...i understand the issue ith beginners but they will eventually learn to miss them ;D aloso other clubs that cater for beginner have them.....i do think it wiuld be good bevause we could get some proper curb hopping action ;D

[Blandy]

Im not so sure about the bot dots. I have to agree with Colin. We are a small track compared to most others and I know cambridge wasnt that much bigger but I feel if we had bot dots all over the place it wouldnt look right and it would cause a lot of crashes even with the more experienced drivers! Cambridges track was a lot wider than we can acheive at the moment.....


.....What I want to suggest is that we widen the track 'lane' width a bit more, instead of having 6 'lanes' running vertically on 6 peices of carpets we could easily get a more flowing track if we used 5 'lanes' on the 6 peices of carpet. does that make sense? I will draw up some designs ok and see what you all think.

[Paul_U]

yeah i agree with Richard having 5 lanes sounds better,


regarding bot dots, i dont think on end of corners would be a good idea, but you could use the bot dots to make the sweeping 45' corners were after, works at watford, we just need to do it on a smaller scale

Paul

[Nemysys]

I thought the idea of 6 lanes was to help cover the joins in the carpet.

5 lanes, and most of the joins would be visible and could potentially cause trouble with the tape lifting etc throughout the evening?

[Colin Williams]

Interestingly enough, the track at Cambridge was only around 3m "wider" - which on our track would relate to longer, and the average track width was around 2 meters - remember, the back straight was a single carpet width of 2m.

I've drawn up a track layout which we could fit in - I'll post it tonight.

[gatesy]

I thought some parts of the Cambridge track were very tight.

The bit on the left hand side of the track [from drivers viewpoint] the S bend style thing that led onto the straight, was very tight on entry I thought.
I think I might have a go at designing something, but please, can we ditch track 5, I hate it!!!

Also, what is the possibility of having the Rostrum on the Side of the track, to change the viewpoint?? We could possibly fit it in I think, and would give an extra challenge maybe to running the tracks

[gatesy]

Right well I've basically copied the Cambridge track onto a photo of the hall.
http://jupiter.walagata.com/w/gatesy/9248284.JPG
Is this possible then Colin with the resources we have got??

*edit* Updated picture (I've got too much time on my hands!)

[Nemysys]

Yes, you do have too much time on your hands ;D

Track looks good, long straight some softer corners, and a tight bit!

[Nemysys]

I prefer the first one.

[gatesy]

Grrrr, just deleted the second link, oh well, The first one was better!

But how do you feel about having the Rostrum down the side of the track?
If the rostrum wont fit in the gap, then would it be ok to have it partly on the carpet aswell and remove a section of guttering as a piece shouldnt be essential there?
It would give us all a clearer view of the track.

[Nemysys]

You would get a clearer view in front, but what about the extreme edges? Are other racers going to be in the way?

[Colin Williams]

Wow! you really don't have enough to do.

That is similar to the plan I've made up, so I think it will fit, but I'm not sure whether the hoses will be good enough for the corners or not.

Rostrum position - there are essentially two problems with putting it where you suggest:

1. Visibility - because you are on the line of the track, it is hard for the people in the middle of the rostrum to see the corners left and right of them because of the other drivers - particularly if they are a bit on the large size :P, or leaning forward.

2. Interference - because the tranny aerials are hanging over the track, you can get problems with cars as they pass under someone elses tranny further along the rostrum from you. This is a real issue :'( and we saw it in the past when we used the other hall at William Knibb and had the rostrum right on the track.

Those are the main reasons why, when we moved back to WK from Corby, I placed the track the way around it is now.

I suppose we could give a try and see how it goes - what do other people think?

[gatesy]

I can see your point Colin, as I have had big interferance problems before when someone got off the rostrum mid-race to walk over to their car.
But hopefully the aerials wouldnt over hang the cars too much as the cars would be turning and driving away from the drivers. Also we are quite close to the track how we run at the moment.
I guess the only way to find out would be to try, and the rostrum can be quite easily moved anyway if problems do arise! :D

[Blandy]

Nice idea Stuart. ;D I have come up woth a bit more of a radical idea but I am not sur eif my idea will work. It will consist of a series of new wooden corner blocks to be made. The track will flow nicely but also be a bit wide I would say about 2.5 - 3 meters in most places. I will have to draw up the dimensions and such for the wooden blocks but I will need some help with that.

The idea is there and when I get time to do more to it I will but I am starting a new Job tomorrow at Schuie so I am off to bed for a rather early night! lol

[jatros]

Stuart mate u obviously did that in ur IT lesson didnt you?? Well thats what skool is for so keep the pictures commin mate ;D. i like the look of that track...it does look pretty cool...can we run it this week ;D

[Colin Williams]

Here's the track layout for our size hall, based on Sunday's design, plus a few more on the same theme:

http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/cam%20track.jpg
http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/cam%20track1.jpg
http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/cam%20track2.jpg
http://www.ketteringmcc.co.uk/track_layout/cam%20track3.jpg

The corners are scaled to be the size of our existing 90 degree corners - but as you can see, we would need a lot more!

The track width is at least 2m all the way round. I must say, that I didn't feel the track at Cambridge was much wider than that.

[gatesy]

Hey Colin, I think your idea is pretty much the same as the Cambridge track, so thats good ;D Ive also copied another 1 of their tracks:
http://jupiter.walagata.com/w/gatesy/8608721.JPG

[Blandy]

Both of you are thinking along the same lines as I am! I dont think adding more blocks liek I have will make it flow anymore than what you have there but it would allow for a better lookign track to be made, completely solid.

You will see on Friday, I havnt got my comp up and runnign yet so I still cant get any track design up loaded on here.

[jatros]

i like track one the best with the rostrum on the right