28th-Apr-24, 08:33 AM
WHO Gold & Silver rated drivers spent yesterday working hard and having fun to develop our digital racing at the Barn...
We spent the morning trying out some of the features of RCS64 that we haven't used so far and also a good half hour finding a throttle profile that works with the Scalextric saloon cars fitted with slim-can FF motors. This is what we found...
ABS will be an option in November and December this year. Some drivers described the braking as more gradual - although not great in the wet. 0 is the default setting (ie no ABS) and then four active settings, with 1 being a small effect and 4 being a noticeable lag. Many of us either didn't notice a difference or preferred ABS off. ABS cannot be set up by drivers in the race start screen, but can be changed in the pit menu. It can be set by race control in each driver profile, so drivers will need to request a setting at the start of the day for all their cars.
We may use the separate refuelling and tyre changing option for the Birkett Relay in October and then in the 2025 GT Championship.
The afternoon saw longer races and the trial of a new format...
We did really enjoy racing on Mike's near-replica of Meadowdale. It has been on his to-do list for a while. With a few tweaks, especially to pit entry, it is scheduled to return in November or December for a Tin Top Saturday.
The pit entry issues were highlighted by the big Carrera Nascars - these are very different to the usual Scalextric runners, so we want to make sure all our track designs are tried and tested with the big beasts...
We also ran a few unusual cars, including Dean's set of SCX Renaults...
And a Mustang GT4 made famous by a tuning series in the Jadlam blog...
The new format is for the GT Saturday in June and replaces the club car rotation. We'll be running a GT pairs race with two ten minute parts, rather like the St Mary's Trophy format at the Goodwood Revival event. Each driver in the pair has a ten minute race - and they can use a car each, or share the same car. All the cars must run to the GT Championship rule set, but cannot be a car that will be raced in the afternoon. The old GT club cars will be available, if required.
This does see the end of the WHO GT club car rotation after ten years, so we have new pairs or team races to start each Saturday and help us learn the track...
June: Rotation replaced by GT pairs race
September: Rotation replaced by St Mary's Trophy pairs race
October: Birkett Relay now 5 x 1 hour races, with 45 minutes practice at start of the day and a half-hour lunch break.
November & December: Rotation replaced by Group A (Sierra, BMW E30, Commodore) team race
We raced the Slot.it Group Cs with much enjoyment yesterday, so they will be allocated the fifth leg of the Birkett Relay.
The 2024 WHO/digital Guide will be amended with the changes to this year's Saturdays and a version 2.0 published very soon.
Work preparing the 2025 Guide starts now and it will be published in early October.
We spent the morning trying out some of the features of RCS64 that we haven't used so far and also a good half hour finding a throttle profile that works with the Scalextric saloon cars fitted with slim-can FF motors. This is what we found...
- Damage doesn't work with our racing formats - probably great with small groups, but not for us.
- By not permitting refuelling at tyre changing at the same time, we have a bit more strategy introduced. This is the authentic GT / Le Mans way.
- ABS didn't make a huge difference with the low rev, low torque motors we use. However, we may give it as an option for the Tin Top Saturdays.
- Limiting the sets of tyres doesn't work as expected - limiting to one set gives one set per pit stop. Limiting to zero only allows that compound to be fitted at the start.
- We found PROMAG30 to be the ideal throttle profile for the FF motor on a big track. A huge improvement!
ABS will be an option in November and December this year. Some drivers described the braking as more gradual - although not great in the wet. 0 is the default setting (ie no ABS) and then four active settings, with 1 being a small effect and 4 being a noticeable lag. Many of us either didn't notice a difference or preferred ABS off. ABS cannot be set up by drivers in the race start screen, but can be changed in the pit menu. It can be set by race control in each driver profile, so drivers will need to request a setting at the start of the day for all their cars.
We may use the separate refuelling and tyre changing option for the Birkett Relay in October and then in the 2025 GT Championship.
The afternoon saw longer races and the trial of a new format...
We did really enjoy racing on Mike's near-replica of Meadowdale. It has been on his to-do list for a while. With a few tweaks, especially to pit entry, it is scheduled to return in November or December for a Tin Top Saturday.
The pit entry issues were highlighted by the big Carrera Nascars - these are very different to the usual Scalextric runners, so we want to make sure all our track designs are tried and tested with the big beasts...
We also ran a few unusual cars, including Dean's set of SCX Renaults...
And a Mustang GT4 made famous by a tuning series in the Jadlam blog...
The new format is for the GT Saturday in June and replaces the club car rotation. We'll be running a GT pairs race with two ten minute parts, rather like the St Mary's Trophy format at the Goodwood Revival event. Each driver in the pair has a ten minute race - and they can use a car each, or share the same car. All the cars must run to the GT Championship rule set, but cannot be a car that will be raced in the afternoon. The old GT club cars will be available, if required.
This does see the end of the WHO GT club car rotation after ten years, so we have new pairs or team races to start each Saturday and help us learn the track...
June: Rotation replaced by GT pairs race
September: Rotation replaced by St Mary's Trophy pairs race
October: Birkett Relay now 5 x 1 hour races, with 45 minutes practice at start of the day and a half-hour lunch break.
November & December: Rotation replaced by Group A (Sierra, BMW E30, Commodore) team race
We raced the Slot.it Group Cs with much enjoyment yesterday, so they will be allocated the fifth leg of the Birkett Relay.
The 2024 WHO/digital Guide will be amended with the changes to this year's Saturdays and a version 2.0 published very soon.
Work preparing the 2025 Guide starts now and it will be published in early October.