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Better late than never, Slot Rally events will be coming to the Barn in 2024. After the club hosted the Winter Rally-Sprint proxy in 2021, we were always going to bring live-action slot rallying to Goring-by-Sea. Jeremy tasted a live event in Abergavenny back in June and came back with valuable experience and intel.

We will be adding two Wednesdays and a Slot Rally GB Saturday to our 2024 schedule that are 100% dedicated Slot Rally events.

This is a brief summary, with full details in the pdf at the bottom of this post...

• The debut of WHO Slot Rally will be on Wednesday 29 May 2024
  
• Club cars and controllers will be available on all stages at the two Wednesday evenings in 2024
  
• WHO Slot Rally is 1:32 scale and analogue
  
• WHO Slot Rally will run to national Slot Rally rules & classes - in-inline motors, no magnets and models of rally cars only
  
• Competitors can race one car from each of the three classes - Classic, 80/90s & Modern
  
• Four or five stages will be run on the Wednesdays
  
• We have Ninco, SCX/Classic, Sport and routed stages in the bag - with more to come.
  

Although we hope that Slot Rally is going to prove popular with established WHO racers, these events are also open to any Slot Rally fans who fancy a trip to the South Coast.

   

All the dates, format and rules are laid out in this six-page pdf document

WHO SlotRally 2024 Info.pdf Size: 1.23 MB  Downloads: 288

[BAracer]

The Abergavenny event I attended was a completely new experience for me. But 9 tracks x 4 cars in a short period of time created the need to adapt quickly to 36 very different driving techniques. A steep learning curve, but I left with a quicker trigger finger than when I arrived.

The event was a bit like the T20 of slot car racing!

[Kevan]

My scaley sport test track is fixed to a door sized board with one crossover and five hairpins, I set up all my Rally cars on it and note the settings on a sticker on the bottom of all my Rally cars with brakes, sensitivity and power indication, those settings work for all Rally stages for that particular car and I've done this from my earliest days in this hobby. My test track is only about 2.2 seconds round so you don't need anything special.

The only time I couldn't do this was the Rally Slotting Proxy where I drove 40 different cars for the first time on our club tracks so guessed a start point by looking what motor was installed and tweaked during the car run, some cars settings were found very quickly and some not so quickly. (the 41st car was my own for which I already had the settings).

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The dates for the two Wednesday evening events are confirmed:

• Wednesday 29 May 2024 - WHO Slot Rally Spring Stages
  
• Wednesday 23 October 2024 - WHO Slot Rally Autumn Stages
  

Both Wednesday evening dates in 2024 will see club cars and controllers on each of the stages to accommodate those who don't have cars, but want a taste of slot rally. For those who do have cars, one car can be entered into each of the three classes - Classic, 80s/90s and Modern - so a maximum of three cars.

News of the Saturday event will follow shortly.

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The Havant Swapmeet saw WHO racers buying rally cars and this boxful of as-good-as-new rally track snapped up for a sensational £30.

On the way home, we also videoed the drive down Titnore Lane, which will become the signature stage for our slot rally events - a fabulous drive located about half a mile from the Barn and with a roundabout at each end.

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We are delighted to be hosting a round of next year's Slot Rally GB Championship, sponsored by Staffs Slot Cars UK.

The championship will consist of six rounds, best five to count for championship points.

Rounds will be hosted by the following clubs

1. North Wales Slot Car Club LL16 3TS - Saturday 17th February.
   
2. Oxford Scalextric Club OX7 3AU - Sunday 3rd March.
   
3. Manx Slot Car Club IM2 1AB - Saturday .20th/ 21st April.
   
4. Abergavenny Slot Rally Club NP7 5BY - Sunday 2nd June.
   
5. Worthing HO Racing BN12 4UE - Saturday 27th July.
   
6. Farnborough Park Scalextric Club GU14 7AP - Sunday 27th October.
   

The event will run to national slot rally rules

Rally-Rules-2020-v5.pdf Size: 28.17 KB  Downloads: 89

Championship points registration will be £5
Entries per car will be £4 (up to four cars - max of two in any class).

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This six-page pdf information booklet about our WHO Slot Rally events has been added to the opening post.

It includes an introduction to slot rally, our 2024 dates, the format, what you'll need and the full Slot Rally Rules & Classes information.

Not included in the brochure are these tips for getting started...

• Slot Rally cars must have an in-line motor, no magnet and must be a 1:32 scale model of a real rally car with driver and co-driver figures.
  
• There are plenty of tuning tips and buyers guides on SlotForum, harking back to the golden years of Slot Rally GB.
  
• You'll be racing all your cars one after another on each of the stages. It can be useful to have three cars with similar characteristics, so you are building on the previous run, rather than having to completely re-adjust to a vastly different car.
  
• The mid-2000s Ninco rally cars with sprung guides and suspension can be competitive with the best slot rally cars (eg SRC, Avant Slot, NSR) and are available for a fraction of the price - around £25-40. A pair of racing rear tyres (eg NSR Super or Ultra grips) are essential, the addition of alloy rear wheels something to consider. The motor should also be glued in and some weight added near the guide and in front of the rear wheels, as required. These are also easy cars to drive - ideal for slot rally beginners.
  
• For those who like tuning cars, the current Teamslot rally range includes some utterly beautiful scale models which are fitted with a punchy long-can motor. They do need some fettling, but are definitely a lot of fun and can be very competitive. They are available for just under £50 at Pendles.
  
• The latest SCX and Scalextric rally cars look great and are good fun - and the fastest 'out-of-the-box' example of each manufacturer will be recognised at each of our events. Of course, magnets must be removed and weight should be added. Tyres can be changed too. There are plenty of options to gradually modify your SCX and Scalextric models - including a complete overhaul with a 3D printed chassis - but modified cars won't be eligible for the SCX / Scalextric prizes.
  
• There's also no reason you can't run older late-80s and 1990s models. These are often as cheap as chips, but can be a lot of fun to drive... Scalextric, SCX and Ninco all produced models of the Renault Maxi Mégane and Toyota Corolla  - and these can be found for as little as £5-10 at swapmeets. Fit a pair of racing tyres and you're on the start line!
  

There will be some new boxed and used slot rally cars available for sale at the club over the next few months. But don't forget, club cars will be allocated to each of the stages in 2024 (and probably 2025).

Any questions - just ask!

[BigMac]

Are the "original" 4x4 scalextric models eligible. If yes what category do they fit in?

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Are the motors in those 4x4 cars in-line or sidewinder? Only in-line motors are eligible for Slot Rally events. As for which class… that depends on the real rally car they are modelled on and when it first raced.

All cars must adhere to the Slot Rally Rules document (basically inline motor, magnet removed). All these cars will compete for the overall win and for one of the three classes they fall into - Classic, 80s/90s or Modern. In addition, we will award a prize each to the top-finishing Scalextric car and top-finishing SCX car in the overall standings. 

To go for Scalextric or SCX honours, cars will need to both adhere to the Slot Rally Rules and be run as standard - a change of braids and/or tyres is fine, as is the addition of ballast. If the cars are modified, they will just compete for the overall result and one of the three classes.

If anyone has a sidewinder Scalextric rally car and nothing else, we’re not going to turn them away in 2024… they just won’t feature in the results. But do remember there will be club cars available too.

Hope that helps.

[BAracer]

Time to get Old Faithfull out again...

   

That's my Classic entry sorted!