View the event photos

By Dave Wisdom

Classic saloons made their annual appearance at the Wolverhampton Scalextric Club on the weekend of October 10th & 11th. This year the action was staged upon the 6 lane Aldersley circuit – a track definitely not for the faint hearted…

The event is aimed at attracting scratchbuilt models of saloon cars that actually raced up until 1976. The long wheelbase regulations had been altered slightly this year in an attempt to vary the grid. The 1976 cut off date meant that cars such as Jaguar XJ12s and Rover 3.5 SD1s were no longer eligible. However, the car that did adhere to the new regs was the Ford Capri, and as a result was the ‘racers’ choice.

Proceedings got underway on Saturday morning for the traditional pre race practice day. As always, it was an ideal opportunity to iron out any last minute teething problems and with fewer attending on practice day than in previous years, track time was in abundance. Unfortunately, no amount of track time was going to make any difference as far as my own performance was concerned. My seemingly eternal quest in discovering the right motor, gear and pinion combination at this track (and any other, for that matter) remains something of a personal ‘magical mystery tour’.

Alexis Gaitanis (who had travelled from Greece) and his daughter Maria, added international flavour to the event, bringing with him his usual stable of a dozen or so cars, making the most of Saturday practice choosing which would be his weapon of choice for Sunday race day. Dick Smith and Mark Witham arrived a little later and the mystery surrounding who would be driving last year’s short wheelbase winner (Chris Adams Trabbant) was finally resolved when Dick Smith removed it from his pit box.

Race day dawned bright and sunny with drivers arriving early for scrutineering and last minute practice. Although attendance was less than last year, 40 or so drivers turned up for the big day and following the drivers briefing, the concours vote took place and was rapidly followed by the days qualifying heats. As the day developed, it was evident the local Wolves boys were pretty much in control of the long wheelbase class, with Mark Cockerton taking a convincing win in his red Capri ahead of Steve Harbourne and friend of Pendle, Roy Pritchard, driving with his usual verve, finishing in 3rd place.

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Long Wheel Base Grand Final - 5 minutes
38.41 laps - 1st Mark Cockerton OCAR Ford Capri/Pitlane Chassis
37.86 laps - 2nd Steve (Slotbox) OCAR Ford Capri/Pitlane Chassis
37.05 laps - 3rd Roy Pritchards OCAR Ford Capri/pitlane Chassis
36.35 laps - 4th Bill Charters Carrera Ford Capri/HRS Chassis
36.29 laps - 5th Mick Kerr Carrera Ford Capri/Scratchbuilt Chassis
34.21 laps - 6th Mike Thompson Carrera Ford Capri / Scratch built Chassis

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The short wheelbase class was, in many ways, a re-enactment of 2008. Throughout the heats Graham Windles Mini and Dick Smiths ‘on loan’ Trabbie traded panel paint to get themselves both into the grand final.

The final was a full on scrap between the pair of them and the duel lasted the entire 5 minutes of the race. The pace was fast and intense! Both drivers suffered ‘offs’, but each recovered rapidly to continue the frantic dash to the chequered flag. Graham crossed the line first to earn a well deserved victory. However, Dick had not made it easy and came in a very close 2nd. Ralph Parkers extremely rapid Austin A35 successfully defied all laws of gravity by coming home a respectable 3rd.

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Short Wheel Base Class
A Final 5 minutes
36.23 Laps - 1st Graham Windle Mini Cooper
35.65 laps - 2nd Dick Smith Trabbant
31.82 laps - 3rd Ralph Parker Ausin A35
31.45 laps - 4th James Noake NSU TT
31.04 laps - 5th Alexis Gaitanis Fiat 695
28.73 laps - 6th Owen Cooper Fiat Abarth

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With a number of the usual modeller/builders not in attendance, concours was arguably not so hard fought this year. However, that did not stop Marlon Foakes and Rob Davies producing two magnificent models. Marlon’s re-working of an ‘Ocar’ Vauxhall Firenza resin shell based upon the late, great Gerry Marshals ‘Old Nail’ was simply stunning and a worthy overall winner of the Concours Trophy. Rob Davies ‘Traffic Models’ resin Sunbeam Rapier was equally as impressive and quite rightly earned him 2nd place. Yours truly entered an ‘Ocar’ Ford Capri RS2600 modelled on the 1971 Spa 24 hour winner. It got me a 3rd place cup, but with so many other Capris around at the weekend it lacked the all important ‘novelty’ factor.

Next up at Wolves is the Pendle Slot Racing sponsored 1961–1965 1.5 Litre Formula One cars in November. Report and pictures coming soon!