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Digital racecraft Driving a tactical cat-and-mouse race is now very possible, because if you have track position at the front of the field, staying in first place all about keeping the other cars behind you, rather than chasing each other flat out and risking crashing. As long as you can second-guess at which lane-change opportunity someone will pull out from behind and try and overtake, you can either speed up a little to make them work harder or block the move by taking the lane change opportunity yourself! But, if you crash, remember that you don't have a lane all to yourself; you will just have to fight your way back through the field!

Following another car Closely following another car is often a good way to force an error. Just hassle your opponent for a few laps and they'll most likely lose it, somewhere. Also look for opportunities to change lanes early and take advantage of lapped traffic before they do. Remember to wave as you pass them whilst they are stuck behind the backmarker! Be careful not to brake too late while following, though, and punt the car ahead off the track, as you may be penalised.

Braking You can set each car to have button braking, dynamic braking, or both. Dynamic braking is similar to what you would be used to from traditional slot cars, except that lifting off the throttle slows the car down much more quickly than you might expect. For most racers the dynamic form of braking will be all you need. Or you can turn braking off altogether to re-live the pre-digital gradual slowing down experience. Braking using the button just cuts out the car's motor and is a more advanced way of slowing down, but can also be used to good effect when starting off; floor the throttle and hold the button, releasing the brake button then brings you up to speed instantly.

False starts The false start penalty option offered by the 6-car powerbase is a great idea if you have only two cars. If you have a starting grid of more than two, turn this option off, as a false start penalty for the front rows of the grid also means a false start penalty for everyone behind on that lane. Or you can leave the option on and try using the old-style Le Mans start tracks as an alternative. Better still, if you are using a 6-car powerbase there are now false start options provided by the associated computer programs - broadly speaking, if you jump the start, the timer doesn't count your progress for a (variable) number of seconds, so you have to tour round slowly until your penalty time is over.

Dealing with crashes You need to be clear about how to handle this before you start a race. By far the best solution is to have a non-racing track marshal responsible for re-slotting cars. Then you just wait for a helping hand to put you back on track. Some clubs use a rule whereby if you de-slot but remain upright, you can be re-slotted, but if you roll or flip, you're out. Make sure the marshal knows in which direction to point the car (they will run either way) when re-slotting! The problem comes when everyone is actually driving and you have no track marshals. You then have three options: (a) Crash and burn. Crash and you're out. Either, your races might not last very long, or, it will help everyone to really concentrate on their driving and not do anything silly. (b) Self-marshalling. Put down your controller and re-slot your own car. Probably the fairest, but can lead to tangled controller leads and controllers draped across the track if you're not careful. (c) "Track calls". If you crash, shout "TRACK!" and everyone stops. Cars are re-slotted and then everyone re-starts together. This does mean that races can be somewhat punctuated with stops, but it limits the potential for damage caused by cars crashing into other stationary cars. These are broadly mirrored by the suggestions in the racing rules area of the Scalextric web site. If you have a PB-Pro, then the best option is probably to use the Track Call with Delay facility. This provides you with a button to press if your car is out of the slot and blocking at least part of a lane. Everyone will run on for a couple of seconds after you press it (to penalise you) but then everyone will stop and enable you to be re-slotted. Nobody is allowed to marshal their cars if a track call is not in operation. If you crash off the track you are not supposed to press the track call button but instead wait for the next track call by someone else. Also if you beach on a lanechanger but are still in the slot you should wait for a nudge from a following car (assuming they are not all passing by on the other lane) or again wait for the next track call by someone else. If a lane is blocked, cars can still race but need to remember to pass by on the other lane. If you crash out and are not blocking the track it is possible you may never get re-slotted unless someone else blocks the track. You will need to agree a rule for misuse of the track call facility, such as placing the offender back at the start of the lap they were on.

Dealing with the rear-end "nerfer" Sometimes someone will try to progress through the field by nudging the car in front off the track at every opportunity. It's extremely difficult to judge the strength of this sort of contact correctly time after time so you are not likely to be dealing with a "Dick Dastardly" sort who is using foul means to gain a victory. More probably the offender is a novice or inexperienced driver who is probably going to come last anyway. 90% of the time the "nerfed" car will end up across the track and if you have a PB-Pro with Track Call with Delay facility this will be an immediate "track call" situation which will prevent the culprit from gaining much from their indiscretion.

But PB-Pro or not, with the danger car out of your rear view mirror, when the race re-starts you can concentrate on catching it up again, and using the racecraft tactics described above (such as baulking it behind other cars) to get ahead or at least keep half a lap away from it. Unless they are waging a personal vendetta against you it's likely that someone else will be the victim next time - so that will work out in your favour. With 4 or 6 cars racing it's more likely to happen to someone else than to you - but as well as trying to grab and keep the lead, dealing with wayward competitors and not allowing yourself to get into a position where your race can be compromised by one of them, is all part of the fun. Additionally these kinds of tactics do not always pay off without the offending driver coming a cropper themselves. So whilst it is frustrating to be booted off track through no fault of your own, as they say "what goes around, comes around".

Pursuit racing This is good if you can't be bothered to keep putting cars back on track and you don't have anyone acting as track marshal. As soon as you fall a lap behind at the finish line, you are out of the race, and the system cuts your car's power (so you need to take your car off track quickly). It's a function on the 6-car powerbase. It focuses your mind on staying on the black stuff, because as soon as you go off, you will be lapped whilst you are stopped at the roadside!