Today marks ten years of FRC's existence. The very first iteration of FRC was assembled and cars raced for the first time on my daughter Zoë''s sixth birthday, August 29th, 2008. The track table, legs and winch mechanism had been in progress for at least a month before. I had already received the original Scalextric set and some of the extra track ordered for the final track plan, so I put together a basic track to add to the birthday celebrations. This pictorial post goes over the past ten years of fun and brings back memories past. Hope you enjoy it!
The Beginning
Me, daughter Zoë and father-in-law Randy try out the brand new track.
The whole party got involved, Zoë being the centre of it.
Track Evolution and Maintenance
Although the basic shape of the track has remained over the years, it has evolved in small and in big ways. During this time, its also had its fair share of maintenance and under-the-surface improvements. Here are some of them.
From the beginning I had realised that a perimeter fence was necessary, so I added one soon after the original testing at the party.
Once the fence was in place, I re-assembled the original track while awaiting the remaining pieces. So this is the original layout raced.
The driver station extension has been added here... and Zoë has become a slot car fan.
The full track is finally in place.
More finishing touches and the track is named Fairways Racing Complex.
Early race event on the full circuit, now up from 4-car capacity to 6-car. Zoë is still ever present.
The track gets a painted pit lane exit marker (a la F1) and a fence along the outside of the start/finish straight.
Green track borders, buildings, a Dunlop bridge and wall barriers appear.
The outside of the first corner where all the bits that fall off the cars are put is named Speedway Auto Supplies Ltd, after a once popular local car parts shop. This has remained the place to look for pieces of cars that come off during races.
The track grounds sprout trees and the Island Hobbies corner is named. Its since been renamed Fosters corner after the Fosters Beer wall replaced a small section of the green fencing on the outside of the corner.
Every track needs maintenance and FRC is no exception. This was the first big one, all the track sections being removed for cleaning. Most of the pieces remaining on the table are glued in place.
As usual, Zoë gets involved, helping Boo clean the track sections and they're a lot!
One of the maintenance jobs that was done was really an improvement when we electronically joined sections of track to give better conductivity.
Without doubt, the largest upgrade ever carried out at FRC was done in August 2010, two years after its inception. The idea was to add elevations and scenery and this meant that the track was closed for a few months. Everything was kept secret from the majority of drivers to give them a big surprise. Here are some of the elevation foundations being added.
Myself and good friend and fellow racer O'Brie working on the elevations.
Me and son Kyle work on the barrier wall for the elevated track corner.
The beginnings of the scenery.
Putting on the plaster cloth.
The hillsides appear to be covered in snow.
Foundation "earth" colour sprayed on.
Grass layer in place.
Things beginning to look cleaner and neater.
Racer Brent laying down the grass paper.
The grass and track edges re-touched to look more realistic. Shrubbery also appearing.
Some Porsches race past the now "water-filled" Caiman Pond and more trees and foliage appear.
FRC gets a pit building...
... caimans...
... and direction chevrons.
The upgrade is completed.
Kids
Kids are always interested in "toys" like slot cars. FRC has often had and encouraged their participation. Here Nathaniel, his friend and Zoë race while Nathaniel's dad Alex - an FRC racer himself - looks on.
Zoë and another youngster driving:
Driver Shane surrounded by his daughter, young Jonathan, racer Steve's son and Ryan, racer Christian's son:
An older Zoë, Jonathan and racer Luke's daughter, Bethany compete:
Food, Drinks and Special Events
From FRC's beginnings, food, drinks and special events have played a part in FRC activities. This is the very first time a pot of food was cooked on site. The chef is then racer, Ronald.
Portable cooker doing its job near the track at another special event.
Drivers Luke, Paul, Boo and Kerwin dig in, while the ever-present young Zoë joins in.
Birthday celebrations with cake, ice cream and Scalextric trucks.
Boo shows his Martini glass while Luke is focused on the track. Somehow Martinis became a regular FRC fixture at one period in time.
Nicky, me and Shane with Martinis at the driver station.
Special events, which have featured all sorts of different types of racing, are generally planned to celebrate something special like a birthday or final event for the year. Here drivers are focused on their cars during one of our multi-driver endurance events.
A break between long races is always welcomed, with both food and jokes being offered. Here Alex, Luke and Paul enjoy one.
The computer race management system is always in place for special events.
An early special event with lots of cars, many brought into Trinidad from Nigeria by Peter (in horizontal striped shirt) while on holiday here.
Setting IDs for my cars at a recent special event. Yes, these are just my cars. other drivers had similar numbers of cars present.
In-between races camaraderie. Cheers!
Drivers
FRC has seen a total of 135 drivers compete during its existence. There have been young and old, novices and regular racers, locals and overseas residents. The one thing they have all shared in common is the fun and enjoyment of racing slot cars at FRC. Here are some pics of a few of them doing what they like most at FRC.
Things could get quite crowded at the driver stations in the early days.
Even the girls got involved, my daughter Kacie on the right.
Eldest daughter Erin also gave it a try.
Setting car IDs became a really regular requirement.
Drivers focus during an endurance special event.
All smiles just before doing battle on track.
New guys mix it up with veteran Alex.
Keeping the marshals busy.
Concentration.
Veteran racers smile before the start.
Lone driver Luke doing some laps.
Racing Action and Crashes
Over the years of racing we've seen a whole lot of action, both on track as well as around it. Here's a selection, in no particular order.
Yes, its been quite a ride and its been real fun! Who knows what the future holds? For the foreseeable future, we'll continue to have our events every other week. One thing is for sure - as long as we have racing, its gonna be great!
