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Post by old23 on Sept 27, 2015 19:43:57 GMT -5
Concours D'EleganceThe VRAA Concours D'Elegance does not count for the VRAA Championship, but it is an important part of this proxy race because it recognizes fine model-making and celebrates the beauty of the historic Grand Prix cars that have inspired us to build and race 1/32 scale versions of them. I have to say that the level of build craftsmanship continues to rise and that there were several fine entries this year that deserved very careful consideration. However, as the sole, very subjective judge of this competition, I had to narrow it down to three medalists on the podium. Here are my choices with some illustrative detail pictures for your enjoyment. In third place, the Bronze Medal Winner... A very charismatic car and colour scheme with excellent paint and decal work. Nicely painted driver and cockpit detail considering the limited space available. Excellent suspension detail and with brake drums front and back. In second place, the Silver Medal Winner... In the striking turquoise and gold livery that the first Brabham F1 car wore in its debut race... ....this model also has extraordinary fine suspension detail... Check out these spring/shock units. And lastly, but far from least, the VRAA 2015 Concours D'Elegance Gold Medal Winner... David Mitcham's BRM wears a beautiful rendering of BRM racing blue-green. Graham Hill in the cockpit, complete with moustache... ...excellent suspension detail... ... custom made "stack-pipe" exhaust system... ...and even wiring detail on the V8 motor! I hope you enjoyed studying them as much as I did. Congratulations, gentlemen, on a job well done! Old23
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Post by David Mitcham on Sept 28, 2015 10:54:53 GMT -5
Hi Stewart
I'm delighted at the Concours results; many thanks. I feel very honoured to achieve the result in such a strong field of cars. Now I need to build cars that are not only good to look at but also perform well on the track!
The VRAA success more than compensates for the disaster which has befallen the Tecno in the GPdDFV 2015 at the Australian GP!
Best Regards
David
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Post by old23 on Oct 2, 2015 8:02:22 GMT -5
David,
Both your cars run well while looking great. I believe the only two factors holding them back are too-short gearing and an excess of weight. Nevertheless, they are a pleasure to drive.
Stewart
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Post by maxrossmassler on Oct 2, 2015 12:24:06 GMT -5
Hello Stewart & all - I have not seen any postings in the VRAA sub-forum on SCI, so I thought I would check over here. I know that Alan is beset by technical issues, but some posts are still getting thru. Maybe you know more....? In any case, I was just - y'know, looking for my pals online.
I'll keep checking both places. In the meantime, thanks once again for awarding me the silver in the VRAA 2015 Concours. David, your cars are beautiful! And I could go down the list, of course. Next year I hope to enter a 2.5-liter car as well as a half-tonner .
best
Max
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Post by old23 on Oct 2, 2015 14:00:01 GMT -5
Max, Your BT3 is a fine piece of work and fully deserves its Concours Silver Medal. I've been wondering if you have tiny elves in your employ to fabricate those suspension joints? As for your other observations, I too have noticed a definite decrease from previous years of chatter and page views in the VRAA section of SCI. Part of it may be that I have diluted the product somewhat by parallel posting VRAA happenings on this forum, the Auslot Forum and the Canada Slot Car Forum in addition to SCI. My intent was to reach out beyond SCI for new entrants, but the column here only attracted one new entrant (David) as did the Canadian forum (Fastwagon). The Australian VRAA contingent has been strong for a number of years and I wanted to acknowledge that by posting news and results on Auslot. There is a fair bit of chat from them in their forum in addition to SCI. Happily, I was able to attract a new entrant to the series from that effort as well. The sad thing is, for a proxy that started in the USA and has run most of its races there, the American entries have dwindled to only two -- yourself and the new-guy Aloha -- whereas there are eight cars each from Canada and Australia/New Zealand, and David's two from the UK. Perhaps excitement will build if one car doesn't walk away with the series? Cheers, Stewart
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Post by old23 on Oct 13, 2015 9:08:28 GMT -5
VRAA 2015 - Round 2 - Pebblestone
The cars have arrived at SoCal's Pebblestone Raceway. Gascarnut's plan is to run the race next weekend. Updates as they happen...
Old23
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Post by old23 on Oct 18, 2015 12:13:46 GMT -5
Here are the results of Round 2 at Pebblestone as posted by the race host, Gascarnut, on Slot Car Illustrated:
2.5 liter qualifying is done - Mill Conroy did the honors and did real well to get god times out of all the cars:
1st: Car14: 7.422 sec 2nd: Car 32: 7.501 3rd: Car 22: 7.689 4th: Car 26: 7.786 5th: Car 16: 7.838 6th: Car 69: 7.874 7th: Car 34: 7.929 8th: Car 20: 8.048 9th: Car 5: 8.180
2.5 liter class results
Car 14: 96.05 Car 32: 94.80 Car 22: 93.00 Car 26: 90.70 Car 20: 90.55 Car 16: 89.60 Car 69: 89.25 Car 34: 87.50 Car 5: 83.00
All cars ran well, no damage, no breakages, everyone had fun!
Car #22 gets the "Drivers' award" for most fun to drive, Car #14 was just too strong for the rest, very fast and predictable.
1.5 liter qualifying - Barney Poynor at the throttle:
Car 11: 7.015 Car 28: 7.062 Car 4: 7.185 Car 10: 7.377 Car 47: 7.432 Car 16: 7.651 Car 9: 7.656 Car 17: 7.764 Car 6: 7.837 Car 18: 7.896 Car 69: 8.185
1.5 liter race results:
Car 11: 98.90 laps Car 4: 97.50 Car 10: 97.15 Car 28: 96.90 Car 6: 96.80 Car 47: 95.05 Car 16: 94.20 Car 9: 92.15 Car 17: 91.35 Car 18: 88.70 Car 69: 84.35
Some very close finishes in the middle positions and some good fast times too, most were faster in the race than in qualifying.
I will post some photos and impressions of the cars tomorrow. My camera's battery needs a recharge!
Congrats to the winners and thanks to all the entrants for letting us play with your cars. The general standard of preparation and performance was excellent, much better than previous years.
Dennis
More to come.... Old23
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Post by old23 on Oct 18, 2015 14:28:29 GMT -5
OFFICIAL RESULTS & STANDINGS UPDATEFor the record, here are the Official Results of Race 1 at Mesa Roja: And here are the Official Championship Standings after Race 1, with all Penalties included in the Total Points column: Here are the Official Results of Race 2 at Pebblestone: In the GP1.5 Class, Chris's #11 Ferrari enjoyed a trifecta of pole position, fastest race lap and a dominating win of over a lap ahead of second place. The next four cars, however, raced close with less than a lap covering them, the #4 AMCC Lotus edging Phil's #10 Honda for the second step on the podium. Old23's #28 Lotus and Chas's #6 Cooper were close behind in 4th and 5th. After its win at Mesa Roja, Terry's #47 BRM completed the top six. In the GP2.5 Class, Old23's #14 Mercedes recovered from a disastrous first race to bring home a solid win (and fastest lap) ahead of Phil's #32 Maserati and Chris's #22 Lotus. Rossko's #26 Bugatti had another good race to finish 4th, just nipping Chas's #20 Vanwall in 5th. Dale's #16 Maserati finished an excellent 6th place in the first of the front-motored cars. Here are the updated Official Championship Standings after Round 2: In the GP1.5 Class, AMCC's Lotus clings to the Championship lead with a narrow two point gap over Chris's Ferrari. Nine points back, Terry's BRM heads a very tight battle for 3rd ahead of Phil's Honda and Old23's Lotus tied for 4th. Stubbo's Brabham holds 6th in the standings but is already twenty-four points behind the leader after two rounds. In the GP2.5 Class, Chris's Lotus has maintained a six point gap over second place, now held by Phil's Maserati with Old23's Mercedes and Rossko's Bugatti tied for 3rd ten points out of the lead. Chas's Vanwall holds down 5th position twenty points behind Chris's Lotus with Marek's Vanwall a further four points back in 6th. Old23
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Post by old23 on Oct 19, 2015 8:01:28 GMT -5
Here are race host Gascarnut/Dennis's post race comments copied from SCI:
From my point of view, again thanks to all those who entered cars in this event, it was great to host a big proxy race again.
We had just 6 drivers, but that was enough to run each car twice on each lane, so they all got very even treatment.
The drivers all did well, there is obviously a spread of ability and experiende on the track, but even those who don't race here often did a great job in laying down consistent laps with each car, and adapting quickly to their varying characteristics.
There was no damage suffered by any car, and only one caused a stoppage of a heat, the #69 Honda. It spun out one time and went right around as it was hit from behind. That pulled the wires out of the guide, so we stopped and replaced them before continuing. Unfotunately I put them in the wrong way round, so a second stoppage was needed to make sure the car ran in the correct direction! Fortunately, my track call button works well with almost no delay, so very little time was lost in that heat.
The #18 Brabham is going to suffer some gear issues later in this series I fear. The crown gear has a very strange tooth form that is chewing up the pinion rather quickly. The gears a really noisy, and while they did get quieter with the running, I doubt that the pinion will survive more than perhaps one more race. Stewart and Max, please let me know what you want done, the cars will be on their way to Montana tomorrow, but will not be raced until the Halloween weekend, when I will be there with Jim Hansen to help him run them, so I can perform any maintenance you may agree on.
In general, as Barney has said above, the cars were wonderful this year. The first thing that struck me was how many of them are at a real Concours standard now. The finish and detail on many were stupendous. Chris Walker's cars were gorgeous, so were Stewart's two and Max's Brabham #18 had the best suspension detail I think I have ever seen on a 1/32 F1 car. It was good to see so many scratchbuilt frames too, and even one machined from what looked like nylon.
The guys who tuned up the front-motor Maseratis did a good job, as they ran better than I would have expected. Stewart's Mercedes was also an eye-opener, just so well balanced and driveable on my track.
I must apologize for not having taken photos. With only 6 racers (3 driving, 3 turn marshalling), I had no time to devote to that. On top of which, my camera's battery died. I think I have one shot of Barney doing the 2.5 liter qualifying, which I will download tomorrow and post. Right now I am on an airplane again, headed to Chicago.
Dennis
Old23
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Post by old23 on Oct 25, 2015 16:42:03 GMT -5
I have now confirmed a venue to replace the cancelled VRAA round at Jay Hardy's Grand Loop. Entrant Max Rossmassler has offered his Son of Redhill Raceway. It is a pretty unique track and I'll let him describe it for you: It's routed wood, 4 lanes, 55 feet per lane, 3.5" lane spacing with about 40% of the track squeezed in a la AC2cars (middle 2 lanes 3.5", outer two are 1" on either side of the inner pair. There is also a pair of back to back hairpins where the lanes are all 1" apart. The lap record is in the low 6s but the VRAA cars will likely be in the low 7s.
It should make for interesting racing. Here are a couple of pictures and the track plan: We'll be racing here after the Montana GP, late in November as Round 4 in the VRAA 2015 Championship. Old23
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Post by old23 on Oct 25, 2015 16:46:12 GMT -5
VRAA 2015 - ROUND 3 - CIRCUIT DE MONTANA
Host Jim Hansen plans to run the race next weekend with guest Gascarnut/Dennis in attendance to lend a helping hand.
Old23
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Post by old23 on Nov 3, 2015 21:58:14 GMT -5
The race is run. Jim will post a race report and commentary soon, and he'll be sending me some photos to put up as he seems to be having troubles with his "rural" internet. In the meantime, here are the results: Clearly, all my proxy races ought to be in Montana! Old23
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Post by old23 on Nov 4, 2015 9:23:39 GMT -5
Here are the Driving Impressions supplied by Jim:
Driving impressions Well done to all who entered this year's VRAA. It was a pleasure to drive each car. Each year I'm amazed at the overall improvement throughout the entire field and this year's cars are some of the best that I've seen. The addition of the 2.5 liter cars has made the series even better. They were great fun to drive and were surprisingly quick. I can't wait until next year.
1.5 F1
11 Chrisguy Ferrari Very smooth, good acceleration, good grip. 9.432
28 Old 23 Lotus. Very smooth, great top speed, excellent grip 9.246
69 Ferrari1950 Honda. Very low grip, guide rubs and sticks on chassis 10.377
4 AMCC. Lotus. Just a bit low on grip. Good acceleration. Good brakes. 9.673
18. Max. Brabham. Great machined plastic chassis. Low grip. Gears are not the same pitch making for a very rough mesh. 10.167
16. Stubbo. Brabham. A bit low on grip. Very good balance and acceleration. Could use more brakes. 9.587
6. Charles. Cooper. Great handling car. Good acceleration. Needs just a bit more brakes. 9.408
17. David Mitcham. BRM beautiful car! Very smooth with good acceleration. Unfortunately hampered by low grip. 10.004
47. Newso. BRM. Good balance, just a bit slow at bottom end. Good brakes. 9.619
9. RIR. BRM handles well especially coming out of tight turns. Just a bit short of grip. 9.759
10. Phil Kalbfell Honda. Agile and very good top speed. Able to drive very deeply into corners. Lots of fun to drive 9.563
GP 2.5
22 chrisguy. Lotus. Excellent car...looks great and handles very well. 9.683
14. Old 23. Mercedes really fast and stable. Great acceleration 9.234
69. Ferrari1950. Vanwall. Good handling car. Good top speed just needs more grip. 9.794
26. Roska. Bugatti. Very smooth, easy to drive hard. Could use just a bit more grip. 9.543
20. Charles. Vanwall. Seems to lack a bit of top end speed. Very stable, 9.915
32 Phil Kalbfell. Maserati great handling car. Good grip. Could use just a bit more top speed. 9.663
16. Aloha. Maserati nice balance but geared far too short for this track. 10.250
5. Fastwagon. Maserati. Lacking in grip as well as top speed. 10.503
34 David Mitcham. Ferrari. Excellent handling car. Geared just a bit too short for the long straightaways of this track. 10.296
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Post by old23 on Nov 12, 2015 18:23:40 GMT -5
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Post by old23 on Nov 12, 2015 18:29:16 GMT -5
Here are the Official Results of Race 3 at Circuit de Montana: In GP1.5, three races three different winners. Old23's Lotus romped to its first victory of the season at the flowing Montana circuit. The Chas Cooper finished a fine 2nd, only half a lap back and claimed the fastest race lap. Chris's Ferrari trailed by less than a lap in 3rd. Three Australian entries crossed the line next in a near dead heat, the AMCC Lotus and Terry's BRM tied for 4th with Phil's Honda an eye blink behind in 6th. In GP2.5, Old23's Silver Arrow made it two in a row with a surprisingly comfortable win (and fastest lap) ahead of Rossko's Bugatti and Chris's Lotus in a tie for 2nd place. Phil's Maserati, and the Vanwalls of Marek and Chas spaced at one lap intervals completed the top six. Here are the updated Official Championship Standings after Race 3: In GP1.5, it's tight at the top! Chris's Ferrari and Old23's Lotus have edged ahead of the AMCC entry to sit atop the standings with 126 points apiece, only 2 ahead of the bright yellow Lotus of the Tasman Cup champions. The race one winning BRM from Terry has slipped to 4th ahead of Phil's Honda and Chas's Cooper, but all are only a couple of good results away from Championship contention. In GP2.5, while Chris's Lotus still clings to the Championship lead it has held since the season opener at Mesa Roja, the margin has been reduced to only 2 points. On the back of two recent wins, Old23's Merc has clawed its way up from a terrible 8th place at the Mesa to sit oh so close to the top of the charts. Rossko's Bug has roared past Phil's Maser for 3rd place, 10 points back. The Vanwall twins of Chas and Marek hold down 5th and 6th positions only 2 points apart. Old23
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