It's been some time now that we would like to run a GT or touring class in our club track. With the arrival of the Spirit 406 Silhouette and the Fly BMW M3 GTR Evo3, we had 2 saloon cars with extra potential, and we also have some Ninco GT cars that would not stand a chance against our LMP/GT1/GrC cars. So we decided to run a GT/Touring event, to see how Ninco cars perform and also to see the Fly BMW and the 406 race. It would not be an Open GT class, rather a Ninco class with 406 and M3 addition. We would add any Fly modified saloon or GT car but we would not add Slot.it R390 and Mclaren GTR yet.

So we gathered at Creative Hobby track with a set of cars for our first GT/Touring event, and here they are in their pit boxes:

Mostly a Ninco lineup, some 406 cars, 2 BMWs and a couple of Prorace F360s, one of which proved an excellent runner.

We run 12V 5min heats on each lane and we race 2 rounds. So we have a total of 40min racing.

Start of first heat:

From left to right, Maria's 406, Neoptolemos' 406, Petros' BMW and Alexis' F360 Prorace

The Pugs were stock mostly, with only some added weight, the F360 had a very good setup, with Spirit rear tires on the narrower 17mm wheels, a Slot.it front axle/wheels/tires set, A/W NC6 motor on the med gear set.
The BMW had Slot.it wheels/axles/gears, an Avant slot Hurricane motor (orange) and Spirit rear tires also.

For the first round the battle was fierce between the F360 and the BMW, ending after 20minutes with the Fly car just under one lap in front. In third place Maria's 406 had clocked 4 laps down but was just a few cm before the timing bridge, while the 2 others were some meters after the bridge. So it must have been a 3+something lap difference.
This is were the top 2 cars ended, with Neoptolemos pug at the background.



Start of second heat:

Left to right again, Vasilis' 406, Thomas' F360, Andreas' Mosler and my Ascari

Mostly a Ninco cup race, all Ninco cars were box stock, and Vasilis was racing for the first time with very little practice an no experience on slot car races so far.
I was racing a Ninco car for the first time, and this Ascari proved a very reliable and easy to drive car, although not the fastest on a single lap. But I must say, both the F360 and the Mosler lapped better lap times. It's just that the Ascari simply refused to deslot, no matter how hard I pushed. Nice car !!!
The fastest lap of this heat was achieved by the 406 of course, but Vasilis on his first slot race had many deslots and lost much time, but at least gained some more racing experience.

Start of 3rd heat:

Left to right, George's F360 Prorace, Nikos' 406 and Christos' Fly BMW.

Well George and Christos are the organizers of our races, and usually don't have the time to race with us, and Nikos came for the first time on this track and borrowed Christos' 406 to race. George started with the F360 but didn't like the setup, so he switched to a Mosler later on. Christos won this heat by a margin, then George and finally Nikos.

So overall results after first round were:
Petros Fly BMW M3 ----------> 129 laps
Alexis Ninco F360 Prorace --> 128 laps
Maria Spirit 406 silh ---------> 124 laps
Timos Ninco Ascari ----------> 118 laps
Neoptolemos 406 Silh -------> 116 laps
Thomas Ninco F360 ----------> 111 laps
Andreas Ninco Mosler -------> 107 laps
Christos Fly BMW M3 --------> 107 laps
Vasilis Spirit 406 silh --------> 103 laps
George Ninco Mosler --------> 88 laps
Nikos Spirit 406 silh ---------> 81 laps

For the second round Christos, George and Nikos withdrew from the race due to a limited time to complete the event. So only 8 racers divided in the first 2 heats, continued on.

In the first heat the battle between Petros' Fly BMW and Alexis' F360 continued, but somehow the F360 was not as effective as before, and time was lost. Meanwhile Maria improved her pace with the 406 and covered her distance from the second place car. Neoptolemos, lacking some track time, was behind.

In the second heat again my Ascari proved the steadiest car, less deslots although slower lap times, and I scored most laps. Thomas drove his F360 nicely and was next, then Andreas Mosler who had some trouble with his front end hopping of the slot in various places, and finally Vasilis adapting a bit more on his 406.

Results of the second round were:
Petros Fly BMW M3 ----------> 131laps
Maria Spirit 406 silh ---------> 126 laps
Alexis Ninco F360 Prorace --> 123 laps
Timos Ninco Ascari ----------> 119 laps
Neoptolemos 406 Silh -------> 116 laps
Thomas Ninco F360 ----------> 114 laps
Andreas Ninco Mosler -------> 108 laps
Vasilis Spirit 406 silh --------> 99 laps

Adding up all the laps, Petros with the FLY BMW won, Alexis with his Ninco F360 Prorace kit second and Maria with her Pug 406 silhouette was third and very close behind.
Overall, it was an enjoyable event, a lot of fun, really pleasant cars to drive and some of them where very fast. The 406, the BMW and a well tuned F360 Prorace proved very close and not much slower compared to our LMP cars. Seems we have to work on a set of rules now to make a decent field of equally matched cars.