[Kevan]

MSCC 2022 Slot Rally results & reports etc.

New race calendar and rules updates etc. available for download on the club page.

[Kevan]

Race results - 6th Jan 2022
 
Club Revoslot

   

A good turnout for the first event of 2022, a welcome return of a healthy looking Dave and a young newcomer Tommy who’s Dad last raced on a slot car track in the 80’s.
No Chris who was recovering from covid-booster-itis (it has many side effects, some worse than others) and no Michael who has recently been isolating also due to covid…let’s hope 2022 isn’t going to see too much of this.
 
The Club Revos have had the deep guides fitted and all 4 cars had their front tyres trued to the same size as the yellow car which is the easiest of the 4 to drive. This is to ensure full guide depth in the slot…and track records fell numerous times tonight.
 
The new visitor, young Tommy listened well, cleaned the tyres and a 7.1 sec lap is pretty good managed a best time in Yellow with the Marcos.
 
Dave had a re-run in Red after a braid was pulled out due to a mirror falling off the car in the next lane.  The next two heats Geoff and Gavin raced with the spare car in Red which wasn’t as quick as the regular car.
 
Everyone else had a mix of good and bad luck as the races weren’t seeded. 
 
Heat wins in heat order for Mike, Kev, Dave, Geoff & Andy

   
 
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Next week is the first of the regular racing, Small Sport/Saloons and Group 5.  Last year we raced Small Sports/Saloons then Saloons, this year we’re having a slow race followed by a fast race for all of the regular racing.

[Kevan]

New for 2022 for club members who are paying full fees monthly.  'Club Challenge' is a regular double slot on this years race calendar.  

Andy has kindly supplied a set of what was up until Thursday night - a mystery but was revealed to all - NSR Moslers and Truspeed BP2 controllers.

• The cars must be fitted with everything in the box except the magnet
  
• Tyres can be glued & trued - no tyre treatments are allowed on the tyres
  
• The cars can be tuned with adjustments available on the car
  
• No ballast or removing of any parts will be allowed
  
• Bodyshells can be painted or liveried to personal choice and there will be a concourse prize for the best turned out car
  
• The 3 controllers supplied will stay plugged into the track and used by all of us
  

   

Anyone who isn't a monthly subscriber can race as normal on these nights with a car suitable for Sports but won't be included in the 'Club Challenge'

[Kevan]

Race results - 13th Jan 2022
 
Small Sports/Saloons

   
 
With Andy, Dave & Mike absent, we still had a good turnout thanks to the return of Chris & Mike H.
 
All three classes had competition:
Mike vs Gav in Standard class, AC Cobra vs Lancia Fulvia. Mikes Cobra having the benefit of setup time and testing was consistent, Gavs Lancia still in the early stages.
Kev & Chris in Modified class, Chris racing the E-type again, Kev racing a Chappy 2C for the first time.
Brian & Tommy in Open class, Brians Big Healey with a few years of racing under it’s belt was super consistent whilst Tommy raced a borrowed Triumph TR7 (thanks Chris) and had a best run in Yellow.
 
Heat wins in heat order for Kev & Brian.
 
About this time Mark showed up with a box full of Slot cars and goodies, expect to see some of these cars in the near future under new management.  The club now has a controller - Truspeed BP2, one careful owner, just run-in.
 
Group 5
 
   

This year Group 5 race on the same night as the small cars, some of these are huge (try getting past a Nissan Skyline in the tight chicane!).
Standard class has recently seen Kevs BMW M1 and tonight went well with Chris racing the too-big-to-overtake-in-the-tight-chicane Nissan Skyline, both cars managing consistent times and both drivers using SlotIt SCP controllers.
Modified class was busy tonight, Brians Capri has been the one to beat in this class of late and was tonight also, whilst Mike & Tommy finished close, Mikes Ferrari and Tommy using the spare club BMW 320i (which drives like a dream).
Open class only saw one car tonight, Gavs Porsche 935 going really well, he loves driving it and set the 3rd fastest overall score on the night.
 
Heat wins in heat order for Kev & Brian.
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Next week we’re racing Saloons and Sports.
 
If anyone has a spare car to donate to the club for future new members to hire, they will be gratefully received. There’s already 4 Rally cars, we’re looking for Small Sports, Grand Prix/Pre-wing, Saloon, Sports and F1.

[Kevan]

Race results - 20th Jan 2022
 
Saloons and Sports
 
Some absentees this week but enough to have 3 marshalls.
 
Some new cars seen on track tonight, Tommys Mosler and Brians Opel.  Meanwhile Geoffs hoppity Mosler has had a new chassis & pod, some tuning and tape got it going round in a competitive time. Kev racing a Scaley Merc DTM on a podded chassis.  Tommy racing a SCX Fiesta acquired from Mark last week (we’ll see it in a few weeks in Slot Rally), Brian racing a race prepped Mosler…and Andy racing a standard Mosler!
 
SALOON

   

Two Standard class entries, Brian vs Tommy…Brian turned up with a car prepped via whatsapp and apart from a dodgy guide wire from the factory probably doesn’t need anything more doing to it, what a fabulous looking car!  The SlotIt Opel is definitely the go-to standard class Saloon.  Tommy tried valiantly to keep the Fiesta in the slot but it really shines on a Rally stage.
 
One Modified class entry, Kev’s Scaley Merc DTM, it went well enough and is running NSR ‘black special’ tyres, very hard to true and somewhere between Supers and Ultras in grip, don’t seem to wear.
 
Two Open class cars, Andy’s Peugeot apparently had a broken Mack chassis and went much better tonight after a repair.  Geoffs Opel Calibra gave Brians Opel a hell of a race in heat #2 and managed to win that heat a few car lengths ahead of the Opel.
 
Heat wins in heat order for Kev, Geoff & Andy. 
 
     
 
SPORTS

   
 
Tommy went well for the first time out with a new Mosler, after much practice we called his car in for a tune and setup, Andy went through all the steps with him, what to check, what to set, what to look out for. This is a good car to learn from as most cars can be set up to the same principles.
I honestly can’t remember the last time we saw a Sports entry list only made up of Standard class NSR Moslers and it was nice to see Andy’s standard Mosler on track, as expected it was quick…and heat’s #4 & #5 saw Kevs & Andys Moslers blasting round well under the 6 second bracket.
Brian started well in Red, went better in Yellow and flew round in Blue…he’s knocking on the door of a 5.9 sec lap!
Geoff has had a miserable time with his Mosler, it’s been hoppity jumpity for a while now…a new chassis & pod seemed to help a bit but tape on the bottom to dampen the chatter and backing off the pod screws saw it manage a 6.2 sec lap in practice by a test driver. A best run in Blue and a 6.4 hot lap are progress for this car.
Tommy managed a 6.8” lap with his newly setup Mosler, track time and practice will see improvements.
 
Heat #2 was a belter, again Geoff & Brian in close combat, this time a couple of seconds separated them.
 
Heat wins in heat order for Andy, Brian & Kev

   
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Next week we’re racing Grand Prix/Pre-wing and Classic F1/F1.

[Kevan]

Race results - 27th Jan 2022
 
Grand Prix & Pre-wing F1 followed by Classic F1 & F1
 
A great turnout tonight with 8 cars in both rounds.
 
Grand Prix & Pre-wing

   
 
Geoff started the ball rolling in heat #1 with a dominant drive, the Talbot Lago having it’s best run of the night (in Blue) leaving Mike B’s Connaught and Chris’s Auto Union well behind.
 
Mike B then put in his best result in heat #2 (in Blue), Chris finished much closer with his best heat result by over a lap and Gavin did well in the slow lane (Red) with the quick Lancia. 
 
Heat #3 finished super close with the lead changing loads of times right up to the last lap as Mike H & Gavin kept us on our toes, in the end Gavins Lancia Ferrari won the heat a few tenths of a second ahead of Mikes Cooper T53.  Meanwhile Chris struggled in the Blue lane, the Auto Union still hasn’t had the brakes fixed but had a best run in Yellow.
 
Brian started heat #4 with confidence as the other two cars tripped up and he never looked back, the Vanwall super consistent, picking up heat wins. Meanwhile Mike H & Gavin swapped runner-up a few times, at the end it was Gavins Lancia less than a second ahead of the Cooper.
 
Heat #5 saw Kev’s Auto Union D type getting off to a great start but a deslot on lap 6 gave the lead to Brian’s Vanwall for 15 laps but Kev kept chipping away to eventually finish the heat about ¾ of a lap ahead. Mike H finished 3 laps back but managed his best run in this heat.
 
Heat #6 saw Andy’s Ferrari 156 win the first of it’s three heats with a best run in Yellow whilst Brian had a best run in Blue then Kev’s Auto Union had it’s best run in Blue in heat #7.
 
Heat wins in heat order for Geoff, Mike B, Gavin, Brian, Kev & Andy.

   

   
 
Classic F1 & F1
 
   

Classic F1 has been popular since the addition of the Policar cars, tonight the only one raced was Mike’s Lotus 72 that had it’s best run in Blue in heat #4 just a lap behind Brian’s NSR F1.
 
Standard F1 was filled with six entries, heat #1 was to finish super close between the runners-up as Geoff drove off in the distance in Blue but actually had his best run later in heat #7 in Red. Meanwhile Mike H & Chris swapped runners-up spot a few times but the end of the race saw Mike fractions of a second ahead of Chris.
 
Chris won heat #2, Mike this time over a lap behind with Mike B’s Lotus struggling a little in the tight Red lane.
 
Heat #3 - Mike H polished off tonights racing with a dominant win on top of his two runners-up spots. Gavin & Mike B ended on the same lap with the Lotus ahead.
 
Heat #4 - Brian’s NSR F1 with it’s first run tonight had it’s second best run in the difficult red lane but a good heat win for the nicely finished blue car.
 
Andy’s was the dominant car in class winning heat #5 whilst Brian had his best run of the night in Yellow, both cars finishing well clear of the other NSR in the heat.
 
Heat #6 saw the sole Open class F1 tonight as Kev’s MB/Allslot managed the first of three 30 lappers.
 
Heat #7 was the closest Andy managed to stay to the Black F1 ahead of him although he did lead for 8 laps.
 
Heat #8 saw the best lane score all night as Chris & Geoff battled for runners-up spot, Geoff’s NSR F1 too quick for Chris’s but not quick enough to give Kev’s F1 a race.
 
Heat wins in heat order for Geoff, Chris, Mike H, Brian, Andy & Kev

   

   
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Next week it’s the inaugural ‘Club Challenge’ - identical NSR Moslers but with individual paint schemes with a concourse prize available.
There’s two rounds of racing the type of which is yet to be decided.
Rules for this new ‘Club Challenge’ are on the clubs Facebook page.

[Kevan]

Race reports - 17th Feb - Small Sports/Saloons + Group 5
 
With a couple of storms imminent and a couple of club regulars unable to attend we had six entrees in each class tonight.
 
Small Sports/Saloons

   

   

 
Three Modified class cars, Mike B racing his Moggy Minor for the first time and had a fantastic race with Geoff’s Mini in heat #2.
Chris’s E-type strangely went best in Red which is always the toughest lane but his closest race was heat #1with Mike’s Moggy.
Kev’s Chappy 2C had a best run in Blue which was also his closest race against Andy’s King Cobra.
 
Three Open class cars, Brian racing a well worn Big Healey won his first race ahead of Geoff’s quick Mini but in his next race finally had a ‘blow out’ despite meticulous pre-race prep (in 2020) ended the evening racing a rather quick Ferrari 365 P2.
Andy’s King Cobra flew round in Yellow & Blue whilst setting the fastest lane score overall but had a couple of deslots in Red whilst chasing Kev’s Chappy.
Geoff’s Mini had a best run in Yellow finishing a couple of seconds behind Brian’s Healey.
 
Group 5

   

   
 
Three BMW’s, two Fords and a Nissan…
 
Standard class racing got closer tonight as Chris’s Skyline sporting NSR tyres on the back looked proper racey for the first time and managed 2 laps per lane more than last time out!  Heat #1 showed how much improved as Mike, Andy & Chris all finished within 5 seconds of each other.
Andy’s BMW suffering from ‘water in the tank’ which was initially thought to be controller problem but proved not to be as the club controller used in his next race had the same problems and looking more like the motor in it’s death throes as it got worse in his final race…but it was the quickest car round the track when it was on song.
Kev’s BMW got nerfed off the bridge on lap #1 and spent the rest of the evening chasing Brian’s quick Capri, two storming races later relinquished the lead from the Capri.
Geoff’s BMW is probably his most consistent race car, winning heat #3 in Yellow whilst Brian & Mike finished a few seconds behind, this was to be Geoff’s best run tonight.
Mike’s Capri still running without a back window wasn’t quite quick enough to win a heat but was very close in two races. It’s a rapid race car that’s tough to catch as Brian found out in heat #3.
In Modified class, Brian’s Capri is another best runner, a deslot in the awkward Red lane meant a nervous wait until the final couple of laps of the evening to see if his overall runs were good enough for top overall score.  A 28 lapper in Yellow was a super run to win heat #4.
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Next week is the first team race, Italian Cars…with Andy off to Oz for 6 weeks and Mike B off for a fortnight, let’s hope there’s enough entrants to make two teams.

[Kevan]

Race reports - 24th Feb - Italiano Handicap Race

   
 
This was originally to be a team race but 5 entries made that difficult so we decided to run the races as a handicap.
5 lap qually (on Red lane which everyone struggled with), the handicaps were quickly selected from the handicap chart created for such events.
The handicap is the figure the drivers totals were multiplied by so the fastest qualifier has a handicap of 1.00 i.e. no adjustment.
 
Brian turned up with a great looking SlotIt Maserati received earlier in the day and did well to get it ready for racing.  A little extra ballast tuning before qually and it was going round the track really well.
 
Gavin’s ferrari 512 BB LM was sadly lacking in rear grip, standard Racer Sideways tyres just aren’t good enough, thankfully Chris kindly offered to let Gav borrow a set of NSR’s, with a couple of tweaks of the chassis by Chris, damping tape by Kev and that made a huge difference, 1.5 seconds improvement.
 
Chris, Geoff & Kev raced familiar cars, Kev’s Ferrari was the only car not running in Standard class.
 
Racing was 5 minute heats with everyone having to do a solo run in Yellow, this is harder than you think as you don’t have anyone to chase or evade.
 
Heat #2 was the first head-to-head, Chris vs Brian, both going really well, Brian making the Maserati look so easy to drive (in Blue) whilst the Lambo Huracan had a clean run in Red unlike most of the other guys tonight.
 
Next head-to-head was heat #4, Kev vs Chris, the Huracan suffering two deslots really late in the race and Kevs Ferrari needing marshalls help once.  The 550 Maranello a little too fast for the Lambo.
 
Heat #6 was Geoff (in Red) vs Kev (in Blue).  Geoff’s Group 5 Ferrari a victim of the Red lane curse, a deslot gave Kevs Ferrari the chance to get a comfortable lead it wasn’t likely to lose in the favoured Blue lane.
 
Heat #8 saw Geoff (in Blue) vs Gav (in Red), the pair of Group 5’s going head-to-head and to be fair the way Geoff’s black JPS Ferrari was going, Gav wasn’t going to keep up.
 
Heat #10 saw the return of Brian’s Maserati (in Red) vs Gav’s 512 BBLM (in Blue).  Gav managed three consistent results tonight and Brian’s new GT3 finished the night unbeaten on the track…

   
 
…let’s see how the handicaps changed things:

• Both Kev & Geoff went better than their predicted scores
  
• Everyone went much quicker than their qually times (not forgetting qually was in the Red lane)
  
• 3rd, 4th & 5th places were really close 
  
• Heat wins in heat order for Brian, Chris, Kev, Geoff & Gav - (including solo runs)
  
• Italians make exceedingly good looking cars
  
• Brian's madeira cake is fantastic!
  
  

   

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Next week is the first Club Car race, Club BMW 320i.  Andy is away down-under for another 5 weeks, Mike B is away for another week and Chris is working

[Kevan]

Race reports - 3rd March - Club BMW 320i Handicap Race

   
 
These cars were last run 6 months ago, each one was checked and the motor in the Yellow car was changed for a new one as it was on it’s death-bed.
 
5 qually laps were run by each driver with the best lap used to work out the handicap adjusted results.  Red lane was used for qually, next time we’ll try a different setting in the timing program so qually can be run on any lane.
 
With club members off Island or working and only four entries we took the opportunity to try a new heat system with two guaranteed marshalls…it worked well and both marshalls seemed to handle the job in hand.
 
The handicap is the figure the drivers totals were multiplied by so the fastest qualifier has a handicap of 1.00 i.e. no adjustment.
 
We ran two rounds with drivers swapped round for round #2.
 
For some reason tonights scores were much better than the last time these were raced and Michael in particular showed huge improvement by setting a hot lap only bettered by Kev.
 
Round #1:
Heat #1 was Mike (Red) vs Kev (Yellow), with red lane having a couple of awkward corners and direction changes, Kev managed to get round much quicker than Mike to win comfortably.
 
Heat #2 was Brian (Yellow) vs Geoff (Blue), with both car going well but Blue a little quicker, Geoff managed to win by less than a lap.
 
Heat #3, Mike (Yellow) vs Kev (Blue).  The Blue car was flying tonight, all drivers easily setting their quickest lap time with this car.
 
Heat #4, Geoff (Red) vs Brian (Blue), Geoff did well but Brian drove the Blue car to a comfortable win.
 
Heat #5, Kev (Red) vs Mike (Blue), Mike had the quickest car and managed a quicker hot lap than Kev in the awkward lane, Mike would start to catch then Kev would push as hard as possible to reduce the damage…in the end Kev finished about a second clear.
 
Heat #6, Brian (Red) vs Geoff (Yellow), Brian managed a clean race but Geoff had an easier race with the Yellow car finishing nearly a second clear.
 
Round #2 was mixed up with Mike vs Brian and Kev vs Geoff.
 
Heat #5 was the closest race for Brian vs Mike, Mike winning the race in Blue by 4 seconds.
 
The final heat of the night was one of the closest finishes as Kev managed to keep the Red car just over a second ahead of Geoff’s Yellow lane car.
 
Of course the final results were yet to be found as this was a handicap race and favours those who need marshalls help the least, this time round it was Kev, but only by a single lap as Geoff drove great tonight, very consistent in Yellow & Blue lanes.

   
 
 
…let’s see how the handicaps changed things:
Unlike last weeks Italiano handicap, everyone was below their Club BMW predicted score.
Everyone went much quicker than their qually times (not forgetting qually was in the Red lane).
There was only one lap in it after 18 minutes racing.
Heat wins in heat order for Kev, Geoff & Brian in Round #1, and Brian, Geoff, Kev & Mike in Round #2

   
 
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Next week is Saloons & Sports…last time out they were quick and Mike B should be back…

[Kevan]

Race reports - 10th March - Saloon + Sports

Tonight saw the return of Mike B from his Irish visit so we had full heats which kept the two marshalls on their toes at times..

SALOON

   

Only one Standard class car tonight, Brian's Opel Calibra, still unscathed and new looking and nicely it goes round the track too.  A best run in Blue and comfortably into the 6 second lap times.

Open Class was popular with a mix of classics and modern as a brace of US Muscle cars were up against a brace of DTM’s.  Chris & Mike were close at the end of the racing, both beating each other to heat wins in rounds #2 & #3.

Geoff’s DTM easily had his best run in Blue, finishing the last 8 laps quicker than Kev’s Camaro that had tyre issues late on.

Kev’s Camaro running Scaleauto tyres went really well but they tend to ball-up late in the race but flew round in the Blue lane.

Heat wins in heat order for Kev, Mike & Chris

   

SPORT

   

Standard class is the home of the NSR Mosler, four entered tonight with heats #1 & #2 being Mosler only races.

Kevs copper Mosler not easy to keep up with as Mike & Brian found out in heat #1 and a best run of 30 laps in Blue.
Brian saved his race-ready Mosler for the racing as he practised with a spare car and managed three great runs with a total of 82 laps which is podium pace. His closest race was heat #4 in Red…but was edged from the heat win by Geoff in the Blue lane.
Geoff’s Mosler miseries are now gone (...but not forgotten) and really got going in Blue with a great hot lap and heat score.
Mikes Mosler had a great run in heat #3 battling with Chris’s Dome Judd.  Chris led for 16 laps, Mike for 11 and in the end were only inches apart…with Chris getting the win. This was to be the best run for the Dome Judd which was the sole Open class entry tonight.

Heat wins in heat order for Kev, Chris & Geoff

   

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Next week is Slot Rally