[woodcote]

   

It looks like we'll have quite a few SlotRally cars on the start line on Wednesday 29 May. A few people have asked about preparation, so I dug out something I wrote for the WHO Winter Rally Sprint in 2021. Although based around proxy entries - where you don't racer your cars - most of what I wrote should be useful for our live slot rallies.

It was worth looking back through the Winter Rally Sprint programme - there are some good memories and useful stuff to read. You can download the pdf from here.

       

How To Get Started in Slot Rally Proxies - February 2021

I write as a 'veteran' of one whole slot rally - the proxy Wye Valley Winter Stages -  plus most of the WHO Winter Rally-Sprint. I am most definitely a beginner, but what have I learned so far?

I did a lot of online research for my Wye Valley entries - going for the 'tried and tested' option of two Ninco cars, the Subaru in 'Modern' and a Lancia 037 in the '80s' class. I had the advantage of being able to set up my cars using a simple oval of Ninco track - half tarmac, half off-road - and gave them a spin round some SCX Classic track to ensure the guides weren't too deep. Testing is important. I couldn't replicate the routed track surfaces on some of the stages but I could with the Ninco and Scalextric / SCX Classic track - which seem commonplace on slot rally stages.

The main change to my cars was adding Ninco alloy rear wheels to the Subaru. They had to be Ninco alloys, because the Ninco axle is not a standard size. Otherwise, I did what I normally do with my WHO cars - tyres trued (and in this case glued), magnet out and ballast in - a bit of weight in front of the rear wheels and a little more than usual at the front (especially for the bumpy track). Chassis sides were sanded and body tabs shaved off - and screws replaced and loosened to allow oodles of body rock. NSR Ultragrips seemed a popular choice of slot rally tyre, so that's what I used. They come rather deformed and needed lots of truing on my DIY truing track.

Tweaking the suspension and using a sprung guide was new, but fun. I found a lot of conflicting advice online, but I went soft springs at the front and medium at the rear - and made sure the movement was smooth. I removed the 4WD belt on the Subaru, as permitted in the UK Slot Rally rules - although not everyone does... I also read the Lancia suffered from excessive wheel hop, so I glued the motor in place to stiffen the chassis.

I remembered from my limited experience running long-can motors that a lengthy run-in helps loosen it up and makes it more driveable. In a proxy you want a car that is really easy and enjoyable for the host to drive - they'll drive it quicker and it’s less likely to crash. So I ran-in the NC5 in the Subaru and the short-can NC9 in the Lancia. It was the first time I'd used a proper short-can motor (rather than the usual S-Can) and it really wasn't great during run-in, but eventually smoothed out fine. Or so I thought…

The Subaru did surprisingly well - fourth place in its class. However, the motor in the Lancia had completely seized up and it failed to start the first stage… so, everyone who entered a car into our Rally-Sprint did a better job than I did on my Slot Rally debut! Nevertheless, I had fun following the Winter Stages, learned lots and most definitely caught the slot rally bug. I’m up for more proxies, but to get to a real ‘live’ slot rally event is top of my to do list for 2022.

Andy's Top Tips...

●    Read up on the event - stages, surfaces, slot depths etc.
●    Do lots of online research to build on your existing knowledge.
●    Pick a car that is quick, but also solid, reliable and will be enjoyable for the hosts to drive.
●    Read the rules - know what you can do and what can’t you do.
●    Tyres are key to success - choose for grip, durability and suitability across the surfaces.
●    Test your car as much as you can and on as many surfaces as possible.
●    Any doubts - sort them out before you post your cars!
●    Follow and enjoy the event, whatever happens. Learn the lessons of success and failure.

The huge benefit of a live slot rally event is that we drive our own cars - so we can build something that suits our driving style. It's also possible to tweak things on the day - although time is very limited. Practice beforehand is always sensible.

Otherwise, those tips from 2021 are what I'll base my preparation on - and you'll be seeing the Subaru and Lancia 037 in action at the Barn.

[BAracer]

Here are my entries, snapped just now ahead of a full day of tuning and practice...