SEQSCC September meeting

[wixwacing]

The massed brigades of what is the South East Queensland Slot Car Collective formed ranks once again on the evening of the first of September at their Graceville venue. Ranks a little thinner that usual with endemic illness taking out some of the stalwarts and leaving the sheep stations to the more hardy. Get well soon is the sentiment and pity you couldn’t make it as the racing was purely therapeutic

For those that braved the annual Flu and related virus’s there was, yet again, some extreme slotcar racing to be thankful for. This month’s card was based on an Italian theme and most things Italian were on the track to entertain and frustrate. First event was Maserati MC 12’s. Open to either Carrera or Scaley, it was a case of six of one, half a dozen of the other. The Carreras were rock steady in the corners but the Scaleys had usable straight-line speed for the dare devils amongst us.





The SEQSCC’s resident ghost!



The racing got underway and as I expected the driver not the model would decide the outcome of the clash of the two makes. Race 1 was a simple event and the guys were pretty even with those that managed to stay on most collecting the accolades. Race two went along much the same lines and again Scaley and Carrera had little between them on this 70 metre plus track. When the final flag fell it was Scalextric’s time to take the laurels.





Raw power at the line-up

Event 1			Maserati MC12’s			18 laps

Race 1		Driver			best lap

1.			Phil			24.22secs
2.			The Legend		25.80
3.			Julian			27.71
4.			Mick			27.57


Race 2

1.			Adrian			23.64
2.			Chris			24.17
3.			Mick			26.35
4.			Sean			25.96

Now THIS what slotracing is about!



Next up were the SCX FIAT or SEAT Abarth’s over ten laps. the deceptive thing with these models is that you get up to a moderate rate of knots and when you come to a corner they stop about a metre short and they stop dead too!! It was hard to roll into a bend and power out. You had to drive up to it, drive round it and drive out of it....in three stages??!! None the less, this is where those most familiar with the equipment shone. Bill took the lead from me early in the piece after a couple of silly mistakes by me. I spent the rest of the race clawing my way back and passed Bill with a couple of laps to go and lo, on the last lap I made another silly mistake which let Bill pass with inches to spare as he crossed the finish line in front of me. Somehow Bill managed a fastest lap of 25.68 sec. Black magic some say!!

Event two 		SCVX  Seat Abarth			10 laps

Race 3

1.			Bill???        			25.68
2.			Phil				27.57
3.			Adrian				27.26
4.			Chris				30.50

The next race saw a well matched turn out and from the start it was a good race between Julian and John. Sean drove to an erratic third place and Mick just drove erratic. Julian was deadpanning as he crossed the line first and I’m sure he would have liked to jump up and down and shout RRrraaaaaaGGGGHHHHHH!!!! But he didn’t. No matter a well deserved victory for a steady drive.

Race 4

1.			Julian				29.43
2.			John				30.39
3.			Sean				29.93
4.			Mick				32.72

Next up was F1. Now here there was time for some special racing. This was to be the fastest race of the evening and 21 laps were going to put the theory to the test. Again, some dangerous equipment was going to be put to the test. I had my newly fettled Scaley Renault and Adrian had his trusty high speed Fly March. Sean had a rather devious Scaley Ferrari with an SCX magnet screwed under it!! But one of the screws persistently scraped the track which couldn’t have helped in the corners. The flag was down and off we set. I settled into a regular drive taking out a metre or so each lap on Julian in second place. Adrian suffered badly with an otherwise quick model which was taking exception to the tighter corners. Sean was blasting as the crow flies and spent a lot of the corners waiting for the marshalls to do their duty!! Eventually lap 21 came and went and the results were as follows.

Event three      		F1 			21 laps

Race 5

1.			Phil				19.04
2.			Julian				19.33
3.			Sean				19.41
4.			Adrian				21.57


Race 6

1.			Mick				20.34
2.			Chris				20.77
3.			The Legend			21.66
4.			John				22.46

Race six saw a few SCX models on the track and the leads changing on a couple of occasions. Early casualty was the Legend. He drove into a marshall’s hand whilst in operation and this removed the right hand front wheel from his SCX Minardi. None the less he continued valiantly on to the end with three wheels. Spending several sessions being marshalled after three wheeled mishaps in left hand bends. Mick drove his Scaley to victory in a reasonable time but best performance must go to Chris who purchased his SCX model, race prepared it and test drove it in five minutes flat! The end result saw him take second place and a fastest lap almost as good as the winner.

Event Four

SEQSCC Challenge

This was the monthly SEQSCC test of equal machinery. The models were Ninco Puntos and all were supplied by the management to reduce tampering induced results. The models were placed on the same lanes and the names were drawn from the hat to determine which lane guys would be racing on. Surprisingly slow for models with NC5’s on board but none the less even. The most daring stunt would be for the faster drivers to drive round the sweepers with the back ends out across the rails and this from a model with a traction magnet???







Both races proved fairly pedestrian and in an uneventful couple of races, people left the rostrum with a slight numbness to the body. The finishing fields were well spread out and the results were as follows

Race seven

1.			Sean				26.58
2.			Adrian				24.63
3.			Mick				28.79
4.			John				28.72

Puntos a plenty!

Race eight

1.			Chris				25.02
2.			Julian				27.78
3.			Phil				26.77
4.			Bill				21.79???


Event 5    			Scalextric Ferrari P4’s

Next up was probably the most rewarding class of the evening,. This was Ferrari P4’s. Exclusively Scalextric and a couple of variations in colour but mostly red. Race one saw me take an early lead with Chris and Adrian in close formation behind, but my model is a veteran campaigner and I wasn’t phased by this. I stretched the lead out to a comfortable distance and settled in for the duration of 15 laps. Chris made a couple of attempts at challenging for the lead but was dogged by ‘ragged edge’ deslots and by the end of the race I was settled into a rhythm.





P4s sweating on ‘lights out’



The second heat was a bit more eventful; with some unrestrained person in a yellow Ferrari taking short cuts across the scenery and other places. No names , no pack drill, but we know who we are... don’t we?!! Once again the straight man took first prize with a steady drive with the remainder straggling home. All models intact and ready to fight another day.

Race 9

1.			Phil				21.11
2.			Adrian				21.62
3.			Chris				22.47
4.			Sean				23.45

Race 10

1.			Julian				22.69
2.			Bill				23.46
3.			Mick				24.12
4.			John				25.26


Event six

This was to be almost a sudden death event of only five laps. Models supplied by ‘the management’ and specially doctored to induce a different feel to the model and the track, the Scalextric Maserati Cambiocorsas had their traction magnets fixed in the forward slot to allow a bit more slip and slide. Still pinned in the slot by the magnet but a little more tail happy fun for the ride. Once again a good race with competition being very close. Bill and I lapped within tenths of each other and slowly pulled out a gap over third and forth who were struggling with their own waterloo. Eventually over all too quickly and the results were as follows.





An unorthodox staggered start often seen at SEQSCC!!

Race 11

1.			Phil				24.27
2.			Bill				24.93
3.			John				27.65
4.			Chris				27.42

Race 12

1.			Sean				27.43
2.			Julian				30.56
3.			Adrian				29.76
4.			Mick				28.51

Last race was the second Cambiocorsa event. Using the same models on the same lane, this turned out to be a more spread out event and in the short time of the race the running order was quickly established and by the finish there was a good distance between first and last. With Sean taking out his second victory of the evening. Once again Adrian was a potential winner but spent a lot of time upside down, not conducive to a good result. No matter. The evening finished on time and a great deal of slotcar fun was had. Next moth the circus goes to Japan. The October card was available and is as follows.


SEQSCC Monday October 6th

1. JGTC
2. Pajeros
3. SEQSCC Challenge
4. Rally
5. Mazda RX8 Nissan 350Z (AUTOart) Nissan 390 (slot it)
6. Toyota GT1 Pro Slot