Digest 41

In this week’s bite-sized round-up of slot car and motorsport news…

We have a plethora of new models and previews of pre-production samples – there’s more slot car shows and swapmeets, club and proxy racing, plus a Brands Hatch feature and a round-up of the weekend’s motor racing action…

Slot Cars

• Policar BRM P160 Arriving with retailers very soon is the first release of Policar’s classic BRM F1 racer. Driven by Jo Siffert to victory at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix, this Yardley-sponsored BRM will be followed next year by the Marlboro car of Jean-Pierre Beltoise that won at Monaco in 1972.

• Scalextric Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Scalextric have updated their popular Mercedes-AMG GT3 model to match the 2020 evolution of the real racing car. The chassis remains the same, so top-rate handling and performance is guaranteed. The first livery is the very striking RAM Racing car driven by Sam De Haan and Patrick Kujala in the 2020 British GT Championship. The model is due Winter 2022-3 and this is the first sight of a pre-production sample.

• Scalextric Rover Vitesse SD1 Another pre-production sample to break cover at Margate is this sumptuous Rover, driven to victory by Win Percy and Tom Walkinshaw at the 1986 Donington 500kms. Like the RAM Racing Mercedes, this is scheduled for a Winter 2022-3 release.

• Slot.it Jaguar XJR10 – Road Atlanta 1991 Shipping to retailers now is a second livery on the Slot.it Jaguar XJR10 – a model of the car that finished third at the IMSA 300km of Road Atlanta in 1991, driven by Brazilian Raul Boesel.

• Avant Slot Ferrari 308 GTB New Liveries A second batch of Avant Slot Ferraris features liveries from the 1984 Rally Catalunya and 1983 Monte Carlo Rally. The chassis are updated with an anglewinder long-can motor and aluminium rear hubs. These are on their way to distributors now.

• Teamslot Renault 5 Maxi Turbo – Carlos Sainz Another treat for slot rally fans… Produced for a Spanish retailer, Teamslot have sent very limited numbers of this rather special Renault 5 Maxi Turbo for sale in the UK. Keep your eyes peeled!

• Auto World HO ‘Muscle Cars Dealerships’ Series Due with retailers at the end of October are eight new liveries on four of Auto World’s popular Thunderjet 500 muscle cars – complete with new ‘Muscle Car Dealership’ packaging. There’s a pair each of the Yenko ’68 Camaro, Nickey ’66 Nova, Mr Norm 1970 Challenger and Baldwin Motors 1971 Vega Super Stock.

• Racing Replicas Proto Slot Alfa Romeo 33 Coda Lunga We do enjoy Pete Shepherd’s work – and this is the first of three Proto Slot models he’s working on for a customer. Pete says “This was a fairly complex kit with plenty of photo etched parts and loads of decals which took some patience to apply”. You can see more on the Racing Replicas Facebook page.

Slot Car Racing

• Your Club There are updates this week from Norwich, Manx, Worthing HO (pictured), Mussel Bay and News South Wales slot car clubs.

• Endurance Proxy The start of the latest event in the UK Triple Crown proxy series has been set for Sunday 23 October. You can get up to speed with the runners and riders over in the thread on the SlotRacer Proxy Racing section.

Slot Car Shows

• Morgantown Slot Car Show, Pennsylvania A popular East Coast get-together for collectors and racers of all slot car sales, the Morgantown show takes place next Sunday.

• Slotmania, Stuttgart One of the big European slot cars events on the calendar, Slotmania will see collectors and racers from across Germany and neighbouring countries arrive in Stuttgart on Saturday 22 October.

• Cleveland Slot Car Show, Ohio An important date on the schedule for Mid-West slot car fans, the Cleveland show is on Sunday 30 October.

• SlotRacer Calendar If you have slot car events you want to share with the wider community, simply add them to the SlotRacer Calendar. We’ll feature upcoming dates in future Digests and on our SlotRacer social media platforms.

Feature

Brands Hatch – a bite-sized history

• BTCC Finale The wonderfully sweeping and undulating Kent circuit hosted the climax of the British Touring Car Championship on Sunday, serving up the usual high-drama and fantastic tin-top racing at Britain’s most-loved race track.
• Brands History Although home to pre-war grass-track bike events, plus scrambling out in the woods, Brands as we know it today only came into being in the 1950s. Chas Parker’s wonderful 2007 book really is the definitive history of Brands Hatch and is well worth a read.

• The First Car Races at Brands The fabulous 1950 Pathé newsreel shows the original paved, anti-clockwise circuit in its first year. The 500cc F3 cars were hugely popular at the new track – the likes of Graham Hill and Bernie Ecclestone making their racing debuts, while a young Stirling Moss wiped the floor with them all!
• BTCC Track Plan – Brands Hatch Indy A perfect spectators’ circuit, the 1.24 mile Indy circuit dates back to 1954, with the creation of the Druids Hairpin extension and a change to a clockwise direction. Going down Paddock Hill created one of the most iconic corners in motorsport. We have a Scalextric Sport track plan in our collection of BTCC tracks – the traditional spring round is held on this short layout.

• BTCC Track Plan – Brands Hatch GP A second extension was added for 1960, this time following the old scrambling course into the woods. At 2.65 miles long, Brands Hatch was now a genuine Grand Prix venue. There have been a few tweaks over the past 62 years, but our BTCC track plan could easily represent any race meeting on the Grand Prix circuit from 1960 to 2022.

• Brands on the Silver Screen Brands Hatch held its first Grand Prix in 1964 – a little late to be included in the Scalextric 101 Circuits booklet. Hollywood movie cameras decended two years later, capturing action for John Frankenheimer’s classic film Grand Prix. You can find stills from the film – and another Scalextric track plan – in our special Grand Prix movie archive.

• Scalextric 1976 Podium Triple PackAlternating with Silverstone, Brands hosted twelve British Grand Prix – the 1976 edition being immortalised in the film Rush and 45 years later, Scalextric released a podium triple pack featuring Lauda’s Ferrari, Hunt’s McLaren and Scheckter’s Tyrrell six-wheeler.

• Scalextric Williams FW11 Expected to be released this winter, Scalextric have chosen to model Nigel Mansell’s FW11 – the winner of the very last Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The 1986 race was packed full of emotion and was a fitting last F1 hurrah for Brands.

• Scalextric Ford Mustang GT4 Academy Motorsport Brands Hatch remains a very busy circuit and hugely popular with drivers and spectators, especially on BTCC weekends. Other modern-day highlights include visits by the Fanatec GT Sprint Championship in the spring and the British GT Championship in the autumn. Matt Cowley and Jordan Albert won the GT4 class at the 2020 two-hour race, driving the Academy Motorsport Mustang modelled by Scalextric.

Motorsport

Livery of the weekend – Bathurst 1000

Definitely one for the Scalextric Holden Commodore ZB – the revival of a fan-favourite Coca-Cola livery that graced Wayne Gardner and Neil Crompton’s Commodore VR in 1995. Kiwi Chris Pither shared the car with Cameron Hill this weekend – the last time GM will be running Commodores at Bathurst.

• Japanese Grand Prix Formula One managed to deliver another strange and bewildering conclusion to a world championship title campaign on Sunday. Extended highlights from a wet Suzuka are on YouTube.

• Intercontinental GT Challenge – Indianapolis 8-Hours The third and penultimate round of SRO’s global GT competition took place at Indianapolis on Saturday. It was an enthralling 8-hours that went right down to the final lap. You can watch 3 minutes of highlights on the GT World YouTube Channel.

• Nascar on the Charlotte Roval The final race of Nascar’s round-of-twelve playoffs took place on the wonderful Charlotte Roval on Sunday. Plenty of drama and ending in overtime, the Roval set up the championship perfectly for the round-of-eight and the Championship-4 on Sunday 6 November. Extended highlights from Charlotte are on YouTube.

• Bathurst 1000 The Aussie Supercars were at Mount Panorama on Sunday for one of the highlights of the global tin-top calendar. Changeable weather conditions made it a chaotic race, which you can enjoy with a monster 20-minute highlights package on YouTube.

• Remembering Bike Legend Phil Read Phil Read – the first man to win 125, 250 and 500cc Grand Prix world championships – sadly passed away last week at the ripe old age of 83. There are many tributes on YouTube, including this one from Duke video.