Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report
Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report With the drama of the last Slot it Group C endurance, where the winners took the win in the last few minutes of the event to take victory by 2 laps, there was a lot of excitement building for this event. With Phoenix fielding 4 home teams, and guest team Demon Slot, the stakes were high. Phoenix Scalextric Circuit is a long 156 foot Ninco track, with long straights, technical sections and some sweeping long sweeping corners thrown in for good measure. This was not a track to take lightly, one mistake on this long track could cost the teams dearly.
The event began at 8:30am, on a surprisingly sunny Sunday morning. The teams took to the track to complete the final practice sessions and tweak the set ups. This race saw a domination in the starting grid, with 4 of the 5 cars being Lancia LC2’s and 1 car being a Toyota 88C-V. For Phoenix, this was the first of a ‘seeded’ team selection process, with the top seed drivers being paired with a secondary level driver(s). This meant the racing would be closer, and the secondary level drivers would gain some incredible experience racing with the pressure of going for the win. Demon Slot bought their race hardened driver line up, of Ben Clements, Keith Clements and Phil Field. The lane draw saw an interesting selection, with Demon Slot starting on red lane, which is considered the best lane to start on, as it’s the hardest to complete. Team ‘Rooster’ were next door to them, which would make for some interesting on track battles.
Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report So 9:30am came around and the cars were called into scrutineering, where all of the team captains had the chance to look over the oppositions cars and check for any illegalities. The rules are very similar to the National Slot it Group C Championship rules, with one control tyre for the entire event and effectively stock cars, the set up could not be any closer. There was then a 10 minute shakedown for any last checks, to make sure the cars were ready to go for 6 hours of torture.
The race format was straight forward, each team must race for one hour on every lane. Each team member must do equal track time to allow everyone the same chance of competition. This meant every team would race every lane of the track and have to battle all of the different challenges each lane gives. The race began at 10:00am, everyone was lined up, the lights went out and away we go! The first stint was very intense with everyone looking to push forward and pull out an early lead. Everyone managed to complete the first hour without any drama’s. All the cars were working well and pulling everyone round in respectable lap times.
Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report The first hour saw the combination of Ads and JW take an early lead, with 268 laps, however Team Reggie were hot on their tails with 257, Demon Slot behind them on 255, Rooster and Lloyd on 252 and Team Scoobie trailing slightly on 239. The second hour saw a lot more drama, with Team Scoobie having to repair a broken wing, not once but twice, which dropped their laps to only 226 for the hour. Not a massive loss, but every lap counts. The biggest loss suffered in this hour, was when Team Reggie’s Lancia had wiring issues. After a quick rewire in the pits, the car was back on track and was able to recover 215 laps for the hour. This hour saw a slight move in the positions, with Ads/JW in the lead on 540, Rooster/Lloyd now into 2nd from 4th in the last stint, now on 519 some 21 laps behind the leaders. Demon Slot dropped to 3rd with 506. The issues for Team Reggie had dropped them to 4th with 472, and likewise for Team Scoobie who were in 5th with 465.
Hour three was also an intense affair, with the car problems now moving to the leaders. Rooster/Lloyd’s car had problems deslotting on the straightaway’s, a quick adjustment of the screws and they were back underway. Not losing too much time and Lloyd managing to put in a respectable 256, with the adjustments. Ads/JW team suffered car issues, when the car wasn’t connecting with the track properly. A quick pit stop saw them back out on track quickly, however dropping some laps to concede their lead, with only a 231 lap count this session. The biggest losers again however were Team Scoobie, with their aerofoil detaching, again! They had to secure the spoiler in place with tape which unfortunately affected the balance of the car. After a very intermittent session, they put in a 216 lap count for the hour. Amongst the issues, Demon Slot saw the opportunity to push forward, with Phil putting in a 265 on green lane, the best for this session which moved them to joint 2nd with Ads/JW. Team Reggie remained quiet this session and put in a decent 246 to pull out a lead on their competitors in 5th.
Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report The results at the halfway mark saw Rooster/Lloyd take the lead by only 4 laps on 775. Demon Slot and Ads/ JW were joint second on 771. Due to the car problems, Team Reggie were in 4th on 718 and Team Scoobie on 681.
Into the forth hour then, with the end of the event approaching quickly, teams were looking to get to the front and stay there, the pressure was rising. This saw Ads/JW onto red lane, in damage limitation mode on the most difficult lane, with Demon Slot and Rooster/Lloyd on the faster lanes. This stint saw the most laps recorded in the entire event, with Rooster putting in a 281 on white lane, averaging 12.8 per lap over the entire hour, the hammer was officially down. Team Reggie recorded the second highest lap count in this stint with a 266, and Demon Slot putting in a 252, losing a couple of laps to Ads/JW who recorded 260 on red lane, the highest for the entire event on that lane. This sessions was a relatively quiet one with no car dramas throughout the field, everyone seemed to be settling down and heading for a close finish. The laps looked like this, with Rooster/ Lloyd on 1056 in the lead, Ads/JW in second on 1031, Demon Slot just behind on 1023, then a bit of a gap to Team Reggie who were closing in slightly on 984, and Team Scoobie on 920.
Fifth hour was the most evenly matched yet. With no car issues for the top four, everything was to play for. The drivers felt the pressure and were now pushing for the win. Only a 1 lap difference separated the teams for this hour, with Demon Slot winning the hour on 265, Rooster/Lloyd and Ads/JW on 264, and Team Reggie only dropped 4 laps this session on 260 at the end. Team Scoobie were still struggling with the car’s handling, dropping to just 221 for the hour.
Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report
The final hour, this was it! Ads/JW only 25 laps behind on the quicker lane, and Demon Slot closely behind them only 32 laps behind the leaders. The race was far from over! And the final hour wasn’t without it’s excitement. Demon Slot stormed into the lead on the outside lane, with Phil setting the best lap count on that lane for the entire event. This meant Rooster/Lloyd had to keep the car on and bring it home. Ads/JW were running extremely strong, and pushing for the win, until in the last 15 minutes the car stripped it’s gear! A very hasty pit stop and they were back on the track, but was it enough to hold onto second place with Demon Slot’s extremely impressive final stint. Ads/JW managed to record a damage limiting 235. Problems also arose at the back of the field, with Team Reggie having yet another wire disconnection issue, setting them back to just 215 for session.
Phoenix Scalextric Circuit “Home of the bus stop”
Group c race report And that’s it! The event came to a close and the results were greatly anticipated. With Rooster/Lloyd managing to bring the win home with 1573 Laps, Demon Slot took second in the last hour with 1556, Ads/JW dropped to third with the last hour drama’s recording 1530, forth went to Team Reggie who recorded a respectable 1459 with all their car breakdowns and Team Scoobie came home in fifth recording 1377 with a car that they just couldn’t get settled.
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place
Ben & Lloyd
Keith, Phil & Ben
Ads & JW
4th Place
5th Place
Seb, Doug & Lewis
Bob, Jack & Andrew