Expect plenty of snow and ice for the first WHO Slot Rally club night of the year - which takes place on the eve of the real Monte Carlo Rally.

Doors open at 6.30pm for sign-on and allocation to groups for the evening. The Johnny's Workshop stage will be available for a shakedown - to make sure your cars and controllers are functioning as you want them.

The competitive stages for this one are:

1. Friston Forest - SCX and Scalextric Classic, featuring SCX ice effect track.
2. Jupp's Farm 2026 (short version) - Ninco with some patches of ice and extra rough terrain
3. Titnore Lane - Ninco tarmac with plenty of ice track and elevations
4. Ford Ice Rink - routed foamboard


All four stages are fitted with a UK club 3-pin 2 amp socket and standard club wiring (brake wired -ve and L terminal wired +ve). Power is 12V DC, apart from the Ice Rink, which runs at 10V.

As always, the aim is to get through all four stages in the quickest possible time.

Our WHO Slot Rally events are for 1:32 scale analogue rally cars running to our local interpretation of Slot Rally GB regulations - see here. The important highlights are that cars must be fitted with an inline motor and must feature a driver and co-driver sitting side-by-side.

Each driver can enter one car per class - Classic, 80s-90s and Modern Rally. Club cars and controllers are available on each stage. We will be noting the best times for standard SCX and Scalextric cars (magnets must be removed, weight can be added and tyres and braid may be replaced - otherwise no modifications).

Entry is £3 per person for the whole evening, £2 for under-16s.

   

This year's Scalextric catalogue unveiling is scheduled for 2pm on Wednesday.

I haven't had a preview this year, so I'll share the excitement and surprise of Scalextric fans around the globe. I do hope to share images of some Q1 and Q2 releases (ie the actual cars, not 3D renders) from Thursday onwards.

So what are we going to get this year? Almost certainly something for everyone across the various categories - TV & Movie, Street, Touring, Rally, GT & Prototypes, Single Seaters and Super-Resistant. We'll see what sets are planned to introduce Scalextric to new racers next Christmas. As always at this time of year various rumours have been circulating... Will there be any innovative new technology this year? Will prices stay the same, creep up or even go down? And is the Scalextric Club returning? 

All will be revealed on Wednesday - apart from a few cars that are kept under wraps for a nice surprise later in the year 

The Nuremberg Toy Fair - Spielwarenmesse - takes place from 27 to 31 January, so expect brands such as Slot.it and Carrera to announce their 2026 releases around then.

          

Scalextric C4657 Subaru Impreza WRX - Winner Thailand Rally 1997 - Rui Madeira / Nuno Rodrigues da Silva. Scalextric website exclusive £39.99

This is an interesting release for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's another very nice livery on the new Scalextric Impreza WRX mould, this time from the Asian-Pacific rally championship. The car was a Group N entry and the Scalextric model sports a smaller production-style rear spoiler that is different to that on the Group A models released so far...

         

Something else that also caught my eye is the price - £39.99 - which is £17 cheaper than the RRP of the other Subarus. It is yet to be seen if Scalextric have shaved a few pennies off production costs by omitting 4WD, but everything else looks like a full-spec high-detail Scalextric model.

The Scalextric model recreates the 1997 Thailand Rally winner - Portuguese ace Rui Madeira and co-driver Nuno Rodrigues da Silva flying in to beat the locals in what was their first rally in a Subaru. Here are the Australian TV highlights from 1997 - apologies for the terrible picture quality...



When the Scalextric Club was wound down a couple of years ago, the team did say they'd prefer to produce some low-volume quirky models that were available to everyone, not just Club members. I'd put this Subaru in that category - and at the low price, it's a very tempting release, not just for rally fans. You can buy it on the Scalextric website here.
   

Hello,
My name is Josh and I'm from Germany. I've been pursuing our hobby for about 30 years. I started out with a Carrera Universal, then moved on to a Carrera Evolution. A long time ago, I built my first wooden track. I'm happy to be here.

Best regards, Josh

Hi does anybo£y know where to get scalextric sierra 68430 Gemini graphics 1/32 scale

   

Our 2026 Scalextric digital season kicks off on Wednesday with a Nascar club car team race and Trans-Am pairs race - a perfect introduction to our digital racing formats and RCS64 race management software.

We do ask that new racers complete at least one (and preferably two) Nascar & Trans-Am evening to progress to our GT Championship and the Saturday events. During the evening we gradually introduce the tyre wear, fuel consumption and weather features of the RCS64 software. Team captains will get you up to speed with the nuts and bolts of digital racing - and to the subtleties of race strategy.

Doors open at 6.30pm for practice and digital driving school. Teams are allocated and we start racing with evenly-matched club cars as near to 7pm as possible. An hour of action is divided into three or four segments of either 15 or 20 minutes, including driver changes every five minutes. Teams swap cars at each break - winners with last place, second with fifth etc. After an hour of racing, total laps are added up and prizes awarded at around 8.30.

Trans-Am cars are back for the pairs race for 2026-8. Scalextric and Pioneer models of cars that raced in the Trans-Am series between 1966 and 1972 are eligible. The usual Trans-Am format is two 8-minute qualifying heats, with a driver change at half-distance. The cars completing the most laps in their 8-minute heat automatically qualify for a the feature race, the other six battle it out for the remaining places in an 8-minute ‘B-Final’. And that usually takes us up to around 9.30pm - or sometimes a little later.

The whole evening costs just £3 for adults and £2 for under-16s. All equipment is provided for the team race. Those without a Trans-Am car will need to negotiate to share a ride. We do ask that racers aged 13 and under bring a responsible adult with them.

SCX (Scalextric España) have just announced their Q1 releases for 2026…

   
   
   
   
   

The first four are self-explanatory, but the Seat 850 is a bit of a surprise, resurrecting some old tooling and using a 1970s livery from a legendary Catalàn hill climb. Arrabassada is a road that winds up from the Barcelona seafront to Tibidabo, the highest of the hills surrounding the city. The climb is no longer used for organised motorsport events, but still popular with cyclists and boy racers. It is also an option in the Assetto Corsa video game.

A big thanks to Weevils Slot Cars for the images.

 After quite a break, I have decided to have another run of the RAID proxy.

   

Here are some previous photo's of the "Extreme Slotting" series.

                                                          


Dakar Rally Slot Car Proxy - Final Rules 31/05/2026)

Historic List of cars up until 2005


Proxy Fees
Cost will be £20 for 1st vehicle, £10 for 2nd and £5 each for any additional vehicles. You are permitted to enter one car for each Category.
Payment & Registration by 1st June
Cars to be delivered by the 1st July

Round Hosts
Andy P/Jeremy B
Phil F/ James A
Paul C/ Chris K
Pip B
Brian R
Graham E

Entrants
Roadrunners
Woodcote
BARacing
Oxo Cube
Hotlap
James A
Gpa113
NERCS
Mountain View
Bangers Racing
Groundhogs




Registration Form (one for each vehicle entered)
https://forms.gle/vkR8D95yKnz7Z9EXA

Hornby continue to struggle. This informative and concise video explains the latest financial figures, released just a week before the 2026 catalogues are unveiled…

https://youtu.be/FmcvfA-KjHY

I've ended the year 2025 with a nice Avant Slot Ferrari (see cars you have bought in 2025) so I decided to start the new year with another Avant Slot Ferrari, this time a 296 driven by Franz Hermann (Max Verstappen).

The car (in the usual plastic case) came in a cardboard box where also there where extras: rubber wing and rubber mirrors   

I didn't take it of the base yet, it is secured with 2 tiny screws that can easily be lost.