Thrills, spills, and race repairs were the order of the day for the opening race of the Austin Slot Car Club’s Mille Miglia Series. In true early post-WWII road rally racing fashion, the cars were not only a challenge to drive effectively but they were also a challenge to keep running for some drivers!
As the laps counted down many drivers saw spectacular crashes down the back straight, as well as subtle deslots in the Esses and turns 7 and 8. Marshalls had to be on their toes to reslot the cars in a timely fashion, especially early in the race, as drivers got used to driving under race conditions.
Brian’s Aston Martin was the twitchiest car on the track Saturday, desloting reliably (and subltly) in turns 7 and 8, and spending as much time on two wheels in the Esses as it did on 4 wheels over the rest of the course. It was lighting-fast down the front straight, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the diablolical handling in the turns. In dark Mille Miglia fashion, his navigator was ejected from the car early in the race during a rather violent barrel roll down the back straight, and spent the remainder of the race in the the medical tent under nurse’s care. (The navigator and nurse were seen later that evening enjoying each other’s company over cocktails in a local establishment, so he is expected to return in full health for the next race.)
Once he settled in, Jim’s Ferrari 166 MM proved to be a quick car around the track, with only a couple of barrel rolls down the back straight early in the race. A minor “transmission” issue forced repairs under green, however, which pushed Jim down the leader board mid-race.
Ary’s Lancia, a veritable tank in weight and construction, ruled the day, as it reliably turned the 201 laps with minimal fuss, and only a few deslots early in the race. Several near-de-slots made it an exciting drive, the extra weight saving the car when it otherwise seemed destined for the turf.
Roy’s Jaguar proved to be a quick but very loose car (beware those in the adjacent outside lane on turns!), but in the end it fell far behind the field due to “transmission” issues. A recurring alignment problem between pinion and crown proved that brass is stronger than plastic, as evidenced by the two crown gears that were reduced to plastic shavings in short order, during the first two heats of the race.
At the end of the first race Ary leads the field with a total time on track of 991.797 seconds. Follwing 85.915 seconds behind is Brian, with a total time on track of 1,077.712 seconds. Jim trails the leader by 154.381 seconds with 1,146.178 seconds on the course. Roy was not able to to complete all three heats due to mechanical issues. However, if his average lap time is applied to laps not run he would be trailing the leader by 473.226 seconds. (Admittedly, an academic exercise in estimating time that will be replaced by actual lap times as the series progresses.)
A footnote on timing and scoring: Drivers must complete 1005 laps throughout the series, run at 67 lap heat intervals over 6 available races (18 available heats). Drivers who complete more than 15 heats will be allowed to drop their 3 poorest heats. (One from each lane.) Their total time will be calculated from the selected 15 heats. There are no points awarded in this series.
Nice write up of the race. I am still digging green gear shavings from the chassis.