Motor Racing In Miniature

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30820, 4 August 1965, Page 15

Motor Racing In Miniature

'THE Canterbury model car championships will be held at the Railway Hall, Carlyle street on Saturday, and this year the increase in prizes should draw a larger number of entries than at the past meetings. Entries are expected from as far afield as Blenheim, Greymouth, Ashburton, Timaru and Otematata. The races will be held on privately owned and built table-top circuits and will be sponsored by the Christchurch Model Car Club. The junior event will be held at 10 a.m. with the heats for the two senior classes being run during the afternoon. The semi-finals and finals will take place during the evening. All the leading drivers in earlier South island and Canterbury championships have entered again. They will not, however, have it all their own way as the standard of competition is steadily increasing every year. Last year’s winner, F. Lamport, will be hard pressed to retain the Challenge Cup. The cars competing are exact l/30th to l/32nd scale models of famous racing car prototypes and are capable of scale speeds of over 140 to 150 m.p.h. Usually the cars raced are factory-built with modifications carried out by the driver, but several homebuilt cars are also raced. In the past the Lotus has proved a popular car. However with the keen interest of many of the drivers who

build their own a large variety of cars are now appearing on the circuts. The cars are restricted in size to a maximum length of 6in and a width of 2jin. Power is obtained from a 12-volt battery and the cars are controlled by a hand controller regulating the power supply to the motor. The cars are fitted with a peg situated just forward of the front axle, which runs in a groove round a winding circuit of about 55 to 60ft long, depending on the layout designed by the owner and the overall area of the table-top.