T-Race - Global electric race challenge

Not everyone lives next to a retired airport. :laughing:

I just spent a good hour looking for a promising spot in my area and it seems to be more of a challenge than the challenge itself. :slight_smile: I like the T-Race idea a lot though. Will keep searching.

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:slight_smile: yeah. I have thought about that it might be a challenge. To begin with it was 10 meter longer on each side. But that would be even more difficult to find a place. And the track became too fast, so power meant more.
I have thought about another shape, but a T is very easy.

What’s the challenge width or length?

I hope you find a place. Isn’t there a super market with a big parking lot. Maybe IKEA?

I got an idea this morning that I would take a week long tour around Europe and set up session different places. So if you find a place in Czechia let me know.

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Yes I did and was a very similar time. I’ve raced a few times before and have another one coming up so this should help me a lot!!

I found an empty carpark on a Sunday.

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Sure, there’s a lot of shopping malls with huge parking lots. All of them are pretty busy throughout opening hours though (and they are open pretty much all the time). Also I think if you try riding there, sooner or later you’ll be taken out by the security.

I’m thinking that very early in morning on a weekend could work. Like 5-7am. Adds a getting up early challenge to the challenge. :slight_smile: I may give it a try next Saturday.

Sounds great! There’s this old airfield not too far from Brno:
https://goo.gl/maps/HnRdNGjwZVCjRXgZA

I’ve never been there but I read on a motorcycling forum that people like to use it for practicing. I’ll make a trip there some day.

Also, do you have any tips for setting up the T-track? Do you use GPS or do you somehow measure the cone-to-cone distances?

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I just have a 2 meter ruler that I measure with.

If this gets attention that makes it worth while I will make some kits with cones and a measure string with the different measurements on it, for easy setup.

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I tried the T-Race for the first time today and I really enjoyed it. You can find my post in the FB group. Some pics also here:

A few ideas/suggestions before I forget:

(1) For comparing contestants’ times, I think it would be better to take several (maybe 5) consecutive laps rather than just one fastest. This would be less prone to bias in time measurement. It would also reduce the impact of where exactly you make the start/finish line and how you enter-the-first/leave-the-last lap.

(2) In Race Chrono, you can compare the GPS records of your laps. However (I believe), you can’t compare them with other people’s laps unless they made them on the exact same location. As a software engineer I imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to transform the GPS coordinates such that the laps on a normalized track can be compared across different locations. It might be worth making a feature request for Chrone.

(3) Should the feature request not work out, we could even do this ourselves. Have a simple website where people can upload their logs and implement the interface for comparing them. I could probably put a crude version of that together over a weekend.

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Thats good suggestions.

  1. This is defiantly something we should do. I wanted into start simple and see if I could get some traction to this idea, before expanding the possibilities. But do multiple laps is a very good idea. Could maybe be a half year challenge, where we get six months to collect a five lap time. And then the next half year a three lap challenge.
    Also we might already start a different length track. Quite a few people have contacted me saying its hard findinga suitable place to set it up. Just like you also said. So I have looked at that. Cutting the track to 15X30m or 35m will make it suit a handball / outdoor fuss ball field. There are many of those around making easier to find a place. So there might be different size tracks. I just hoped Could wait a bit before doing that, to not overcomplicate things. I would really like to keep the 20x40 as that size seems to have the perfect combination for a little speed but not too much.

  2. I fund a way to move your track lines in the map. But I think it is made to only make minor adjustments so the lines fits the roads on the map.
    Iwrote RaceChrono a couple of days ago and asked if there was a way to move our lines or compare them as you suggest. But I havnt heard back from them yet.

3)That would be awesome. Lets have that as a potential furture project.

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I agree simple is good and best not to introduce too many variables. Smaller version of the track makes sense but ideally keep two versions – (1) standard 20x40m, and (2) small 15x30m (or whatever works for people). The same goes for lap count. Single lap is easy to time and the concept is easy to understand for everyone so it’s good. Multiple laps would be less random and a more serious challenge. Best if we could agree on the lap count and again keep the variables at two – (1) single lap and (2) X consecutive laps.

Cool!

I’m already reading up on WGS84 and ways of converting it to plane while preserving distances. :slight_smile: It’s a little more involved than I have hoped but I’m slowly wrapping my head around it.

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I am trying to push T-Race a little this season.

Made this video about it all.

And I am giving away what I call the T-Race starter pack, so everyone interested can get an easy start.

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Just a quick tip. I use a 50 meter measuring tape. I picked up a simple one for ~$8. It gets the job done just fine and makes the T-Race setup a whole lot easier.

image

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Top 5

  1. Mario Chacon 12.81 Prototype V-5
  2. Morgan Brady 13.84 #007 V-5
  3. @fessyfoo 13.93 #003 V-5
  4. David Bonde 14.79 SRB 3-link DIY AWD
  5. Ron Galiano 15.29 SRB 3-link Jontar AWD

https://t-raceglobal.com/

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Whoa this looks fun! I need to set this up. If I don’t have a lap timer setup, does a significant other with a stop watch suffice?

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That would work. But check the LapTracker app. That would give you precise timing very cheap. Three timing systems - an overview

Cant wait to get your name on the list :slight_smile:

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This guy?

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Nah… this one:

Should be available on android as well.

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Perhaps no android version then, it absolutely will not search up for me :expressionless:

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mmm… maybe you are right. I was certain it was available for android as well. What a bummer.

Maybe this helps:

https://baixarapk.gratis/pt/app/691114189/laptracker-auto-timer

Last link does look a bit dodgy though :slight_smile:

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Anyone using an insta 360 with the GPS remote for timing? Would it work ok? It’s 10hz per second

I havet used video with gps to time my laps yet. But I think it would work. You need to feed RaceChrono the video after the session… I think.

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@davidbonde, in cases where there are multiple people at the same track, is it generally the case that they are taking solo turns on the t-track to log times or that there are simultaneous racers and if so, how many can practically be on at the same time given the current t-track dimensions?