Slot-car world record over easter

[Eckhart von Glan]

hi guys, some chaps from my village (pop. 3,500) plan to break the slot-car world record over easter. they've put up a gigantic track on which four teams of three players each will try to play non-stop from friday morning 8 o'clock till easter sunday evening. everyone is welcome to drop by, entry free. for those of you speaking German, here's their home: http://www.ein-dorf-im-rennfieber.de/

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

at 12.00 noon friday, everything was fine after some initial software problems which made them start at 8.30 rather than at 8.00. here's a pic to give you an impression of the track, the trophies in the back are for the local shooting club at whose premises the event is staged.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

almost midnight and guys are still going strong:

all cars still running smoothly, total travelled distance so far about 1,500 km if i figured correctly. i misunderstood the rules first time round. this is how they do it: there are x-races of 2 hours each. during the race, teams can swap players as often as they want, cars are swapped at the same time. longest individual stints have been about an hour so far, though some plan to do full two hour stints over night. After each race, tracks are exchanged, so that after four races each team has covered exactly the same distance (in theory). in practice, teams are a couple dozen laps apart already. local tv was already on the scene. when i left a few minutes ago all players not currently active could be seen caressing a mug of coffee, lol.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

next morning and they are still at it, about 40% of the distance done, 32,000 laps of 35m travelled. Some players had little to no sleep and will try to catch up on it today, others napped for as long as six hours, depending on team strategy. The cars are still running, some just had their regular maintenance done while others already had to undergo serious repairs. Part of the bodywork starts missing, too, a rear wing here, a mirror there. When I dropped by around 8.00 am (camera already showing summertime), I was the only spectator and sb. had laid the table for a nice German breakfast:

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

update 21.00 saturday night, one of the chaps on team#2 is out, actually hospitalized for blood pressure problems, there is no reserve, hence the mood is a bit downcast, also there are hardly any spectators, so the atmosphere is slightly bleak. Cars and track still going strong, though, the eleven other players, too. One chap did a 5 hour (!) stint this afternoon to allow his teammates some rest before the second night! 60% done, 40% to go.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

dropped by this morning and another player has called it a day, this time diarrhea is the cause. So now, two teams are down to 2 players. Also one car had a broken chassis but repairs looked good. Other than that the technology is fine, chaps told me the motors are tested to run 60h at full speed, so a 60h event split by three cars per team should really not be a problem. Back to the players: They sent one chap to bed after staying awake for 50hours (!!!) and another chap broke the longest active run record this morning by having played non-stop for seven hours when I dropped by. They will take it all the way to tonight 21.30 when the 60 hour mark will be reached, however, prizes will be awarded already at 18.00 so that the competition does not get in the way of the record. Actually one of the two players only teams (yellow car representing the local pit station) has fought heroically all night to grab the lead and are currently pulling away from the others, so the heat is still on.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

second to last post, visited two hours ago, chaps have now done more than 80,000 laps, travelling about 2,800 km, roughly from Denmark to Italy if I am not mistaken. cars still fine, the ten players still standing are indeed still standing. Top two teams are only 70 laps apart, after 20,000 laps each that is a whisper. teams in three and four are way behind. Prizes handed out at 18.30 were to kids who had taken part in a slot race challenge also organized by these guys on a smaller track next door. Aren't they amazing? Will pop over at 21.30 to watch the grand finale, last report after that. On the photo you can see the start to the penultimate race:

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

so they've done it! 60 hours of non-stop slot car racing, starting good friday morning and finishing easter sunday night. three cheers form the ten survivors! happily for the great finale a decent crowd turned out, local press included. I have uploaded a vid of the final seconds to youtube:

[youtube]

and here`s the gang having a well deserved beer:

the chaps who had battled their way to the lead during the last night nearly lost it again this afternoon but held on to a well-deserved win with a 70 lap gap after roughly 22,000 laps or so. still quite close I'd say.

 

[Rui F. Martins]

great story, glad they made it