Some notes and comments for the entrants to the 1st 1/43 Little Monte Carlo Rally proxy which will take place on 22nd September 2018.
I was unable to find enough good photos showing the different sections of the track, but I have found this rather shaky video that I made a while back. It is not an easy track to drive and video at the same time, so please forgive the sometimes erratic movement of the car in places, but it does give a reasonable idea of the layout.
You will see that the car is a FIAT 500 and it is on a Micro Scalextric HO chassis fitted with swivel guide and urethane rear tyres. It laps well but, with such a short wheelbase , it does try to spin easily.
,My biggest car is a 63 Ford Falcon, which can lap quite quickly, but does make contact with the scenery in many places!
Pin guide or swivel guide?
On the steep climbing sections, a pin guide works as well, and sometimes better than a swivel guide. On one or two of the tight downhill turns, cars with a pin guide can be easier to spin out, but not always. My test cars have included Carrera GO and Artin cars with slightly thinned pin guides, and they often did well Overall I consider cars fitted with swivel guides to have a very slight advantage but, on a 2015 stage of a Carrera GO rally proxy on this track, the winner had a pin guide and the second placed car had a swivel guide!
Guide placement
Due to the tightnesss of the turns, a guide mounted near to the front axle, either behind or in front, makes the car easier to rotate around the turns. Having said that, I have plenty of cars with more forward located guides that get round just fine.
What doesnt work?
The cars that I have had the least success with are cars with:
Too long a wheelbase and very little overhang. Citroen DS 19s and 21s from the 50s and 60s come to mind. These are very hard to slide around the very tight turns.
Too little ground clearance. Cars do not need unusually high ground clearance, any standard car works ok, but a low and long chassis may bottom out in places.
Wheels sticking out of wheel arches, especially the rears. Any contact with the scenery, especially on the exit of tight turns, by a rotating tyre, will result in the car jumping the slot. So keep them within the bodywork please.
Cars carrying too much ballast.The rear of the car needs to be able to slide around the tight turns, too much ballast can stop this happening and prevent the car from completing a lap.
To sum up.
The easiest cars to drive tend to be medium sized with urethane rear tyres and a little added weight on the top of the chassis, behind the guide and either side of the motor.
This does not mean that you should not enter small cars or large cars, Mercedes 220 SE for instance, but experience so far does seeem to favour the middle range. But who knows what will happen on the day/s? Send what you want to and lets have some fun!
Just one extra note, please dont send you prescious shelf queens, this is a rally!
I have probably missed out some points, so please feel free to ask or comment!
Good luck to you all.
Regards, Lloyd.
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