Old23 (Stewart) chose his car and number for the Can-Am Proxy today and it started me thinking about an open wheel proxy race here on HRW. Stewart used to run the VRAA (Vintage Race Across America) proxy over on the SCI board and some of the cars that used to be submitted and raced in that series were serious pieces of slot car art. So, that got me thinking; why not a Formula 1 proxy race right here on HRW; it's certainly been a long while since I've seen an open wheel proxy; particularly a modern Formula 1 race series.
I know, the wrap on this kind of proxy is damage to the cars; particularly the front ends; the spoilers and the front axle assemblies. But, if you ran them no-mag, put in a milder motor and turned down the track voltage, you could probably minimize a lot of that and I recall some local racing that Matt (changing-gearz) used to run on Carrera plastic track, at 12 V with magnets and stock Scaley motors that used to conclude (usually) without much damage to the cars. So, why not?
Here's my preliminary thinking:
1. Modern Formula 1 (2005-2017)
2. Scalextric Formula 1 cars only (I know, that's a big limitation, but there are quite a few Formula 1 cars out there and they're not all equally capable and they often times don't race well together - so, I'd leave it Scaley for this first series, collect some data and see how it goes. Plus most of you are going to have a Scaley F1 car from that era on your shelves, gathering dust, anyway............)
3. Spec motor (yup, that's another big limitation, but it will help to keep the playing field level) Probably either the SCC Minnow (18k rpm) or the MT SL-1 (14k rpm)
4. Gearing - open
5. Body - stock Scaley F1
6. Chassis - stock Scaley F1 (front end can be strengthened)
7. Wheels - open, but to scale (14x13 rears and 14x8 fronts)
8. Tires - urethane (any commercially available manufacturer) / can be glued, trued and profiled
9. No-mag (no traction magnets)
10. Weight - open
11. Clearance - stock Scaley (I think it's 1.2mm)
12. Races - 8 Rounds (to minimize damage over the series) Likely 4 in the US and 4 in Canada, but I'm open to shipping them down under, too
13. Number of cars - limited to 24 cars; one car per racer
14. Livery - stock or fantasy
15. Numbers - no duplicate numbers
16. Tracks - routed wood
17. Racing voltage; if the Minnow motor, then probably 9V / if the MT- SL-1, then probably 10V maximum
Timing would be sometime towards the end of 2018; after we get the Can-Am proxy off and running and the same for the SCCA Early Years proxy.
So, what do you think? Time to have some open wheel racing fun again this year........?
Allan