Model Car Sport

a type of technical sport that includes the design of model cars and their testing on specialized tracks. Model car sport made its appearance in Europe in the 1940’s and in the USSR in 1956, when the Central Laboratory of Model Car Sport was set up. The first contest of model car drivers in the country was held in May 1957, with drivers from Moscow, Kharkov, Riga, and Leningrad. All-Union contests of model car sport have been held annually since the fall of 1957, record-setting contests for race models since 1960, and all-Union student contests since 1964. In 1963 the model car sport was included in the Unified All-Union Sport Classification.

The following types of models are distinguished: those with an internal-combustion engine, with an electric engine, with a rubber band engine, and with radio control. The models with internal-combustion engines are divided into groups: race cars, cars with propellers, and model-copies, which are small versions of stock cars and trucks. The internal-combustion engines have piston displacements of 1.5, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 cm³. The maximum speed of the models is 250 km/hr (according to data for 1968). Model car sport contests are held on a cordodrome-—a concrete ring about 20 m in diameter, with the models moving in a circle on a cord. Tests are held over distances of 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 m; radio-controlled models cover a track of 100 m, and models with rubber band engines compete in a straight line or in a circle over a distance of 100 m. Among the best-known Soviet sportsman are Masters of Sport V. Iakubovich, O. Maslov, V. Solov’ev, and B. Efimov. In 1968 about 100,000 persons engaged in model car sport.

Model car sport is directed by the USSR Federation of Model Car Sport, which has been a member of the European Federation of Model Car Sport (FEMA) since 1968. Model car contests are also organized and conducted by the Central Club of Model Car Sport of the DOSAAF (Voluntary Society for Assisting the Army, Air Force, and Navy).