BSCRA Hardbody Challenge 2026
Thanks to Ant Hawkes, Ali Dent and Marty Cook for the photos
Copyright © 2026 British Slot Car Racing Association All rights reserved
Formula 1 -
Starting with Formula 1 we saw a mixture of two types of NSR cars – the 86/89 and
the F22 – and Scaleauto, with the odd 3d and old-
Josh Bryant won the best presented prize with his custom painted 86/89, judged by Simon Owen of Scalextric – a prize donated by Paul Harwood.
To introduce a variation on the theme we made the qualifying factor the most laps completed in the minute. Top by some margin was Josh Bryant (7.42 laps) who was half a lap clear of Simon Scott with another half lap back to Nick Dodds, one section ahead of Gavin Scott. This continued for all 23 drivers until the order for the heats was decided. Notable for a great quali run on his first visit to the track was Simon Owen the Brand Manager of Scalextric who was with us in person to see the event and sportingly joined in. Using Gavin Scott’s NSR 86/89 he achieved 11th position just behind Ant.
When the racing started it was split into three heats and it was ‘win from any heat’ so drivers could gain or lose. The first heat saw Terry Reardon make the best gain to move from 18th QP to 13th by the end. The second heat was notable for an unfortunate retirement by Gerry Fitzsimons and some gains, including good runs from Paul Harwood and Ant. The fastest heat saw Josh and Simon romping away from the field as they raced in 3 minute stints on each of the eight lanes. Josh looked set for the win at one point but Simon was there to seize any opportunity, which he did in the second half of the race and consolidated a lead of just over a lap at the end.
Behind them it was Gavin Scott with a good cushion ahead of a battle between Neil Grogan, Steve Hills and Ant Hawkes, eventually resolving itself in that order.
Luke Thomas was awarded the ‘Rookie’ prize for a great first drive on the track, moving to 12th overall at the end of the heats. Results Tech Chart
Sports/GT -
We started Sunday with some early morning practice and welcomed Sunday arrivals including Norwich and South Manchester drivers.
Scalextric Class
Scalextric Sports had 16 entries and was the first event and this was for the same type of cars as the open sports class (Post ’95 Sports Cars), but basically unmodified Scalextric cars. Qualifying saw times of 11.6 seconds (best lap to count in one minute run) up to 14.5. Top was Nick Dodds ahead of Ant whose car was fast but not much else!
By the end of the 8 x 2 minute segmented heats Nick Dodds was the comfortable winner by around 4 laps from David Farrow with an almighty battle for third between Paul H, Ant, Richard Beamish, Ian Howard and Neil Grogan – all on 72 laps, with Paul getting the verdict and 3rd, ahead of Ant. Ray George was very unlucky to only complete 12 laps before his car expired.
Some superb prizes were donated by Scalextric and thoroughly appreciated by the recipients!
No Tech Chart need in this class, Scalextric was a standard class although most did change guides and tyres as allowed by the rules
Open Category
The last event of the weekend was for 32 drivers in the Open Sports category. This
was dominated by Hypercars and
Moslers with the odd GT1 thrown in.
After trouble free scrutineering, Emmylou judged Concours and chose the nicely decorated car of Chris Hiley as the winner, the prize donated by Paul Harwood.
Once again Josh and Simon were clearly ahead of the field with quali times under
9 seconds, which, interestingly, no-
Nick Dodds was close with 9.0 but sadly retired with motor lead issues during the race. Gavin, Richard Beamish and Steve Pratt were all under 9.4 seconds.
The four 8 x 2 minute heats began with a great run from Elliot Bailey who had failed
to qualify with a non-
The second heat was notable for Terry Reardon’s drive from 18th qp to 8th overall, earning him the Sunday Rookie prize – Tony Condon’s Slot Car Racing Book, thanks Tony.
James Cliff also made good progress from heat 2 to finish 12th overall on his first visit to the track, as did Ian Howard, moving from 23rd qp to 14th overall.
Marty Cook was unlucky to have a terminal accident early in heat 3 whilst Steve Hills had a great run with his 911 GT1 to end up 5th overall. Ant fought with Chris Hiley all race but failed to achieve anything leaving Elliot and Sarah Murray both ahead by the end. Marcus Corrieri had a great race and moved close to the top 10 with a run including 9.7 second laps.
The fastest heat was always going to be close and two main dices were taking place between Josh and Simon Scott and Gavin and Richard B, who were never far behind the leaders. There was a large gap back to 5th at the end with the win being taken by Josh, Simon less than a lap behind, with Gavin securing 3rd – his second of the weekend – just over a lap ahead of Richard. Steve Hills brought his car home in a solid 5th ahead of more Norwich Moslers, Steve Pratt and Neil Power – exceptional driving from Neil who, I understand, built all the Moslers! Paul Harwood was just pipped by Terry Reardon’s great run and missed the top 8.
Once trophies and prizes had been handed out it was time to say goodbye and thanks to all involved has been aired on Facebook extensively, but we’d like to thank Ray George again for his unflappable Race Control all weekend – which earned him a classic F1 collectors set from Scalextric – Thanks Ray!
Thanks go again to NSR, Scalextric, Pendle, Roger Barker Slots, Amato 3D design and Scaleauto for their superb sponsorshi
Announcements will be made soon about the next Hardbody Challenge with some exciting news about an addition to the event. Watch this space!
Ant Hawkes
Event Coordinator
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Hardbody Rules |
Hardbody Challenge Facebook group |
BSCRA |
2027 Hardbody Challenge |
The inaugural event for ‘Hardbody’ slot cars on the National Association ‘Monsta’ track took place at the National Slot Centre in Corby.
A total of 71 entries were racing across three classes which has to count as a great start for what is hoped will be an annual event.
Everyone involved added something to the event, from the eldest member of the Condon family to the youngest and from the old hands at the track to those who had never even seen it before!
This event was blessed with the most amazing sponsorship from NSR and Gaugemaster,
Scalextric – who are very keen to support a stand-
The racing was split into three categories, F1, Scalextric Sports and Open Sports.
The rules were pretty simple and there were no issues of any consequence during any
of the scrutineering, calmly carried out by Josh Bryant and Gavin Scott. There were
no failures during scrutineering and no-
We qualified each class for 1 minute individually and heats were arranged based on QP.
Winners -
Luke Thomas , Simon Owen of Scalextric and event organiser Ant Hawkes