It's finally here, the Slot It Lancia LC2

After many long months of holding my breath waiting for this beauty to come out...here it is. A photo tour this today and a comprehensive review soon.

I don't remember this type of packaging on Slot It's before but it's sure a nice detail that may be a new way of insuring an undamaged car during shipping. This bubble packaging is inside the normal case.


No 21.5k on this one it's the same motor that's come with the rest of the Slot It's, so no need to worry about this car having an unfair advantage with a new, very torquey motor.

New braids, more like Scalextric braid. I'm not sure if I like this change but here it is.

This car has such wonderful lines. I love the undulation in the body.

Two things on this car that I'm sure are just a problem with my copy. 1, the tires on the front (shown here) don't touch the track. 2, I can't take the body off to see if this can be adjusted because the front body mount screw is too tightly screwed down and I nearly broke the car trying to take it off to shoot the inside of the body... so that's why no photos of the inside of the car.

Not sure what to do about this yet...


The names on the roof of the drivers are very nicely done. There isn't any misprinting in the tampo printing anywhere on the body.

It's a fantastic looking car. The wheels are a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure from the pre-release photos exactly how nicely detailed they are, but they're great looking. There are even little disc brakes in there.

Testing to take place this weekend.

DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News

Rock, paper...scissors?

Ok, no rocks...but paper and scissors will be needed for this post.

While skimming through Slot Forum the other day I found a cool thread about paper cars as scenery. Yes, paper. I must admit to never even having considered looking for plans for paper cars on the internet but it's sure a cool way to make your own scenery. So you can't find a nice red Alfa for your scenery? How about this one?

I left the jpeg large in case anyone wants to swipe it from the site to cut up and use.

This is sure a great and cheap way to make your own scenery...but be warned some of these are not beginner projects... witness this work of art by Milos Harant!
A 1/18 scale Aston Martin DBR-9.






A stunning model. If you want to contact Milos about this here's his email: harant@katus.sk

Yeah, I know technically not slot cars but I'm sure someone with enough patience you could make one in 1/32 scale and you could get the plans from Milos...not me I'm not remotely that good a model builder.

Aston's not your speed? How about a Trabant?


Or Nascar's
Or how about an entire message board of paper models?
Or a whole page of paper projects on this Japanese site...some could be converted into slot car type scenery, not the cats though!

I've used a number of designs from the Carrera4fun.de site on a bunch of different projects. I was a bit skeptical at first about the models only being made of paper but it's a great medium to work in...as long as you have a fairly dry environment, paper models don't like humidity!

DaveK

A1 GP season testing opens

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport kicks off its second season today with its official team test session at the Silverstone Circuit in Great Britain. A1Team Malaysia, winners of the 2005/06 season’s last race in Shanghai set the fastest lap time of the day but this time with Fairuz Fauzy behind the wheel. Current champions A1 Team France took the second spot on the time sheet with Nicolas Lapierre in the car.

Once again, the Series will pit country against country on a level playing field with A1 Teams flying their flags in races for national pride. While teams that took part in the inaugural season return for the second Series, there will also be new names on the entry list. First to raise its flag will be A1 Team Turkey. At a time when its country is the centre of international motorsport, with the support of the national government, new seat holder Lodos Racing Inc has committed to forming a national team for the first race at Zandvoort.

With over 100,000 tickets sold to date, A1GP Zandvoort is set to be the biggest event of the Series so far when the Dutch fans will be rewarded for their enthusiastic support of their hero Jos Verstappen with a home race. To guarantee the fans maximum excitement, a new system is being used to determine the grid for the Feature race. This will no longer be solely on the results of the Sprint race, but a combination of Qualifying results, Sprint race finishes and fastest lap times.

As A1GP looks forward to its second season, planning is already underway to develop the Series. For the 2008/09 season the A1GP management is investigating the possibility of increasing the engine output towards the 700bhp mark, a move that is totally supported by At Team Brazil seat holder, Emerson Fittipaldi. Discussions with engineers, suppliers and race technical staff to determine possible configurations for a new vehicle have been initiated to determine what options may be available given A1GP’s racing parameters. More news will be forthcoming in this area as they develop.

On the broadcast front, A1GP has successfully renewed the vast majority of their broadcast agreements from season one. In addition, new broadcasters in a number of major territories including the USA and Canada are in the final stages of negotiation. Fox Sports Channels has been confirmed as a new carrier for this season distributing A1GP’s races live throughout central and Latin America.
And how can the USA team go wrong...they have Al Unser Jr. driving?!?!

On a related note, Scalextric has shipped a few of their A1GP cars already. The British and French team cars appear to be at a few North American retailers already.

DaveK

As always, all news/photos used with permission from the A1 Grand Prix.

A little street racing anyone?

So you're all grown up now. You've got a full time job, maybe a wife, maybe even a kid... is a hot car is a thing of the past for you? Well with Carrera's Fast & Furious set you can relive all those nights racing light-to-light downtown.

The set is, of course, a movie tie-in product. I haven't seen the movie but that doesn't matter, this set has appeal that extends beyond a "quickly to DVD" movie. I decided to see if I could squeeze in a bit of racing one night after my son went to bed, so I grabbed the box and took the set up to the living room....

...for a little night racing.

9:15 EST-Danbury, Connecticut (USA, in case there was any confusion with another Danbury)...the track box opens on my new Fast & Furious set from Carrera USA.
9:16 EST-I scratch my head and figure I better find the directions to get this track together, race, and put away before I have to get some shut eye.
9:35 EST-getting the hang of the track clips, they hold the track together very, very tightly and snap in with a nice "positive" click.
10:04 EST-racing...one thing comes to mind immediately...I need to buy more track, lots more track. The Fast & Furious set comes with 17.39' of track. The cars fly around the track at a blinding pace and I wish I could turn the voltage down from the stock 14.8 volts.
10:15 EST...holy crap I'm dizzy... the cars whirl around at a blistering pace....man I need more track...
1:something....time to take the track apart and get some sleep.

Now if you'll take a look at the photos you'll see that I didn't pay attention to the warning on page 5 of the English version of the instructions which says," Note: Carpeting is not a suitable foundation on which to build the track because of static charging, formation of fluff and ready inflammability." Hmmm... I'll take my chances this evening.

The cars that come with the set are a green Mustang (reviewed a few months ago here on Slot Car News), and a flat grey/black Nissan 350 Z.

The Mustang:


The car has excellent lights, nice proportions, and is very smooth and fast on this set.

The Nissan 350Z:

Also it's bottle-fed! But since it's a very tiny bottle don't expect much boost out...

A small nitrous oxide bottle is front and center (or is it rear and center?) in the back window of the car, a really cool touch. The printing on this bottle, and the rest of the car BTW, is very, very nicely done.
The wheels on this car are nicely molded and look good with the body.

As has been noted on a few threads in the slot car community, this car is large, very large. I don't pretend to be a Nissan expert and while I don't actually own a set of calipers, even a cursory look at this car can tell you that it's...um, large. Having said that, does this mean you can't have fun with this car, does this mean anything to the average racer, hell no. I like the shape of the car, I like the aggresive, powerful look of the car.

And I want to applaud Carrera for doing something very right with this car... the driver is entirely appropriate!

The guy looks like someone that would drive this car. Short sleeved shirt and two hands firmly gripping the steering wheel with a look of terror on his face, probably hoping to not lose his pink-slip in a light-to-light drag.


Well, what can you say? The set is cool, and a great place to start for the young racer in your life...or maybe even YOU! These sets can be a great starting place to introduce a new generation to slotting, I hope the word gets out about these sets.

Thanks to Carrera USA without whom this and many other reviews would not be possible.

Dave K
Publisher, Slot Car News

Could you pass the gravy, er I mean, the controller?

More YouTube fun today...I'm thinking most guys wouldn't get away with putting "the good china" and the slot track on the table at the same time, do you?

SuperGT Series: Ford GT races!

SuperGT Series news:
"For the GT300 class, the No.2 Privée Zurich・Apple Shiden and the No.55 DHG ADVAN FORD GT are both brand new. The No.2 made its debut in the opening round and made it to 6th place. The No.55 finished a race for the first time in Round 3, crossing the line in 10th place. The machines for the No.101 TOY STORY Racing MR-S and the No.777 Ryozanpaku apr MR-S have changed their engines from the four-cylinder turbo units to normally-aspirated V6 powerplants."

So if you look closely on the right you'll see a Ford GT in race trim!!!!! So does this make the Ford GT RAA legal????? And I wonder if Ninco and/or Scalextric plan to make the Ford GT as a racer. After all they're both cranking out the JGTC cars as fast as they can.

Photos from the 2006 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round4 Sepang Circuit
The Scalextric car...
Images used with permission of the SuperGT Series...who've given permission to reuse their images and news to SCNews!

DaveK

CHiP's gonna get 'cha! Fun & Games....

You cannot race these cars at Le Mans, or on the high banks of Daytona,
but Carrera’s new California Highway Patrol Mustang, and Nissan 350Z
Fast ‘n’ Furious Tuner are perfect opponents in a high speed police
chase.
The Tuner has ignored the CHP’s command to pull over, for
reasons known only to its driver, a thuggish looking guy with a dingy,
sleeveless T-shirt. The Tuner must escape at high speed, the Freeway
represented by what ever slot car track you have. If the Tuner
completes ten laps, the police Mustang breaks off the chase and the
Tuner wins. If the cops stop the Tuner, using ANY method, the forces
of law and order win. The police car can use any method to stop the
pursuit, including a nerf, a bash, or a de-slot which runs the Tuner
off the road. A wreck is acceptable. Remember, the CHP is serious
about its responsibility to end the dangerous chase as quickly as
possible, sacrificing itself, if necessary, to protect the public! And
the thug in the Tuner may just hit the police car, its occupants
completely anonymous behind dark glass. The Carrera CHP Mustang, and the Nissan Tuner are not “real” race cars. But both have Carrera solidity, and husky E200 motors, so these cars can really move out.

The red and blue lights on the Mustang flash in
alternation, lending a burst of 1/32 adrenalin to the activity. The
tires may not be entirely safe at speeds over 150 MPH, so be careful!

Robert Livingston,
Technical Editor, Slot Car News
--------


The CHP Mustang has no interior as you can see. That allows the electronics for the lights to get to the roof and not have the Mustang's pan interior block the way. Also it makes the CHP car 4 grams lighter than the race trimmed Mustang!


Sadly the photo I took doesn't do the effect of the lights justice. When you're actually driving the car around the lights really look great.

Dave Kennedy
Publisher, Slot Car News

Button 4th in Turkish Grand Prix

above image (c)GEPA Pictures/Red Bull Photofiles
Nothing like having "the big one" within a few feet of the start of the race, eh?
-edit to add image from the wreck-

Jenson Button ended today’s Turkish Grand Prix in fourth position after a strong performance from sixth on the grid, securing a further five points for the Honda Racing F1 Team.

His team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished eighth having started from 13th position. He enjoyed a tremendous race with four great overtaking manoeuvres, guaranteeing the team a two-car finish and a solid total haul of six-points.

Today’s result again reduces the gap to third position in the Constructors’ Championship, with the Honda Racing F1 Team now on 58 points with four rounds still remaining.

Hot on the heels of its own first win just a few weeks ago, the Honda team would also like to congratulate Felipe Massa on his first grand prix victory and wishes him a well-deserved celebration.

Images/news used with permission HondaRacingF1.com.

DaveK

IRL photos here, updated automatically!

A cool new gallery is now available near the bottom of the page. The IRL has given SCNews the Java script for a large photo gallery that updates when there are pix added at the IRL home office...so 24/7 there will be photos added when they're available!

Also there have been 2 boxes added on the sidebar on the right with NASCAR news updated 4x's a day from Yahoo and American LeMans series news (in a separate box) added that also updates 4x's a day.

So check back often there will be news here all the time for the racing fans out there.

DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News

New MRRC flexi-chassis/motors on Bantuslot

Bantuslot.com is showing a new flexi-chassis for the MRRC Toyota GT1. It's cool to see that MRRC is expanding their options for racers who run the GT1. Also there are a number of motors being shown on Bantuslot. 21k, 25, 30k and the 38k King motors all shown as well as a new chassis mount for the Toyota chassis.

Note the motor strap, interesting that it will hold the motor quite tightly I bet, it's the only motor mount that has this feature. Ninco should take a page from this design IMO. But then, no one asked my opinion did they?

All images used with permission from Bantuslot.com.
DaveK

Rolex Series update from Sonoma

Pruett & Diaz Score Record-Tying Fifth Race Win
With Sonoma 250 Victory at Infineon Raceway

SONOMA, Calif. – No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley co-drivers Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz scored their Daytona Prototype record-tying fifth victory of the season Saturday afternoon in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Sonoma 250 at Infineon Raceway (SPEED, August 27 at 3 p.m. ET), keeping their 2006 championship hopes alive with only one race remaining on the season schedule.

Pruett, a resident of nearby Auburn, Calif., took control of the No. 01 machine during a Lap 22 caution in 15th place and charged to the front, eventually inheriting the lead on Lap 74 during a stretch of green flag pit stops. The No. 01 car was forced down pit road on late in the race for a splash of fuel, but the Ganassi crew made quick work of the stop, sending Pruett out just ahead of Andy Wallace in the No. 4 The Boss Snowplow Pontiac Crawford. Pruett held off the Englishman after a late-race caution to score a wildly popular victory in front of his hometown crowd.

The victory at Infineon Raceway is the fifth victory of the season for the No. 01 machine, tying the record set in 2005 by defending Daytona Prototype champions Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley. The win also marks the 12th overall victory in Pruett’s Rolex Series career, tying him with Wallace’s co-driver, Butch Leitzinger, for second-most all-time with 12.

“We got put behind a little bit early on in the race,” said Pruett. “The guys did a great job on the pit stop, sending me out there in front. It feels great to get this win in front of the home crowd. There’s nothing like winning on your home court. All these things together make this sweet. We dug deep to pull a strategy that would give us the best chance to win.”

LIDDELL AND HENZLER TIGHTEN GT CLASS BATTLE WITH SONOMA 250 WIN
Wolf Henzler and Robin Liddell scored their third Rolex Series GT class victory of the season in the Sonoma 250 at Infineon Raceway, and head into next weekend’s season-finale at Miller Motorsports Park just eight points behind No. 65 TRG/F1 Air Pontiac GTO.R co-drivers Andy Lally and Marc Bunting in the standings, with nine hours of racing to decide the 2006 champions.

Liddell started from the class pole and led throughout his opening stint. The Scot handed control to Henzler during a Lap 22 caution, eventually climbing back into the cockpit for the finish. Liddell inherited the lead again on Lap 83 when Lally had to take the No. 65 machine down pit road for fuel, and held off a late charge after a full-course caution period to score the third victory of the year for the Tafel Racing Porsche.

“I didn’t really make a fantastic start, but I was able to make the correct line on the first turn,” said Liddell. “After two laps, my lead was completely gone with a little bit of understeer. The track was extremely difficult to manage today. It’s very twisty and on the straights, there was really only one good line. The Daytona Prototypes did a great job today, and was able to avoid any issues. We were able to pull away a little bit in the traffic, which ultimately was the difference.”


All images/news used with permission from the Grand American Road Racing Series.

DaveK

Honda's F1 & Rolex Series practice

Honda Formula 1 practice from the Turkish GP:
Jenson set the third fastest time of the day whilst third driver Anthony Davidson, running for the first time at the Istanbul Park Circuit, ended the afternoon session fourth. Rubens Barrichello posted the 10th fastest time.

In typically hot conditions in Istanbul it was back to business as usual with Jenson and Rubens focusing on this afternoon’s session to fine-tune the car set-up to the demands of this undulating anti-clockwise circuit. The only glitch in an otherwise straightforward day was a failure with Anthony’s car at the end of the morning session, the timing of which fortunately minimised the amount of lost running.

Photo/news used with permission HondaRacingF1.com.

Rolex Series practice:
SONOMA, Calif. (August 24, 2006) -- Under perfect weather conditions for the first-ever Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve practice session at Infineon Raceway, defending Daytona Prototype champion Max Angelelli posted the quickest lap in preparation for Saturday's Sonoma 250 (SPEED, August 27, 3:00 p.m. ET).

In the closing seconds of the two-hour practice session, Angelelli posted a best lap at 1:30.100 (100.688 mph) in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley to top the time charts. The lap was slightly quicker than the best lap turned by Angelelli's co-driver, Jan Magnussen, who led the session until Angelelli's last-minute flyer. Angelelli--who has finished inside the top-four positions in his last eight Rolex Series feature races--is hoping to keep his Daytona Prototype championship hopes alive in the Sonoma 250, the penultimate round of the 2006 Rolex Series schedule.


No. 72 NEC Porsche GT3 co-driver Wolf Henzler posted the fastest GT class practice lap time Thursday afternoon at Infineon Raceway with a time of 1:39.356 (91.308 mph) in Tafel Racing machine he will share with co-driver Robin Liddell this weekend.

Henzler and Liddell come into the Sonoma 250 weekend just 11 points behind No. 65 TRG/F1 Air Pontiac GTO.R co-drivers Andy Lally and Marc Bunting in the current driver standings (442-431). The No. 72 Porsche duo was victorious in their last trip to northern California, winning May's U.S. Sports Car Invitational at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Photos/news used with permission of the Grand American Road Racing Association.

DaveK

Tooth brush slot car? An inventive project!

Joe from Albany has graciously allowed SCNews to repost his really cool and VERY original project. Originally posted on Home Racing World's message board.

Great inexpensive project ($8-$9 as shown) – for home tracks, kids, charity events, boy/girl scouts, etc.

Take a $1 store toothbrush and toy car (to hack out the motor).

Add some Greenwood Vette axles and an Artin front guide


Test Report:
Joe's home track: Artin 4 lane figure eight – 28 foot lanes – 2 standard Artin wall warts.
Lanes 1 and 2 – Revell body on Artin fat boy chassis/motor with Greenwood Vette front and rears.
Lane 3 – Gutted and hacked 1/32 scale NASCAR RC car with toothbrush motor – Artin fat boy front and rears - no weight – no magnet (picked up online last year from wally world for $9 a pop – bought 5 different cars)
Lane 4 – the “brush” – Greenwood Vette front and rears - little weight over front guide – no magnet

20 laps on lane 3 – best lap – the results
Pictured in Lane 1 – 3.684 sec
Pictured in Lane 2 – 3.715 sec
Pictured in Lane 3 – 3.842 sec
Pictured in Lane 4 – 3.849 sec

Pictured in Lane 3 – the “brush” with magnet in the rear – 3.265 sec
Pictured in Lane 4 – box stock Carrera – 2.984 sec
Joe-"With a little sanding here, little weight there – I think I can get the “brush” down a couple of tenths."

A super project...I love the creativity and it's sure just about the most original slot car project I've ever seen. Thanks again to Joe!
DaveK