BOAC 500

"Probably the best days racing you will ever have"

Why BOAC 500 ?

Its Official, the entry list is now full!   

We now have the 36 confirmed entries that we wanted to ensure our pre prepared racing will go to plan! This is the maximum number of drivers we will allow on the day. 

However, because we opened the entry well before last Xmas we are aware that some drivers may now not be able to make it. With that in mind we are now accepting drivers onto our 'reserve' list, and we will do our best to accept any latecomers on the day.  Please just call if you want to be on this reserve list, as any spare places on the day will go to those on the reserve list first. If you have any questions regarding this then please call Garry on 01634 830062 If are are interested in the event, then please take some time to read these pages, as everything you need to know is here!

As of this moment we have now raised over £995 for the charity, with a further £100 already taken in raffle ticket money still to add to the total. Raffle tickets are available direct from our club or on the day at £1 each minimum purchase £5

So what is the BOAC 500? Well its a charity fund raising event that will be held on the Bletchingly Or Alternatively Coulsdon model car club track on Sunday 3rd July 2022 with the aim of raising £500 for Charity.

The idea came about after we ran a race day for one of our club members Mike Thomas (more commonly known as Birdseed) who is suffering from PSP (google it, its too complex to explain here!). This rare disease is slowly taking away his ability to race or walk, so we organised a race day whereby he would still be able to drive (we made a special "grandstand" for him) and meet up with the many friends he has made during the years he has raced at clubs in the south east.

The day was based around our 1/24 club cars, so all anyone had to do was turn up with a controller and race. The result was a great days racing and enjoyed by all, with Mike going home a very happy man. And from this idea the BOAC 500 Charity race was born.

The Charity you will be raising money for is the PSPA which is a charity offering support to people living with PSP and CBD, whilst supporting research into treatments and ultimately a cure. They rely entirely on voluntary donations. PSPA is a registered charity in England and Wales (1037087) and in Scotland (SC041199). Click here for a direct link to their website.

We are most grateful to both Superstars.co.uk and Autographs.co.uk who have very kindly agreed to cover the full cost of the event including the days racing and maintenance of the cars, so 100% of the entry fees and any money raised on the day via raffles etc will go to the Charity that is providing the supporting care for Mike.

The Event

"Just bring yourself and your controller for an exciting full days racing and some great prizes"

The BOAC 500

The date is confirmed as Sunday 3rd July 2022 with doors opening at 9am and racing starting at 10am with a planned finish no later then 6pm. This will be a PRE ENTRY race only as this allows us to arrange the qualifying and some of the racing before the event so saving time on the day and allowing you more track time. Just click on the ENTER NOW button below to make your entry today. Unless you have paid the entry fee your entry will not be accepted. 100% of the entry fees plus any monies raised on the day will go to charity. Drivers only need bring a controller as we will provide the cars and all servicing and maintenance throughout the day. It is anticipated that there will be qualifying, plus heats, semi finals and finals with many and varied prizes for as many places as possible.

  • Date: 03/07/2022 10:00 AM
  • Location: Coulsdon MCRC. Bletchingly. RH1 4PE (Map)
  • More Info: Please note that the Coulson club is not in Coulsdon but in Bletchingly. The Grange Meadow playing fields are located directly opposite the Bletchingly Arms Pub on the A25, Junction 6 of the M25. Our club is at the end of the drive on the left hand side, parking is right outside.

The Prizes!

The Prizes!
We have been able to get some fabulous prizes for the event, and fully expect every entrant to go away with something of real value. One of our members has very kindly donated some trophies too. We have a fabulous trophy for the overall winner and we hope to have some kind of award for all those who finish high in each final etc.

We can now reveal two fabulous prizes that have been donated by the Ferrari Owners Club of Kent. The first one we will keep secret for now and you will understand why later, but the second one is a passenger ride experience in a Ferrari 488 at a race circuit, and although we were going to offer this as a team prize, the logistics of working this out proved to be unworkable, so instead we have decided to raffle these two places instead.

Tickets are available now via the club and these will also be available on the day up until the close of racing with the winning tickets drawn immediately after the final. We will pull two tickets and each one will be for a passenger ride in the Ferrari 488.

There will be two winners, and each will be able to bring along their wife/girlfriend/husband/friend. Each winner will get to be a passenger in a full race prepared Ferrari 488 Challenge at race speed at either Brands Hatch or Silverstone (subject of course to weather etc), and in both cases this should be on the full circuit. You will of course be given race overalls and helmet to wear (with intercom to the driver) and will experience what its like to be driven on a race circuit at race speeds in a car capable of over 200mph and with almost 700 hp behind you! If you have never experienced being driven at speed on a circuit in a race car before, then you are in for a very exciting day.

There are many other prizes which we will also be handing out on the day for fastest time etc, and it is our intention to ensure that these are handed out to as many people as possible. We fully expect everyone to go home with something!

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£20
  • Simply click the ENTER NOW button and pay the fee direct to the charity, and if you are a UK tax payer they the charity will benefit from gift aid as well.
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The Cars

The cars that you will race on the day will be the cars we use on our monthly "Club Car" night. These are a 1/24 scale steel chassis which were designed and made by Ian Barker, and we race these on the first Thursday of every month (your first night is free if you want to pay us a visit and get some extra practice!). Its always a good evenings close racing, and with no car prep to worry about there is always more time for a chat or gossip. Lap times are normally around the 5.5 to 6 second mark which is very competitive, and compares very well with a very good Genesis 1/32 car.

Motors are Pro Slot Euros with Puppy Dog arms, and drivers will only be allowed to adjust braids as the maintenance is taken care of during racing by our resident expert mechanic Mike Read. We will have six of these cars available and they will be swapped around during the day to ensure that one car has no real advantage. All 6 cars will be fully race prepped and ready to go on the day.

Bodies for the BOAC 500 are now confirmed as Autocoast Ti22 and will be supplied by Trevor Crout at CAT and painted and lettered by Eddie McDonald (Sprays by Mac). We are of course very grateful for the help and assistance these two have given us for this event.

The Track

Our 4 lane track with a separate variable power supply to each lane and was built and assembled by Lars Harrysson around 15 years ago. It has undergone a couple of changes in that time with a couple of new sections added around 5 years ago, one was again made by Lars, and a new section to smooth out a corner going under the bridge was designed and fitted by that well known track maestro Lee Parsons. These minor but worthwhile changes made the track a little easier to both drive and marshal.

As with so many club tracks we are limited by space so we have tried to get as much track into the space we have. Lap length is 123 feet fully braided and colour coded all the way round. Pit space will be allocated on the day to sponsors only, but as you will only need to bring a controller on the day, then you wont need any pit space will you!.

We have recently spent time adding new carpet to the floor and have re painted the entire clubroom. We also have a kitchen for tea/coffee etc and we even have toilets for both ladies and gents too! Hot and cold food and drinks will be available on the day although you are welcome to bring your own.     

Parking is not an issue as we have free parking on the grass outside for more than enough cars at any meeting, although the grass can get a bit damp during the rainy season! There is also a pub a short walk across the main road.
The TrackThe TrackThe Track

The "A" Team

Garry King

Event Organiser

Garry has been racing since he was 14 and for many years ran One-O-One with Dave Harvey. He has organised many events and charity functions, has been an International judge for the F1 in Schools events supported by Ross Brawn and F1 teams, and also maintains this website.

Keith Wale

Event director

Keith is directing the event and has a lifetime of experience in model cars both slot and R/C. Both Garry and Keith raced at Eltham and other clubs in the late 60's early 70's and Keith's enthusiasm for slot racing is undiminished. Keith will be Dave's back up on Race Control.

Mike Read

Car Maintenance

Mike (now a National Champion!) is the lead man at Coulsdon and runs the club almost single handedly. He is the chief mechanic for our club cars which will be used for the BOAC 500. Mike runs every club night and will be keeping a very close eye on the cars on the day.

Les May

Graphics & Social Media

Les has been a member at Coulsdon for the last ten years after starting his slot race with a tinplate Scalex set! Les is our graphics man having trained at the same art college as Ian Barker. Les will also be seen on Race Control on the day.

Dave Stevenson

Race Director.

Dave is well known to many within slot racing and is a past National Champion. Dave has spent many hours with MIke Read working on the best way to run the racing to ensure it runs as smooth as silk on the day.

Tony Mills

Car Maintenance

Tony has been racing for many years and is a past national Constructors Champion. Now well known for building retro and classic cars, Tony will be assisting MIke Read in the maintenance and repair of the cars.

Peter Kerr

Clerk of the Course

Pete is another club stalwart and will be our Clerk of the Course for the day. His job is to ensure that cars, drivers and marshals are all in the right place at the right time and that everyone knows what they are doing!.

Mike Speight

Chief Marshal

Because we aim to ensure that you all have a full days racing, its important that marshals and cars are all in the right place at the right time, so Mikes job is to make that all happen!

F.A.Q

Do i need to bring anything other than my controller?

You will only need your controller and maybe your lunch, no boxes will be allowed in the club house as you will not need them! Pit space will be allocated to sponsors only. 

How much racing will we get on the day?

A full race schedule is now being prepared for the day, and our aim will be to give everyone as much racing as possible within the time limits. There will be qualifying, plus heats and finals and if all goes to plan we may also run some consolation races as well, but our aim is to give everyone as much race time as is possible. 

How much is the entry fee for the day?

Entry fee for the day is £20 and 100% of this money will go directly to the charity. We have added a link to the GoFundMe charity page for payment, so that if you are a tax payer then the charity will receive the tax you would have paid on that amount via Gift Aid, so helping to push the amount up even  further.

What times are start and finish?

Doors will open on the day at 9am for driver entry with a driver briefing at 9.50. Racing will start at 10am and finish by 6pm at the latest. Final timings will all depend on numbers on the day, but our timetable will be planned around fitting as much racing into that schedule as possible. We will also have a half hour lunch as well. By having only advance booking it allows us arrange much of the racing before the event starts. 

Is my place guaranteed on the day?

If you have paid your entry fee either via the site or direct to us, then your race place on the day is guaranteed. If you have requested a 'reserve' place, then your entry is not guaranteed on the day, although we have made provision for those 'reserve' places to take any place for any driver that does not arrive by 9.30pm. Because we have taken advance bookings for places months in advance we do expect that some drivers will not be able to attend as they may well have booked a holiday etc, that is why have the 'reserve' places.

Will you be serving food on the day?

Yes. We have a kitchen and will be offering a hot and cold drinks, plus the usual snacks, crisps and sweets etc, and will will also be offering a limited range of hot items as well. But if you want to bring your own food, then that is fine.

I have not pre booked, will i be able to attend and race on the day?

Unless you have pre booked then we cannot guarantee any race place on the day. However, there will always be some drivers who have paid but may not be able to attend, and those places will be offered to those drivers who names the 'reserve' list and turn up on the day. There will only be a limited number of these 'reserve' places available and we suggest that if you have any intention of attending then you should get your name on that list now. If any driver should confirm that they cannot attend before the day, then their place will be offered to the first on the 'reserve' list.

We will do our best to accept any late entries on the day, but this cannot be guaranteed as priority will be given to those on the reserve list first. So if you have any interest in driving on the day, then please get your name on the list now! Just call Garry on 01634 830062

I have a question, can i call someone?

Yes of course. You can call Garry on 01634 830062 during office hours if you have any questions regarding the event.

Can i attend before the day and get some practice?

You are welcome to attend any of our club nights (Thursdays) at any time up to race day. In addition, we intend to open on the Saturday as well for organised practice too. Full details of this will be made available near the day.

What prizes do you have for winners?

At the BOAC 500 all drivers will be winners! We are being supported by a number of companies, firstly by the two that are providing the funds to cover the cost of the the days racing, Autographs.co.uk  and Autografica.co.uk

Then we have support from Richard Mack who has very kindly agreed to supply some chassis as prizes. Both Dave Harvey at Won-O-Won and Ian at Betta Bodies have offered a nice bundle of gift vouchers as prizes, and Missile have made a direct contribution to the charity. Eddie Macdonald is also painting the 8 bodies (4 spare!) for the race and has donated 2 ready painted 1/32 bodies as prizes too. The best model shop in the country Modelworld has given us a nice stack of various tools etc as prizes too.

In addition we have a number of family tickets for various attractions in the south east, plus some slot related products donated by some of our tech minded club members. And of course we have the two Ferrari related prizes as well.

Do you have car parking?

Yes, we have plenty of free car parking right outside the clubroom. It is on grass, which can get a little muddy at times but only when it has been very wet. There are a few steps up to the clubroom.

Contact

  • Coulsdon Club. Bletchingly. RH1 4PE
  • Club house is opposite the Bletchingley Arms, with ample free parking.

The race date is Sunday 3rd July 2022. If you wish to attend this exciting charity event please phone or email to request a place on the reserve list as the entry is now full.


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