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Hi all,
I originally posted this in the Farnham club forum, but that might have been an error. It's not a Farnham-only event, but an open invitation to anyone who thinks this might be a good idea and fancies trying their hand at a genuine endurance race - for the benefit of Children in Need and other good causes.
The 'Background'
With the vigour and enthusiasm of a new member I proposed the idea of a charity 24 Hour race to the Farnham AGM, which wasn't rejected - so it's down to me to see if it's an idea that can work.
The 'Why'
Firstly, why bother doing it? Well my suggestion was that we should do it for Children in Need. I know that it's been around forever and a lot of people can take or leave Terry Wogan and Pudsey but the cause is great. Here's what the charity says in its own words:
Our mission is to make a positive change to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people right here in the UK. Our vision is a society where each and every child and young person is supported to realise their potential.
For every penny you give the charity, that penny will go towards projects helping disadvantaged children in the UK. We are able to make this promise because the charity uses its investment income and Gift Aid to cover all running costs. Every year, thanks to public donations and the amazing efforts of fundraisers, schools, businesses and our corporate partners, we are able to provide support to thousands of youngsters aged 18 and under.
We provide this support in the form of grants to organisations working with children who may have experienced mental, physical or sensory disabilities; behavioural or psychological disorders; are living in poverty or situations of deprivation; or suffering through distress, abuse or neglect.
I couldn't think of a better cause than that.
The thing about us slot racers is that we're all kids, albeit some older than others. We have a great hobby, one that we lavish our spare time and money on, so I thought why not use that positive energy to raise funds for kids who struggle to make a start in life for one reason or another?
The objective is to have fun, to create a close and cost-effective race that will be enjoyable to participate in and be a major achievement to complete - one that will hopefully inspire people to sponsor us all and raise funds.
In addition to Children in Need, we will also be raising funds for the Farnham group of Disability Challengers, which provides pre-school Playgroups, Play Schemes for 4-11 year-olds, Youth Schemes for 13-18 year-olds and Young Adult Schemes for those up to 25. As stepfather to a disabled child, I can vouch that the opportunities which schemes like this provide for youngsters both to test their own limits and get a real kick from being involved in, and achieving from, taking part in new activities are beyond measure.
The 'When'
The suggested date is Friday 18th November - Saturday 19th November, coinciding with the Children in Need telethon, pending approval of the Club and the Club's landlords.
If we run qualifying at 5pm and start the race at 6pm, we'll have plenty of time for celebrations on Saturday night after the race is over!
The 'Where'
Farnham Scalextric Club, Conservative Club, Farnham, Surrey.
The 'How'
My suggestion is this: Farnham has a big 4-lane Ninco setup, so we are looking for four teams of either four or six drivers in each, depending on how many people want to take part.
The cars will be box-standard Modern GT cars (post-2000), making the race like a miniature version of the big events at the Nurburgring, Spa, Dubai etc. Cars must run with full interiors (no impact cars), factory-fitted motors, tyres, hubs, axles, guides and gears - including traction magnets.
Headlights and tail lights will be required - and these must have been factory-fitted. This means no high-falutin' tuned-up monsters from the likes of Slot.It or NSR, putting the emphasis on regular high street brands for reasons of affordably ensuring both roughly equal performance and reliability (I ran Scaley cars for 7 hours a day during a week-long event in a tent in Bahrain and they covered an epic distance without having to change a single part, so this should be a breeze!)
This does mean that Ninco cars can't enter, although there were a few Fly cars made that would qualify as there were lighted versions made. There are also some eligible AutoArts for the brave!
One thought I did have was that, if we didn't allow Fly cars (on the basis of rarity and value if nothing else!) teams could be divided up by manufacturer - i.e. AutoArt, Carrera, Scalextric and SCX. Over to you lot on that idea!
Classes will reflect their 1:1 counterparts and be divided into GT1, GT2 and GT3.
I think the complete list of eligible cars would be:
GT1
AutoArt: BMW M3 GTR, Koenigsegg CXX, Lamborghini Diablo GTR
Carrera: Corvette C6.R, Ferrari 575 GTC, Maserati MC12
Fly: BMW M3 GTR, Corvette C5-R, Dodge Viper GTS-R - unless you want four manufacturer teams
Scalextric: Aston Martin DBR9, Maserati MC12, TVR T400C
SCX: Aston Martin DBR9, Corvette C6.R, Ferrari 550 GTC
GT2
AutoArt: Porsche 996 GT3 RS
Carrera: Audi R8, BMW M3 GT2, Ferrari 458 GT2, Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR, Porsche 997 GT3RS
Scalextric: Audi R8, Ferrari F430 GTC, Ford GT, Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR, Porsche 996 GT3 RS
SCX: Ferrari F360 GTC, Mercedes-Benz SLS, Morgan Aero 8
GT3
AutoArt: Ford Mustang FR500C, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Carrera: BMW Z3, VW Scirocco GT24,
Scalextric: Dodge Viper, Ford Mustang FR500C, Jaguar XKR GT3
SCX: Aston Martin N24, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Essentially these will be cars homologated for competition in the FIA GT, ALMS, LMS or VLM endurance series (or their offshoots, such as Belcar, British GT or Britcar) since 2000.
The 'Rules'
1) Minimum sponsorship requirement of £150 per team if four drivers, or £200 per team if six drivers.
2) Each team must nominate a team manager from among the drivers.
3) Each driver will use their own car, making this a 24 Hour relay race (or Coupe de Roi to give it its posh name).
4) Lanes will be allocated by qualifying, based on the total time of each team member's fastest laps.
5) If teams comprise four drivers there must be only one GT1 car and two of either GT2 or GT3.
6) If teams comprise six people there must two cars from each class.
7) The team manager must divide his team into pairs so that when one driver is racing his or her partner is marshalling for the duration of their stint, meaning there will always be four marshals on track.
8) If there are four drivers per team, each driver must race for a total of 6 hours. If there are six drivers per team, each driver must race for a total of 4 hours.
9) Each driver can run from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 2 hours in each stint.
10) Team managers must present their team's pre-allocated schedule of their drivers' and marshals' stints (in order) to the officials. Any deviation from this will receive a 50 lap penalty.
What We Need
•Either 16 or 24 drivers with box-stock GTs from the lists above.
•A minimum of sponsorship pledges as detailed above.
•A nominated team manager for each team.
•Eight volunteers to act as Officials… One person must be in the chair counting down the laps at all times, another must be on hand to deal with any issues arising among the teams and ensure that changeovers take place safely and on time. (I'll put my name down for one slot, so that leaves seven to find!)
Prizes to cover:
•Overall Winning Team
•Winning GT1
•Winning GT2
•Winning GT3
•Most funds raised
•Competitions for non-competitors (e.g. guess how many laps the winning team will cover for £1 a go, all going to charity)
And so…
Thank you all for reading this far. I hope you like the idea and fancy taking part. Put your thoughts in the thread and feel free to PM me on anything to do with this idea. We will need a lot of time to prepare, so if we put a deadline of July 15 for people wanting to race, we will be able to make a judgement on whether the event will happen.
There are a number of nice, affordable hotels in the local area, be they Travelodge etc. or local B&B style, so have a think and see if you want to give it a go!
Thanks for reading this far!
I originally posted this in the Farnham club forum, but that might have been an error. It's not a Farnham-only event, but an open invitation to anyone who thinks this might be a good idea and fancies trying their hand at a genuine endurance race - for the benefit of Children in Need and other good causes.
The 'Background'
With the vigour and enthusiasm of a new member I proposed the idea of a charity 24 Hour race to the Farnham AGM, which wasn't rejected - so it's down to me to see if it's an idea that can work.
The 'Why'
Firstly, why bother doing it? Well my suggestion was that we should do it for Children in Need. I know that it's been around forever and a lot of people can take or leave Terry Wogan and Pudsey but the cause is great. Here's what the charity says in its own words:
Our mission is to make a positive change to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people right here in the UK. Our vision is a society where each and every child and young person is supported to realise their potential.
For every penny you give the charity, that penny will go towards projects helping disadvantaged children in the UK. We are able to make this promise because the charity uses its investment income and Gift Aid to cover all running costs. Every year, thanks to public donations and the amazing efforts of fundraisers, schools, businesses and our corporate partners, we are able to provide support to thousands of youngsters aged 18 and under.
We provide this support in the form of grants to organisations working with children who may have experienced mental, physical or sensory disabilities; behavioural or psychological disorders; are living in poverty or situations of deprivation; or suffering through distress, abuse or neglect.
I couldn't think of a better cause than that.
The thing about us slot racers is that we're all kids, albeit some older than others. We have a great hobby, one that we lavish our spare time and money on, so I thought why not use that positive energy to raise funds for kids who struggle to make a start in life for one reason or another?
The objective is to have fun, to create a close and cost-effective race that will be enjoyable to participate in and be a major achievement to complete - one that will hopefully inspire people to sponsor us all and raise funds.
In addition to Children in Need, we will also be raising funds for the Farnham group of Disability Challengers, which provides pre-school Playgroups, Play Schemes for 4-11 year-olds, Youth Schemes for 13-18 year-olds and Young Adult Schemes for those up to 25. As stepfather to a disabled child, I can vouch that the opportunities which schemes like this provide for youngsters both to test their own limits and get a real kick from being involved in, and achieving from, taking part in new activities are beyond measure.
The 'When'
The suggested date is Friday 18th November - Saturday 19th November, coinciding with the Children in Need telethon, pending approval of the Club and the Club's landlords.
If we run qualifying at 5pm and start the race at 6pm, we'll have plenty of time for celebrations on Saturday night after the race is over!
The 'Where'
Farnham Scalextric Club, Conservative Club, Farnham, Surrey.
The 'How'
My suggestion is this: Farnham has a big 4-lane Ninco setup, so we are looking for four teams of either four or six drivers in each, depending on how many people want to take part.
The cars will be box-standard Modern GT cars (post-2000), making the race like a miniature version of the big events at the Nurburgring, Spa, Dubai etc. Cars must run with full interiors (no impact cars), factory-fitted motors, tyres, hubs, axles, guides and gears - including traction magnets.
Headlights and tail lights will be required - and these must have been factory-fitted. This means no high-falutin' tuned-up monsters from the likes of Slot.It or NSR, putting the emphasis on regular high street brands for reasons of affordably ensuring both roughly equal performance and reliability (I ran Scaley cars for 7 hours a day during a week-long event in a tent in Bahrain and they covered an epic distance without having to change a single part, so this should be a breeze!)
This does mean that Ninco cars can't enter, although there were a few Fly cars made that would qualify as there were lighted versions made. There are also some eligible AutoArts for the brave!
One thought I did have was that, if we didn't allow Fly cars (on the basis of rarity and value if nothing else!) teams could be divided up by manufacturer - i.e. AutoArt, Carrera, Scalextric and SCX. Over to you lot on that idea!
Classes will reflect their 1:1 counterparts and be divided into GT1, GT2 and GT3.
I think the complete list of eligible cars would be:
GT1
AutoArt: BMW M3 GTR, Koenigsegg CXX, Lamborghini Diablo GTR
Carrera: Corvette C6.R, Ferrari 575 GTC, Maserati MC12
Fly: BMW M3 GTR, Corvette C5-R, Dodge Viper GTS-R - unless you want four manufacturer teams
Scalextric: Aston Martin DBR9, Maserati MC12, TVR T400C
SCX: Aston Martin DBR9, Corvette C6.R, Ferrari 550 GTC
GT2
AutoArt: Porsche 996 GT3 RS
Carrera: Audi R8, BMW M3 GT2, Ferrari 458 GT2, Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR, Porsche 997 GT3RS
Scalextric: Audi R8, Ferrari F430 GTC, Ford GT, Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR, Porsche 996 GT3 RS
SCX: Ferrari F360 GTC, Mercedes-Benz SLS, Morgan Aero 8
GT3
AutoArt: Ford Mustang FR500C, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Carrera: BMW Z3, VW Scirocco GT24,
Scalextric: Dodge Viper, Ford Mustang FR500C, Jaguar XKR GT3
SCX: Aston Martin N24, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Essentially these will be cars homologated for competition in the FIA GT, ALMS, LMS or VLM endurance series (or their offshoots, such as Belcar, British GT or Britcar) since 2000.
The 'Rules'
1) Minimum sponsorship requirement of £150 per team if four drivers, or £200 per team if six drivers.
2) Each team must nominate a team manager from among the drivers.
3) Each driver will use their own car, making this a 24 Hour relay race (or Coupe de Roi to give it its posh name).
4) Lanes will be allocated by qualifying, based on the total time of each team member's fastest laps.
5) If teams comprise four drivers there must be only one GT1 car and two of either GT2 or GT3.
6) If teams comprise six people there must two cars from each class.
7) The team manager must divide his team into pairs so that when one driver is racing his or her partner is marshalling for the duration of their stint, meaning there will always be four marshals on track.
8) If there are four drivers per team, each driver must race for a total of 6 hours. If there are six drivers per team, each driver must race for a total of 4 hours.
9) Each driver can run from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 2 hours in each stint.
10) Team managers must present their team's pre-allocated schedule of their drivers' and marshals' stints (in order) to the officials. Any deviation from this will receive a 50 lap penalty.
What We Need
•Either 16 or 24 drivers with box-stock GTs from the lists above.
•A minimum of sponsorship pledges as detailed above.
•A nominated team manager for each team.
•Eight volunteers to act as Officials… One person must be in the chair counting down the laps at all times, another must be on hand to deal with any issues arising among the teams and ensure that changeovers take place safely and on time. (I'll put my name down for one slot, so that leaves seven to find!)
Prizes to cover:
•Overall Winning Team
•Winning GT1
•Winning GT2
•Winning GT3
•Most funds raised
•Competitions for non-competitors (e.g. guess how many laps the winning team will cover for £1 a go, all going to charity)
And so…
Thank you all for reading this far. I hope you like the idea and fancy taking part. Put your thoughts in the thread and feel free to PM me on anything to do with this idea. We will need a lot of time to prepare, so if we put a deadline of July 15 for people wanting to race, we will be able to make a judgement on whether the event will happen.
There are a number of nice, affordable hotels in the local area, be they Travelodge etc. or local B&B style, so have a think and see if you want to give it a go!
Thanks for reading this far!
