1st 1/43 Little Monte Carlo Rally proxy, September 2018.

[LloydL]

Some notes and comments for the entrants to the 1st 1/43 Little Monte Carlo Rally proxy which will take place on 22nd September 2018.

I was unable to find enough good photos showing the different sections of the track, but I have found this rather shaky video that I made a while back. It is not an easy track to drive and video at the same time, so please forgive the sometimes erratic movement of the car in places, but it does give a reasonable idea of the layout.



You will see that the car is a FIAT 500 and it is on a Micro Scalextric HO chassis fitted with swivel guide and urethane rear tyres. It laps well but, with such a short wheelbase , it does try to spin easily.

,My biggest car is a 63 Ford Falcon, which can lap quite quickly, but does make contact with the scenery in many places!

Pin guide or swivel guide?

On the steep climbing sections, a pin guide works as well, and sometimes better than a swivel guide. On one or two of the tight downhill turns, cars with a pin guide can be easier to spin out, but not always. My test cars have included Carrera GO and Artin cars with slightly thinned pin guides, and they often did well Overall I consider cars fitted with swivel guides to have a very slight advantage but, on a 2015 stage of a Carrera GO rally proxy on this track, the winner had a pin guide and the second placed car had a swivel guide!

Guide placement

Due to the tightnesss of the turns, a guide mounted near to the front axle, either behind or in front, makes the car easier to rotate around the turns. Having said that, I have plenty of cars with more forward located guides that get round just fine.

What doesnt work?

The cars that I have had the least success with are cars with:

Too long a wheelbase and very little overhang. Citroen DS 19s and 21s from the 50s and 60s come to mind. These are very hard to slide around the very tight turns.

Too little ground clearance. Cars do not need unusually high ground clearance, any standard car works ok, but a low and long chassis may bottom out in places.

Wheels sticking out of wheel arches, especially the rears. Any contact with the scenery, especially on the exit of tight turns, by a rotating tyre, will result in the car jumping the slot. So keep them within the bodywork please.

Cars carrying too much ballast.The rear of the car needs to be able to slide around the tight turns, too much ballast can stop this happening and prevent the car from completing a lap.

To sum up.


The easiest cars to drive tend to be medium sized with urethane rear tyres and a little added weight on the top of the chassis, behind the guide and either side of the motor.

This does not mean that you should not enter small cars or large cars, Mercedes 220 SE for instance, but experience so far does seeem to favour the middle range. But who knows what will happen on the day/s? Send what you want to and lets have some fun!

Just one extra note, please dont send you prescious shelf queens, this is a rally!

I have probably missed out some points, so please feel free to ask or comment!

Good luck to you all.

Regards, Lloyd.
Edit/Delete Message

[LloydL]

Ok, time to start the entry list.



Please leave your name, number of cars and which class each car will be in. (max 3 cars per entry).



If you know the actual cars you are entering it would be nice to know now, but can be added later.



Who will be first?

[pfuetze]

Class 1: car to be decided
Class 2: SCX compact Ford Fiesta, SCX compact Citroen DS3

[LloydL]

Peter is first, who's next?

Regards, Lloyd.

[LloydL]

Entrants so far:

Peter
Roland (Rhorle)
Aki

Keep them coming!

Regards, Lloyd

[LloydL]

Revised entry list for the 1/43 Little Monte Carlo Rally proxy:

Peter Pfister
Roland Rhorle
Aki
Tilo Lehmann
Steve Wright
Joe

How about you?

Regards, Lloyd

[LloydL]

Rules update:

Ok, having had input regarding the rules, there is one change that I have decided to make. There will be a concours for the cars in class 1, but it will be counted as a separate event and will not affect the car's placing in the rally.

The event:

1/43 Little Monte Carlo Rally proxy, September 2018.

The event will take place on the Little Monte slot rally track in Norfolk UK, starting on Sunday, September 23rd 2018,

The track is a scenic single lane routed MDF rally stage with a track length of approximately 85 feet. The layout is 14' x 3' and the height difference between the lowest and highest points on the track is 5'.

The track has copper tape, so traction magnets will have no affect.

This is a mountain rally stage built for 1/43 scale slot cars and is very loosely based on the Col de Turini in the French Alps. The track is challenging to drive and the fastest lap time so far has been around 25 seconds.


*NOTE*: This is a rally proxy and, as such, your cars will driven as quickly as is reasonably possible around a very twisty and sometimes rough stage that is 6' from the floor at it's highest point. The speeds are slower than that of a racetrack, and most 'offs' usually just result in a spin rather than a fall. I have never had any cars damaged whilst driving on this track but the possibility is always there, so please bear this in mind before entering!

Entry fee: 10 British Pounds (up to 3 cars max.). To cover return postage.

The Classes: ( to be run separately)


1/ 1/43 scale models of actual cars that competed in the Monte Carlo Rally (Rallye Monte Carlo), from 1950 to 1986 (inclusive).


2/ Any Carrera GO, SCX Compact or similar RALLY car.

Ammended rules


Class 1

1/43 scale models of actual cars that competed in the Monte Carlo Rally (Rallye Monte Carlo), from 1950 to 1986 (inclusive)

Body: Hard plastic or resin, no vacforms.

Body screws must be taped over if loose.

Interior: Must have interior detail and 2 crew.

Chassis: Free

Motor: Free

Tyres: Rubber or urethane.

The cars in class 1 will be judged in a concours for accurate representation and quality of build before the stage part of the event. The concours points WILL NOT count as part of the car's overall placing, but be a separate competition.

Class 2

Any Carrera GO, SCX Compact, or similar RALLY car, standard/stock apart from:

Urethane rear tyres (recommended)

Coat front tyres with varnish or CA.

Added lead to chassis.

Body screws to be taped over if loose.

Fitting flag guide to Carrera GO cars. (optional)


All cars will have a practice session followed by 5 timed laps, the fastest of which will determine placings in class.

That's it, I think it covers everything, but feel free to ask questions,

Good luck!

Regards, Lloyd.

[LloydL]

Entry list so far:


Peter (Pfuetze)
Roland Rhorle
Aki
Tilo
Steve Wright
Joe
Fluff
Arkay
ggmerino
scuderia_turini
Me.

*Please Note*

IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ THE RULES TO ENSURE THAT THE CARS YOU ARE SENDING ARE ELIGIBLE, THIS ESPECIALLY APPLIES TO CLASS 1.

[walker]

I have just read the threads about motor size and wheel diameter. Well, if I withdraw my ambition a bit and set the motor mount a tiny bit skewed to center arm shaft and axle, it is possible to use even tiny wheels.
Of course the c.o.g. is risen a bit. But it is a fun event and not a serious race. So what ?...

A question - are the wheelarches of the Volvo widened ?

Roland

[BARC 1]

Hi Roland

If you are talking about my intended entry Volvo 544, then the answer is yes to the wheel arches.

[walker]

Thanks, Dan.

It is made so well that it might have been a tweak of the original Volvo as well.
The Volvo is a nice car and yours looks really good.

Roland

[BARC 1]

When I researched this car there were many retromod versions of this car that looked incredible. Once I saw those it was hard to not to tweak this model just a bit.

[pfuetze]

The Puddle Race Team is ready for the challenge in GB!
The Fiesta will stay home.
Looking forward to see the cars on the hillclimb!

[LloydL]

Nice lineup! Have they packed their snow tyres?

egards, Lloyd.

[pfuetze]

thanks Lloyd!

they got spike tyres! i hope they are legal on the Little Monte?
Otherwise i will have to fit snow chains to those wheels!