Winter Map
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- Published on Monday, 07 July 2008 21:27
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Summer Map
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- Published on Monday, 07 July 2008 19:08
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IROCC Schedule
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- Published on Friday, 27 June 2008 00:40
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May - September (inclusive)
Sunday afternoons from 10:30AM - 5PM, depending on rain and track availability.
BC Transit Park and Ride parking lot in Colwood (across the street from Tim Horton's and Wendy's).
Currently running (2008) 1/10 Pan, 1/10 Touring Car and 1/10 Nitro Cars on well prepared asphalt.
Winter Racing
October - April (inclusive)
Saturdays from 5:30pm to 11pm.
Boys and Girls Club, 1240 Yates Street. If you are near where Fort and Yates split, you're close. If you are near the Fire Hall, you're even closer.
Currently running (2007) 1/12 Pan Cars on well maintained carpet.
Want to start racing?
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- Published on Friday, 27 June 2008 00:51
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Common Questions
1 - How Fast do They Go?
Electric (stock class) = 25 mph
Nitro (gas) = 45-60 mph
2 - How much do they cost?
A dedicated RC hobby quality race car (not a toy store brand) with everything you need to race (see below) can cost between $500 and $2500. Used cars can be had for less, nitro cars with serious "race" equipment are more.
Depending on how much "stuff" (batteries, chargers, spare parts, tent, table etc) you bring to the track, the cost of the car can be a small chunk of your overall budget. Don't worry though, most guys will share equipment with rookies.
3 - What car should I get to start out with?
Cars either come in RTR (ready to race) form or kit form.
An RTR car is welcome at the track -- many of our guys started with them. The nice thing about the RTR kit is that the car is already made for you, no screwing plastic bits together!
If you are looking at purchasing, you can find RTR kits at the BC Shaver and Hobbies store on Fort Street in Victoria. You'll need three additional items that are not included in the RTR kit:
A couple of 6-cell battery packs.
A battery charger to charge these packs.
A 27 Turn, ROAR Legal, Stock motor.
If you can, speak with the fellows named Jeff or Garnett at the store. He should be able to direct you to an entry level charger, a couple of sport battery packs, and an appropriate motor. They know what the IROCC runs for equipment.
Another approach is to purchase a kit car, either brand new or as a used car from a club member. Most of the guys run some model of XRay, Associated, or Corally touring car. If you race a brand that is common (and no one is saying you have to!), chances are someone at the track has the parts that you might need.
For indoor cars, the usual is some form of kit car. The big brands at IROCC are CRC and Corally.
4 - When do you race?
Sundays in the summer, Saturdays in the winter for indoor.
5 - What happens on race day?
Track setup at 9:30am, for about an hour
Registration and Practice, about an hour.
Just before noon, we race the first qualifier. There are three qualifying races and then a main event for each class and each heat within those classes. Each of the three rounds takes about an hour.
The Mains (the main races which are sorted according to qualifying position from the 3 previous heat races) starts somewhere around 3pm, with track tear down complete by 5pm or so.
Winter racing is indoors in a gym, so the time schedule is a little different. Track set up is about 3:30, with the first heat starting around 6pm or so. Track is torn down and put away by 11pm at the latest.
6 - How many classes are run?
We race 10th scale Electric "Stock" class. This is the most competitive class and one of the most cost effective forms of RC racing. The idea is to limit horse power in this class, which leads to slower crashes and closer overall racing.
We also run 10th scale Nitro or Gas class, a very fast class of racing that is definately not recommended for beginners, not only because of the borderline uncontrollable speed but because the cars are harder to setup and maintain.
Our flag ship class is the Pan car. These are as simple as you can get with RC, with four wheels, a motor and a minimally adjustable chasis holding it together.
IROCC (and RC in general) has moved towards the "new" tech of LiPO batteries and brushless motors. You are still welcome to run the "old" tech of NiMH batteries and brushed motors.
7 - What is a heat race?
Because we have way more racers in each class than can fit on the race track, and also because the range in ability is great, we split up the classes into heats based on your last week's performance. We never have more than 8-10 racers on the track per heat, so if we had 28 drivers in electric stock we would break that down into 4 heats of 7 drivers.
8 - Must you race in the same heat all of the time?
No, you would race in the same heat for the the qualifying races and then the whole group is re-sorted for the main events, so if someone in a lower heat, say heat "D" was really really fast all day and had the best overall time then that person would be on the pole position in the "A" main. The A is the fastest group, followed by the "B" and "C" and so on.
9 - Are there any fees on race day?
Yes, $5 will let you race ine one class all day if you are a member. Membership is $20. Without membership, a day's racing will cost you $10.
Indoor racing is just one class and costs $15.
10 - Can an inexperienced person show up with a new car and get some help?
We love to help out and are doing everything we can to see our club grow. Everyone is friendly and willing to help out - ask anyone and they will lend a hand.
11 - What is the learning curve like? How long before I am moving up the ranks?
Although it appears very challenging at first glance, R/C racing does not take too long to get the hang of. We have many long term members, as well as newcomers of all ages, making for lots of great racing no matter if it is the "A" Heat or the "D" Heat. Most drivers improve every race and after about 1/2 a season are usually starting to move up the field. Some drivers are "B" Main or even "A" Main drivers after only a year or two of racing.
12 - How long are the races?
In electric racing all heat races and the main event are 6 minutes long. It is not a certain number of laps to the finish, just as many full laps as you can in 6 minutes. So, if you are running in first and cross the finish line on lap 22 at 5:58, then you get to come all the way around again (full laps remember) and take the checkered flag. So you would finish with 23 laps in 5:17 minutes total or something close to that. If another driver, say in second place, crossed the finish line 3 seconds behind the leader, that driver would not have made the finish line in time (before the 6 min race is over) and would have finished with 22 laps in 6:01.
Gas races are 5 minutes for heats, 10 minutes for the "B" Main, and 20 minutes for the "A" Main. Typically each driver can only go about 6-7 minutes on a tank of fuel so a number of pit stops are required to finish the race.
Indoor racing heats are 8 minutes long.
13 - How do you keep track of all the cars?
We score all of the races with a computer. It sorts the qualifying heats and sets up the main events. Each car has a small electronic transponder mounted inside the body. This sends a signal that is detected at the Start/Finish line. This way the computer counts and times every car on the track. There is a bridge across the track at the Start/Finish line that contains a wire that is connected to a receiver and the laptop computer.
The club has "hand out transponders" if your car doesn't have a personal transponder attached.
14 - Do you have to paint your own bodies?
"Ready to Run" kits have a painted body and regular kits that you assemble yourself do not. Painting can be very simple or extemely complicated or artistic - it is up to you. People at the track are for hire to paint your race car bodies. Stickers (er, decals) can make up for a lack of (perceived) artistic talent.
We are always eager to recruit new club members, so if you have anymore questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
IROCC History
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- Published on Tuesday, 24 June 2008 21:40
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When these two clubs merged, the two treasuries were pooled. This allowed the purchase of both an AMB lap timing system, and a couple of rolls of carpet for indoor racing. The combined membership enjoyed some achievements together: First, the club hosted the "1988 Speed Weekend" off-road race. Although the race was completely rained out, it drew entrants from the Lower Mainland area. Second, the club managed to secure an indoor racing venue in the old car museum at Western Speedway (1988). At this location 20-30 racers gathered together to race 1/12 scale cars on a weekly basis during the indoor season.
The off-road track moved again - this time to the Highlands in Langford. After a short stay here, it moved again to the bottom of Hartland Road in Saanich (1992).
In 1990 indoor racing moved to a tiny church hall in View Royal. WD40 was used as a traction additive but it would last only six minutes. The races were eight minutes long, which meant for an exciting final two minutes. After outgrowing the church, indoor racing moved to a gym in the Work Point Barracks in Esquimalt (1992).
It was at this time that the club was at its strongest with respect to membership. Summer off-road racing saw as many as 25 racers out for weekly racing in the sun while winter on-road racing enjoyed weekly turnouts of 40+ racers dueling it out on the carpet. During these "hay days" a couple of notable events occurred: The "1993 Speed Weekend" off-road race was held at the Hartland off-road track. This time around the weather cooperated and the race was a great success. Again, entrants came from all over Vancouver Island as well as from the Lower Mainland area. During the indoor seasons, Victoria racers were developing a strong reputation of excellence. A couple of local racers earned distinctions at national level indoor events.
Unfortunately the club’s great success fizzled in 1995-1996. The Hartland off-road track had to be abandoned and the only replacement site that could be found was a location in Duncan. The track relocated to Duncan but the turnouts suffered greatly. The indoor scene suffered as well. People weren’t getting along very well, and the club essentially disbanded. And so - for two or three years – IROCC was reduced to a small summer off-road scene and nothing whatsoever during the winter.
In 1998 a small group of on-road enthusiasts decided to get their act together and start racing again. The location was in Duncan, in a barn on the exhibition grounds. Although the location was not ideal, the on-road club did experience a resurgence in interest. After two years in Duncan, there was enough interest in on-road racing to make a bid on a location back in Victoria. The summer off-road scene in Duncan was completely dead by this time so the focus was on getting a good winter racing program back in Victoria.
IROCC started its rebirth during the winter of 2000. The club secured a location at the Saanich Fairgrounds in Brentwood Bay. That winter, 10-12 racers would show up on a weekly basis to race 1/12 scale cars on the carpet track. Lap timing was a manual process now because the AMB system had been sold off during the "down" time. The winters of 2001 and 2002 saw a slow but steady increase in interest and the turnouts increased to 15-20 racers per night. The club was eventually able to afford to buy another AMB system.
Summer racing during these days was now touring car racing. The club bounced around between various parking lots around town as they tried to build up the summer program. Times were lean at first, with only a handful of electric touring cars showing up. By 2002, the club was looking a little better with an average turnout of about 10 racers.
The summer of 2003 saw an unbelievable jump in club membership - and it was all due to what seemed to be an unlucky break. The start of the summer saw the club racing in a somewhat remote parking lot near the Esquimalt naval base. Due to a noise complaint, the club was prohibited from using the parking lot any further. Somewhat discouraged, the club found a new location for the rest of the summer that would prove to be very beneficial. The new location was in the BC Transit Park and Ride lot beside the Juan de Fuca recreation center in Colwood. This location had more visibility than the club had ever seen. The Times Colonist newspaper wrote an article about the club and CH Television featured the club on its "Go Magazine" program. All of a sudden, large crowds of spectators started to come out and watch the racing. One particular day there were more than 200 spectators watching one of the races. From all this attention, the club membership jumped sharply to 20-25 racers.
As IROCC embarks on its 2003 winter season there is great hope of continuing the current growth trend.