[woodcote]

Very jealous that you have space to built a recognisable replica of Goodwood! We’ve built “Goodwood-inspired” versions at WHO Digital, but our hall is long and thin - not Goodwood-shaped at all.

I don’t know if you’ve driven Goodwood, but it is very fast. Drivers straighten the kinks and only have to worry about the four corners and the chicane. Nick Swift claimed he only brakes once, a brief dab for Woodcote. It would be easier to create a geometric replica if Scalextric made R5 or R6 radius corners!



A few ideas…

• Having three lanes through the start line is a problem with a Scalextric digital base, which only have sensors for two lanes. I’m also not sure of three lanes through Madgwick. Even getting two cars through that amazing double-apex and devilishly-cambered corner is rather hair-raising. For an authentic look and drive, two lanes would be my choice. And try to replicate the adverse camber.
  
• St Mary’s - the only original left-hander - catches people out. It’s pretty flat-out from the exit of Madgwick, a slight lift at No-Name and then down the gears for St Mary’s. I’d be tempted to put an in-to-out curved lane changer there - allowing cars on the inside to take a racing line, other cars to just hang it round the outside (both authentic lines). Cars taking the inside, but not changing will be disadvantaged on entry and exit. R2 might be too tight, but it would make the corner fun.
  
• The short run to Lavant corner can be straight - with a lane-changer before the corner. That would replicate the lines drivers take. Another in-to-out curved changer would be quite authentic for the entry into Lavant, but two lane changers so close isn’t very practical. There is a pronounced dip after St Mary’s and rising up to Lavant, which would be cool to replicate. I also think a half straight (or more) to make Lavant double-apex is necessary. Lavant is a fabulous corner - tricky entry, fast exit.
  
• The kink up the hill on the Lavant straight is surprisingly sharp - but all drivers straighten it. Even an R4 is too tight for the racing line. Similarly with the kink before the braking zone into Woodcote - it’s straightened. If anything, it’s a more authentic driving experience to have maximum speed from Lavant Out to the entry of Woodcote. Into Woodcote, drivers are on the brakes, but carrying as much speed as possible into the short run to the chicane - the choice of radii should allow that.
  
• Although you’ll never build it to scale, a single lane run through the chicane is an awesome driving experience. We’ve played with the chicane at WHO digital and it becomes the signature element that shouts “GOODWOOD!”. It also makes the pit entry more reliable than it looks on your design.
  

Here’s Mike’s Lavant-Woodcote-Chicane section from our Goodwood Revival track last September…

   

It was just about possible to overtake from the inside lane into the chicane - but that was as hairy as in real life. My hunch is you could remove at least two of the straights between Woodcote and the chicane from Mike’s design to fit the scale of your layout. Driving-wise, that‘s not really a straight - merely a transition between the corner and chicane. Many of the lines through that section aren’t very straight!