So let’s talk about what makes a good slot car driver. Lots of people have different opinions and they will tell you what the best way to be fast is. Now everyone wants to be fast, its human nature. When you go around the track and you do a quick lap it feels good and you want to go even faster. This sometimes leads to you going off. In terms of racing is pretty bad, so you need to find the balance between speed and consistency. If you can do a lap record lap but then come off it counts for nothing unless all you’re interested in is lap records. If that is the case then you’re alright and you can stop reading this post. However if you are interested in winning races and championships then you might want to carry on reading. So how do you find the balance? From what I have learnt, you have to drive within your limits. You might say that within your limits might be too slow to compete. Well I’ll give you an example, one night during an S32 race which is extremely close racing. Three drivers were doing 6.8 second lap times but came off often, I was one of them, one driver was doing 7.3 second lap times consistently and did not come off, not even once. Now you would say that the three drivers doing the quick lap times would win, well we didn’t. The driver doing 7.3 ended up winning the race overall. This was purely because he drove within himself and didn’t push the limits. Now you could say that he was way off the pace and got lucky. You might be right because if any of the three drivers doing 6.8 had just stayed on they would have won. If you are able to fast laps consistently without coming off you will be unbeatable. Just remember there will always be someone faster than you. So you need to make sure that you do not come off as well as doing fast laps. I won’t tell you how to do this because every driver is different and what works for me might not work for you. So go practice as much as you can and find what works for you and do it over and over.
There are more aspects to becoming a successful driver than just being consistently fast. In a race you generally are driving with other drivers. In our case 3 other drivers, in some cases 7 other drivers. It can become quite intense, especially when the racing in close. Generally I’ve found most of the top drivers don’t yield for anyone. This is something you have to navigate if you want to compete at the top. If you are faster than someone, the chances are they aren’t just going to let you through. So either you wait for a straight to pass them or you can be very dirty and wait till you’re on the inside and go hard into the corner. The rear of your car will slide out and clip them off. This is very dirty and not nice at all; use this as very last resort. You can try pass on the inside without taking the other driver off if he won’t give you a gap. You can do this by braking a tiny bit later and shooting past going into the corner and accelerating quicker out of the corner. Never under any circumstance try to overtake on the outside, drivers with experience will clip you off before you even know what’s happening.
Apart from overtaking it is very important to avoid accidents. If you get involved in an accident with another driver, your chances of being put back on quickly by the marshal become less. Your car can also become damaged in the process. So if you see an accident slow down, it will help you in the long run. If you are not racing someone for position, give them a gap, remember you are racing yourself, seeing how many laps you can do.
These are just a few things that might or might not help you to become a better driver.
Monday, 10 November 2014
Friday, 7 November 2014
Best Advice
So I’m going to be talking about advice now. I know it seems like a bit ironic but I want to explain what has worked for me and what has not. If you are new to the weird and wonderful world of slot cars you will probably not know much about anything. So where do you get information? Well you can search the internet for information and let me tell you that you will have a hard time. Information is very hard to come by, there are a few gems that will help you immensely but as a newby you will not really know what to look for.
So my advice would be to speak to the top guys in your club. I know I refer to the “top guys” often but they really are a fountain of knowledge. They have been riding for the longest and generally have the most knowledge. You must constantly be talking to them and asking questions but more than anything listen. Some of the top drivers will not easily part with their knowledge but some will, especially if you are new. Most times when a driver is doing well they like to talk about how well they’re doing and what they have done to their car. This is your opportunity to listen and soak up as much knowledge as you can.
It never hurts to inflate their ego by telling them how well their car is going or how fast it is, be creative, this could help you in getting them to part with tips and tricks. When it comes to setting up of cars and working on them it is so easy to just hand your car to the resident mechanic and ask them to do it. This is pointless as you learn nothing. Rather ask him/her if you can bring your car and they show you how to do whatever needs to be done. This will also gain the respect of said mechanic and can also lead to them imparting more knowledge.
You have to keep learning and remembering what you have learnt. Write things down if it will make things easier. Never stop listening and learning and asking questions, no question is a dumb question. The most important thing is to take what you learn and interpret it into a way that makes sense.
For example if someone tells you that you must do x,y,z, you take that and go do some research, ask other people and make up your own mind. For example if the majority of the drivers in your club are running 8/42 gears but you prefer 7/42. Don’t change because everyone else is, do what works for you. That is the most important thing to remember. If it works for someone else, doesn’t mean it will work for you.
The best way to learn is to do. Try things yourself, once a ‘pro’ has shown you how to do something. Go back and try it for yourself. Try soldering a motor in, try setting up a car. The only way is to try it, if you mess it up I’m sure that someone will help you fix it and show you where you went wrong. Experiment with the knowledge you have picked up and you never know, maybe soon you will be one of the “top guys”
So my advice would be to speak to the top guys in your club. I know I refer to the “top guys” often but they really are a fountain of knowledge. They have been riding for the longest and generally have the most knowledge. You must constantly be talking to them and asking questions but more than anything listen. Some of the top drivers will not easily part with their knowledge but some will, especially if you are new. Most times when a driver is doing well they like to talk about how well they’re doing and what they have done to their car. This is your opportunity to listen and soak up as much knowledge as you can.
It never hurts to inflate their ego by telling them how well their car is going or how fast it is, be creative, this could help you in getting them to part with tips and tricks. When it comes to setting up of cars and working on them it is so easy to just hand your car to the resident mechanic and ask them to do it. This is pointless as you learn nothing. Rather ask him/her if you can bring your car and they show you how to do whatever needs to be done. This will also gain the respect of said mechanic and can also lead to them imparting more knowledge.
You have to keep learning and remembering what you have learnt. Write things down if it will make things easier. Never stop listening and learning and asking questions, no question is a dumb question. The most important thing is to take what you learn and interpret it into a way that makes sense.
For example if someone tells you that you must do x,y,z, you take that and go do some research, ask other people and make up your own mind. For example if the majority of the drivers in your club are running 8/42 gears but you prefer 7/42. Don’t change because everyone else is, do what works for you. That is the most important thing to remember. If it works for someone else, doesn’t mean it will work for you.
The best way to learn is to do. Try things yourself, once a ‘pro’ has shown you how to do something. Go back and try it for yourself. Try soldering a motor in, try setting up a car. The only way is to try it, if you mess it up I’m sure that someone will help you fix it and show you where you went wrong. Experiment with the knowledge you have picked up and you never know, maybe soon you will be one of the “top guys”
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
My slot journey so far
So let me tell you about my slot car journey. My dad and my uncle started last year around May, I went with to watch every week but didn’t ride, just watched and marshaled most of the time but I was always watching and learning. The first time that I raced properly was in PE in an endurance race which our team came 3rd out of 6 teams. After that we started to race more and more slowly building up cars and parts and tools. This was our first full season of racing and I must say that we have come a long way since last year. I am leading most of the classes in class B and am lying 4th overall with my dad lying not too far behind. We have had our ups and downs but we kept going and trying to do better. This has been a successful season I would say and next year I’m sure we will do even better.
I have learnt a few things this year and last. If your car is going well don’t change anything, if your car is going average, don’t wait to change it or you will end up being behind in the championship. When changing things on your car don’t change too many things at once or you will end up not knowing what was wrong in the first place. Always inspect your car before racing to see if anything might be wrong. For example I had a car that was lightning quick and it handled really well until one day it didn’t handle. At first I left it and thought it was my driving. The problem persisted until I inspected the car, made a few modifications and still the same problem. Later I discovered that the guide was broken. Now I check absolutely everything just in case. Another thing I learned was to always learn from everything, good and bad. The broken guide for example, I will now always check the guide just in case. With regards to your car going well and not changing it, really stick to that. When you are going well you always feel that you can do better and start fiddling with your car, most times you end up making it worse. I learnt this the hard way a few times but trust me I have learnt my lesson.
With regards to racing I have learnt the most. Tips and tricks from the top guys in the club have really helped me to improve as a driver. I still have a lot to learn but I have come a long way. One of the most important things to remember is that you are riding your own race. Try not to get involved with other drivers, even though they might be in the same race as you. Don’t get involved in accidents, if a driver is faster than you, let them go and if you are faster wait for a gap and go past. Crashing will cost you time and could damage your car. Consistency is key to being successful, you can be the fastest driver in the club but if you come off every second lap you’re not going to get anywhere. Now I’m not saying being slow and not coming off will win you races. You have to find the balance between being fast and staying on.
The most important thing that I have learnt is you have to always be looking and listening to the top guys in your club. Every little thing could be important some day and you need to keep on learning all the time to develop both your cars and your driving ability.
I have learnt a few things this year and last. If your car is going well don’t change anything, if your car is going average, don’t wait to change it or you will end up being behind in the championship. When changing things on your car don’t change too many things at once or you will end up not knowing what was wrong in the first place. Always inspect your car before racing to see if anything might be wrong. For example I had a car that was lightning quick and it handled really well until one day it didn’t handle. At first I left it and thought it was my driving. The problem persisted until I inspected the car, made a few modifications and still the same problem. Later I discovered that the guide was broken. Now I check absolutely everything just in case. Another thing I learned was to always learn from everything, good and bad. The broken guide for example, I will now always check the guide just in case. With regards to your car going well and not changing it, really stick to that. When you are going well you always feel that you can do better and start fiddling with your car, most times you end up making it worse. I learnt this the hard way a few times but trust me I have learnt my lesson.
With regards to racing I have learnt the most. Tips and tricks from the top guys in the club have really helped me to improve as a driver. I still have a lot to learn but I have come a long way. One of the most important things to remember is that you are riding your own race. Try not to get involved with other drivers, even though they might be in the same race as you. Don’t get involved in accidents, if a driver is faster than you, let them go and if you are faster wait for a gap and go past. Crashing will cost you time and could damage your car. Consistency is key to being successful, you can be the fastest driver in the club but if you come off every second lap you’re not going to get anywhere. Now I’m not saying being slow and not coming off will win you races. You have to find the balance between being fast and staying on.
The most important thing that I have learnt is you have to always be looking and listening to the top guys in your club. Every little thing could be important some day and you need to keep on learning all the time to develop both your cars and your driving ability.
Monday, 3 November 2014
Slot Car Racing - Intro
I have searched the web for slot car news and tricks and have found quite a lot when you look hard enough. I have struggled to find certain things pertaining to our specific classes of racing. So I have decided to start my own blog telling about what we race and setting up of cars etc. So let me begin, we are called the East London Slot Car Club in East London, South Africa. We are one of the oldest clubs in the country as well as the biggest club, in terms of members, in the country. The sport of Slot Cars has not been that popular in the country for a while. This is due to a lot of factors, cost, time but the biggest cause in my opinion is people. People can be real assholes at times and the politics in clubs have seen many members stop because of this. Our club is probably the best although not perfect.
We race on a 4 lane super wood track that is about 30 odd meters of track length with an 18 meter straight (very fast). The track is a favorite of many of the top drivers around the country due to the speed of the track. We race every Thursday evening and have an average of about 11 guys racing, sometimes more occasionally less.
We race a total of 6 classes throughout the year: 1/32 production, 1/32 sport, S32, Historic, 1/24 production and GT12. The current lap record in the GT12 class is 4.7 seconds. (I will look at all the classes in detail later on, this is just an introduction). We alternate racing, 3 classes one week and the other 3 the next week. This gives you the chance to ride all the classes and enough time to work on the cars that are not being raced that week.
The racing is quite close and sometimes drivers end on the same lap separated by segments. For those that don’t know: drivers all race and at the end the driver with the most laps wins that class and so on. For drivers that end on the same lap the track is divided up into 100 equal segments and that determines who wins.
The most important thing in this sport is consistency IE. Not going off (car coming out of the slot). When you go off you lose time and momentum and sometimes the marshal struggles to get your car back on. The top drivers have the balance of speed and handling with which they are able to do fast laps consistently.
So that is just a taste of what the sport is all about. I will be going into detail about each class, the track, setting up of cars and tips on going fast.
We race on a 4 lane super wood track that is about 30 odd meters of track length with an 18 meter straight (very fast). The track is a favorite of many of the top drivers around the country due to the speed of the track. We race every Thursday evening and have an average of about 11 guys racing, sometimes more occasionally less.
We race a total of 6 classes throughout the year: 1/32 production, 1/32 sport, S32, Historic, 1/24 production and GT12. The current lap record in the GT12 class is 4.7 seconds. (I will look at all the classes in detail later on, this is just an introduction). We alternate racing, 3 classes one week and the other 3 the next week. This gives you the chance to ride all the classes and enough time to work on the cars that are not being raced that week.
The racing is quite close and sometimes drivers end on the same lap separated by segments. For those that don’t know: drivers all race and at the end the driver with the most laps wins that class and so on. For drivers that end on the same lap the track is divided up into 100 equal segments and that determines who wins.
The most important thing in this sport is consistency IE. Not going off (car coming out of the slot). When you go off you lose time and momentum and sometimes the marshal struggles to get your car back on. The top drivers have the balance of speed and handling with which they are able to do fast laps consistently.
So that is just a taste of what the sport is all about. I will be going into detail about each class, the track, setting up of cars and tips on going fast.
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