Beware the Bear
Siberia Racing
Beware the Bear
Introducing - Siberia International Raceway II (a.k.a. The Bear)
Siberia International Raceway - II which is nicknamed "The Bear". The track is a four lane routed TKO track. Table dimensions are 4' x 15'. Normal track direction is shown in the following photos. The track is equipped with reversing switches and is designed to be run in both directions. The track is light gray which is a custom TKO color. Trakmate and Slotrak provides the lapcounting and race management software. The design went through about a dozen iterations before the design was finished. This included a last minute change to increase the table to its final length.. TKO did a marvelous job converting my sketch into a finished product and delivering the track on schedule. The track is an over/under design based on TKOs first routed track, a Brystal/Bucktrak "Velocitydome" with some of my own ideas thrown in. The track is designed to be easy to learn, hard to master and to not have a home track advantage. The first race on "The Bear" indicated that these goals were attained! At the first race the G-Jet race and GT-40 G-Jet IROC race was decided by less than a lap after 20 and 16 minutes of racing respectively. Following the first race, two track call pushbuttons were added at the infield of the reversing turns at the rear of the track along with a digital voltmeter in the center of the driver's stations..
"The Bear" Ready For Its First Race
MSRA G-Jet Action at "The Bear's" First Race
MSRA T-Jet Action at "The Bear's" First Race
Existing TKO and Bucktrack Track Designs Inspired "The Bear's" Layout
"The Bear" Construction Photos
"The Bear's" Frame Is An
Evolution of CRR's Successful Three Piece Triangulated Fame
(The table surface consists of three pieces of 1/2" five-layer plywood)
Opening The Shipping Crate Containing the Eight Routed Track Sections
"The Bear" is Ready for Wire
(Note the noise suppression material under the raised section and the long white crash wall at the far end)
More Noise Suppression Material under the
Bridge Approach
(The white crashwall at the far end hid the cars from view and was revised to
use a clear Lexan center section.)
The Short Lived White "Velocitydome Turn" Wall
The Final Clear Lexan "Velocitydome
Turn" Wall With Ribbed Foam "Safer Barrier"
(The "Safer Barrier" was borrowed from Sabatona Super Speedway which also uses this
very effective material on its wall impact areas.)
Wires, Relays, Reversing Switches, Slotrak
Relay Board, Trakmate Card Enclosure, InfraRed Sensors, Caps, and Eight Power
Taps
(Two additional jumpers similar to the yellow ones
shown were added to complete "The Bear's" double feeeder, ring bus
wiring arrangement.)
Flipping the Table Upright After Wiring
Shows the Stiffness of "The Bear's" Fully Triangulated Table
(The three piece table is entirely in air, supported only by a strap at each end
section. The table is ruler straight!)
Do not try this without a fully triangulated frame!
A Unique Feature of the "The Bear's"
Design is Variable Lane Spacing
(Two-inch spacing for the front straight and normal spacing elsewhere.
Also shown is the taught line used to align the front straight)
