Mölndal Motor Club reopened its miniracing track in Rävekärr last week after extensive renovation.



Ingemar Sandahl from the motor club gave the opening speech and was able to tell us, among other things, that the track was built in 1975 by Hans Nilsson, now an internationally renowned track builder. This year he has built 2 tracks in Japan and 10 in the USA. If the track in Rävekärr had been constructed from scratch today, it would have cost around 100,000 kronor. Sandahl also gave a brief summary of the history of the motor club and its current activities.



The club started in 1922 as a motorcycle club but is now a pure four-wheeled club. The club competes in car orienteering, miniracing, rally, rallycross and folk racing. The latter is a great success.



The miniracing track in Rävekärr is a track-controlled track. There are also radio-controlled tracks. The Mölndal club The track is 40 meters long and has 8 tracks. Specially built cars can do up to 70 km in a straight line and drive the track in 4 seconds.



Mini racing was born in England more than twenty years ago, but the sport got its real boost in the USA with the so-called slot racing. The cars are built in a scale of 1:24 and are thus barely two decimeters long. 12 volt current drives the cars along the track through contact between the track's guide tracks and the pantographs on the cars. The speed is regulated via a push handle, which also has a built-in brake system. The professional cars have engines of up to 1/3 horsepower and an acceleration from 0-100 kilometers per hour in 2 seconds. That's it. You have to be concentrated if the car is not to go off the track.



So back to the opening. Tom Trana, famous racing driver and chairman of the Gothenburg Motorsport Association, cut the blue and yellow ribbon and declared the track reopened. Then it was time for a celebrity race between Björn Carlsén, Inge Johansson, Bertil Lundberg, Ove Ramboldt, Tom Trana and Jan Wilhelmsson. Björn Carlzén won with 34 laps under 2 x 4 minutes. Tom Trana second with 33 laps after a protest and Ove Ramboldt third with 30 laps.



To get the right proportions on this, you should compare it with the professionals who drove the race after, where the best driver Anders Myrberg drove 35 laps under 4 x 1 minute. That's almost twice as fast.



Finally, for those who want to start with track-controlled mini racing - MRS - there are cars for around 100 kronor and handles for 50. To start with, you can rent a car and handles for a cheap price. Rävekärrsbanan is open on Monday and Thursday evenings during the winter months and according to both Sandahl and Tom Trana it is a nice gateway to "real" motorsport, while at the same time it is a preventive activity for the growing generation.

Mölndals Motorklubb reopens its mini racing track in Rävekärr, Mölndal, in 1983. Mölndal City Museum photograph.