The Blue Team leader Larry T. Lamb looking a bit sheepish after discovering his top driver/barbeque cook stole a cup from the club house
What is the place? well, I’ll tell you! It is the home of avant guarde slot racing and is situated in an unassuming building in a leafy bayside suburb in South East Queensland. I’m talking about the Red Team’s home, care of one Mr Garry Russell and his understanding and supportive wife Robin and the family.
Garry is always a bit timid at the start of the evening and dislikes the cameras immensely!
It just so happened that Saturday last was yet another occasion for a selected few to indulge in off the wall slotcar racing.. How many time have you been to a slotcar meeting and always found several aspects a little difficult to get used to.
A Blue Team suspect being detained by security for parking his car ontop of six spectators at the mount
Maybe the people, maybe the classes , or maybe the fact that one or two people seem to be calling the shots and the shots aren’t the ones you want to hear. Yes, been there, done that. But it is nice to be able to nestle in the bosom of good friends and share an ‘anything goes’ evening of slotcars and all things RED!!
Living proof that member John DOES win races!!
After a couple of cancellations, the Red Team got together to celebrate slotcar racing in true style. With the four core members in attendance it was set to be a shindig. The meeting started in the convenor’s lounge where his lovely wife was trying to watch the TV, but I suspect the slotbabble may have overcome the volume in the end. After getting priorities sorted the drink was safely in the fridge or uncorked for that all important ‘breathing’. After exchanging greetings and general conversation we made of for the race room where the track was duly primed and set to go.
Get on with it John, there are full glasses over here!!
Once at the race room, an impromptu ceremony was conducted. John had gone to personal lengths to establish the “Red Team’ as a bona fide organisation by commissioning the design and manufacture of some very tasteful ‘T’ shirts emblazoned with the Red Team’s new logo and name. The logo is in the shape of an ‘R’ marked out with slotcar track. A period of shirt changing and a fashion parade in front of the boss saw us all set for the evenings proceedings.
First up was a selection of classic 1960’s GP’s from the SCX range. These included the Tyrells, BRM’s, and McLarens. All mint condition even if the tyres were a little bit old. I tell a lie though! Bill’s car was mint once, but that was many years ago. His model is a donor and by that I mean if he is restoring some ancient model, this car has to give up a part of itself.
Bill's car (right) looking surprisingly complete. This week it also had suspension detail!!
To date he hasn’t tried to race it without a motor but on this occasion it was probably the most complete we’ve seen it in a good while! Even if the rear wing did refuse to stay in place! My car, having undergone a complete rear tyre melt down, was racing on a set of MJK Fly GT rear tyres. Much to the chagrin of certain folk. No matter, the races were run promptly, then we moved on!!
Classic GP ‘50’s style has been a favourite for some time and it was inevitable that it would feature in the evenings timetable somewhere between eating and drinking. This is a good class and the Scaley models came pouring from the boxes. It was necessary to dial in some ‘handicap’ into the Scaleys using the Russell patent handicapper as they proved to be very boisterous.
As it happened, I gave my Aston Martin GP its first true competition, if you could call it that, and running the NC 1 on full power I manage to feign a place to avoid a steward’s inquiry! Bills Maserati was having trouble keeping up so we dialled in full power and he than had trouble keeping on!! Insisting it was the cars fault and not his we downed several more mouthfuls while waiting for him to complete his allotted distance.
Next were P4’s. These absolutely love the flowing circuits an Alex hills and Garry had his model on song. I borrowed one as I had neglected to pack mine and I’m still not sure what song Bill’s was on. Ten minutes of hard tyre sanding still left it with one hard, glazed tyre?? I suspect he’d been soaking it in vinegar along with his champion conker!! Anyway, I raced it AS IS and was pleased with the fourth place I achieved, after all, it could have been worse!? Garry’s P4 looked remarkably like a GT40?? But then again, at this stage in the proceedings who was going to query it?
My turn to call a class and for the initiated, it was to be SCX Rally. This gave me an opportunity to race a recently finished SCX Peugeot 206. I knew this would be a giant slayer and in practice was doing low sevens. In order to achieve some parity I announced I would start my race after my opponents had completed their first lap.
Well Mr Michlin, are you ready for a flogging!!??
Very sporting of me but at some time during my heat with the ‘Legend’, turn three under the QANTAS bridge became highly unmanageable and I was half way through the race when I could see the glint of something liquid on the lane I was racing on??? I backed off in this bend for the remainder and post race inspection revealed a degree of WD 40 on my lane. We are still not quite sure where it came from, are we Bill! Anyhow, next heat saw Bill go head to head with John, only Bill had more of a lake to drive through at the end of the straight! The catch fence remained intact!
Time for another open wheeler class what with the Peter Cullen trophy event looming in the near future, This time rules dictated small Johnson Scaley cars! Gary had a special Lotus JPS he’d prepared earlier and was running it as a bit of an experiment.
Red Team supremo Reg Underscore Truscott or _ to his mates goes ballistic at the news that the Blue team have stollen his favourite Paella recipe
John picked a very nice and possibly very rare Unipart Williams and I chose a trusty Brabham BT49 as did Bill, only there was more of my car on the track than his!! Another donor I suspect and I wouldn’t be surprised if it looked like a Ferrari next time I see it!!. As always, these models never fail to please and can achieve some very quick lap times in the right hands. A couple of us obviously had the wrong hands and that meant the booby prise for us.
Slot.it!!!............................ Paaah!!!
Last up and before we all departed John called for a Classic Le Mans event with Saubers and 962’s in the line up. John’s car ran well but hard to catch was Bill’s Black Sauber and although we checked it from stem to stern for half an hour we couldn’t fault it and conceded that Bill may have won through talent!! These models were made well before Slot.its offerings and on this track they wouldn’t be so dusty either. Another model in the range is the Jag and all race well.
Some of the Red Team reflecting!
As the comestibles and the refreshments ran out, it was inevitable that the evening would draw to a close. With all well and truly slotted out, we departed. But not before we had arranged to meet again soon. With the Red Team, racing some of the earlier models adds to the slotcar experience with the challenge in the set ups.
Blue Team tactician Stan 'The man' Clutterbutt seen off from the burger bar for trying to obtain goods and services with counterfiet Mexican Pesos. Well done girls.
Models like SCX Rally just go well from the box on this track. Even the classic sixties Scalextric models are well matched and provide plenty of entertainment. So rest assured, the next meeting will be as colourful as the last, but the dominant colour will be........ you guessed it !
Red!
