A word with Rob Nelson xx.08.2006

Rob Nelson is a master in computer controlled RC race management, he has been timing the 2006 Naviga WC in Norway and we wanted to hear more about what he is doing:

Name: Rob Nelson

Country: England

City: Newmarket, north of London

When did you get started with model speed boat race management:

I have a company called bbk Software making and selling race management systems for RC car racing and I made the first boat system for the FSR-V section (multi) of the model boat association in Great Britain in 2004. Now I have boat systems in England, Sweden and Norway and more countries and associations are interested. This WC is a great opportunity to show the global model boat racing community the possibilities of our system.

What made you start with this hobby:

We bought our son an RC car in 1983, six months later I was also racing. Since then I have raced electric offroad 1/18 and 1/10 scale, 1/8 nitro offroad as well as 1/5 gas and 1/10 electro circuit. Currently I have picked up 1/5 electric motorcycle racing, incredibly fun.

In parallel to the racing, I got interested in the aspects of managing these RC car races and made my first race management (timing) system  in 1986 on a bbc micro computer. Then in 1990 we made the first DOS based system. In 1993 we added network capabilities to it. In 2002 this system was retired when we introduced our first windows based system.

What does your wife say about your hobby:

"Put your flight number and times on the calendar in the kitchen"

Your best race:

At our regional electric off road championship in 1987, I qualified for the A main with 87 competitors in my class.

Your worst race:

The same race, the track was a bit narrow, so they decided to run only 8 cars in the A main instead of 10 as usual. Since I had qualified in 9th place, I then ended up with pole position in the B main (which is of course not as nice as being in the A main), however, it was a pile up in the first corner and I did not get further than that...

Best race managed:

The timing of the 1993 electric off road WC in England. This was the first time we demonstrated networked race information screens. Also, the 2004 GP Batteries Touring Car Carpet World Cup in Geneva, this was the first time we had live race data on the Internet, similar to the possibility we have here at Strandefjorden for the competitors, just that we publish the live data on a local wireless network for the 2006 Naviga WC site only.

What would you be doing if not RC race management systems:

Manager for famous rock bands!