Jobfixers Belgian Rally Championship

I'm now contesting the 2020 Jobfixers Belgian Rally Championship, sadly only the virtual one but it's a step in the right direction I suppose. If you're out and about on the virtual stages let me know!

Long time no write...

So...

Currently I'm undertaking no motorsport at all (except for marshalling). There are numerous reasons for this - one is 12 years old and one is 8 years old for a start, naturally there are plenty more too.

One of the plus points of having a 12 year old is that we have been closely looking at Targa rallies and both agree that sometime soon we should venture out and do one together. We marshalled on a couple and have been lucky enough to get the road books to a few as well. Junior is now looking at what is expected from him to see if he really wants to give it a go!

To my mind Targa rallies offer excellent value for money and are a perfect starting point for those more interested in being in the silly seat. It's almost a natural progression from targa to road rally then stage event (particularly as you can start at the tender age of 12 on a Targa event!).

Not only are Targa events a good starting point they (amazingly) work out better value than slot car racing. I know, who would believe plastic toy car racing could prove to be more expensive than full scale rallying. I crunched the numbers, then did them again and concluded that to race slot cars was a huge waste of money - for me at least!

I can buy a Targa legal car and run it for a season for the same cost as a year of slot car racing... I can sit in and feel the adrenaline flow or press a controller and watch a toy zip round a track; no brainer really!!! Don't get me wrong slot car racing can be exciting and provides intense excitement for many but I never got away from the fact that I was driving a little car round and round in 'circles' (some more complex than others...)  whilst needing to spend a lot of money to even become competitive...

I've not missed it so far and can't see me missing it any time soon... If it was better value I guess I'd still be racing but the cost really did reduce the enjoyment to minus figures. Also slot car rallying is just not like the rallying I've done thus I was left with roundy, roundy racing which doesn't interest me any where near as much.

Open GT class entry for driver #7

Winter rebuilds...

Thanks to work and my son's membership of Cubs it looks like I'm already into the winter rebuild process - I'll be lucky to race 3 more times this year!

The Aston has undergone a bit of fine tuning whilst I was blatting up and down an Autobahn or two so I'll be focusing on using that every Thursday to improve my driving ready for 2016...

Where does the time go?

Well I've done a few more races and picked up my first final win... I'm still off the pace (I've only been doing this since May not the years everyone else has!) but my laps times are dropping every week!

Interestingly I had a run with the class leading Aston recently and was able to knock a second a lap off my times - time to put plenty of effort into car preparation me thinks...

All being well I should be racing my Aston again tomorrow even though the tyres are shot and too hard to be fully competitive. To be honest I'm just aiming for consistent, error free laps before I strip the car and rebuild it.

Onwards, ever onwards...

I raced my new (to me any way) NSR Aston Martin GT3 last night with ever improving results - yes I'm still somewhat off the pace but I'm edging ever closer! Each race sees less errors and better times; proving perfectly that there's no substitute for experience.

For that reason I'm grabbing every chance I can to get controller time so can be seen at Wolverhampton Slot Car Club (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wolverhampton-Slot-Car-Club/1618828841737256?fref=ts) on Thursdays too!

Along with learning the track I'm also learning my cars - the Aston is great fun to drive and reasonably competitive as it is. There are tweeks that need doing though; the tyres need to be replaced with softer versions, smaller front wheels are needed (here we go again...), it really needs some form of subtle sponsorship/colour scheme, etc, etc... Having said that my son managed to win his first race using the Aston which pleased us both!

Christian also managed to set a fastest lap in his first ever race using my Mosler (only a lat off prevented him from claiming first overall) so the preparation side of slot car racing EWR seems to be doing quite well already ;)

I'm expecting to add a few more steeds to my stable as the season progresses - all will be for racing though so there'll be no show ponies I'm afraid. Having said that I'm sure they'll all be pretty spectacular, like my new NSR Ford GT40...

Wheels...

Wheels, every car needs them - this includes slot cars... However it appears the bigger the wheel the easier it is to select one! My Mosler GT3 car needed new front wheels so I sat down to order a set and that's when I realised that ordering a set for a full size GT3 Mosler would actually be easier; a lot, lot more expensive but far easier!

Not every manufacturer measure their wheels the same way which makes life just that little bit more interesting... Can you image Speedline, BBS and B-Star wheels all measuring their wheels differently?

It appears that some slot car wheel manufacturers have chosen to measure wheels to the rim (as you do with a full size wheel) whilst others measure to the hump in the middle (see pictures)... There's only a few mm difference but that's more than enough to catch the unwary!

Neither is necessarily incorrect but it does mean the buyer has to keep a list of how each manufacturer measure their wheels otherwise you end up with a wonderful selection of wheels that are the perfect size for cars you don't own!

Once you've decided which size you actually need you also have to remember that some manufacturers produce front and rear axles that are metric and others use imperial axles - oh yes imperial is alive and well in the slot car world!!

Luckily I did lots of research before buying and am reasonably happy with the end result. I did however, get a wheel and tyre package (yes they're alive and well in 1:32 scale too) and think I was just a bit conservative on size - a couple of mm more would possibly work just as well and look a lot better.

Next up for new front and rear wheels is my Porsche GT3 rally car.

Better than expected!

I was able to borrow an NSR Ford MK IV for the classic races last Friday (Thanks Nick!!) so was able to make my slot car racing debut. Throughout the event I had great fun (not as adrenaline filled as real rallying but far easier to prepare for, to get to and much, much cheaper) and I wasn't quite as awful as I expected... Yes I came last and yes I was slowest but I managed to knock 2½ seconds off my lap times during the evening and won the sprint from the lights in 3 out of my 4 races!

Having watched as others drove it was clear I was accelerating out of the bends in the correct places but was braking like a granny, shedding way too much speed way too early! I still have a huge amount to learn but was happy to keep dropping my times and reduce mistakes as I went along.

Racing fever starts to take hold...

In two weeks time I will have (finally) undertaken my first race meeting in my new form or motorised sport!

Whilst not as adrenaline filled as rallying slot car racing certainly is enjoyable and getting a good result feels just a pleasing as in a real car. Another plus is that there is (currently) very little likelihood of environmental and spectator issues stopping the sport in its tracks... I can also easily undertake a race meeting a week without my better half moaning I'm always in the garage or away plus it is far, far more competitive than pretty much every form of 1:1 scale motorsport! Genuinely a £15 car bought off Ebay fitted with the correct tyres and driven properly can and will beat new cars that cost 3 times as much, skill isn't held back by bank balance and there's no silly Prima Donnas either!

There is, however, a huge amount to learn - sadly it isn't just a case of turning up, pulling the trigger and being competitive. Rear tyres need to be glued, trued and then softened for a week, fronts need to be the exact opposite. The chassis/motor/body need just the right amount of movement and flex and then you need to get the braking right - too much and you slide ( a la handbrake turns) too little and you have to brake too early. These 1:32 cars are as difficult to set up as a 1:1 - probably more so because you don't ever feel the speed/grip/accident (!!) through your body. Once the car is optimised you then have to drive it - against far, far more experienced drivers who take no prisoners! - which is no simple task on its own.

Well I must away as I have a date with Ebay and a couple of hot looking GT cars as well as a classic or two! More to follow once I know what I'm going to be racing...