The 2nd Chelmsford based Slot Drag Race meeting is the season opener for the 2022/2023 Winter series and will be on Friday 7th October 2022 at:

The Cathedral Primary School
Victoria Road
Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 1PA
The entrance to the school is just opposite where the Royal Mail Sorting Office used to be on Victoria Road, next door to Riverside Ice and Leisure. There is a small car park in the school grounds, please park carefully as it is very narrow. If full please park in side road opposite the school.  I have loan cars for anyone wanting to try out this exciting form of slot car racing. We run Elimination races during the evening, for added tension, as well as the Gasser Circus Championship, see the MrD Slot Drag Racing Facebook page for full details. Race fee is the usual £5 for the evening, with accompanied under 16's free.  It's great fun, come and have a go!!!
Track opens at around 7.30pm, with Elimination races starting at 8.15pm.
Hope to see you there.  Cheers MrD    

   

We're back racing Scalextric digital at the Barn on Saturday 15 October, 10am to 5pm. Ignore the 'Evening' bit on the poster - it's just morning and afternoon sessions.

This is a 'standard' Digital Saturday, beginning with practice at 10am, a club car rotation starting sharp at 10.30 - and then the second part of the BTCC day we started in June. The afternoon will feature the second GT team race of 2022 championship, a Slot.it Group C race and finishing with our Muscle Car Mondiale format.

Complete beginners are always welcome at our events - there will be a WHO Digital Driving School for any newcomers at 10am, plus the club car rotation is a perfect introduction to the dark arts of digital racing. We also have an introduction to our RCS64 software and Truspeed controllers - including factsheets and a video - on the club website here: http://www.whoracing.org.uk/rcs64.html

The track layout will be new for all of us - I'll post a diagram on this thread in the week before the event.

Lunch will be around 12.30-ish - please bring your own food and snacks. There's a fridge, microwave and hot water boiler in the kitchen. You could also plan a quick dash to the Tesco, Spar or chippy that are all around 5 minutes walk away.

Covid precautions: There's a big wave coming... so we will continue with our common-sense precautions. Please don't come along if you are feeling unwell or think you might have Covid. Inside the Barn, wearing a face covering, giving others a bit of space and exercising good hand hygiene are all non-negotiable requirements. Face masks and hand-sanitiser are available. We will keep outside doors open to create some ventilation through the 18th century building - so warm clothing isn't a bad idea.

Any questions, just ask.

I have for sale these two slot cars.

P+P is £4.50 for one or both cars to the UK, other destinations will need to be calculated.
Payment via Paypal "Friends and Family" or Bank Transfer.

   

   

   

The Mustang has been used gently in a different configuration with different wheels/tyres, but now refitted all the stock parts.
VGC all round. £45 + P+P

   

   

   

The BMW M6 GT3 is unused, and come with the extra decals in the picture, as yet unattached stock rear wing. Also included is a racing rubber wing.
The front bumper is loose on the drivers side wing joint, as can be seen in the picture. Nothing that can't be easily fixed.
Otherwise VGC all round. £52 + P+P

Thanks for looking, and feel free to PM any questions :)

Race report by Andy

Friday 23rd September saw the running of GT3/Group 5 class.  The second fastest class of car that is raced at Mussel Bay.  There was a good turnout for the night one of the biggest that we have seen for a long while and this brought with it a good atmosphere.  There was a welcome return for Brian, who after a long break came back to join us.  It was good to see if he still had the speed of the ‘olds school racers’.  The car of choice for the evening seemed to be the Scaleauto BMW Z4 GT3 as this was raced by a number of racers, and proved to be very fast and stable.  With a large turnout of 13 racers everyone was keep to prove themselves in the heats and this lead to some good close racing. All the racers were well behaved during their heats and although there were a lot of races to get through the night’s heat races went very smoothly with some good close races between the faster drivers and even some of the slower driver were pushing hard trying to keep up with the faster ones.  It took Brian a couple of laps to get back into the swing of things but soon he was up there with the leaders in most of his races.

D Final; Richard in green, Paul in blue, Brian in red, Tom in yellow.  Richard got off to a flying start off the line pulling out an early lead but then on the second lap at the hairpin he came off allowing Paul and Brian to pass.  Tom was having trouble at the rear of the pack and after a few de-slots found himself a lap down from the rest of the pack.  Richard started to push hard managing to catch and pass Paul after a few laps and then set his sights on Brian.  After another couple of laps Richard was snapping at Brian’s heals trying to get past but unfortunately he pushed slightly too hard round Snoopy’s foot and came off, this allowed Brian to break free and take the win. Richard came home in second Paul in third and Tom in forth.

C final; Heather in green, Terry in blue, Andy in red Brian in yellow.  All the drivers got off to a good start with Heather and Brian pulling out a slight lead over Terry and Andy.  The battle between Brian and Heather meant that they pulled out a good lead and they were both setting some fast lap times as a result.  At the back of the field Andy had built up a good lead over Terry who looked like he was having some sort of car problems (as he was coming off a lot for a driver of his skill) and was at the back.  In the end Heather won the battle between her and Brian, she crossed the line in first, Brian in second Andy in third and Terry in forth.
   
B final; Mark in green, Heather in blue, Tel in red and Ken in yellow.  Mark got off to a very quick start off the line pulling out a good early lead. Heather was in hot pursuit trying to catch up and ken and Tel were having a good battle at the rear of the field.  It was very close between the both of them for a good half of the race with little to choose between them. The pressure from Ken proved too much for Tel who came off allowing ken to come passed into third.  Although Heather was putting in good consistent times in second she wasn’t making any inroads on mark and the gap remained constant throughout the race. At the back, after his off, Tel couldn’t catch up to with Ken so it finished Mark first, Heather second, Ken third and Tel forth.

Main final. James in Green, Dave in Blue, Mark in red and Elliot in Yellow. It was a quick start for James off the line with Mark, Elliot and Dave hot on his heels.  Mark pushed hard caught up with James over the cause of the opening lap but then the two of them had a coming together down at snoopy’s foot and took each other off allowing Dave and Elliot to  get passed. Dave then came off at the chicane allowing Mark to drive straight pass him.  Elliot was going well with a fairy uneventful race he managed to get passed Mark into second but didn’t have the pace to catch up with James and Dave could quite catch mark in third.  The final race of the night finished up like this James first, Elliot second, Mark third and Dave forth.

   
Scalextric C4247 Chrysler Hemicuda - Spa 24 Hours 1973 - Bertinchamps & Deprez. RRP £49.99. Available now

One of the recent batch of new Scalextric cars to arrive is this stunning Chrysler Hemicuda that was raced by Belgians Yves Deprez and Pierre-Yves Bertinchamps at the 1973 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Scalextric use the same mould as the Plymouth Barracuda released last autumn (see here), with the addition of working front headlights (alas, no driving lights) and different wheel hubs. Both having the same standard Scalextric 'Trans-Am' configuration of a sidewinder motor and full interior. The Hemicuda is another in a growing collection of Spa 24 Hours models and goes perfectly with the recent James Hunt / Richard Lloyd Scalextric Camaro from the same 1973 race, captured beautifully here with on a 8mm home movie...



The 1973 Spa 24 Hours is remembered for tragedy - racing was becoming increasingly dangerous for high-performance cars on the original Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Formula One held its last Grand Prix at Spa in 1970, not returning until 1983. The European Touring Car Championship would withdraw after the 1973 race - the 24-hours continuing with Group 1 production cars until the new circuit was ready in 1979. This final no-holds-barred 24-hour touring car race on the old Spa was set up as a battle between BMW and Ford. The previous four rounds of the ETCC has seen two wins apiece for the Group 2 BMW 3.0CSL and Capri RS2600 - but BMW had rushed through a new rear wing, just before the July homologation cut-off. Rear-end lift was becoming a big problem for the increasingly rapid Group 2 cars, so this would seemingly give BMW a big advantage going to Spa.

   

The sixty-strong field was headed by the two factory BMWs, three Alpina-entered CSLs - including the Jägermeister car of Brian Muir and Hans-Peter Joisten - and the two works Capris. The 7-litre Chrysler Hemicuda was typical of the big yank tanks entered by European teams into the ETCC at the time. They usually qualified well at Spa, the Levi-sponsored Chrysler France Hemicuda can be seen fifteenth on the grid, just behind the first of the Camaros in 11th and the Hunt/Lloyd Camaro further back in 24th.

   

The BMW-Ford battle attracted a crowd of nearly 100,000 people. The BMWs dominated the early stages - the Fords keeping watch just behind. Muir led in the orange car, whilst the Hunt Camaro pitted with wheel-bearing issues. BMW's decision to enter five potential winners looked a shrewd call when one of the Alpina cars retired. As pit stops cycled through, the Hemicuda briefly found itself up in fifth place - running strongly in the battle for 'best-of-the-rest'...

       

That good form would not last - often the case for the big American cars. The Hemicuda was plagued by countless problems, dropping it to 27th and last place at the finish - 1000 kms behind the winner. The Hunt / Lloyd Camaro eventually retired with clutch problems, but the other British-entered Camaro - of Mike Crabtree, Jonathan  Buncombe and Terry Sanger - finished a magnificent eleventh.

   

Darkness was accompanied by the rain - a disastrous combination. Just before 11 o'clock, Joisten was driving the leading Jägermeister BMW through the vast, sweeping right-hander at Burnenville, blasting past Roger Dubos in a Group 1 Alfa. Entering the following corner at Malmédy, Joisten appeared slightly off-line, spinning out on the wet surface, hitting the barrier hard before coming to a standstill in the middle of the track. Dubos braked, but hit the BMW side-on at considerable speed - killing both drivers instantly. Alpina immediately withdrew their remaining car from the race.

   

That was not the end of the tragedy. Shortly after the crash at Malmédy, Massimo Larini's Alfa went over the barrier at Les Combes - he was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries a week later. A separate crash at the same corner saw Hubert Raus flip his BMW 2002ti and suffer extensive injuries - thankfully he survived. Today, we'd expect the event to be stopped after such horrors - but the cars raced on for the full 24 hours, minus the Alpina BMWs and the Autodelta Alfas which were withdrawn. Two BMWs and two Capris were now left - but only one of each still ran as dawn broke across the Ardennes. The Quester / Hezemans CSL led into the morning - and that lead became very comfortable when Mass spun the Capri at the Masta kink, requiring lengthy repairs in the pits.

Only 27 cars finished the race, but after the horrors and sadness of the night, it didn't really matter - everyone just wanted to go home.

For fans of the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps - a race often as brutal as it was thrilling - the Scalextric Hemicuda will be a must-have model. It also offers continues the theme of Scalextric offering European liveries on their Trans-Am cars. The Hemicuda is available now from all Scalextric stockists.

We have a sell out of tables for this year's event, so there promises to be plenty of goodies available.

NSCC Members, not only get free entry, but the chance to buy a limited edition car. As usual the car is a stunner, so it is worth travelling to Leeds for the day.

Rothwell Sports Centre
Wakefield Road
Oulton
Leeds LS26 8EL

Doors open at 10am

We have a sell out of tables for this year's event, so there promises to be plenty of goodies available.

NSCC Members, not only get free entry, but the chance to buy a limited edition car.  As usual the car is a stunner, so it is worth travelling to Leeds for the day.   

Rothwell Sports Centre
Wakefield Road
Oulton
Leeds LS26 8EL

Doors open at 10am

Hi, can anyone identify what the logo(s) above the Bilstein on the rear box arch is please ?

   

If this request has a more suited place, mods feel free to relocate !

This Q is a long shot. I have a very old 1st generation Triang scalextric set (60 yrs or so) where the track requires metal clips to hold it together. Does anyone know if its possible to find replacement clips

Back into slots after nearly 50 years and starting from scratch!

I thought joining such an online club/forum might help steer me into the right things and avoid the wrong.

I'm looking to build a digital race set that lets six people play together. I have no cars yet, I have no track yet. Being an Instrument & Control Technician by trade, I know I would like to be able to control the cars at the highest level and already bought six Slot.it SCP-3 controllers. Now I hope to build my track around those and everything seems to point to Scalextric 1/32 ARC PRO as the starting point. ANY words of wisdom are seriously welcomed!