I have four brand new Frankenslot controllers for Carrera digital.Theses are the best used for racing Carrera digital, guys. Will sell for 100 dollars each. You won’t find any price lower for these controllers. Contact me at mdanielczyk@comcast.net For more info and pictures.

GT Raceway 
Unit 9, Old Maltings Industrial Estate,
Maltings Road,
Battlesbridge,
Essex, SS11 7rh

enquiries@gtracewayessex.com

We race on a Monday night, unless it is a bank holiday then it is a Wednesday, the club is open between 6.30 and 10.30. On a club night we race 2 of the following 12 classes: Slot-It Classic GT, Racer GT3, Open GT, Slot-It Group C, NSR GT3, NSR Classic, NSR F1, Policar F1, Racer Group 5, X-Slot, Touring Cars and BRM 1/24th.

On the last Friday of the month we have a Friday Open meeting. In the morning we race Classic Sports/GT (Slot-It, Policar, NSR, Thunderslot and Fly) in the afternoon we race either Racer Group 5, Slot-It Group C or a new class Goodwood Sports (Pre 1967 front engined Sports/GT cars).

For pictues and further information please see our website https://www.gtracewayessex.com/

It's THAT time of year again...time for the annual Worthing Digital 'L'Ouest Weekend' in a sports hall in the Midlands!

  

This year, three, yes, THREE, teams from Worthing will be heading up the Autoroute du Sol to Derby to tackle this mythical event. 

I will again try and blog my way through it as best I can to bring you a flavour of the race.

I began DG Raceway in 2019, 2 lanes, routed MDF. I modelled a few corners from Mt Panorama, Bathurst, this middle section of the track features from the exit of The Cutting, up through Sulman/Reid, through McPhillamy and over Skyline, down through the Esses and round Forrest's Elbow. The rest of the track is just a means to an end.
It's on castors so I can move it out of the slot room into the garage for access all around for scenery work (should get round to that...)
I'll let the pics do the talking...


















I've used Magnetic Racing's Pit Tower module, modified it a bit, for the race control, need to add some detail to that yet. I bought a 3d resin printer so I'm printing spectators etc. and painting them at the moment. I'll grab some more pics soon as these are getting old now...

Hi All

I had a Minic and a Scalextric race set when a young boy, however it was when my dad toook me to the Model Engineering Exhibition in Central London around 1970, where they had the ECRA B track that I really discovered slot car racing. I bought Model Cars magazine and started to race at my local raceway Howard Taylors the Model Hobby Consortium in Lewisham, South London and I won my first Saturday morning junior Championship. When the MHC track sadly closed (to make way for dinghys!) I raced at various clubs around South London. When a job move in 1982 took me to Witham in Essex I joined the Ipswich club, due to personal reasons I gave up racing around the mid 80's.

About 30 years later I saw an article by Richard Mack on the BSCRA website about George Turners track at the South Essex club in Shoeburyness, this prompted me to join a nearer club in Colchester. When Colchester closed I joined GT Raceway in Benfleet, the track was a 6 lane 150 ft Ninco track. As a result of having to find new premises at the beginning of 2022 the club moved to Battlesbridge, rebuliding the track that is now around 95ft but still 6 lanes. Club night is Monday when we race 2 classes of the clubs 12 classes. As many of the club members are either retired or work shifts we also have an Open meeting on the last Friday of the month, with Classic Sports/GT raced in the morning and one of 3 other classes after lunch, we also invite members from the Southend SCC.

https://www.gtracewayessex.com/

Regards Andy

Slot cars are getting bloody expensive with Scalextric, Carrera and SCX priced round the £50 mark and upmarket cars such as Slot.It, NSR etc from £60 upwards to silly money. Now a car that retails at about £22 stands out from the crowd somewhat but that is what we have in the shape of the Policar Home Racer series so are they any good?

At that price level I would expect blacked out windows, no interior and cheap components so it is a pleasant surprise when you discover that they contain Slot.It parts with a full interior and front lights as well. They are undecorated road cars in somewhat garish metallic colours but impact resistant with rubber mirrors and windscreen wipers. There is also a rally version available for a couple of pounds more if you prefer fully liveried items and a Toyota version as well.

What's inside?
Removal of the usual 4 fixing screws reveal this:
   

First thing to note is that there is a wiring harness for the lights which is attached to both the body and chassis so you have to be careful removing the body or you can pull the wires out and have to resolder them. Ask me how I know this!
A nice touch is the screw fixing bracket over the motor which avoids the need to glue it in. The rear axle mount is an oddity though, the axles run in brass bushes but they are captive mounted in holes not slots so the only way to remove the axle is to remove the wheels - not ideal with plastic wheels. You can't pop the axle out like you can in other cars which is somewhat strange to say the least.  


The driver platform is also peculiar as it includes a passenger reading pace notes which is not something you normally find in a road car. This is a left over from the rally version and is easily altered if it bothers you.

Chassis
Bearing in mind that Policar is wholly owned by Slot.It the chassis is a departure from their normal versions and seems to be a bit of an SCX/Carrera hybrid. The magnet follows SCX practice in that it has a 2 screw attachment underneath rather than being fixed inside so is adjustable and/or removable very easily. This is an excellent system for the magnet racers amongst us and should probably be standard practice across all makes.

The guide/braid system seems to be a direct copy of the Carrera version with bespoke braids which restricts you to manufacturer replacements or a lot of fiddling about each time they wear out. Nothing wrong with the system but an unnecessary departure from normal Slot.It braid replacement I think. If you wish to modify it then Wasp Slot do a Carrera guide adapter that fits in the hole once the original guide assembly is removed. You need to cut the legs off and glue it in position, but it does allow you to use a Slot.it guide (plus many others). LINK
Early versions of these cars were fitted with 13500 rpm motors but were later upgraded to 17000 so roughly on a par with Scalextric.


Performance
At the price I wouldn't expect these to be pocket rocket ships but they are really not at all bad. Apart from a bit of running in and loosening the body screws a tad I left them completely box stock. The tyres are Slot.It C1 plastic track variety but they are just about OK on a wooden track as well. The cars circulated in the low to mid 6 second bracket on my 50ft track without any real handling traumas which is well on a par with various SCX saloons I have. If you push a bit too hard then they will roll over rather than de slot so a bit of added chassis weight might be advantageous. I had read elsewhere that they lacked brakes but I didn't find this at all and mine stop just fine.

Verdict
I mostly keep this type of car for inexperienced visitors so they don't wreck more expensive ones but they are enjoyable to drive and provide good close racing, super fast isn't the only way to enjoy the hobby and I am perfectly happy with a more sedate pace at times.

There are some downsides in the design which I have mentioned above but it would be churlish to quibble too much at the price point and overall these are remarkable value for money.

First screening on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Documentaries at 6:30pm tonight, or at 7pm on Sunday. Will no doubt be repeated if you miss it first time round.
It tells the story of a friendship turned feud between Ferrari drivers Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi, which preceded their untimely deaths. Featuring interviews with the families of both drivers, the documentary is centred around the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, during which a contentious incident saw the sudden breakdown of their relationship.

I have the chance to buy  GB Track car, not a make I know,  any info on them ? Ta

Years ago none of the cars I raced at an ECRA club  ( in UK) had magnets (1970) for weight we used plasticine !  Now the cars I have recently bought all have magnets, slot-it, Racer and Scalextric. 
So…. I have got used to the handling of all the cars but just wonder is there an advantage to having them fitted, presumably the grip is greater and therefore easier to drive ?  The club doesn’t mind us using magnets and most of us are novices. I seem to remember I could hang the tail out on my Galaxie without coming to grief, sorry for the rambling,  should I just enjoy racing and forget there are magnets inside   ??