There’s lots of interesting things going on around Launceston R/C. Click through for all the news, and don’t forget to get involved. 

On-Road Racing Trial

We’re working on developing an alternate venue for outdoor Touring Car racing on bitument.  This Saturday (March 24th) a few guys are going to test out a bitumen pad at Gravelly Beach. They’ll be there for a while in the early afternoon (from around 1pm), test running some cars and looking at the site to see if we could make it work.  The venue is in the park at Gravelly Beach next to the Boat Ramp (beside Skate Park) off Gravelly Beach Road. It’s a 18*30m piece of bitumen in the park. Verbal indications from Council are that we could access the site for occasional race meetings, so we’re testing the surface etc this weekend.  If it’s to happen, we’ll need a team of people to put their hands up and commit to organising and running the events.  Leave your thoughts in the comments section, or get down Saturday afternoon for a look.  See the Map to find the park.

Launceston Cup 2012

Our annual “major” event, the Launceston Cup, will take place this year on Friday June 29 & Saturday June 30th.  Friday afternoon will be track build (a new layout specifically for this event & which will carry over to out 2012 Spring series) with open practice Friday evening, and racing Saturday.  The race format Saturday will see three qualifying heats, and three finals.  We’re adding a couple of extra classes, and clarifying rules for a couple of others for 2012. The full lineup should be:

• Junior 10th Off-road (Short Course, 2wd Buggy, 4wd Buggy, drivers 14 and under)
• Short Course Truck (our normal SC truck class, 13.5 motor limit, restricted tyres, truck bodies)
• Short Course Unlimited (2 or 4wd, open tyres, open motors, still 2s LiPo batteries only)
• 2wd Buggy (10th 2wd buggies, 17.5 turn motor, zero ESC timing)
• Open Buggy (10th 2wd, 4wd, Stadium truck, no motor limits, 2s LiPo only)
• 8th Big Bangers (buggy, truggy, monster truck)
• Mini (Tamiya M-chassis, stock 540 motors or Hobbywing 13t “Mini” systems, boxy “Mini” style bodies)
• Tourers (4wd touring cars, 17.5 “Blinky” or 21.5 Boosted max)

Full details will be released in the next few weeks.

Driver’s Stand

Matthew Chandler is working on some upgrades to stairs, railings and ramp for the driver’s stand. If you have ideas or can offer support/assistance please talk with Matthew, Sam Wells or Greenie.  I understand we’ll need some decking/treads to fit out the frame that Matthew puts together.

PA System

We’ve ordered a new sound system with thanks to Tom West brokering a very good deal for us. The new sound desk, speakers and microphones should improve the sound quality enormously. We’re hoping to have it on site for our next club race (2nd Thurs in April)

Open Practice

Open Practice takes place next Thursday night March 30th.  It’s a great chance to test different car setups, work on driving lines and techniques without the pressure of racing. The track at Rutherglen will be open 6-9pm at cost of $5 per person.

Committee Meetings

The club committee are now meeting the first Monday of odd-numbered months. That means for the rest of the year committee meetings dates are:

• 7th May
• 2nd July
• 3rd September
• 5th November

If there are topics you’d like to raise for the committee to discuss, please talk with Paddy Hume (President) or Richard Green (Secretary).

2012/12 Annual General Meeting

In the second half of the year will be our Annual General Meeting in the next few weeks. It’s the normal review of the year and election of officers and committee for the coming year.  Date for the meeting is to be confirmed, but we’ll potentially look for a 5th Thursday night and run the AGM in conjunction with an Open Practice night.

Timekeeping/Race Director Help

Over the next couple of months we’ll be looking to add a couple of people to the team that can use the Alycat/Transponder lap counting system and assist with running race meetings.  Please see Scott if you are willing to learn the system and help with organising club events.

Clean Up/Pack Up

It would be very helpful to have a few extra bodies assisting with setup/packup regularly on a Thursday night. We’re blessed to have very little setup to do compared with many clubs, but there are still a few jobs that need to be done each week.

• Setup (and packup) air compressor
• Check track – taping carpet tears, fixing corner markers, relocating pit lane/front straight track barrier etc
• Cleaning up rubbish/bins etc
• Setup/packup computer/transponder system/power/sound gear
• Setup lighting in the far left-hand corner of the track (we have extra lights to run in that corner)

Perhaps there’s one job you could commit to do each week at the start or end of the night?  Many hands make light work. See Greenie or Paddy next race meeting.