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More Photos And Technical
Data! Why were certain cars better
than others... Most entries performed quite well.
Of the ones that did not, most of the problem was from poor
traction due to inadequate tires. MacPinches two entries
desperately needed silicone tires, and Mac will get one free
set for each of his two cars, courtesy of Indy-Grip. Alan
Schwartz tires arrived too late for the battle, and his cars
skitted desperately through the races. Athina's Joest-Porsche
also had traction problems as the tires used just did not have
enough grip. The second common problem was...too much power
or brutal power delivery. It is obvious that the best choice
was either a Plafit Cheetah or a Fox, or even a Slot-It V12.
Kathryn's Porsche 908 had a totally stock FLY motor and still
set the fastest lap time of any car there, but the car could
have been a lot faster and still perfectly controlable with
any of the aforementioned motors. It leaves us with the
rocketship motors expertly built by Russell Sheldon. No single
doubt that using a controller with less resistance, his cars
would have clearly dominated the show. But the rules were
designed to control the escalation to exotism, as this was a
prelude to the soon-to-be TSRF, the True Scale racing
Federation which will use 1/24 true scale cars AND a limiting
controller rather than a "spec" motor. A much fairer way to
race with cost control, the way of the future in this writer's
opinion.
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FASTEST OF THEM ALL... ...was this Class E Porsche 908/2
entered by Kathryn Walwick of Jacksonville, FL. It LOOKS
pretty stock except for the two large Slot-It magnets,
Indy-Grip silicone tires, Classic machined guide flag with
screw-on braid, drill blank front axle, and various washers
here and there. It used a stock FLY motor, stock bearings and
rear axle, stock gears and wheels, stock body with all the
heavy injected accessories. Chassis was mounted solid on body,
with chassis screws backed 1/2 turn. It set an easy pole in
Class E, won a runaway race and was the easiest to drive,
according to all the drivers. It was put together in a mere
2 hours by race organizer Philippe de Lespinay. |
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Kathryn's 908/2 guide flag... ...was a 1960's "Classic" unit using
Parma braid screwed onto it, providing excellent and
uninterrupted contact throughout its easy cruise to a 20-lap
win. The guide had been machined to fit flush and match the
height of the defective and poorly designed stock unit. A
brass sleeve was epoxied in the chassis and there was no
retainer on top. |
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Jim Cunningham's Class D
winning Porsche 917 LH... ...shows great engineering. A full
sidewinder in the great tradition of pro-racing. It won its
class by not being the fastest but the smoothest. It used a
Plafit Cheetah, and was the only car with sponge tires with
any grip. The decals were hand-made by Jim, and the detail was
rather good, in spite of a bit of a "thingie" attitude. Jim
lost lots of Concours points with inadequate front wheels.
Such wheels were tolerated this time around but will be
forbiden in the next
event. |
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Mark Gussin's Chevy BelAir
comes all the way from U.K. It has to take an Englishman to make
a decent Yank Tank? This car is gorgeous and has an
accurate effigy of "Fireball" Roberts at the wheel. It was
180-degree with Russell Sheldon's super-exotic and exquisitely
built DVR chassied, vac-formed bodied '64 Ford Fairlane. Both
had the exact same qualifying time, but Gussin's car was so
much easier to drive, and eventually won the race. Mark used a
Slot-It V12, distributed in America by Scalextric USA. The
motor provided ample power and excellent brakes and top speed.
Mark also used Indy-Grip tires and a carbon fiber 2-piece
chassis. |
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Mark Gussin's Maserati
steering unit... ...used old VIP parts mixed with
hand-built brass units. It worked well and did not hamper the
car in any way. Where the car lost on the track is possibly in
excessive weight, hampering the stock motor, as Russell
Sheldon's lighter Alfa creamed it in the straights. Then
again, Russell had a rocket motor, the most controlable of his
three entries. |
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Speaking of Mark Gussin, here
is his Maserati 8CL, exquisitely carved from balsa wood. It has an interesting layer of brass
pans, the bottom one "floating" as the car rolls. The
set-screw aluminum wheels had very realistic wire inserts.
Overall quality and feel was excellent. Driver detailing was
outstanding and had no match in all the contestants. |
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These are the two Alfa-Romeo
8C entered by Alan Schwartz and Russell Sheldon. Wait a minute, those guys have been
talking behind our backs! The very similar chassis obviously
came from the same place...Somewhere in Dubai I guess. Alan's
car was the better of his three entries but the rocket
hand-built motor in Russell's finely detailed car was just too
much. Russell car was beautiful, but the judges had a keener
eye for the Maserati 8CL, costing Russell the overall win in
Class
B. | | |