[73emgee]

Welcome to Race Week for Round 7 of the 997 Porsche Cup Proxy from Watkins Glen Scale Raceway.  I unboxed the cars today and placed them on the “false grid”.  Each car is sitting on wooden rails, so the tires are not touching the surface.  This is a picture of all 29 cars in no particular order.  They make for a very handsome grid.






For each car I straighten the braids, cleaned tires, ran some laps, and inspected each one for any obvious problems. These are pictures of the cars on track in the order they will be qualified.  This is in reverse order of the points standings from Round 6.  In the right lane in the photo, which is Lane 1 (Red), we have the cars in Qualifying positions 1-10 with Austin’s #59 the first to go out.  The middle lane which is Lane 2 (Yellow) has positions 11-20, and the left lane in photo which is Lane 3 (Blue) has positions 21-29. 












I hope to Qualify the cars tomorrow.  From my limited testing there are many very fast cars in the field.  Some were very close to setting a new track record lap time in Lane 2 which will be used for Qualifying.

The race is scheduled for Sat. 2/12/2022, more to come on Qualifying results, track info and race format.

[73emgee]

Round 6 Qualifying from Watkins Glen is in the books.  The format I used was to allow a maximum of 30 laps to obtain the best time possible for each car.  When I felt the car had nothing left to give, the fastest lap would be recorded, and I would move to the next car.  Only a few cars required all 30 laps to get fully dialed in.

A fast lap a Watkins Glen is anything less than 5.0 seconds.  17 of the 29 cars were able to turn sub 5.0 second laps.  The builders of these cars deserve recognition on for this accomplishment.  The top 2 cars were able to post laps in the 4.6 second range.  The only car to ever turn sub 4.6 second times was a Slot.it LMP with treated foam tires.  I would love to see a grudge match between some of the GT3 proxy cars and these 997 proxy cars.  Well done gentlemen!





Bob

[73emgee]

Watkins Glen Scale Raceway
Track Info

This track is a scale replica of the historic track in upstate NY.  During the early 1970’s, the track width was expanded, the Start/Finish line was relocated, and the “Boot” section was added for the U.S. Grand Prix.  I was able to obtain a copy of the actual engineering plans used for these track improvements from the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen.  Using these plans, I scaled down the 3.4 miles of the actual track to fit the available space in my basement, which resulted in a scale of, .0313” (slot car track) = 1’ (actual track).  Using this scale, all the actual turn radii and straights were redrawn on 4’x 8’ ½”MDF sheets and cutout to form the scale track surface. The actual track elevations were also taken from the plans and scaled down to build the track benchwork.  The lowest point on the track is in the “toe of the boot”, the actual elevation is 979.940 feet which scaled downed to 30.5” above the basement floor.  The highest point on the track is Turn 5 (Outer Loop) which leads into the entrance of the “Boot” section.

Your car is always going uphill or down, never flat.  There are 11 turns on the track, 7 are compound increasing radius turns where you enter the turn using one radius and exit the turn on a larger radius. There is also a 1-8 degree camber in most turns, this in conjunction with the increasing radius turns allows good speed to be carried through the corners even though the turns are closely spaced, especially in the “Boot” section.

The slots do not run parallel to the edges of the track like many slot car tracks.  The slots were laid out to replicate the actual racing line as much as possible and still accommodate the 3.5” lane spacing.  There are no bridges, overpasses, or “squeeze” sections to obstruct driver site lines or create marshalling obstacles.   

Specifications:
Track Footprint                 19.5’ x 8.5’
Track Width                      15”
Track Length (average)     60’
Number of Lanes              3                     
Lane Spacing                    3.5”
Track Surface                    3 sanded coats of Flat latex paint over an oil base primer.
Power Supply                    Regulated 0-20 Volts, 10Amps.
Track Conductor               Non-Magnetic Braid.
Driver Stations                  XLR and 3-post alligator controller connections with individual track call buttons.
Race Management            “TrackMate” hardware, “Race Coordinator” software.
Sensor Type                      Infrared LED’s.
Location                            Purcellville, VA
 
Here are some photos of the track taken by fellow IHRS member Rick Foster.





Bob

[73emgee]

997 Porsche Cup Proxy Track Tour


Here are some photos of your cars on the various turns of Watkins Glen Scale Raceway.  I used the Round 6 point standings to group the cars into “races within the race”.  I think the plan is to have 10 rounds, so there are not too many more opportunities to make your big charge to the front.
Currently in 29th and 28th position, and only separated by one point is the #59 Austin and the #20 Barc1.  Here they are in Turn 1 (The Ninety), this is the first turn after the Start/Finish line at the end of the Front Straight. 




The next group contains 4 cars in positions 24 through 27.  In position 24 with 43 points is #7 Dungeonracer, followed by #9 REL13, with 38 pts., #62 Pepsi62 with 33 pts. and #92 Apexbomber with 31 pts.  This group is “climbing through the Esses”, Turns 2, 3, and 4. 




Next, we have two cars flying up the Back Straight in 22nd position #997 Double-B, and in 23rd position #6 Aloha.  Only 3 points separate them. >>>4028<<<  
At the end of the Back Straight is the highest point on the track Turn 5 the Outer Loop which descends into the “Boot” section.   There are 3 cars in this group #111 Peter Gunn in the 19th position with 79 points; #14 Leadfoot46 with 78 points in 20th  ; and #57 SteeveeW in 21st with 73 points. 




Next is a big group of cars are going downhill into Turn 6 the “Chute”, the first turn in the “Boot” section. #3 Lez in 13th position leading the group with 107 points; in 14th is a tie #11 Loanshark, and #12 Fast Company both with 100 points; in 16th is #33 Brumos RSR with 99 points; #5 Redlyner 17th position and #96 ALS 18th position finish the group with 94 and 89 points respectively. 




This is Turn 7 the “Toe of the Boot” which is the lowest point on the track.  Another large group led by #71 Leadfinger in the 7th position with 133 points, next is #54 Manchvegasracer in 8th with 129 points; in 9th position is #4 Big Duhg with 129 points; there is tie for 10th position between #53 Aaroldn and #8 Modernslots both with 123 points; and #76 CJ74 holds down the 12th position with 118 points. 





Entering Turn 8 the “Heel of the Boot” are #10 Cgyracer in 5th position with 153 points; and #50 RobNC in the 6th position with 149 points.




The final group are your top cars in the Proxy, they have negotiated Turns 9,10,11 and are heading for the Finish Line.  Tied for the 3rd position is #17 SR Hawaii and #211 CourtneyS both with 161 points; in the 2nd position is #1 Audi1 with 164 points, and the current leader #60 Chrisguyw in 1st place with 166 points.





It will be interesting to watch these groupings on Saturday’s to see “racing within the race”.

Bob

[73emgee]

Live Stream of the 997 Porsche Cup Proxy this Sat. 2/12/22

Live Stream Link and Race Info for Round 7 of the 997 Porsche Cup Proxy at Watkins Glen
 
The Race has been scheduled for Sat. Feb 12, 2022, at 11:00 AM EST.  It will be live streamed in 1080p on YouTube. Make sure your YouTube settings are set to 1080p and Full Screen.  This will provide better viewing of the “Leader Board” which will allow viewers to see the current position of each car during the race.  It may be difficult to see on a cell phone, recommend viewing on a desktop/laptop monitor or “casting” to a TV monitor.  If you can’t watch the race live, it will be saved and can be viewed later using the same link below.  When YouTube saves the live stream, it will initially be saved in “Standard Definition”, the “High Definition” version (1080P) will be saved soon after.   

Cars will be raced in the reverse order of how they Qualified. The cars will be run in groups using their Qualifying position so like performing cars will be running together.  Since the 29 cars cannot be equally divided into 3 lane groupings, the first group will contain 5 cars, and the 24 remaining cars will be in 8, 3-car groups. Cars will remain on track until all lanes have been run for each car in the group. The “Heat List” below shows when each car will be on track, it should be printed so viewers can follow the race. 

The track voltage will be set to 11 volts.  3-minute heats will be run on each lane of the track.  Members of the Interstate Home Slot Racing (IHSR) club will be doing the driving.  The drivers will have an opportunity to run several practice laps before each heat.  The track is divided into 100 segments; segments will be recorded for each car at the completion of each heat. This will update the current “Leader Board” lap totals on display. 

We will have a limited crew to help with the race.  There will only be one turn marshal, each driver will use their “track call button” when they have an “off”. The roving marshal will re-slot the car and the race will resume.  Since we don’t have enough marshals to manage lane markers for the practice laps, the cars will be returned to the Start/Finish line after each heat and will stay on track until all lanes have been run for the group.
We encourage viewers to use the YouTube “Chat Feature” for comments during the race.  We will try to monitor the stream, but once it starts things will get hectic, so if you are experiencing any problems with the stream, please “chat” a message.  One caution, if you are viewing in “Full Screen” you will not be able to see the “Chat” messages, you must be in the “Normal View” to see “Chat”.  You can easily toggle between “Full Screen” and “Normal” views.
 
Link for live stream of Race on 2/12/2022, 11:00 AM EST  https://youtu.be/j7CZd9LP3sQ
 
Heat List for the race, print it so you see when your car will be on track.




Bob

[Cgyracer]

Looking good Bob!   What a great looking track!
Rob

[AdeC]

Stunning track and great coverage

[Kevan]

Thoroughly enjoyed the racing, one or two of the early cars didn't look the easiest to drive, conversely some of the later ones looked a dream to drive.

[73emgee]

Correct you are, the later cars were a joy to drive.

Bob

[Kevan]

I can see the rounds were customised to suit