Kurt Moser of Sellersburg, Indiana, George Bagley of Cumming, Georgia, and "NINCO" Bob Lewen of (MRC) New Jersey, had an unforgettable experience by meeting and racing the best 1/32 scale slot car drivers in the world. Sixteen teams including the USA, Italy, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, England, Portugal and Argentina fought a grueling six hour endurance race on a specially constructed NINCO race track, for the prestigious NINCO World Cup. The track, comprising two 8-lane (back-to-back) circuits, enabled 16 cars to simultaneously race in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions.
Each team was selected by qualifying rounds in their own countries; therefore the Verona championship offered the highest skill level racing with very hard fights for all positions. All teams raced equally on all 16 lanes. The Spanish team "Mas Slot" won this second ever World Cup International Championship, with Team NINCO Italia and BRT Italia completing the podium. Team USA finished in 12th position.
All teams were required to race the NINCO Mosler MT900R, the "hottest" car NINCO has ever produced. Most cars were individually painted by teams for this event.
Language was not a problem; race instructions were given in Spanish, English and Italian.
The rules were very strict: No magnet, no additional weight, only NINCO components allowed, and specifically made for the Mosler MT900R and more. Car setup was crucial; with gearing, wheel, front tire selection, slot guide/braid tuning and chassis float critical. Saturday was test and setup day. The large paddock (setup) area was amazing to be in, with toolboxes, cars and parts and teams working at a frantic pace. Friendships developed and tools were borrowed and setup was discussed among teams. A pure joy to behold.
At the end of testing, the teams randomly selected the motor and rear tires provided by NINCO. The individual teams were watched very closely by NINCO officials during the installation of these major components. The cars were thoroughly inspected, and weighed to insure compliance with the rules. At that point the car was impounded, prior to the "Superpole"... the race for Pole Position, which was won by Team BRT Italia. Team USA was 15th for the Pole. Saturday night, NINCO hosted a very enjoyable dinner for everyone at a local restaurant.
Sunday's race was spectacular. Lots of credit has to be given to NINCO for the smooth operation and running of this major event. Changing 16 drivers, lanes, track marshal positions, etc., every 20 minutes for six hours was accomplished with military precision, and the considerable crowds enjoyed a brilliant display of the highest level slot car competition in the world. With only a second a lap separating all 16 teams, Team USA fought hard and finished the race in 12 place, ahead of Team Portugal, Team Verona Slot (Italia), Team United Kingdom, and Team Holland.
The podium trophies were high class and the awards and other items given to each team member helped to make this most professional event memorable for a lifetime. As for team USA, we had the right stuff to be amongst the world’s best... it was a long plane ride back to the States on Monday, with a feeling of accomplishment that can't be described.
I must give special thanks to Todd Wagner of Mosler Automotive for our team hats, Steve Sawtelle for making the custom connectors to go between our controllers and the track, and Jim DiFalco of DiFalco Design, for supplying the team members with the latest "E"-Motion 2 controllers.
"NINCO" Bob Lewen
Click here to see more images from the event
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The teams
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Wow!!!
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Team USA is third
from the right
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Team USA is fifth
from the right
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Click here
for the results and NINCO's press release of the event
 (5 MB .wmv)
A few laps with
Team USA
(3 MB .wmv)
A look around the
World Cup
(3 MB .wmv)
Ready to Race |
