Retro RCTC vintage Touring car Race Report

This weekend I have had an adventure back in time.  I began with a visit to the Crash Retro event in Walsall. This event was all about the ZX Spectrum, an 8-bit computer released in 1982 which still has fans today, including as it would seem myself as I sometimes contribute towards some of the games that are still being made for the machine this day.

Sunday also continued the retro theme with a day at the inaugural Retro RC TC Challenge hosted at the excellent Force raceway. 

This event is the first of hopefully many where older touring cars take centre stage. The rules are pretty simple. 

There are two classes Pre-2001 and 2001-2006. You are allowed to run down to a twelve turn Brushed or a 13.5 brushless motor. Rubber tyres (any make) and importantly you must also run a period bodyshell. 

I had a lot on my plate so I didn’t have time to prepare a pre-2001 chassis. If I had, I would have chosen a TRF414, TA03R-TRF or even possibly the TB-Evolution. The problem with some of the older chassis is battery fitment, it is possible but some tinkering will always be needed.  

With that in mind, I dragged out my TRF415 which last raced at Iconic a couple of years ago.. I had no time other than to dust it down, check the settings, oil the bearings and CVD’s and hope it would work 🙂

For once I was early, and arrived at Force Raceway and quickly got set-up. I know from my other times at this excellent facility that the grip would be really high.. and from the first bit of practice I could tell that the grip was going to be the main thing I would have to be trying to address over the course of the meeting. 

The TRF415 felt good, but I was already rolling on some of the corners.. With my lack of preparation I didn’t have a great tyre selection so I had to stick (Natch) with my Volantes. 

I made several changes throughout the day, but I just couldn’t cure the grip roll. I mounted D blocks at the front, softened the springs, played with roll centres and even changed the Ackermann and front toe.. The car was fast, I managed to post some of the fastest laptimes of the day, but the grip roll would just bite hard towards the end of the run and I would lose time.  If I had time between races I would have swapped out the arms to the original TRF415 arms.. these were always much better on carpet.

Along the way there was a concourse. The shells were all fantastic with some real classics. I was lucky to win this with my Protoform Dodge, amongst some very stiff competition..

Lunch.. some of the great food provided at Force Raceway.. 

The times all got quicker, I was on the pace with the other drivers in my heat and in the final few rounds my TRF415 was actually more consistent than most of the other cars, but their earlier times were hard to beat. 

Still I lined up in the final against a formidable set of drivers running a diverse range range of chassis. A HPI Pro4, X-Ray FK05, Schumacher SST2000 and my TRF415ms.

The final went well, I moved up to second place and had a good gap to third place.. however the dreaded grip roll  appeared towards the end of the race and it lead to some confusion when and where I was to be placed back on the track. This gave up my place, and I finished the race in third place.

Andy’s Hpi Pro2 Japan edition

It was a fantastic day’s racing. It was great to catch up with friends The quality of driving was superb in every heat. Lot’s of great sportsmanship and everyone was intrigued to look at the range of cars that were on display.  I am already looking forward to the next event.. 

With that in mind.. Here is a selection of the chassis at the event.. can you name them all? 

For more info on the next event, why not join the Retro TC facebook group (Click here)