Published by woodcote on Jul 11, 2022
It’s time for our weekly catch up on all the best bits from the world of slot cars and motorsport
This week’s Digest includes new cars from Racer Sideways, Carrera, MR Slotcar and Scalextric, motorsport news, a 21st birthday celebration and a slot car track in an airport terminal building…
Slot Cars
- Racer Sideways BMW M4 GT3 A first prototype image of the Sideways BMW M4 GT3 has been released by Racer. We take a look at this latest addition to the 1:32 scale GT grid over on the forum.
- Carrera Porsche 935 GT2 Due soon from Carrera is this Porsche 935 GT2 – a model of the car that raced at the 2020 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. You discover more about the car – and watch Jeff Zwart’s run to the peak – over in the News section.
- Scalextric Aston Martin V8 Rikki Cann Racing This stunning Gulf Edition car is due to arrive very soon. You can see more images of the Scalextric model and meet Aston Martin stalwart Rikki Cann in the SlotRacer News section.
Slot Car Racing
- Your Club – Week 28 There’s been plenty of action around our clubs this week. You can read updates in the ‘Your Club’ forum from Manx, Mussel Bay, Norwich, Worthing HO and South Manchester racing clubs.
- South Manchester Slot Racing Club SMSRC are the latest club to post their details on the forum, and extend an invitation to race on two fabulous tracks. So if you’re anywhere near the Stockport area, why not check them out?
- Club Maps South Manchester are also one of many clubs featured in our club maps section. If you’re looking for a slot racing club in your area of Britain or France, these maps are a great place to start.
Tracks & Scenery
- Dylcom Models Dylcom Models specialise in 1/32 products for the slot car and gauge 1 model railway enthusiasts, supplying vehicles, figures and various accessories to help make your layout come to life.
- Hakuhinkan Racing Park Our SlotRacer Facebook group offers a fascinating window onto a world of slot car racing. Thanks to Mamoru, group members have been introduced to some of the delights of the Japanese slot car scene, including this 8-lane, 148-foot layout in the terminal building at Tokyo Haneda Airport!
Forum
- FOLM Forum We’d like to send our congratulations to FOLM, the French language slot forum, which is celebrating its 21st birthday this year. Well done guys, and keep up the good work.
Film
- Climb Dance In what’s probably the best short film about cars, rally legend Ari Vatanen’s ascent of Pikes Peak is captured in all its beauty, bravery and raw speed. This was a record-breaking run, the time remaining unbeaten for five years. Pikes Peak has changed significantly since 1988, but the magic of the annual event – held two weeks ago – remains.
Motor Sport
- Austrian Grand Prix F1 headed for the hills of Austria this weekend. Would Max and Charles bounce back after disappointment at Silverstone – or could Carlos and Lewis build on their British Grand Prix performances? You can find out in the seven-minute highlights video on the F1 YouTube Channel.
- Don’t Overlook Austria Edward Hardy explains why the Red Bull Ring is one of the greatest circuits in modern Formula One
- Spielberg Track Plan And don’t forget we have plans for the Red Bull Ring for both Scalextric, Ninco and routed tracks over in the SlotRacer F1 2018 Slot Tracks section.
- Six Hours of Monza A brand new Hypercar made its debut in the World Endurance Championship this weekend. It wasn’t a fairytale ending, but the Peugeot engineers did get plenty of priceless data to move forward with their wingless wonder. You can watch a five-minute highlights package of the action-packed race over on WEC YouTube Channel.
- WEC History Made by Iron Dames It was a historic weekend in the WEC for the all-female Iron Dames GTE Am team. Pole position on Saturday and a podium on Sunday were both firsts for an all-women driver line-up in the World Endurance Championship. And it was so very nearly a win for Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovey.
- Nascar Atlanta The Nascar Cup series were racing at Atlanta on Sunday. You can catch eleven minutes of highlights on their YouTube Channel.
- Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix The Historic Sports Car Club hold two blue ribbon events in July and the first took place this weekend with a mostly single-seater line-up on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. Featuring the latest round of the Historic Formula 2 International Series, it was a fabulous two days of racing. The Oulton Park Gold Cup weekend takes place on 29-31 July.
- Nicky Grist Stages The third round of the 2022 British Rally Championship took place around Builth Wells. The Nicky Grist Stages features typical mid-Wales forest terrain, as well as tests in and around the legendary Epynt military range. You can read what happened over at the BRC website.
Members’ Tracks
Published by JasonB on Oct 17, 2021 in Features, Updates
If you are looking for ideas and inspiration for your track build, or if like me, you just like seeing what others have done with their layouts, then perhaps we could guide you towards our Members’ Tracks section.
You’ll find a hand picked showcase of forum members’ tracks there, with details, photos and links to the full forum threads should you wish to see more, ask a question, or make a comment.
Each one of these tracks is fantastic in it’s own right, but when you put them all together, when you see the range and diversity of ideas, and the talent of the makers, I think it makes a fantastic advert for our hobby. If you ever wanted to explain slot car racing to someone, you could do a lot worse than show them these tracks.
Members’ Tracks
Software
Published by JasonB on Jun 27, 2021 in Features, Updates
If you’re feeling a little adventurous, and if you have a modicum of patience, then you might be interested in our retro software packages. They’re all free, and they’re all useful in their own way.
We have a track designer, a slot car inventory, a race management sytem, and even an advanced combination of all three for Scalextric.
Scalextric Sport World
Sport World offers a 3d Scalextric track designer, a comprehensive car library and technical manual, a driver database, and a wide range of race types and features. We’ve got the files for you to recreate the original software CD.
Slot Man
SlotMan, short for Slot Car Manager, is a track designer and track timing software originally developed by Wolfgang Krech. It may be a little outdated but it still does the job, and it also allows editing of track sections to make new pieces, so it’s very flexible.
Lap Timer 2000 & Slot Cars 2000
Gregory Braun may have sadly passed away, but he’s left his legacy in the form of two useful bits of kit…
Lap Timer 2000 is a lightweight and easy to use race management system for home use, and Slot Cars 2000 is a comprehensive slot car inventory. You can check out both for free.
It costs absolutely nothing to check out these applications, and who knows, you might just find one that floats your boat. Just click below to grab your downloads.
Software Downloads
Library Update
Published by JasonB on Jun 24, 2021 in Features, Updates
The latest update to the Library brings us a dozen additions to our burgeoning collection of Scalextric catalogues.
Covering the periods 1970-78, and 1982-84, the new scans complete our collection for every year from 1960 to 1984, and there are many more to come.
Our new contributor, Richard Winter should really be given some sort of honarary title such as the “Holder of the National Collection of Scalextric Publications”. His collection is quite amazing, and he’s kindly scanning them for us, and filling in the gaps in our Scalextric library. Many thanks Richard.
The Library
