With one or two arriving at 2.00 pm it gave them plenty of time to hone there models and there skills. The track took a little warming up but by the time 4.00 pm arrived there were more than a few ready to do it!! First class was to be the Historic GP class. Open to models depicting cars up to 1962 and with an 18,000 rpm motor limit. Needless to say, it was always going to be a Cartrix W196 event, but it wasn’t all a bed of roses.
The first historic event was when Kev decided to watch and race Kens identical model for four or five laps, leaving the marshalls to wonder at the sporadic behaviour of his out of control model. Eventually it was pointed out and a semblance of normality returned to marshalling! I was recovering from a Red Team meeting the night before and found it painful to move my eyes quickly, rendering marshalling a major effort.
Other weapons of choice were the perennially popular Maserati 250F and the Ferrari 156. Both heavily modded to acquire that little extra grip but in the end still behind the eight ball. Paul chose to race a couple of his lead underpan models and it was good to see his 375 and driver complete with long silk scarf once again. While Chris raced his ‘out of the box’ to good effect. When the last heat was run the inevitable result showed Norm to be dominant in his NC1 powered Cartrix Mercedes W196. More power to his elbow, Norm had only just been discharged from hospital with a severe pulmonary disorder and certainly wasn’t right on the day!
Race 1 Historic GP 22 Laps Position Gp ‘B’ Driver 1. Norm 2. Phil 3. 1. Peter S. 4. Paul 5. 2. Ken 6. 3. Kev 7. 4. Jordan 8. Chris 9. Alan 10. 5. Peter J.
Once again this brought out some nice models. One model that was running well was Alan’s Slot.it GT 40 with a Scaley motor. Norm too was running Slot.it with a lower rated motor. Chris’s choice of a McLaren with NC1 was also a hard model to catch but Jordan’s track is a great leveller with motor speed not being the greatest factor in the results. Other nice models in the line up were a Scaley Jaguar and a Ford GT40. There was also fun to be had with a Revell Veedub Fun Cup car and a Proslot Alfa 156 and Paul’s Fly Alfa 147 GTA! My personal choice was a well honed SCX Aston Martin DBR9.
Race 2 GT 18 Laps 1. Norm 2. Phil 3. Ken 4. Kev 5. Chris 6. Paul 7. Peter S. 8. Jordan 9. Alan 10. Peter J.
With night time upon us and one more racer in the camp we set about the track owners choice. This was for Rally cars with lights, and the race was going to be run under track lights only. Jordan’s track is well lit with high intensity Led’s strategically placed around the circuit giving quite good definition to lane markers and models alike.
Some nice models on the track with an Audi Quattro doing it’s bit. Glen aired his silver SCX Porsche 959 and amongst the entries were some equally respectable models. My choice was an SCX Peugeot 307 which had successfully raced a non magnet rally series at the local slot shop a couple of years before. Jordan had no end of problems when he was supposed to have home track advantage and a couple of other competitors drove their SCX Suzuki swifts at uncanny speed, as if Beelzebub himself where in pursuit!
Kev was to be the fly in the ointment this time but pure doggedness and a will to stay on saw me manage to prize first place from his grasp in the closing heats, by driving two final heats in faultless fashion and Kev becoming entangled in the vagaries of the backmarkers and the marshalls!
Race 3 Rally with lights 25 laps 1. Phil 2. 1. Kev 3. Chris 4. Norm 5. 2. Ken 6. 3. Peter S. 7. Glen 8. Alan 9. 4. Peter J. 10. 5. Jordan
The first problem was when the race manager program was not reset to race distance and a one thousand lap race proceeded for a short while until it was noticed. Once again Jordan was the victim of the Tommy Knockers, His car shed its complete front axle a few laps into the race causing his departure to enlist the services of another model. Best trick of the night was when Glen put a Carrera model on to race and at the turn of the lights the model smartly moved off backwards down the track (There’s a moral there somewhere, I’m sure). In one of the closing heats a race average of 4.9 secs was set. Amazing driving.
The race over button was pressed and the results were displayed. Unfortunately, the results had been corrupted by a couple of false starts and resets. The only fault with the race management system had contrived to mix the results up and the truth was not to be known. I have to admit though that John’s impeccable driving must have left him the clear winner with the rest strung out behind. But alas, we will now never know. The points for this round of the cup have been forfeited!
So that was it. Another great race night at an amazing venue. Many thanks to Jordan and especially Therese for all their efforts. An excellent barbeque and that marble cake dessert with whipped cream Mmmmmmmmm! not to mention the excellent cappuccino’s from Jordan’s bona coffee maker, …………………nice ! (if you are reading this Eggy!) So if you are reading this and feel you have missed out on some of the best social slotcar racing possible, not to mention the food and drinks! then my suggestion is that you best email me and give me your contact details and I will put you in the loop,
Don’t be a ‘Slotcar Hermit’ …………
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!! Race with ‘the Legends’ !!
