Dave's Track was designed using a few sheets of graph paper. Here is the final drawing that was used to make the track:
Legends International Raceway was conceived after a year of trying to snap together sections of digital plastic track, in a failed attempt to imitate my favorite turns at actual race courses. After experiencing AC2Car racing at Northline Raceway, and realizing that a narrow AC2Car wood track would allow me the ability to recreate any stretch of track imaginable, I began sketching a layout containing my favorites turns. Ten months later, Legends IR is nearly ready to see it’s first lap.
The heart of my Legends track is our recreation of the Ford Chicane at Lemans. As six cars file through this chicane, nose to tail to prevent side swiping, drivers can hold a button down to guide their cars to their inside way around the circuit, or do nothing and their cars will lap the track in their outside slot. All 169’ of Legends’ 3 outside slots has a different feel than doing another 169’ lap using the 3 inside slots. That’s 338’ of different racing every two laps. No 5 second a lap, rhythm racing, here! Legends is all about driving scale model cars on a realistic race course.
After cars sweep across the lane change area, they race down a 14’ straight. This recreation of the main straight at Lemans includes 6 working individual scale pit areas for cars to turn into. Plus, we have the option to begin a race using the famous Lemans style start. A paddock road runs behind the pits from the Ford Chicane to Turn #1 for a future R/C controlled pace car to exit and enter when needed.
Turn #1 curves right leading to an underpass through the hill who’s slopes define the roadway for the Targa Curves. This 5 turn switch back imitates the tight climbing turns through the rough hillsides of the great Sicilian race. Once at the top, 28” above the pit area, cars hump over the crest of the hill under the famous Dunlop Bridge at Lemans. The steep run down Dunlop Hill ends 12 feet later into the Lemans’ Dunlop Esses. This Left, Right, Left combination comes before a 10 foot straight that leads to a long sweeping left hand curve that includes Dave’s Dip.
Every turn on Legends is banked. Some are banked slightly to keep cars more in control and others more drastically to add interest. Besides this banking, the Dip is another interest adding feature in the long sweeping Left hander. This sweeping curve brings cars around 360 degrees and culminates at the famous Loews Hairpin Turn.
As a 1/32 scale recreation of the hairpin at Monaco, this section will be detailed to include the prototypes stone work walls, which will flow down to the Monaco Gran-Prix Tunnel running beneath it. After slowing for this hairpin, cars run down and turn Right, running down hill through a series of turns through what I call Thunder Valley.
Not unlike it’s name sake at Lime Rock, cars here tuck up tight to the rear of slower cars blocking them. This allows a better chance to pass once the track widens past the up coming Monaco Tunnel. This short open arched tunnel, runs up hill to keep cars slotted through this stretch with limited visibility.
Once the cars shoot out of the tunnel and negotiate a hard right turn, they fan out into wider lane spacing as they scream across the famous Monza Banked Curve. This tight turn before the banking allows cars on the outer set of slots to hit the high banked curve at greater speed. This was designed in to offset the fact that the inside lanes have a shorter run through the huge 18 foot long banking. Even 1/24 scale cars can go 4 abreast over our recreation of Monza’s once famous banked curves.
As cars slow near the end of this fast run, they fight for position to set up for the Ford Chicane that follows. Here, once again, drivers can decide which side of the track they want to run their next lap on. Do nothing, and the car takes the outside. Hold down the button, and lap the inside 169 feet. Each lap is a race within a race, just like real racing. On Legends International Raceway, drivers get to strategize their next pass at every lap. Each driver uses his skills to work his way through the field, take the lead, and hold it.