Slot Car Racing National Championships

[roblees]

Hi all
I thought you might be interested that the British Slot Car Racing Association National Championships are taking place this weekend. Spectators welcome, refreshments and parking available, admission free.

Here's the press release:

Top Drivers race at Bedford this weekend.
Lap times below five seconds, Grand Prix title at stake.

Sixty of the country's top racing drivers, including a reigning world champion, will contest three national championships in Wootton, Bedford, this weekend.

But don't expect traffic jams and helicopters disturbing the peace of a Bedfordshire Bank Holiday weekend. The competition is fierce and the racing real, but the cars are models - 1/32nd scale replicas, souped up Scalextric cars which can do 60 real miles per hour and lap a 35 metre track in five seconds.

Over three days of racing (Saturday 29, Sunday 30, Monday 1st May) each driver will race Sports, Saloon and Grand Prix cars on a specially built eight lane track at Wootton Upper School, Hall End Road, Wootton. The event is the 1/32 scale National Championships of the British Slot Car Racing Association (BSCRA), one of three major meetings held each year.

The racers come from all over the country, and will have spent the winter in qualifying competitions for the honour of representing their Area at the national championships. Local driver James Cleave is a teacher at the school, and has many championships to his name. James races at the Luton Slot Car Club, one of 35 clubs around the country affiliated to the BSCRA.

In recent years Brian Saunders from Wolverton near Milton Keynes has done a lot of the winning, and he is the World Champion competing this weekend. Last October in Malta, Brian won the Production world team title with a Finnish team mate, competing against drivers from as far away as the USA and Brazil. Brian hs just returned from a week racing in the USA, where he finished second to a local driver in their National championship. Brian has also competed in full-size racing - Formula Asia Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

As well as these aces, you will see drivers of all ages competing in classes for novice, intermediate and expert skill levels. The races are short and sharp, three minutes only, each driver trying to do enough laps to get to the next round. Finals are longer, each driver pitted against seven others for the overall championship. The races are for Grand Prix on Saturday, Saloon on Sunday and Sports on Monday. Basic cars can cost as little as £40, with the fastest costing over £200. But htat sort of money lets you compete at the Schumacher level, if you have the talent to keep the car on the 155 foot, eight lane track.

BSCRA Press Release 28/4/06

The British Slot Car Racing Association (BSCRA)
exists to foster all aspects of the sport of slot car racing in the UK. It supports National and Open championships in both 1/32 and the larger 1/24 scales, and is a member of both the RAC Motor Sports Association and the International Slot Racing Association, under whose auspices in will be running World Championships in 2008. BSCRA has over 35 member clubs all over the UK and hundreds of racers race in these clubs each week.

Contacts
BSCRA website
Press Officer - Rob Lees - [e-mail] 01793-741168 07785-111999
Press and media facilities available at the meeting.

Resources
More on the 2005 Nationals at the same venue

[roblees]

I have put some photos of the nationals today in the events section on Slotforum, just to give you an idea of the setup.

[url]www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15484&st=0&gopid=166009&#entry166009[/url]


The meeting goes on for two more days - Sunday and Monday.

Cheers, Rob

[Lordbenny]

I used to do this when I was a kid (about 15). I raced on a permanent cicuit in Coulsdon, Surrey. I love the fact that the guys really thought they were involved in motorsport. They had the caps, the stickers & were VERY competetive. I remember spongy tyres that you had to put sticky 'gloop' on, transparent body work (you painted the inside & were permanently on the look out for tiny decals from variour kits).

One guy was actually a brabham mechanic in his past life, he obviously had the fastest cars.

Oh joy.

[Eric Mc]

If he worked at Brabham under Bernie Ecclestones's period of ownership he probably cheated like mad.

[roblees]

There is still a club at Coulsden, albeit with new premises at Bletchingly and a new track. They still take it seriously but the tyres are grippy enough now not to need goop!