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WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - Printable Version

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WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - woodcote - 31st-Dec-25

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This is a brand new event for 2026 and gives us the opportunity to expand the range of cars we run on the WHO Digital calendar and enjoy another full-day Saturday to cheer us up during the darker months. There are two team races, a pairs race and two individual events to mix things up during the day. As always, doors open for practice at 10am and we aim to finish around 4.30. There are no club cars for our Digital Saturdays and we expect all new racers to have successfully completed at least one Nascar & Trans-Am Wednesday evening event - conveniently these are scheduled for 14 January and 11 February.

Race One is a Pioneer Legends pairs race, which we hope will get us up to speed and learn the track (Mike's version of Meadowdale International Raceway). These little cars have thrilled us on Wednesday nights over the past three years and now have a new home. They will run to the same build regulations as before - if you need a copy of the regs to build a new car, please let us know.

Race Two is Sebring Seventies - a 45-minute team race for Scalextric and Fly models of GT cars that raced at the 12 Hours of Sebring from 1973 to 1977. Eligible cars are:

●    Scalextric Porsche 911 3.0 RSR 
●    Scalextric Chevrolet Corvette L88
●    Fly Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4
●    Fly Porsche 911S
●    Fly Porsche 934 and 1977 934/5
●    Fly BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA

Only six cars will run, entered by our Gold drivers (or their deputies). Cars should be prepared to Scalextric Tin Top regs. Working lights are preferred, but not essential. At the time of writing, there are five Scalextric Porsches on the grid, with Mike still deciding between a Fly BMW 3.5 CSL and a sixth Porsche...

Race Three is another chance to run the awesome Carrera Classic Nascars. This is an individual race with a heats and finals format. Build regs are on page 14 of the 2026 WHO digital guide.

Race Four is Can-Am - another individual race featuring models of the unrestricted monsters that delighted crowds from 1966 to 1974. We will use brand eligibility and regs from the Goodwood Whitsun Cup and limit entry to genuine Group 7 Can-Am cars (plus the 1965 SCCA precursor): no GT40s, Ferrari 330s or Alfa 33/3s please. This list may be useful...

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The Whitsun Cup regs allow for a change of running gear and wheels, so those very nice Fly and Monogram models can be tuned to compete with the George Turner, Slot.it and MR SlotCar cars - which must use a standard 18k Scalextric or PSR AC6 S-Can motor.

The final race is a 500 lap (approximately two-hour) team race into the dark for the new Scalextric LMDh  (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) models - currently the Cadillac V-Series.R and Porsche 963. These cars will be provided and prepared by our Gold rated drivers (or their deputy). We will use the same regs as the GT Championship. For 2026 and 2027, the older Scalextric Ford Daytona Prototype (Riley) and Ginetta G60-LT-P1 will also be permitted - if you have one already - but these will be allocated a smaller fuel tank in RCS64. Working lights are essential for this as we’ll turn off the main hall lights and race with the up-lighters.

As with all our first-time events, the formats and regs are a work in progress! Any questions, just ask...

RE: WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - BAracer - 26th-Jan-26

Getting my two cars ready...little and large!
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Not much room in the Porsche for the chip!

RE: WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - eToad - 30th-Jan-26

Looks really nice Jeremy.

I bought a single seater chip to squeeze in.

Also, I have a hire car avaible to the highest bidder....

RE: WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - BAracer - 30th-Jan-26

I've got a friend who'll take the fastest one off you.

RE: WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - woodcote - 22nd-Feb-26

Race Report

Twenty-three racers sampled our American SpeedFest. This included three of our 2026 rookies - Jaxson, Kinsley and Mike A - and the welcome return of Keith to digital racing after nine years away. 

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Mike's revised Meadowdale layout was built in quick time and there were Sebring Seventies, Can-Ams and LMDh cars getting their first track time around 9.30am. Some of those immediately returned to the workbench!

After a nice long practice session, we were ready to go with the Legends pairs race at 10.30...

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Mike D and Jean were late arriving - and Mike A wasn't due to after lunch - so we had ten pairs for the first competitive action of the day. Using our Wednesday evening format, the Legends would be split into two eight-minute qualifying heats and we'd finish with two more 8-minute races - starting with a semi-final, where the top two would step up to the feature race.

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Heat One saw Oliver & Ash pulverise the other four pairs. They finished on 39 laps, their nearest challengers were Stephen & Daniel, who finished five laps behind. Keith & Terry and Isaac & Kev both clocked up 33 laps, while Andy & Rob A managed 32.

Heat Two was a closer contest at the front - Alex & Dean leading Duncan & Simon to line and scoring 38 & 37 laps respectively. Steve & Jeremy were next, on 31 laps, Ollie & Rob B with 29 and Jaxson & Kinsley 24 - the last two cars having mechanical issues. But everyone would get to go again and have a chance to make the feature race.

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The winners and runners-up of the Semi-final would both step up, so this was a super-competitive eight minutes. Ollie's car was now fixed and - not surprisingly - he had the better of the early stages, leading Terry, Kev and Rob A into the mid-race driver change. Rob B defended the one-lap advantage, but it was a right old scrap behind for the second step-up. A different pit strategy by Andy & Rob A - two stops, but leaving tyres to late in the race - got them track position and, ultimately, an unlikely step-up. Keith brought the gold Chevy home in third, just ahead of Isaac & Kev.

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Oliver & Ash lined up in pole position for the start of the Feature race. Alongside were the gold pairing of Alex & Dean. The opening stages were fast and chaotic, Ash dropping back and Alex grabbing the lead ahead of Simon. Ash had recovered to third by the driver change, but was two laps behind the leaders. Daniel was fourth, ahead of Rob A and Ollie's ailing green McD's Chevy.

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There wasn't much movement in the second four minutes as Dean defending his lead, Duncan held steady and Oliver couldn't make any progress, despite setting the fastest lap of the race. Andy did get ahead of Stephen, but only because of cars troubles for the McCann brothers. Rob salvaged fifth place...

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Congrats to Alex & Dean and to all our Legends podium finishers!

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That had us nicely warmed up and ready for the inaugural Sebring Seventies team race...

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A very attractive grid with four Scalextric Porsche 911 3.0 RSRs, a Scalextric Corvette L88 and a Fly BMW 3.5 CSL.

RE: WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - woodcote - 25th-Feb-26

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Jean and Mike joined us for the second race of the day - the Sebring Seventies 45-minute team race. A late change to the line-up saw Écurie Escargot enter the McCann Corvette Stingray, which would be driven by the McCann brothers - Stephen & Daniel - plus Andy and Rob A. The other 'non-Porsche' entry was the Gastropoda Fly BMW 3.5 CSL, featuring a genuine IMSA livery. There were four teams of four drivers and two teams of three, giving us driver changes at 11, 22 & 33 minutes for the fours and 15 & 30 for the threes. That driver change bell would be ringing often...

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First, we had a 2-minute super-pole session to sort out the starting order - the drivers competing in qualifying would start the race. It was a remarkably close call for pole - Ash beating Jeremy by 0.003 of a second!

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So that was two Porsches at the front, a BMW and Corvette on the second row and the other two Porsches starting at the back...

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Our RCS64 software was set up for dry weather throughout the day, in homage to Florida in February. Teams would need to manage fuel and tyre simulations - and that was still a new challenge for Kinsley, Jaxson and Keith, whose digital racing experience has mostly been with the simpler SSDC software.

In the early laps, Jeremy eased into the lead with the blue 'Wallys' AST One Porsche, closely followed by Dean, who'd moved the green 'Valliant' Porsche through the field. Stephen was third with the Corvette, ahead of Mike's Fly IMSA BMW. Ash had dropped to fifth, ahead of Simon in the Laps in Concentration Porsche...

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That's how it stayed as the race settled into a rhythm, Simon and Ash swapping places and the Corvette looking good on fuel efficiency. Mike was penalised for an unsafe pit release, the BMW coming back in for a 5-second Stop-Go. The teams of four swapped drivers after 11 minutes - Ollie taking over the Shift Happens! Porsche and Daniel getting into the Corvette. Mike handed the BMW to Rob and Isaac was now in the Gearzilla Porsche. The other two teams would swap at 15 minutes, when the order looked like this...

15 minutes
AST One - 74 laps
Écurie Escargot - 72
Gearzilla - 71
Gastropoda - 71
Shift Happens! - 70
Laps in Concentration - 70

That was a pretty close start to the race. Kev was now driving for the leaders and Terry for the sixth-placed team. It was all-change in this part of the race, especially as teams drifted out of sequence on pit stops. The BMW got out front and Rob handed the BMW to Steve with a lap lead over the Gearzilla Porsche. The Corvette was still third, ahead of three Porsches - AST One, Laps in Concentration and Shift Happens!

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Keith was now in charge of the Gearzilla Porsche, being chased by Rob A in the Corvette. Jaxson had taken over from Ollie in the Valliant Porsche. Kev moved AST One back into the podium places, with the positions looking like this a two-thirds distance...

30 minutes
Gastropoda - 143 laps
Gearzilla - 142
AST One - 141
Écurie Escargot - 141
Laps in Concentration - 138
Shift Happens! - 131

Alex was in the AST One car for the final 15 minutes and Duncan took over the Laps in Concentration Porsche. Alex worked his Porsche up to second and as Steve handed the BMW to Jean, the two cars were on the same lap. Two back were the Gearzilla Porsche - with Oliver at the wheel - and the Écurie Escargot Corvette driven by Andy. It would be a frantic last ten minutes...

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Jaxson handed the Shift Happens! Porsche to Kinsley - both doing well in their first full-fat WHO team endurance race. Alex was soon past Jean and into the lead, but it was Oliver who was fastest and gaining ground on the front two. Ultimately, fuel consumption and late race pit stops shook up the order - Gearzilla getting everything right and ending the race on the same lap at AST One, but not quite close enough to win the race. Meanwhile the fuel-guzzling BMW dropped back to fourth - Andy getting ahead of Jean with a slick final stop and the Corvette finished just a few meters ahead of the BMW...

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Congrats to Alex, Kev and Jeremy for winning our first Sebring Seventies race...

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That was lunch time - ten minutes ahead of schedule. The track stayed open for more testing of new cars, before we'd start the afternoon with two individual races - Carrera Classic Nascar and Can-Am.

RE: WHO Digital American SpeedFest - 21 February 2026 - Kevan - 25th-Feb-26

That looked a whole lot of fun  Thumbup