First, I think it's important to note that I have gained a considerable amount of track pieces now, and am using as many as I can on the new table. 8 straights and 10 1/60 curves were added to the existing track pieces. Add to that the new 19'x4' table, and we're good to go.
50-lap sprint against a clock. All cars participating. Cars run as is, with only fresh scuffed tires.
The Track
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| Current track setup. Curves have roughly 4-5º banking. |
The Cars
Alfa Romeo 3/33
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| Last season's winner and the most nimble car in the field. Modifications to the car since out-of-box are: axle spacers, suspension screws, motor screw, rubber washers, Paul Gage urethane tires. |
Ford Shell GT40
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| This car came so close to winning it all, and it would have been quite a story considering how much it struggled early in the season. Had it gotten off to a normal start, this car would have run away with the championship. Modifications: suspension screws, motor screw, spacers, pod screws, rubber washers, Paul Gage urethane tires. |
Ford Gulf GT40
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| This car showed tremendous promise at the beginning of the season, but when the urethane tires showed up on the other two cars, it didn't stand a chance. That upgrade will happen soon. Meanwhile, #11 is an underachiever. Modifications: suspension screws, motor screw, pod screws, rubber washers. |
Audi R18
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| The Led Sled has returned. Nothing but a scuffing of the tires will tame this car. Even with the added track, I still don't expect it to compete with the Slot.it cars. Modifications: none. |
Audi Safety Car
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| I expect this is one of the last races for this guy. Just for kicks I scuffed his tires too. Modifications: none. |
The table is in racing condition, and the track is fast. Featuring a 13-piece back straight and a sharp, technical infield, this track should test each car's endurability. No more 3 second laps.
I have to say that I really enjoy racing on a table. It's such a different viewpoint than racing on a rug. On the rug, you're looking down at the car, and have more of a distant vantage point, so it's easier to keep things in perspective. But when it's all on a table, the action is much closer, more immediate, and it's easier to overestimate your speed going into a curve.
So all of the cars were run after a basic tire scuffing. There were no warm ups. Scuff, clean with tape, and go. Here are the numbers:
RESULTS Time / Lap Offs Points
Alfa Romeo 4:14.64 [5.08] 0 5
Shell GT40 4:26.21 [5.32] 3 3
Gulf GT40 4:55.22 [5.9] 1 1
Audi R18 6:17.22 [7.54] 0 0
Audi Safety Car 6:59.81 [8.38] 5 0
It looks like it's going to be a race to the 5-second lap time. The Alfa was so fast through the technical section that it was able to maintain a very high rate of speed. The Shell GT40 had three crashes, all in the same place, and yet it still kept it close. I average about 4 seconds for each re-slot. That's 12 seconds, which would put the Shell car right up against the Alfa had it not crashed.
The Gulf car ran expectedly slower, but managed to hold it's own throughout. There's still a half-minute gap between the Gulf's rubber tires and the others' urethanes. I expected a bit more than that. That should show promise for the future Ortmann urethane's I'm planning on picking up.
Because this is a new season on a brand new slot car table, I had to include the Carreras in the race to see how they would do. While neither were competitive, both were better than I expected. This is especially true of the R18. Sometimes it feels like all it would need were a set of urethanes, but I know that's not true. It's twice the weight of the other cars, and there's no way that heavy of a car is going to be able to keep up with the quicker, lighter, faster-motor Slot.it cars.
So that's it. I'm shelving the Carreras. I won't be racing with them any more in this series. There's just no point to it. I'm not going to run them with magnets, because then the results will be tainted. I'm just not going to run them. Besides, holidays are coming, and I have some cars and track on my wish list this year. We'll see how that goes.
If it does occur that I end up with more cars....even one more car.....I'll restart the season with whatever new cars added. If I do get new cars, it'll take a bit for the urethanes to arrive.
There's a chance that I get track instead. If that happens, then I'll be finishing the two wings on the table, redesigning my track, and continuing on with this current season.
All upcoming races are going to be on the same track design, so I'll be going back to the cars and working on getting them in racing condition throughout the season. Each report will include anything special I've done to each car since the last race. The Gulf needs the most work, so I'll be making an accessories order regardless of whatever else might come my way.
Note about this race: while putting away the cars, I picked up the Gulf car and a body screw had fallen out, rendering the body to sit loose on the chassis. I later found the screw at the end of the backstretch. Not sure at what point during the race it came off, but there you go. Overall, not the Shell car's day.
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