Audi qualifies with record time at Mosport

Photo copyright 2007 Van LaPointe
Dindo Capello beat the computer. The Italian sports car ace defied Audi's computer simulation Saturday and put Audi Sport North America's No. 1 Audi R10 TDI on the overall pole for Sunday's Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport.

Capello posted the fastest lap in Mosport's 46-year history, a sparkling time of 1:05.829 for his fourth LMP1 pole position of the season and first overall pole since the 2001 season. He edged out Penske Motorsports' Romain Dumas by 0.09 seconds in the No. 7 Porsche RS Spyder, the LMP2 pole-winner. Frank Biela was the former record-holder with a lap of 1:07.169.

"I was surprised how good the grip was in the first two runs," Capello said. "I didn't push so much these practices because I never got to try new tires. And during the first run I found the grip was very good. I made a good decision to come in and ask the engineers if I could swap the rear tires because I was having trouble in the really slow corners. Then when I went back out I tried hard and found I could push hard so I ran like hell and got a great lap."

Capello and Allan McNish will try to score their second Mosport win in a row and third of their careers. Capello will be going for his fourth career victory in Canada.
Photo copyright 2007 Van LaPointe
Jaime Melo captured his fourth GT2 pole of the season and seventh over the course of the past two seasons with a record-breaking run in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT. Melo and Mika Salo are the class championship leaders with five victories this season and are making their first appearance at Mosport.

"I didn't expect to be as quick because we had some problems in the first practice," Melo said. "We had some oversteer, rear instability in the corners, and couldn't seem to fix it. We have a very good car for qualifying but it may not be the best car for the race. We don't have so much downforce and it becomes difficult to get the right line."

Melo's lap set a GT2 record at Mosport but as at every other Series venue, the GT2 cars will have to concentrate on faster GT1 cars and prototypes going past while

"The traffic will be difficult because of the speed of the prototypes," Salo said. "There's obviously the speed difference at all tracks, but here they will have much more down force so they'll be able to better carry their speed through the corners which we can't."

Last year's race saw Risi finish 1-2 for the first time in the Series, and the qualifying session hinted that it could happen again. Gianmaria Bruni was second at 1:18.339, a little less than a half second behind the sister car.

Ferraris held the top three positions as it looks to strengthen its hold on the class manufacturer championship. Dirk Muller was third at 1:18.432 for Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing, 0.62 seconds ahead of Tafel Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the Mobil 1 presents Grand Prix of Mosport from Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 26 and will be broadcast live on SPEED. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.

News used with permission from the American LeMans Series, photos courtesy of slot brother Van LaPointe.

PorscheAudiMosportLeMans

Massa takes pole for Turkish GP

Carrera Z4 BMW poster

Not really news but a nice poster from Carrera. I'm working on a review on these cars too that may be done soon.

DaveK

Ninco Schlesser photo

From David at Raid Slot World...a photo of the new Ninco Schlesser.

Hamilton fastest in Turkish GP practice

Vitantonio Liuzzi and TV screen with Lewis Hamilton GEPA pictures/Franz Pammer

F1formula oneauto racing

Exoto diecast news-a sale!

AutoArt Porsche Carrera GT-review

A link to the latest review, the AutoArt Porsche Carrera GT.

Long Beach GP set-HO review

MikeG has done a review of the new AFX Champ Car HO set....check it out at this link.

AUTOArt Porsche Carrera GT-review

It's bright red, it's low, and guess what...it's a great model! But there is more to say about the new AUTOArt Carrera GT. Each new model Aa has released has seen changes, this release is no exception.
First some of the body details worth noting. Deep, rich red paint that's flawless. Nicely done tail lights and rear body valence (the valence is a separate piece I found out when I took the car apart).
The question came up on a message board if this car has ever been raced, I asked Porsche Motorsport USA, and the answer was a definate "NO". Porsche has used various parts on this car in competition but this car itself hasn't seen track time in a race...according to Porsche.
The signature feature of the real Carrera GT is the vents over the engine. Aa has given slotters an excellent model here, a very crisply printed vent over the model of the motor.
The motor on this car is an unmarked Mabuchi S-can motor (like they usually use but without any of the identifying stripes that most motors carry). There are only 3 noise suppressors on this car. I note this because every recent release has had at least 5 (yes 5!) suppressors in place. Inside we also see (though maybe not shown in the photo) that 3 of the clips that hold the axles/bearings down are missing. It's not a problem since the clips are what I would consider not essential to the operation of the car, but it's noteworthy because they're missing on only 3 of the wheels.
So the wheels...wow! I love the detail that Aa has done with these models. Every car they've done has had what I consider to be industry leading detail on the wheels. The brakes are also "cross drilled" with holes and the discs themselves are painted and really add depth to the slot car that's not seen in other companies.
Under the car we see that Aa has used the wireless system to get the power to the track. I'm frankly not a huge fan of this design. The tabs put pressure on the guide (which has a rather stiff self-centering spring on this car BTW) and that pressure is a bit strong and can be uneven if they get bent a bit. Also on this car are the older style guides that don't have the eyelets that all recent Aa releases have had. I'm not sure why this car has the older type of guide design, but let's hope that Aa will continue with the newer guide with the eyelets in the future. The newer design means good, constant contact between the guide and motor... a good thing IMO.

On the track:
Well there was a bit more gear noise than I would have liked on this car. But after a number of laps I put a different Aa car on the track to test for noise and they sounded pretty much the same. It seems the Porsche Cup Car that I recently reviewed was an exceptionally quiet car. I tried a number of laps with the Cup Car to compare and sure enough, it's very quiet. So by comparison the Carrera GT is still much quieter than most cars...especially (cough)Ninco(cough)Fly(cough).

I did 100 laps with the blazing red Carrera GT and got a hard-fought fastest lap of 2.7 seconds. A few ticks slower than the Cup Car, but faster than most cars on my track. The brakes were slightly different on this car, I'm not sure what the deal is with Aa's motors anymore because of the lack of any stripe or other identifying marks on this motor. That's not to say it's a bad motor by any means it's just confusing what with each release you see a different motor inside and no specs given for it's RPM rating on the packaging.

The performance of the car was about what you'd expect for these recent releases. It's still a fairly light-braking car, but that's ok with me for magnet racing. It's pretty easy to get the tail out on the car around the corners but it's pretty predictable and you feel like you can push the car pretty far.
I must say exotics as the subject of slot cars is growing on me a bit...but just a bit. As a collector piece Aa cars car stand with the best diecasts. As slot cars they're solid performers, this car is no exception to that. The Porsche Carrera GT from AUTOArt is a good slot car that a Porsche collector should look into getting.

DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News

Turkish GP-video preview

Turkish GP schedule

New Scalextric Aussie-only Mustang

If you'd like to get this car order it from Armchair Racer in Australia.

A shameless bit of self promotion, a poster!

I've added many items to the SCNews Gear Store, including this poster. The poster, many, many t-shirts, and other things are on the store for sale...check it out.

DaveK

Scalex Rover-newsletter

Thanks to Scalex for the photos!

200k

Slot Car News just reached 200,000 (and 803 posts BTW) hits within the last few hours...thanks to everyone that stops by from time to time to read. And a special thanks to the guys that help out with the blog and the .net site. We're trying to make Slot Car News a place to get the latest news and solid, useful reviews. It's lots of work for everyone, but it's worth it.

In just over a year SCNews has grown to nearly 30,000 hits month now, and many days a thousand hits a day.

Dave Kennedy
Publisher, Slot Car News

Diecast review-Schuco

A review of some Schuco diecasts written by Frank can be found at this link.

New BWA motor-Best Motor Available?

Al Penrose (Owner of BWA Slot Cars) has had a motor made. A new NC1 speed motor that's an FF-can.

From the thread on Home Racing World written by Al:

"For those that don't know, the FF050 is the newer slimline smaller can motors as used in the newer range of Scalextric Classic F1 and GP cars. The FF030 is basicaly the same size/shape, but, shorter, commonly reffered to as the Beardog Mini motor(although, I was the first person to use one of these rather small motors in a slot car, around 1998, and, told Chris about them a year later.)

Both motors have the 1.5mm shaft, and, both fit my Mini Motorbracket chassis.

Here's a shot of the test mule chassis.

Delivery should be 4-6 weeks. Price should be around $4.00. Shipping from far away country for my order is going to contribute a substantial amount of that price."


To pre-order this motor contact Al at: bwapenrose@hotmail.com

Slot Car News gear store is open!

Want an official (or is it officious?) The Slot Car News t-shirt? Sticker? BEER STEIN? Now you can get it! At the Slot Car News Gear Store. Click on the button in the sidebar to get your gear now.

Resilient Resins-McLaren 1B

A new 1/32 McLaren 1B body from Resilient Resins to show today.

1/32 diecast hydralic lift? Yes please!

JLG Announces Release of Toucan Mast Boom Lift Die-Cast Model for 2007

Toucan Model 1210 / E33MJ Is Latest JLG Replica to Hit the Market This Fall


McConnellsburg, Pa., -- JLG Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK], announced the release of its Toucan Model 1210 (E33MJ in U.S.) 1:32-scale die cast model replica. Having recently announced the release of two versions of its ATLAS II Telehandlers as die-cast models, JLG will manufacture and release the high-quality, rugged die-cast design of their innovative mast boom this fall.

Featuring JLG’s unique “Lift & Lock” technology, the mast and jib on the 1:32-scale die-cast version of the Toucan will allow multiple-height positioning of the work platform to heights over thirteen-inches (13”) tall. Highlighting the realism and functionality of the full-size mast boom lift, the design of this die-cast replica is enhanced with multi-directional front moving wheels, as well as, a three-hundred sixty-degree (3600) rotating turret utilized for maximum flexibility and unmatched positioning capabilities.

The replicas of the Toucan feature over 20 fully-functioning parts that allow them to: roll forward and backward; lift and extend the boom arm; and also rotate or move the grey, non-marking rubber wheels into various steering modes. Delivered in high-quality retail packaging, the Toucan Series mast boom exhibits outstanding baked enamel paint in JLG’s corporate orange and crème color scheme with authentic product decals to complete an impressive die-cast model replica.

According to JLG’s Director of Marketing and Market Development, David Baxter, “The accurate scale and true functionality of these Toucan Series die-cast replicas demonstrates our ‘attention-to-detail’ built into in every product we make. We are excited to provide another great addition to our scale model collection for this year.”

As a narrow-aisle machine, the Toucan Series mast booms are small enough to drive through congested factories yet deliver the strength and power to work up and over heavy machinery on job sites. Popular in Europe, the JLG Toucan Series is true cross-over machine offering the maneuverability of a scissor lift with the outreach of a boom lift. The Toucan Series joins JLG’s 1250AJP, 860SJ and Tow-Pro T350 to complete a full lineup of die-cast model booms offered to collectors by JLG in 1:32nd scale.

JLG’s die-cast scale models are available through dealers around the world. Additional information regarding the entire group of JLG die cast model replicas can be found by going to www.jlgmerchandise.com. For JLG Gear and die cast model product sales inquiries or other opportunities, please contact Joyce & Associates Nevada by calling 702-294-1712.

JLG Industries, Inc. is the world’s leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of access equipment. The Company’s diverse product portfolio includes leading brands such as JLG aerial work platforms; JLG, SkyTrak, Lull and Gradall Mobile Stock Pickers; and an array of complementary accessories that increase the versatility and efficiency of these products. JLG is a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK].

For more information about JLG Industries, Inc., log onto the company website at www.jlg.com.