How things have changed

[rac92]

Sorry to disagree with you Bob, but a control engine is the only way to stop widespread and ongoing cheats if you dont pull engines down.
Sure you can "trust" people to do the right thing but that wont happen either.
If flexibility is what you are after then maybe explore the engine option as with the system I came up with it would work.

[rac92]

I understand you run these engines as I do anyway, as do others up there and we are just two voices amongst many.
If there is to be flexibility and agreement between states then all options need to be explored not just the ones that suit individuals.

[bobhod]

Rob, myself and many others in the various clubs would have no objections to pulling down the engines of the first three placegetters in title races. This will be the last comment and suggestion that I make regarding common rules because as I said earlier that due to a stroke I am no longer a member and as such some members believe that I should shut up.

I will however as I have all ways done is to support the club at barbecues and working bees, I
will also continue to assist new members tune and setup their cars.

Bob

[rac92]

I understand what you are saying and believe everyone has ideas and input but you are calling for flexibility but wont bend or consider something that may just be what is needed.
Pulling hot engines down in a dirty environment so as to has official results is crap when an alternative is there but not even considered.
That is all I will say except for what about some input from the other 30 people who have viewed this thread today!!!

[bobjeffreson]

Robert...what is it with you and the..."widespread and ongoing cheats".
With this statement you are tarring a lot of your fellow 1/4 scale racers with the same brush. Are you included in that sweeping statement.I'm assuming you are including some of your fellow Outlaws in that statement! You have been very successful through your time in 1/4 scale racing! Do you cheat? People may well ask that question.
I'll tell you one thing ....I DON'T CHEAT...period...never have... GET IT!!!!!
And I take offence to your statement, for the sake of all the other people who do not cheat!
Who are these cheats. Put up some concrete evidence, so the culprits can be named, shamed and sanctioned. I'll race against cheats, because they are only fooling themselves! I don't care. Hot 1/4 scale motors, are not high on my list of priorities these days.
If your are referring to the incident at Grandview Speedway, that person doesn't even run a car these days and has not for a very long while.
GEEZ Robert, give us some evidence or please shut up!

[robhod]

Hi Guys

All clubs need to discuss all of these ideas when considering common Australia wide rules for National Titles.

Some clubs i hear may wish to have their own set of rules while still agreeing to National rules for National events/Titles.(myself i think it would be best to have common rules end of story however this may not be possible and is the choice of each club)

I think the main thing we must all remember is not everyone will agree to the same thing.This may not happen. What we should do though for the good of the sport is agree on National Rules and vote on rules that we can agree too. And we MUST all accept that when there is a vote that the majority rules, that being said if it goes the way i may not like then we must all MAN-UP and accept it! no my way or the highway stuff.

There is my thoughts, now we should start discussion between the clubs to make this happen.

Rob Hodkinson
NSW

[rac92]

G/day Bob,
I wont dignify those comments with an answer... well not on here anyway but just maybe you should open your eyes and ears.
Robert

[bobjeffreson]

Robert,
"I wont dignify those comments with an answer"

I find that a very lame and piss poor excuse. Send me a PM, with your accusations. Just between you and ME! OR maybe not!
Happy to listen...Mate I've go eyes and ears for anything you wish to put forward. Also looking for members to back up Robert's accusations. Let's hear from anyone...Anyone?
I'm open to listen. ANYONE!!!! Who's got the BALLS!!!
Was Clinton a cheat... Was Danny a cheat ... was Mikey a cheat.. was Dale a cheat. Was I a cheat. Were you a cheat!!!
Maybe ! Who knows!
Dignify me with a response or as I said.... SHUT UP!!!!
You won't be in Adelaide anyway, so what's your problem. We are all cheats......so DON'T COME! There will be so many sprint cars entered, your non appearance will not be missed!
And as you said, I will not "dignify those comments with an answer"
Post your answer on Outlaw Quarter Scale Speedway Association ...where nobody looks anyway!!!

[jeff]

To Robert Coombes
Over the many years I have been involved in the quarter scale movement,and that is more than you I have never heard of anyone cheating.but now that Adelaide has come on board to help unify the sport again there is one and only one person saying there is cheating going on.on my first visit to USA as president of the national body here I saw how qsac policed their rules.they did not have an engine rules like you want and still don't the first six cars in a final are impounded and checked.they all know this rule and are happy to have their out of the box engines checkeyou stated to me last October that you and another person were not going to enter the titles at Easter because you thought that everyone else cheats or is that you are not going to attend because you are scared of being beaten by better drivers. Than you sorry if this offends you but I and many others are offended by your insinuations that we are cheating with out of the box engines.i will stop now or I could keep going and say more................

[lobonsw21]

Much has been said in this thread about getting a set of National rules
I have been racing R/C cars for over 30years in all forms and was 1/12th scale section head off AARCMCC for many years being voted in by the members and during this time organized members for the would tiles
While as section head I had no voting rights if a member club requested a proposal to change a rule/s , I mailed out their proposal to other member clubs for their members to vote, if their reply was not received back within 30days they therefore agreed to the proposal and depending on how the other clubs voted wether it passed or not.
What I'm getting at is if we had one or two people to oversee the process of formatting the rules voted by member club's who pay an annual fee to cover the costs , the members of the club vote and the club only has one vote.
With the rules as they stand in all states I can see many area's where the rules are open to interpretation and I admit to using them WITHOUT CHEATING and I would say there are others who do the same and I challenge anyone to check my car.
There will always be someone who cheats and someone who will catch them out
Over the years of racing I have found that car preparation and skill are the key, and yet on many occasion's I turn up to race and some arrive there car in same condition as when they last raced covered in dirt and wonder why them have troubles all day.
The engines should be sealed before the event and the first 3 place getters engines pulled down as we used to do in 1/5th scale before modified engines were allowed ,and if you look at the Zenoah engine specs all engines from 23cc to 29cc have the same external dimensions, also a supplied engine in my opinion is not the way to go as whoever looks after them someone will always suspect that they will know which engine is best even if they don't.
There has been much talk for years now and still we do not have a uniform National set of rules and if we want new people to join in our fun and not turned away be the infighting that I know some have.
Not everyone may like the rules when we do set them, they can join in or go and ply by themselves.
P.S. There are ways and means to stop vote stacking!
GB

[josebeatriz]

Dear Mr Robert Coombes

The first time you meet me you called me a cheat and told me that many of the NSW contingent on that weekend were all cheating. It soured a very good memory of my 1/4 scale days, but at least I took away the friendship of a very good man, Brian O`shannesy. He struggled all weekend with trying to keep you in check, it seemed to me that your objective was to ruin it for all unless VIC or SA took out the events. Well I came third in the speedcar division and the trophy still holds pride of place in my office.

I also arrived there with a grand trailer, again you assumed the worst because of your past experiences, you failed to notice that if I did not bring my trailer with its own marque, most of the NSW competitors would have been out in the open as where the WA boys, there was not enough shelter. The only thank and compliment was from Brian, our host.

I believe that you have won your titles and now just want to sour it for all that are left and coming through, not a very mature response from an elder statesman of the hobby.

If you are so convinced that your suggestion is so bullet proof, then why not document it in detail and let the rest of us read it, for now it is just an idea of someone who seems to like the sound of his own voice.

I was not happy with how things where run at Luddenham two years ago and stepped away, I did not rubbish all that where left, I just watched and the day that I am happy again to participate, I will. Since then I have been trying to come up with ideas, by listening to all participants, of ways to make all good for the better of the hobby and not to just praise a few individuals. If any suggestions where to be considered they need to be heard by individuals with open minds from all states.

History does hurt sometimes and not all can ever be forgotten, but mature intelligent people should be able to put hurt aside and listen to other views, not just their own, and maybe see that there is always light at the end of each tunnel and not just a freight train coming the other way every time. That is the view of a pessimist, not an optimist.

I would like to have a crack at joining all states together, just one go. I have learnt a lot over the last seven years in the hobby and different to many others, I get more enjoyment from the engineering than the racing. I do not want to be a president of anything, I run a large company and that is enough pressure for me. I suggest that I be appointed as a chairperson that would communicate between the appointed delegates of each state, the chairperson DOES NOT have a vote, he documents, collates and corresponds only. We have five states which equal five only votes. As in all democracies, majority would rule and as mature adults the decisions will have to be accepted as final.

If each state can nominate a delegate, which I believe is in place, and they in turn contact me to accept their place on this journey, then we can start moving forward. It will only take one out of the five to pull out for me to go back to just enjoying my hobby and not worrying about this any further. If you do not have my contacts already, pm me and I will send them to you.

I hope that no one rubbishes this suggestion as it will have little effect, if you do not like it, don't give a nasty reply, just ignore it and get on with your life.

Jose Beatriz
SSME Secretary
SSME Treasurer
SSME Membership Officer

As you can see I already volunteer a bit of my time and would be happy to volunteer more if it was for a worthy result, the choice is that of the five!!!!!

[josebeatriz]

Sorry Geoff if some of my content is the same as yours, it seems that we were both typing at the same time and it took some time to get my thought down.

[laurie27]

Wow what a thread.

The strangest thing about all of this is that I know everyone of you & I also know NONE of you have ever used a "shonkie" motor.

We all have a common goal, so lets put it to the test.

Yes every state has a rep (as of last year).

We have Jose who works 30hrs a day & has offered his servises as a Chairperson. God I think we need one.

Get our reps & Jose or Bob Hod together (Ron has even offered forum space for reps only)& get a common goal. Rob Coombes spoke to me a few years ago about the "out of the box" motors, yes it wasnt a hit, but surely we MUST look at ALL areas & if so lets have motors pulled down after the Titles.

When I joined SSME we only had National specs & 4 classes, we relied on honesty, yeh no car checks, run what you brung, I was told.

Well times have changed the HOBBY is bigger & we need to go with the times.

For the sake of our hobby we need to stop these negative comments & have action. We need pre race checks, spot checks of motors & electric aids.

We all have welcomed back Adelaide & lets make it an event to remember and the start of the a great future. Yes there may be changes some of us wont agree with, but we can get over it, even if these changes are for National events. No one is asking to reinvent the wheel.

Thats my 2 cents worth, Im only speaking for my self not anyone else.

Laurie Brien
LQSS Section leader

[blasto53]

Hi all I too race Sprintcars and dirt mods and would welcome the pulling down off motors at title meetings for the first 3 place getters and believe that this is not uncommon in other forms of racing.
I'm am all for a uniform set of rules Australia wide so that all clubs Aus wide can come together and race at any track and any meeting without having to worry about changing your car or cars to conform to certain clubs regulations.
I have only been in the hobby for a short time and enjoy it a lot and hoe that these issues may be sorted out so that there can be some unity between clubs

[flo5]

Hi,

Been following this discussion for a while & thought I'd add my 5 cents worth.....hope you don't mind. I'm across the ditch in NZ & are slowly building up a sprint car, I don't know any racers in OZ and haven't visited any of your tracks. I also don't know anything about the history of 1/4 scale racing in Oz but it's clear from some of the comments on here that it's been colourful at times?

The points I would like to make are:
1) 1/4 scale sprint cars (for example) are exactly that 1/4 the size of real sprint cars, if one wanted to run in the Speedway New Zealand National Title he/she would simply load up the car, drive to track & take the green flag.....no need to change anything, why should 1/4 scale be any different?
2) Sprinters have hardly changed since the dawn of time, it's a relatively simple vehicle, simple vehicle = simple rules.
3) Many options now for RTR entry level classes, Losi, Customworks, etc could lead to sprint cars. Could you then have a class similar to saloon/super saloons here in NZ that go from entry level/controlled to any goes.....
4) Finally I think you guys have a great hobby, I've seen first hand the damage in-fighting can do within speedway here in NZ, I just hope you guys can reach a solution going forward to unite the hobby in OZ, don't forgot these's a bunch of kiwi's building/with cars who might one day want to run in your national champs.....keep it simple.

Good luck

Fraser O'Malley
Timaru, New Zealand

[vince.sainsbury]

I was just wondering if any state has taken Jose up on his offering . we have all spoken about this between our self's. the time has come to put up or shut up. either we want national rules or race the way we have in the past. the choice is yours......

[bobjeffreson]

Vince,
Prior to June 2005 we had a National set of rules, that had been in place for a decade. Some members of the Australian Association, decided they did not like the way things were going, so they broke away to form another body. Getting a National set of rules would be going back to the future, however I agree that it should be a priority.