Tuesday 19th October 2010

Slot Car F1 Circuit Shows Bernie How It's Done

F1 circuit in miniature is a 'model' of perfection (groan)

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This is the White Lake F1 Ring, a fabulously detailed 145-foot slot car circuit. We stumbled across it while on an idle Google trawl looking for updates on the US GP circuit in Austin, Texas while trying to avoid doing some more constructive work and thought it was worth sharing.

Now, there’s no doubting that model railways aren’t particularly cool, but there’s something a bit more exciting about a properly intricate slot car circuit.

And there’s no doubting that White Lake – built by the wonderfully named James-Michael Gregory Harlan – is a proper labour of love. It has pits, it has grandstands, it has marshals, helipads, course cars and floodlights for a spot of Singapore-style night racing. In short, anything you can imagine stuffing into a GP circuit is there. Heck, the slots even tighten up on the corners so cars can’t overtake.

It’s a deeply impressive undertaking, and we can only presume that Harlan, who is an exhibit designer by trade (hence the model-making talent), is either single or has a very patient other half…

You can take a closer look at the White Lake F1 Ring on Harlan’s own blog, or by watching the video below…though we suggest that you might want to skip to 2m 41s, where the video goes ‘in car’.

 

 

[L100NYY]

Now that is stunning

I haven't even got time to redecorate the bathroom let alone build a Scalextric set like this!

Edited by L100NYY on Monday 18th October 16:59

[B'stard Child]

"Heck, the slots even tighten up on the corners so cars can’t overtake."

Good grief giving exactly the same racing as F1.....

[Chris_w666]

Awesome, I want one like that in my garage.

[Stone Cold]

Bernie won't like it, not enough run off

[tonym911]

Incredible – but it must be a nightmare when your car goes off, you'd lose at least a lap walking over and putting it back in the slot.

[Hedders]

Fantastic! Not sure how the pits work though, how do you turn left into them?

[RichB]

Hedders said:

Fantastic! Not sure how the pits work though, how do you turn left into them?

I'm not sure, it appears to be a 4 car slot track with 5 pits and just after the pits the tracks converge into 2 lanes then immediatly seperate back into 4. Perhaps it's digital?

[BelperJim]

How long before FOM turn up and ask him to remove the F1 stickers

[AV12]

There not "their"

otherwise its fantastic!

[ninja-lewis]

Hedders said:

Fantastic! Not sure how the pits work though, how do you turn left into them?

Seems each car has a mechanical switch at lane change area, which the driver uses (not entirely clear how they use it though).

Very cool though!

[Hedders]

RichB said:

Hedders said:

Fantastic! Not sure how the pits work though, how do you turn left into them?

I'm not sure, it appears to be a 4 car slot track with 5 pits and just after the pits the tracks converge into 2 lanes then immediatly seperate back into 4. Perhaps it's digital?

Ah, so not something the car does, but something the track does?

[spiritof'76]

Great track ............ awful driver

No commitment in the corners atall ?......... American car maybe

[jake15919]

Only one Helipad. No way Berni would allow that!! Also I didn't see any corporate hospitality facilities. This is supposed to be F1 not motor sport.

First article in ages that has made me really jealous. Really, really jealous.

[Turbobanana]

AV12 said:

There not "their"

otherwise its fantastic!

It's, not its.

Otherwise it's accurate.

Love the Scalextric track: makes mine look a bit mediocre, but mine's purely for racing. Group C racers, mainly, including all variants of the Porsche 962. Bit sad at my age

[AV12]

Turbobanana said:

AV12 said:

There not "their"

otherwise its fantastic!

It's, not its.

Otherwise it's accurate.

Love the Scalextric track: makes mine look a bit mediocre, but mine's purely for racing. Group C racers, mainly, including all variants of the Porsche 962. Bit sad at my age

An apostrophe may be missing but read the article again.

[ferrisbueller]

Dear Santa,

You know what to do,

Yours etc

FB

[Bowler]

Someone's got too much time and money on their hands....

[mybrainhurts]

I can't see a white haired poison dwarf anywhere in those pics...

[Oddball RS]

Must be me, the sound track chosen shows why racing slot cars is just a bit boring, looks fantastic but isn't the fun in making it? after a year or two it just collects dust?

[grenpayne]

RichB said:

Hedders said:

Fantastic! Not sure how the pits work though, how do you turn left into them?

I'm not sure, it appears to be a 4 car slot track with 5 pits and just after the pits the tracks converge into 2 lanes then immediatly seperate back into 4. Perhaps it's digital?

Could well be. A quick google turned up this on the Scaletrix website!! Very cool in a geeky sort of way.

I think my 4 year old son may well need one of these for Christmas