Going to Santapod? Advice here - Beginners and Advanced

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Signing on procedure:
Make sure you take your full driving licence and cash for signing on.

1) Walk over to the signing on office at the base of the tower.

2) Present your driving licence and Signing on fee to the staff in the signing on office.

3) Collect your wrist-band (and RWYB vouchers and vehicle movement pass at specialist events).

4) You may now move your vehicle over to the fire-up lane to join the back of the RWYB queue.

5) Once you have completed your runs, please return to your campsite or parking spot.


On Track Procedure:
If you haven't done RWYB before, here's what you have to do:
1) Attempt a burnout in the water patch under the tower when the start line is clear of the previous pairing. How you do this will depend on whether your car is front or rear wheel drive. This will help warm and clean the tyres. Don't attempt to burn out in 4WD cars unless you know what you are doing.

2) Roll up to the start line slowly when the starter beckons you forward. Try and stay roughly level with your opponent.

3) As your front wheels reach the start line, a pair of orange bulbs will light on your side of the starting "tree" This means you are "pre-staged" and you are just inches away from being in the right position.

4) Roll forward a fraction more, and another pair of orange bulbs will light below the first pair. This means that you are in the right starting position.

5) When both you and your opponent have all staging lights lit, you are ready to go, so lift you engine revs, and get ready to drop the clutch..the starting tree lights will flash orange and then immediately green. Now is the time to GO! GO! GO!

6) Don't worry if you mess it up- the starting official will help you do the right thing. keep an eye on him for direction.

7) You can collect your timing slip from the signing on office. There is no charge for collecting your print-outs.



5 RWYB Tips for a great ET:
- Avoid wheel spin on the run.

- Avoid hitting the rev-limiter.

- Change gear as smoothly and quickly as possible.

- Race on a warm, but not hot engine.

- Remember to take the handbrake off!


Courtesy of Run What Ya Brung

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This factsheet is designed for those who have mastered the basics of Run What Ya Brung drag racing, and are looking to expand their understanding of drag racing and improve their times.

Safety Fast
Most experienced drag racers with a brain between their ears will tell you that getting your priorities right when building fast cars is very important. Make a car safe first, and fast later. Generally, you should follow this order of priorities when preparing your car for use on the track. Do not make the mistake of building a quick car that is dangerous. Although accidents are rare at Santa Pod, and safety provision at the track is second to none, accidents can and do happen. At speeds of over 100mph, traction and aerodynamic factors can change rapidly and lead to accidents. However, by building a car with safety in mind at all times, both you and your vehicle can escape serious injury.

Some people are happy to spend thousands of pounds on performance upgrades for the engine, only to find they can't afford a few hundred pounds for a roll-cage. These people may one day regret that choice, so make sure it isn't you! Generally, if your car is able to go under 12 seconds, you should SERIOUSLY consider a roll-cage. It is also worth stating at this stage that some cages are only for show! Make sure you get yours installed by a skilled race car builder, not an aftermarket parts man.

Parachutes are worth considering on sub-11 second cars too. Even if your brakes are the best on the market and your car is well maintained, they will do nothing in a slide, puncture, or brake failure situation. Parachutes will help slow you down whatever the wheels are doing, and can even be used in an emergency to help straighten a car that is in a slide or a weave. Many people have saved cars from serious damage by a quick tug on the 'chutes.


Deep-staging
The staging lights on the Christmas tree are there to show the position of your front wheels. A small advantage can be gained by "deep-staging" which is where your front-wheels are slightly further forward than the normal "staged" position, and only the lower pair of staging lights are lit. A skilled racer can improve their reaction times by cutting the distance the wheels have to travel before being clear of the staging sensors. This is useful for bracket racers and heads-up racers alike, since it allows drivers and riders to have a better idea of the position of the wheels. An increased risk of tripping a red-light is the trade off though, so it may take practice to find any advantage from deep-staging.


Get prepared
Some people want to know how cars and bikes can run fast ETs after having sat on the startline with a green light for ages. For example, the Fireforce jetcar can sit on the line for 3 seconds after getting the green light, and still run a sub-six-second pass! Well, the answer is not that it did the ¼ mile in 3 seconds, but the timing system doesn't start counting until the staging sensors have been cleared. This allows the casual Run What Ya Brung'er to get themselves fully prepared on the line without having to worry about reaction times distorting their vehicle's performance.

So, if you are not interested in reaction times, but are interested in performance, take your time on the startline to get the revs right before dropping the clutch. Panic-free performance! Remember, in a real race situation, your reaction time is added to your ET to find the winner, so reaction time becomes critical. If you are serious about racing, you will need loads of attempts at improving both your RT and ET, and then work on synchronising them to get some really storming runs in.


Adjust
Different weather conditions can dramatically affect the performance of a high-powered machine. Cold conditions will make your tyres harder, and the track surface will also be harder and less grippy. There is less abrasive traction at Santa Pod than on a normal road, and racers rely on rubber-on-rubber grip which is greatly affected by temperature. If you are finding that you are suffering from wheelspin, you are wasting precious power and actually making matters worse by adding little "marbles" of rolled-up rubber between your tyres and the track surface. If you are able to adjust turbo/nitrous boost, you may find it advantageous to turn down the power in these conditions.

On the other hand, really hot weather can cause lower-powered vehicles to "bog-down" as the tyres suddenly grip at the start. This will make your engine revs drop right down into a zone with less power and torque. This can be avoided by carefully releasing the clutch and making a deliberate attempt to bring the revs up in a controlled manner. You will know when you have got it right, because the vehicle will propel you forward in a linear manner with no jerking or "chattering".

A simple way to adjust the "gearing" of your vehicle is to change the wheels! Smaller wheels will give the effect of lower gearing, and larger wheels will give the effect of taller gearing. Don't be afraid to muck about with wheel and suspension settings to achieve the ideal stance. Front-wheel drive cars benefit from having the back end jacked-up and the front dropped, and rear-wheel drive cars benefit from having the rear-end dropped and the front end raised slightly.

Huge benefits can be gained from using the right tyre and wheel combinations. Low profile tyres and huge rims might look pretty, but rarely do they provide a performance enhancement on the drag strip. Try fat low pressure tyres and small wheels on the driven hubs, and skinny lightweight wheels on the coasting wheels. It may look weird, but this even works on FWD & 4WD cars.

Courtesy of Run What Ya Brung