Category Archives: International Slotcars

Slot Car Nationals in Turkey

With Formula One visiting Turkey recently it is the perfect time to feature some Turkish Slot Car Racing, yes, Slotcar Racing in Turkey.

The Turkish apparently have a thriving Slotcar racing scene, complete with national events. The event in the video was held in the Tepe Nautilus shopping center.

Tepe Nautilus, opened in September 2002, is the second-biggest modern shopping mall in Turkey. Built by Tepe Group, it is situated in the Acıbadem quarter of Kadiköy district in the Asian part of Istanbul.

Tepe Nautilus, in walking distance from Kadiköy port at the Sea of Marmara, is the first thematic shopping mall Turkey’s with its name, decoration and architectural features associated with sea and navigation. It covers an area of 170,000 m2. The shopping mall consists of 130 stores on 3 floors, a department store and Carrefour supermarket. It has a smart-parking lot with a capacity of 2,700 cars, which indicates empty spaces. There are Cinemaxx movie theaters with eight screens, a bowling alley and entertainment center. The food court hosts 16 restaurants and cafes. Concerts and exhibitions frequently take place in the mall. 50,000 people visit Nautilus on weekends.

Not knowing too much about Turkey, the interesting thing in the above excerpt is that this is the second largest mall in Turkey and attracts somewhere around 50,000 plus visitors each weekend, and yet it only has 2700 car parking spaces! Can you imagine an American mall with only 2700 spaces, it would be parking hell!

Now, back to the subject at hand, slotcars. Watching the video the competitors all seem very capable, and the competition looks tough. While we struggle here in the US to get slot car racing known, the Turkish are out there getting the slot cars in front of the people. Maybe some lessons can be learnt.

[youtube 7vsJm1Yw0Gc Slotcar Nats in Turkey]

32nd Saloon A Main from the 2007 Ecurie Barnton BOC Slotcar Race

In recent articles I introduced you to the Ecurie Barnton Model Car Club in the UK, and then gave you a guided tour and pit walk at the 2007 BOC race at Ecurie Barnton, and then showed you the 32nd Eurosport A Main slotcar race.

Next is the 32nd Saloon Car A main. These cars are basically the same as the 32nd scale Eurosport cars we run here in the US, but they are longer wheelbase and are powered by a C Can Group 12 motor.

Winner of this race, in a very close finish is Brian Saunders of BSP Slotcar. Brian is familiar to anyone who has been to the USRA Scale Nats over the last few years, as he has made the trip across to race.

[google 8128324977282469790 Saloon A Main From BOC at Ecurie Barnton]

32nd Eurosport Race from the 2007 Ecurie Barnton BOC Slotcar Race

In recent articles I introduced you to the Ecurie Barnton Model Car Club in the UK, and then gave you a guided tour and pit walk at the 2007 BOC race at Ecurie Barnton, and now we move on to the racing from the 2007 UK BOC round at Ecurie Barnton.

First up is the 32nd Eurosport A main. The cars are the same as we race here in the US in 32nd Eurosport, but the track is a much tighter and twistier 4 lane track typical of UK Club Tracks.

[google -8652202190216144523 2007 BOC Round at Ecurie Barnton]

Pit Walk at Ecurie Barnton BOC Slotcar Race

Following on from a look at the Ecurie Barnton Model Car Club in the UK, here is another video fro the club, this time are the British Slot Car Racing Association (BSCRA) visited for the clubs local British Open Championship (BOC) round.

In the UK BSCRA is the equivalent of the USRA here in the US, but unlike in the US, BSCRA organizes many races each year all over the UK (hosted by the local area reps and clubs). This event is part of the year long National Championship series for 32nd cars, and culminates with the 32nd Scale BSCRA 32nd Nats, for which you must run in a specified number of BOC rounds to qualify.

Here is a cool look in the pits, with a lot of closeups of the cars and equipment they race with.

[google 8718468279335824360 Pit Walk at Ecurie Barnton BOC Race]

Club Racing in the UK at Ecurie Barnton Model Car Club

Slotcar Racing for the most part is very different in the UK than it is here in the USA. For one, most of the “raceways” are clubs, and do not operate as retail businesses, but rather are based in out of the way places and are usually supported solely by their club members.

The second major difference is most of the club tracks are 4 lane, and they race mainly 32nd scale cars. The cars are usually Eurosport cobalt powered cars with racing in three main classes, 32nd Eurosport as we know it here in the US, 32nd Eurosport type chassis with Saloon (sedan) bodies and C Can Group 12 motors, and 32nd scale Formula One Eurosport.

Years ago there was very little production car racing in the UK, but these days there is a lot of racing for 32nd production chassis like the Parma 32 International and Demon. Some of the clubs also run strong plastic track 32nd scale car racing programs, usually on their wooden routed tracks, but some clubs also have a plastic track layout.

This video is A typical club night at Ecurie Barnton Model Car Club, Edinburgh UK. BSCRA racing is often described as “extreme Scalextric”, what we racers know as Eurosport.

[google -7114712517546026636 Club Racing in the UK]

2007 Australian HO Championships

2007 Australian HO Championships.

Now here is something a little different.

The 2007 Australian HO Championships were held recently in New South Wales in Australia

They were held in Port McQuarrie, a resort like town many hours driving north of Sydney.

Just like with our 24th scale cars, top line HO cars are way too fast for the camera, so you will see a lot of blurs as the cars speed by.

[youtube 871S_32f6TA]