Le Mans track build
I don't have room in the house for a permanent track so I've just occasionally been setting up smallish temporary tracks in the back garden when the weather is good enough. This time I've decided to put a bit more effort in and went for a loose replica of Le Mans.
First I drew a rough outline of what the track might look like, loosely based on the 1970s/80s version of the actual track and using the parts I had available:
1972-1986 Le Mans layout:
My idea based on the track parts I have available:
Then I started on some card and paper signs and buildings (also used some blue and yellow electricians tape to mark the corners:
Arnage corner:
Maison Blanche:
Dunlop Bridge:
Tertre Rouge:
Then laid out the parts to see how it would all fit together:
Lastly spent an afternoon with various random bits of wood, bricks, ladders, chairs and a pasting table to get everything up to the right height for it to work and ran a few cars down to test it.
Discussion
That's a nice layout. Might think about replacing that booster with a downhill start; looks like there's room to extend it back over the finish too. But I love that this track has room to stretch out...it's something that I think has been really lost as things have shifted away from drag racing. But real estate is a thing and few have the room to do such a thing.
- It's not a booster, the start gate is from the Hot Wheels Track Builder Multi-Lane Speed Box set. So it is a downhill start but it had to be a fairly gradual slope to begin with as the back cars pushed the front cars off the track if it was too steep at the start. :-) — ToxicRockRacing
Christian Bale as Ken Miles takes us on a guided tour of the new track. :-D
- Curious as to where you found the two-lane curves. Looking good so far. — SpyDude
- The S chicane was from a seller on etsy called CREATIVE3DSOLUTIONS and the other curves are from ebay, they're individual curves that fit together but I cut the inside walls off as some cars were getting stuck. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206181342801 — ToxicRockRacing
- very cool build — dr_dodge
Managed to get a few races run on this track last month while the weather was good. Just finished editing the first of them.
Here's the qualifying round for the 24 Laps of Le Mans endurance race:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKto8ICc6KY
And here's the full 24 Laps of Le Mans endurance race.
Starting with 14 cars on the track, any car that crashes is eliminated. The car that completes the most laps out of 24 is the winner.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TY-_BMHKn4
Unfortunately the two Le Mans Hypercars I've got are too long and wide and were getting stuck on the single lane corners. So I removed the corners and ran them on a slightly shorter version of the track..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxXIQe8yoIw
Seems like you're finding out that compromise is the name of the game here in gravity racing versus powered. Do we sacrifice general racing performance in lieu of accuracy to our real life inspiration? Do we literally cut corners so cars can find the finish?
Only a back garden or dedicated building space can contain what you've laid out, your expanded S-turn chicane delights me!
Here's a quick test run of the track:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnKCBVBtNvY
I'll be running some races with my own cars while the weather lasts, though it'll probably take me a while to get things edited and online. :-)