Electric Racing League - 2024 National Track Championship Event

You heard it here first! Electric Racing League is heading over to the Sunshine coast, QLD Australia, this August to host the first Australian National Track Championship Race Event at Cooloola Kart Track.

While we are yet to officially announce this, the intention of this post is to connect with any vendors and people in the industry who want to get involved.

We are looking at running the event over 2 days, running time trials which will seed participants into their categories for 3-5 rounds of racing, followed by finals (event schedule in progress). Based on our recent survey results -which is still ongoing for you Aussies: https://forms.gle/XhQv2hgcKuDDfKU49 - We are expecting at least 80 Participants, with a great mix of esk8 and EUC from around the country.

If you havent seen our events before, check out: instagram.com/electricracingleague

Running this for two days will give us all plenty of free time for racing, open track riding, as well as interactions with the vendor stalls and PEV demos.

For any international vendors who want their products displayed, the team would be happy to set up and monitor a stall for you if you’d like to get involved.

Feel free to shoot me a message or email if you’d like to get involved:
tas@electricracingleague.com.au

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Sorry for the shameless tag vendors, but in case you don’t see this post…
@Adstars
@ApexBoards
@Boardnamics
@BuildKitBoards
@Ean.Esk8
@eBoosted
@Grievor
@Haeroboards
@IDEA
@JJHoyt
@LAZYROLLING
@Agnes_Maytech
@MBS
@MoeStooge
@moon
@RipTideSports
@SabreDynamics
@Skyart
@Tony_stark

I’m sure I’ve missed some vendors too!

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@YUTW123
@Ean.esk8

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Awesome, thank you for tagging us! Looks like a great venue: https://www.cckc.com.au/

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Massive shoutout to @CannoliRoller & the Flowstate Esk8 team for jumping on board early to support ERL. Your support has helped us push ahead to lock essential items in place for this August.

Thanks for your contribution to the growth of Australian esk8 racing🥰

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Cool initiative. Drop me a PM and lets see how we can participate.

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Any dates for this yet? All best for the event!

:checkered_flag: UPDATE: Electric Racing League 2024 National Track Championship :checkered_flag:

Attention participants and enthusiasts of the Electric Racing League! Please note that the National Track Championship scheduled for August 10-11, 2024, has been postponed. This delay is due to necessary resurfacing work on the race track.

The new dates for the championship are set for September 14-15, 2024. We apologise for any inconvenience this change may cause and appreciate your understanding as the Cooloola Kart Club want to ensure the track is in optimal condition for an exceptional racing experience.

Please update your calendars accordingly, and stay tuned for further updates includinf registration. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for the Electric Racing League.

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Will there be dedicated esk8 racing or mixed

Definitely esk8 only categories. Won’t be mixing EUCs with Esk8 for racing. Possibly for a mixed relay at the end I’d imagine.

Its not clear on the survey from that link. Might be worth adding, its why i asked here, there arent any esk8 images either only euc which is what made me think…

Ed: yes there is, at the bottom. Missed it.

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Yep there will be dedicated esk8 and euc categories. And multiple divisions based on time trials

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Can’t wait for this

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Any companies wanting to get involved at any capacity, please get in touch this week as we’ll be rolling out graphics and content for the event soon and would love to promote your brands from the start

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Let us know what you are looking for: brad@riptidesports.com

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Thanks Brad, just sent through an email

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Following a slightly modified version of the Esk8con rules for our national comp.

Not having the luxury of 150 riders means we wont be able to offer multiple groups within each skill class, but were aiming to keep it as interesting as possible with the reverse grid in 2nd heat, passing points for overtakes and riders battling it out in the first 2 heats to claim the best grid start position for the final race.

Keen to hear your thoughts…

Official Race Rules

2024 Race Rules (subject to change) - as at 8/05/2024

Pre-Qualifiers

All racers will go through the pre-qualifying stage to determine fair and equally skilled qualifying groups. These qualifying groups will then have the opportunity to qualify safely under similar track conditions with the ability to maintain a steady pace.

Racers will get 2 full laps in the pre-qualifying stage. This is NOT your final qualifying time and does not contribute to your grid position but it will seed you into groups of 10 for a smoother qualifying process.

Qualifiers

Racers will get a multi-lap session running approximately 5 minutes to record the best time they can. Racers will share the track with 9 other riders and can start at any point of the 5 minute window. The fastest recorded lap is the racer’s "qualifying time” or “QT”.

Each racer will begin 10m behind the start line. Time will begin when the racer crosses the start line, time is concluded as the racer finishes the lap by passing the start/finish line again.

Qualifying Lap “Do-Over”

Racers are entitled to a 2nd qualification lap session for the following reasons:

  • Interference from a spectator.
  • Track failure or defect (race barrier in incorrect place, track features blow in the way of a rider, spill on track, etc).
  • Debris on the track (trash, pieces of another rider’s gear, etc).
  • Timing Error

Racers may NOT request a “Do-Over” for the following reasons:

  • Board malfunction
  • Crash

Missed Qualifier Time

  • If a racer misses their qualifying time slot, they will be moved to the end of the qualifier race session and given a 2 minute penalty bringing their total 4 minute qualifying session down to 2 minutes.

If a race official, race director, or score keeper feels that the rider is “sand bagging” their times to place in a lower class on purpose, they may challenge the rider and move the rider up in class and seated in the last position.

Class Division

The total field will be divided into 3 classes based on their qualifying time:

Sportsman, Advanced & Pro.

Top 8 riders will be pro. Advanced & Sportsman will be divided & ranked into equal groups of remaining riders based on their qualifying times

Race process:

Announcer will call upcoming racer groups to the staging area, which is controlled by the racer steward. Racers must be at the staging area and checked off by the steward prior to entering the race track. If a racer is late to the staging area and not check off by the steward, they will be marked “DID NOT START”(DNS) and will forfeit their points/times for that round.

Once the racer steward has checked off the racers for the upcoming race and the track is clear, the steward will signal the racers to enter the track in order of their grid position. Racers will then be received by the race starter, who will explain the race flags and starting procedure.

Green flag - go/race start

Red flag - stop/emergency

Yellow flag - keep racing but take caution, incident ahead. No immediate danger to riders. Riders can race at their normal speed but must be ready for altered conditions

White flag - last lap

Chequered flag- race finish

Race starter Will call:

“Ready” , “set” followed by the airhorn. racers will go on the sound of the horn.

The race will restart if a false start occurs. This will be marked by a second airhorn. If a racer commits 2 false starts in a row they will move to the back of the grid. If a racer commits 3 false starts they will be removed from the race.

General Race Format

Each rider will race in 2 heat races. Starting positions are based on times from the qualifying round.

Heat 1 is a standard grid start (rows of 2), start position based on qualifying times (fastest at front, slowest at back).

Heat 2 is a reverse grid start (slowest at front, fastest at back). Riders will have the opportunity to claim “passing points” for overtakes. 1 overtake = 1 additional point added to their final heat points.

Racers will be awarded points based on their finishing position in each heat race.

Heat races will be 3 laps in length (Approximately 2.7km).

Finishing positions will determine the points awarded to each rider:

1st: 10pts 2nd: 8pts 3rd: 7pts 4th: 6pts 5th: 5pts 6th: 4pts 7th: 3pts 8th: 2pts 9th: 1pt 10th: 0pts 11th: 0pts 12th: 0pts

The top 8 riders with the most points in their groups move to the finals.

Race Start
Racers will start from standing in a grid pattern. Rows of 2. Heat starting positions are based on qualifying times. Finals starting positions are based on accumulated points from heat 1, heat 2 and passing points in the reverse grid round.

Finals

Top 8 riders from each group will move on to the finals.

The finals grid positions will be sorted based on total points from heat 1, heat 2 & passing points. Ties in points will be broken by QT.

Race Stoppage

The race may need to be stopped for safety reasons. A crash is not an automatic race stoppage. If the racer is still able, they can either remove themselves and their board from the track. Or they can get back on their board and keep riding.

If the race is stopped, riders will line back up in their current positions before the stoppage.

The race will be restarted and completed like normal.

Penalties

Time based penalties will be applied to any rider who causes a crash that is detrimental to another rider’s race position after the crash. Time penalties of up to 10 seconds will be applied at the race directors discretion. Factors contributing to the penalty will be:

  • Severity of crash
  • Negligence of rider who caused crash
  • Loss of race position to rider who was crashed into
  • Time taken to get back on to the PEV and track

Disqualification

The following would be reasons for a racer to be disqualified:

  • Intentional contact that results in a crash
  • Conduct that is intended to cause a crash
  • The racer’s helmet comes off at any point during the race

Equipment

E-Skate
A Racer’s “Board” must be widely considered an electric skateboard defined by but not limited to:

  • Must have exactly 4 wheels.
  • Does NOT have a handlebar attached to the riding platform.
  • Does NOT have a seat.

EUC
A Racer’s “EUC” must be widely considered an Electric Unicycle defined as but not limited to: a self-balancing personal transporter with a single wheel. Rider stands forward facing. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the unit side to side.

Onewheel
A Racer’s “Onewheel” must be widely considered a Onewheel defined as but not limited to: a self-balancing single wheel electric board, recreational personal transporter, often described as an electric skateboard. Unlike the electric unicycle where the rider stands astride of the wheel, the rider stands on a board with feet on either side of a wheel which moves the rider sideways.
VESC wheels are permitted.

All PEV
Power delivery must be electric; gas powered or other means of power are not allowed.

Racers must race with the PEV they registered at check-in. If a back up PEV must be used due to equipment failure, the substitute must be reported to the race booth. Substitutions must be equivalent or lesser than the original board used during qualifiers.

Bindings and other foot straps are permitted.

Pneumatic, Urethane, and Airless wheels are permitted. No current wheel restrictions.

Mandatory Safety Gear

Racers must wear a full face helmet, adequate elbow & knee protection, wrist guards, gloves and enclosed shoes. Chest armour and additional body protection is HIGHLY encouraged

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Love the overtaking points idea!

The penalty points is a good idea in principle but who decides who’s at fault? Is it one race director or will there be a panel of three who make the call? Will it go off video evidence?

I think more clarity in what constitutes a penalty would be good. Eg If you hit another rider from behind (so long as the rider in front hasn’t swerved erratically). I can see problems with policing this properly but I also see great merit in the idea too.

:open_mouth: :open_mouth:

What an interesting idea, I like this very much

Yeah I was wondering this too. As someone who fell at esk8con and didn’t make finals directly as a result, because of someone crashing directly in front of me (slippage), I would have liked the concept, but I’m not sure how smoothly it would go over

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Such a cool idea! Allows for the entertaining spectacle of reverse grid racing while rewarding fast riders (that would otherwise be punished). If you’re a fast rider, you might desire to start in the back to try for those extra points.

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