In my first 2021 catalogue blog post, I took a quick look at some of the highlights \u2013 now I\u2019m going to dig much deeper through each of the categories and including some background from the Scalextric team. A big thank you to Martyn and Simon for taking time out to talk to me.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nChevrolet Corvette C8R<\/h4>\n
It\u2019s a while since we had a modern Corvette in the Scalextric catalogue \u2013 the GT2 C6R was the last, released back in 2011. The new C8R is going to absolutely thrill every Scalextric GT racer and collector around the world with its sleek looks and top performance on the track.<\/p>\n
The real Corvette C8R was developed by Pratt & Miller Engineering to compete in the IMSA GTLM and FIA LM GTE classes. The C8R sees the Chevy V8 moved into a position just in front of the rear axle \u2013 a mid-engined layout being particularly good for racing. The C8R debuted at the Daytona 24 hour race in January 2020 \u2013 and the two Scalextric models are the Corvette Racing cars from this race.<\/p>\n
From the start, the yellow #3 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Antonio Garc\u00eda & Jordan Taylor battled with the two Porsches and the #24 BMW M8 for GTLM honours. It was a memorable scrap throughout the 24 hours \u2013 the four cars rarely separated by more than a lap. Amazingly, the class win came down to the final pit stop, the BMW finishing just seconds ahead of the two Porsches and the #3 Corvette just missing out on the podium in fourth \u2013 sixteenth overall. The silver #4 Corvette of Marcel F\u00e4ssler, Oliver Gavin & Tommy Milner had a torrid time, with the sort of teething problems characteristic of a new car. It finished in thirty-sixth place, 372 laps behind the race winners.<\/p>\n
The Corvettes had to wait until July for the next IMSA race, the yellow #3 car of Antonio Garc\u00eda & Jordan Taylor winning GTLM at the Daytona Weathertech 240. The #3 team would add another four class wins \u2013 and two overall race victories \u2013 during the season to clinch the Weathertech GTLM championship for Corvette and the GTLM drivers\u2019 title for Garc\u00eda and Taylor. The silver #4 car of Gavin and Milner took a class win at Sebring and finished third in the championship. Although a single C8R made its FIA WEC debut at the Austin 6 hour race in February 2020, Corvette decided not to travel to Europe for the re-scheduled Le Mans 24 hours in September.<\/p>\n
The Corvette C8R follows the standard Scalextric GT layout of an inline short-can motor, a tray interior and magnatraction. It is Digital Plug Ready (DPR) and can be easily converted to digital with the C8515 Digital Plug. The silver C8R will be the first car to be released \u2013 scheduled for the third quarter of 2021 \u2013 with the yellow car following at the end of the year. They can both be pre-ordered here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Scalextric have updated their popular Mercedes-AMG GT3 model to match the 2020 evolution of the real racing car. The most noticeable change from the original 2016 version is the front radiator grille, which gives the car a fabulous new look. Scalextric decided a completely new body shell was required and new tooling has been produced. The chassis remains the same, so the same top-rate handling and performance is guaranteed.<\/p>\n The first livery on the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo is the very striking RAM Racing car driven by Sam De Haan and Patrick Kujala in the 2020 British GT Championship. These rising stars of GT racing won at Snetterton in October and also picked up three Silver Cup wins \u2013 finishing the season runners-up in both the overall drivers\u2019 championship and the Silver Cup. The car is scheduled for release in the summer \/ early autumn and is available for pre-order here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another exciting release for GT fans is the Castrol-sponsored R-Motorsport Aston Martin GT3 Vantage<\/strong> that was the eye-candy of the 2020 Bathurst 12 hours. The Scalextric Vantage GT3 was one of the highlights of the 2020 catalogue and has already proved a very quick GT car on the track. This fabulous Castrol livery takes the Vantage to another level.<\/p>\n The Bathurst 12 hours has become one of the highlights of the global GT calendar, attracting entries from GT series around the world, plus some serious manufacturer support. The 2020 race took place in February and was exciting to watch \u2013 starting before dawn and running through the day. The R-Motorsport team had finished second in 2019 and their new Vantage GT3 was one of the favourites for the 2020 race. The driver line-up included regular driver Jake Dennis plus two Aussie superstars: IndyCar legend Scott Dixon and V8 Supercar champ Rick Kelly.<\/p>\n The Castrol livery looked utterly sensational, but the all-star team couldn\u2019t put it into Victory Lane. A spin and an unscheduled pit stop during the morning put the R-Motorsport Vantage out of contention, ending up six laps behind the winning M-Sport Bentley. The Scalextric model will be available over the summer \/ early autumn and can be pre-ordered here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Castrol car is joined in the 2021 catalogue by the attractive red TF Sport Vantage GT3<\/strong> that raced in the 2020 International GT Open series. TF surprised everyone by entering their star duo of Salih Yolu\u00e7 and Charlie Eastwood in this second-tier series. The pairing had won Pro-Am at the 2019 Spa 24 hours and \u2013 with Jonny Adam \u2013 taken three FIA WEC GTE Am class wins in the 2019-2020 season. Later in the year they added victory at the Le Mans 24 hours, running the same livery on their Vantage GTE.<\/p>\n After three outright wins and eight podiums from the twelve races, the TF Sport car was pipped to the GT Open championship title by just two points. The TF Sport Vantage GT3 is also available in the third quarter of the year and can be pre-ordered here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have really enjoyed the Scalextric Mustang GT4 \u2013 it has been the basis of my Scalextric Tuning series here on the Jadlam blog<\/a>. It\u2019s great to see a third British GT Championship livery in this year\u2019s catalogue. The Academy Motorsports team ran the only Mustang in the shortened 2020 season, preparing it in partnership with the official works Multimatic Motorsports organisation. The car looks plain grey at a first glance, but is actually an intricate design of dozens of mustang horse logos.<\/p>\n Driven in all nine rounds by Matt Cowley, the Scalextric car features Will Moore as his teammate \u2013 that pair competed at the final three races of the season at Snetterton and Silverstone. Always in the mix, Cowley finished fifth in the GT4 drivers\u2019 standings and Academy Motorsports were fourth in the GT4 team championship \u2013 the highest-placed single-car team. The Mustang is scheduled for a Spring release and is available for pre-order here<\/a>.<\/p>\n After somewhat a challenging time dealing with the Chinese CEFC TRSM Racing team for the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship \u2018Super-Season\u2019, Ginetta decided to run their G60-LT-P1 in-house for the 2019-20 championship. A switch to the reliable AER V6 turbo engine offered plenty of promise for the opening round at Silverstone \u2013 both Ginettas running strongly against their LMP1 rivals in qualifying and the race.<\/p>\n Both cars had mishaps \u2013 the #5 car of Charlie Robertson, Ben Hanley and Egor Orudzhev was briefly stranded in a gravel trap, but fought back strongly to grab fourth place on the final lap. The #6 Ginetta of Oliver Jarvis, Michael Simpson and Guy Smith dramatically lost its right rear wheel early on and then Jarvis had a big coming-together with one of the leading GTE Pro cars.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the accident-prone #6 car from the 2019 Silverstone 4 hours that Scalextric have chosen. The livery is stunning, with the black, white and orange Union Jack flag on the tail fin, plus strong Ginetta branding. The WEC season ultimately fizzled out in disappointing fashion for the Ginettas, but this livery will always be a memorable one. The Scalextric car performs well on track and is a good compromise between high detail (cockpit, working lights etc) and the robustness of the super resistant cars. The car will be available in the summer \/ early autumn and can be pre-ordered here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2019 saw the final Le Mans 24 hour appearance for the works Ford GT GTEs \u2013 and they turned up with some wonderful \u2018Heritage\u2019 liveries celebrating the four wins for the GT40 between 1966 and 1969 and the fiftieth anniversary win in 2016 for the Ford GTE. The red #67 car was the Ford front-runner in qualifying and the race. Driven by Harry Tinknell, Andy Priaulx and Jonathan Bomarito, the 1967 throwback car qualified second in the LM GTE Pro class and then took part in a tense 24 hour battle between Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Corvette and Aston Martin.<\/p>\n Although numerous safety car periods dampened the spectacle, the top four GTE Pro cars finished the race on the same lap \u2013 the AF Corse Ferrari winning on the seventieth anniversary of Ferrari\u2019s first overall Le Mans win. The #67 car came fourth in class and twenty-third overall, just ahead of two other Fords \u2013 the Gulf-themed #69 car and the black #66.<\/p>\n The Scalextric car is a good-looker and is fast on the track with its F1 slim-can motor. This livery is a very nice addition to the range and the car will have officially-licenced ACO Le Mans 24 hour packaging. It is likely this will be the last of the Scalextric Ford GTEs, so pre-order for a spring release here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just two BTCC cars this year and both are re-liveries. The first is a third livery on the new-for-2020 BMW 330i M-Sport<\/strong> car, featuring defending champion Colin Turkington\u2019s 2020 BTCC Team BMW livery – complete with the Scalextric logo that was on the car. The red, black and blue looks stunning on what is a very quick new car from Scalextric. It is scheduled for release during the summer \/ early autumn and can be pre-ordered here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The second car is Jake Hill\u2019s Honda Civic Type-R<\/strong>, also from the 2020 BTCC season. Privateer teams continue to have success with the \u2018old\u2019 Type-R Civic, Hill scoring six podiums in 2020 and finishing the season seventh in the drivers\u2019 championship. The Scalextric model has been produced in conjunction with MB Motorsport \u2013 a new name for 2020. Former-F1 driver Mark Blundell took charge of the business side, with AmD\u2019s Shaun Hollamby staying on as team principle.<\/p>\n The Civic\u2019s livery is unique to this Scalextric model, commemorating the founding of MB Motorsport in 2020. The car appeared with various title sponsors during the season, so using the MB logo avoided the team putting any of their sponsors\u2019 noses out of joint. The Jake Hill Civic is due for release in the spring and is available as a pre-order here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/GT3.jpg\")
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nA face-lift for the Mercedes-AMG GT3<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nAston Martin Vantage GT3<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nFord Mustang GT4 – Academy Motorsports<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nFord GT GTE #67 Le Mans 2019<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nBritish Touring Car Championship 2020<\/h4>\n