204 replies to this topic

[NDW]

Hey JP,

'Model car racing with hyperexpensive cars will be stopped as far as I am concerned personally.'

Does that mean you won't even pay attention to the model car races you're hosting next week? Just seems like that way from reading your last couple postings on your blog. In one of your last previews you didn't even wrote a word on the Giganten Party.. Must be really motivating for all the people that spend time and effort in preparing for these races.

Do you really think organising races with 'cheaper' cars will make people spend less money on a race? they'll simple build more cars in order to increase their winning chances.
Why wouldn't you just have both? Have your F1 circus as the 'cheap' race and the GT as the 'expensive' race.

In my OEPS series, which you call expensive, people are free from boundries that usually are in many other rule sets, the idea behind it is that everyone has the green light to really proove what they can do, and can use every resource they may have. Fun fact is that the team currently second in the championship rankings is using a mass produced Metris chassis.

Best regards,
Nick

[gascarnut]

the idea behind it is that everyone has the green light to really proove what they can do, and can use every resource they may have.

Except a soldering iron.......

[NDW]

Up from next year probably that too

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

Why wouldn't you just have both? Have your F1 circus as the 'cheap' race and the GT as the 'expensive' race.

Nick

Why should we still promote races with expensive cars? Try to organise such style of racing in the USA, you'll hardly find 10 racers willing to compete with such cars. On the other side now it's possible to buy a decent RTR 124F1 car, body included for less than 200 euro (280 dollars), that's more than enough for a modelm car, whilst at your races it's the price of a chassis. I think that we have to stop that style of model car races if we wish to guarantee model car racing a long life.
Just one reflection: of the 141 model car racers having won IOC points five years ago only 29 are still active. During 5 years there were 81 IOC-ranked newcomers in model car racing. What you can learn from it. It is that the model car business create no stable base for its practicioners. It just persists by newcomers, but not enough to replace all those who retired from active competition. Moreover model car racing outside Germany, the Benelux and Scandinavia (the wealthiest countries in Europe) is nearly non-existent. That too is no solid base to found any future.

Regards

JPVR

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

On King track or Flat track????

The 124F1 race needs a flat track. If we drop the necessity of grand stands there must be several locations where we can orginise it.
I think that adding a 124F1 race with models of the 24 F1 cars being raced in 2012 increases the chance to find a national wide TV coverage.

Today we raced during an hour or so in Barcelona. It was painful to see how hard bodied model cars having cost five times more than the used ratro cars were lapped every 6 laps by cars using technics being a half century old.
So I believe that Retro Canam Racing is the way to go. It's not expensive, it goes faster, and it's extremely funny. So not IMCA is te way to go. The way to go is IRRA.

JPVR

[MSwiss]

Funny or fun?

[Ron Hershman]

The 124F1 race needs a flat track. If we drop the necessity of grand stands there must be several locations where we can orginise it.
I think that adding a 124F1 race with models of the 24 F1 cars being raced in 2012 increases the chance to find a national wide TV coverage.

Today we raced during an hour or so in Barcelona. It was painful to see how hard bodied model cars having cost five times more than the used ratro cars were lapped every 6 laps by cars using technics being a half century old.
So I believe that Retro Canam Racing is the way to go. It's not expensive, it goes faster, and it's extremely funny. So not IMCA is te way to go. The way to go is IRRA.

JPVR

Ok and understood on the F1 cars being on a flat track. Maybe something could be taped and forward to the newtork covering the F1 race in Texas next year as well as your connections in Europe JP?

Maybe the model cars would go faster with PD motors in them? Probably not as fast as a better retro car with the same type of motor.

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

JP wants to promote the drivers of the cars... if this is done then there is promotion of slot racing. He wants everyone to know who the "racers" are in the real world.

I think if such guys like Howie Ursaner, Terry Schmid, John Cukras and Mike Steube should be interviewed prior to a short race coverage the American public will be certainly interested. It's no more grown up children playing with toy cars. Tell them that Howie, being still a kid, won a 7-litre Corvette, a F2 car, an Austin-Healey, just by racing slot cars and that he received a wage as factory driver and we are pretty close to realising the all-American dream. Tell them that Willy Heerwegh won in 1986 a 1/1 Ferrari 308 GTB just by driving slot cars and we enter a world the broad public wishes to discover. Let's find an automobile manufacturer offering a spectacular race car to the winner of the 2012 Retro Worlds and the same manufacturer will help to find TV coverage. It must be not so difficult as that. In 1988 at the IMCA Worlds in Chicago Zdenek Benes won also a Pontiac Fiero by racing slot cars. They gave it to us and arranged coverage on a local TV network. Nothing is impossible in a world where everything turns around dreams and publicity.

By the way: Is there already an organisation Committee?
And which are the raceways able to host the event?

JPVR

[Ramcatlarry]

Fur shur the LTD could be a blast....ran a 24 hr 1/32 slot it race on it in 2005. Adequate power and currently SRT timing for retro...new braid would restore the track to new value. I help John now and would be part of his facility staff.

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

Ok and understood on the F1 cars being on a flat track. Maybe something could be taped and forward to the newtork covering the F1 race in Texas next year as well as your connections in Europe JP?

Maybe the model cars would go faster with PD motors in them? Probably not as fast as a better retro car with the same type of motor.

I am sure that it must be possible that McLaren or Ferrari sent a "replica" F1 car to put in the income hall. There are so many ways to find publicity for such race. And does Ken McDowell has still his McLaren CANAM car? That too should be in the income hall.

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

Funny or fun?

What's the difference, Mike? Myknowledge English is not deep enough to understand the difference.

[Ron Hershman]

JP, Ken sold his Mc Laren Can Am car many years ago and Ken passed away in December of 2010.

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

To Ron Hershman

(1) I am actually at a hotel in Barcelona. Here i can receive mails but it's impossible to reply, except if you use the Slotblog mailbox
(2) I didn't receive your mails. Can you send them again?

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

JP, Ken sold his Mc Laren Can Am car many years ago and Ken passed away in December of 2010.

Sorry to hear so.
Who has a 1/1 oldtimer Canam we can contact in the US?

[Larry Mattingly]

I think if such guys like Howie Ursaner, Terry Schmid, John Cukras and Mike Steube should be interviewed prior to a short race coverage the American public will be certainly interested. It's no more grown up children playing with toy cars. Tell them that Howie, being still a kid, won a 7-litre Corvette, a F2 car, an Austin-Healey, just by racing slot cars and that he received a wage as factory driver and we are pretty close to realising the all-American dream. Tell them that Willy Heerwegh won in 1986 a 1/1 Ferrari 308 GTB just by driving slot cars and we enter a world the broad public wishes to discover. Let's find an automobile manufacturer offering a spectacular race car to the winner of the 2012 Retro Worlds and the same manufacturer will help to find TV coverage. It must be not so difficult as that. In 1988 at the IMCA Worlds in Chicago Zdenek Benes won also a Pontiac Fiero by racing slot cars. They gave it to us and arranged coverage on a local TV network. Nothing is impossible in a world where everything turns around dreams and publicity.

By the way: Is there already an organisation Committee?
And which are the raceways able to host the event?

JPVR

Hi JP

Ron Hershman, Noose and myself have formed a steering committee to fact find and begin to put a plan together. We will add two more members at a later date.

We are exploring the pluses and minuses of all three raceways in the greater Chicago area.

One in particular looks very promising in meeting the needs for this race.

Ron has sent you several detailed e-mails today with a report on our preliminary findings...

Good luck with the race in Spain.

LM

[Ron Hershman]

To Ron Hershman

(1) I am actually at a hotel in Barcelona. Here i can receive mails but it's impossible to reply, except if you use the Slotblog mailbox
(2) I didn't receive your mails. Can you send them again?

All have been resent here and to your e-mail address

[Ron Hershman]

Sorry to hear so.
Who has a 1/1 oldtimer Canam we can contact in the US?

I think MG Brown or John Austin may be of some help in this matter

[Larry Mattingly]

Sorry to hear so.
Who has a 1/1 oldtimer Canam we can contact in the US?

We can work on gathering a few vintage Can-Am cars...

LM

[JohnnySlotcar]

Bob McKee is 10 minutes from the fieldhouse and always has a garage full of vintage can-am cars.Pdl is a friend of his,

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

The main article on today's IMCA web gives much more details how we should run the whole project.
If you see ways to improve the global proposal, let's know here.
And when PdL will give his view? I think that is very important, yes.

JPVR

[redbackspyder]

JP, My good friend, Joe DiLoreto , has Caroll Shelby's McLaren Mk6 Can Am car driven by Peter Revson, the only Shelby powered Can Am car to run. The car Vintage Races all the time here in HSR WEST and VARA . If you needed a Can Am car, and he also has the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 t12 that won the World Championship in 1975.

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

That's quite interesting.
I hope that the provisional Organisation Committe will note your proposal, Mill.

JPVR

[NDW]

JP,

I think one thing you might wanna improve or get under controle, is the execution of a race itself. Look at your article, again, wrong tyres, racers having to vote.. you having to worry about lanestickers??? and in your rules it clearly states 25,5 x 16mm tyres for the Canam G7 cars, not 25,5 x 13mm as you have written now. How can you keep messing up the tyres year after year?? Everytime you haven't got enough, the wrong ones, 2 different batches and what not. And you want a mess like that on tv??

That is a large reason of why you're seeing more and more racers vacate your events, cause it's impossible to properly prepare for your races. Everything gets changed overnight at only your will and racers just have to suck it up. That only works a few times.

You call your race a World Championship. Wouldn't you agree that if someone really really wants to win a World Championship, he'll spend whatever they can afford regardless of the costprice of a single car? Either that is 1 expensive car of 3 cheaper ones.

(Nothing against Retro though)

With regards
Nick

[Jean Pierre van Rossem]

JP,

I think one thing you might wanna improve or get under controle, is the execution of a race itself. Look at your article, again, wrong tyres, racers having to vote.. you having to worry about lanestickers??? and in your rules it clearly states 25,5 x 16mm tyres for the Canam G7 cars, not 25,5 x 13mm as you have written now. How can you keep messing up the tyres year after year?? Everytime you haven't got enough, the wrong ones, 2 different batches and what not. And you want a mess like that on tv??

That is a large reason of why you're seeing more and more racers vacate your events, cause it's impossible to properly prepare for your races. Everything gets changed overnight at only your will and racers just have to suck it up. That only works a few times.

You call your race a World Championship. Wouldn't you agree that if someone really really wants to win a World Championship, he'll spend whatever they can afford regardless of the costprice of a single car? Either that is 1 expensive car of 3 cheaper ones.

(Nothing against Retro though)

With regards
Nick

But continue your little commerce if you want. Up from 2012 we'll race cars having cost less than 250 euro but needing a high driver's skill as the Niemas 124F1 cars and sharply motorised retro cars.
And yes the lane stickers are there, the 13 x 25.5 mm tyres come tomorrow together with the motors, the 16 x 25.5 mm tyres and 16 x 27.5mm tyres will NOT be used. So nothing changed overnight. Nothing at all!!!
Messing up after a year? I, I was wroting a historical book on Belgian uranium (1916-2011) of more than 600 pp. Do you think I had time to think on slot-racing?
It should be great to see you doing your thing without intervening in what I do. Let me do what I plan: it's the right way without the smallest commercial interests. How a rules maker can be at the same moment a commercial character as in your races??? Is this sport or is this commerce?

[Hipsticker]

now you two forigners stop bickering ...thats what us Americans do....lole