Hi, my name is Joe Keaveney and I race 220mm 1/10th I.C. (Sports GT) and Minis (Tamiya M-05) in the UK.
I first got into RC just after I left school – racing at Peterlee Buggy Club. I raced 4WD 1:10 EP Off-Road for a while using a Schumacher Procat but due to inexperience combined with the poor quality of Schumacher’s products at that time it was just too unreliable and expensive to repair.
Next, I bought a Tamiya F102 (the Benetton B192 model) and raced 1:10 EP F1 on carpet at Teesside Radio Car Club for quite a long time. This really taught me proper car control and racecraft, and is by far the most formative part of my time in RC racing.
I returned to 1:10 EP Off-Road once more in 92/93, this time buying a Schumacher Cougar 2000 2WD buggy. With it’s geared transmission and dogbone driveshafts, this car was far more reliable and inexpensive to run. On a very modest budget, I did very well with this car, regularly TQing at my clubs meetings against the 4WDs and getting wins and podiums at events held by other clubs in my area.
Going to University in 1995 meant I needed to take a break, and I didn’t pick up a transmitter again until 2003 when I happened to be passing a model shop in Farnham. Seeing an advert for a model car track, I thought I’d go along and see what the cars were like. When I got there, a very generous Frenchman named Christophe offered me a drive of his Mugen 1:10 I.C. touring car (sedan) and I was hooked once more!
I bought a second-hand Mugen MTX-3 and two weeks later, I entered my first UK national event, placing 3rd in the D Final – a good result given my relative inexperience.
Since then, I’ve owned an Associated NTC3, a Serpent 710, and I currently drive a Mugen MTX-4R, I’ve competed in most UK 1:10 I.C. Nationals since 2004, winning the Crystal Palace round of the Scale Touring Nationals in 2005, and I still thoroughly enjoy my RC racing!
My latest RC interest is ‘Minis’. These are the Tamiya M-Chassis (M03, M05) and the various conversion kits and models that run to the same scale (175mm track width). They are 2WD, and the racing is very controlled – for instance the motor costs just £8, we only need 1 LiPo battery pack, and due to the light weight of the car, the tyres don’t wear very much. This is great racing and the costs are low! The SPC-UK series supports Minis in the UK, check out the Super Production Cup website.My local club also races Minis, check them out at the Chippenham Model Car Club website.
Can’t wait to race all you guys on track! Happy racing!