The IGG in Race Mode

In February, 20 die-hard large-scale model boat racers from IGG Switzerland gathered in Mettmisten for their annual winter event. Under the motto “Get a Taste of Racing,” we visited the Mettmisten Slot Racing Club and got to take the wheel ourselves—or rather, the hand controllers, of course. As we discovered, slot car racing no longer has much in common with the Carrera tracks most of us remember from our childhood. The cars reach speeds of up to 180 km/h in race mode. Acceleration from 0 to 100

in less than a second, and braking is just as fast. The Blue King racetrack is 47.4 meters long, and the lap record is an incredible 1.404 seconds. After a brief introduction and

After practice, we went straight into the races. On the Blue King course, 8 riders start together and try to complete as many laps as possible in 5 minutes, always pushing the limit—and often going beyond it. The latter left our “crew members” on the track bike with hardly any time to catch their breath. In between races, the club chef treated us to a spaghetti feast, so we could tackle the final races with renewed energy. In the end, the winner was decided. Gilbert completed 135 laps, closely followed by Roberto with 134 laps, and Sascha took third place with 129 laps. Together, we drove 2,306 laps, or 107.22 kilometers. The trip into the world of slot car racing was a blast. If you’re now curious

For more information on this topic, visit the Slotracing Club Mettmisten website at slra.jimdofree.com. Now we’re eagerly awaiting the IGG’s next events, where we’ll once again be able to get back to what we do best with our Grossglern.

Sascha Bitterli, IGG Switzerland;
Photos: Urs Pircher