I had posted a few pics of this event on the RC car thread. I received permission from mods to post a detailed report on the event in this forum.
We are looking at popularising the sport and the best target group is motorsports lovers like you.
Background:
Radio Control car hobby has been in India for several years. I have been involved in the sport since 2008. The sport is really not organised in India like it is in many countries. Many smaller countries have organised the sport and have several racers and tracks.
Currently we have only functional track in India. It is located on ECR Road, Chennai very near to Kart Attack, karting track. It is on a private farm. Our track is very basic and has few jumps. The surface is loose and is no where near international standards.
The Inspiration:
I visited the last World Championship event in 2010 as a spectator. I was amazed at the level of professionalism and skill of the racers. I met with racers, manufacturers, organisers, governing body officials and discussed about the sport and how we can develop it in India. The major step they suggested was local awareness. I got back and started promoting the sport via a group called Indian Radio Control Racers Association (IRCRA) along with a friend. We tied up with local hobbyists and started conducting races across South India.
We now run a FB group with around 1000 members and growing. We educate hobbyists on all aspects of the sport. During a race in Coimbatore last year, we even tried to organise the sport in India under one umbrella. But talks failed.
It was my dream since 2010 to officially represent the country at an international event. I was in touch with major international hobbyists, governing bodies and race organisers. We received a special invite to participate in the 2012 FEMCA Asian Buggy Championships.
FEMCA is the governing body for the sport in Asia, New Zealand and Australia. They in turn are governed by IFMAR which is similar to FIA. Usually only member countries are allowed to participate in such major events. Due to my relationship with the organiser, we were able to participate.
We informed all hobbyists in the country and requested their participation. However, we had only 6 members who turned up.
The Venue:
The race was conducted at Pattaya RC PowerBoat Track located in south pattaya, Thailand. PRC is one of the top RC facilities in the World. It was the host of the 2010 IFMAR World Championships. It is known to racers as the World's most toughest rc track. The track as you can see in the pics has massive jumps, elevation changes, banked turns. The surface keeps changing throughout the race.
Race Format:
The event was spread across 10 days. International participants were allowed 3 days of open practice. One day of timed practice and 3 days of qualifying. Each racer receives 6 rounds of 10 minute qualifying. Drivers are categorised and is given one race to enable them to bump up. Top 3 drivers from each race are bumped to quarter finals, semis and finals. Finals run for 60 minutes.
Each driver will have one pitman and one mechanic to help. During qualifying and races, only the pitman is allowed in the pits for refuelling and repair. Cars are timed using the latest generation AMB (mylaps) rc timing systems. Both fastest time and laps are considered during qualifying.
Technical Inspection:
Each car will also have to be technically cleared and the sport is highly regulated on the engine, exhaust, fuel etc used. Cars are weighed and lengths checked. Wings are also measured and checked for size. Once technically cleared, chassis, fuel tanks etc. are marked and cannot be changed. Random checks are conducted before and after the race.
Race report:
We arrived and immediately started practicing. We struggled to do clean laps. This is one of the most demanding tracks in the worlds and even top drivers and cars take a beating. We had issues with the enormous amount of traction. We were only used to softer surfaces and smaller jumps. We were unable to keep up with the speeds and crashed on jumps.
Although we were able to setup the car based on popular feedback, we had problems. The lower arms took major damage. Tire wear was another issue we faced. We did not foresee the extremely high tire wear. We ate up several tires in the 3 day session.
I personally did a few laps and found it very hard to handle the car. Judging the distance, clearing jumps and high speeds were very demanding. It was left to 2 of our best drivers to continue. It took about 150+ laps for both to get a basic hang of the track. I heard top drivers did 700+ to drive clean and set good timings. We saw 40 sec laps by some top drivers. We were comfortable doing close to 50 secs.
Things improved for us during the timed practice sessions. We had good spares support by distributors and was able to get the cars up and running. Qualifying started and we could see most drivers come in with new cars. We understood racers practice and race different cars. We continued to have issues, flame outs, damage. One of our drivers was able to do 45 sec lap after really pushing. Yet we were not consistent.
It wasn’t only us who were having issues. Even the best drivers and also the former World Champion, Atsushi Hara had issues and crashed. Many drivers had damages and struggled with the excellent traction on qualifying days. Tires were being eaten away in 15 minutes.
We had an opening ceremony like the Olympics where each country paraded with their members while the national anthem was played. It was an amazing experience to hear the national anthem being played while being cheered by all. It was followed by a RC Heli 3D stunt show.
We had initially planned to just take the qualifying and return. But later decided to run the race. Both our drivers ran the 1/64 event.
Key learning:
This event was a great eye opener for us. We really understood our skill level. We were also able to freely interact with top drivers, manufacturers, distributors etc. Everyone was so kind and open minded. Great support and hospitality by all. We look forward to participate in all future FEMCA events with a larger team. Our dream is to enter the World Championship in 2018.
Appeal:
We need motorsport lovers to take up this sport and spread awareness. There is a great level of learning and excitement in this sport. Also this is a team sport. It cannot be pursued alone. We could see a lot of father-son and family bonding in races. Please visit the IRCRA FB page for more details.
Please note that I am not commercially involved with this hobby and this post is to purely promote the sport.
See more pics on this links:
http://gallery.neobuggy.net/2012Races-1/FEMCA
31st August 2012, 11:07
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