Red RC » 2010

July 30, 2010

Pietsch ends Japanese rule in Texas

He was the Top Qualifier at the 1:8 World Championship last year and now Robert Pietsch is on target to repeat that achievement in 1:10 having just set the fastest run in the penultimate round of qualifying here at Gulf Coast Raceway. The factory Mugen driver ran 35 laps in 10:14.072 to move into provisional pole from factory Kyosho driver Takaaki Shimo who also broke into the 35 laps for the first time. The German, who was on a TQ run in the third qualifier until he stripped second gear, said his MTX-4R was again really good but at the start of the run he didn’t feel the track conditions were good enough for a TQ run until he heard his lap times. Pietsch said while his car is not the fastest in terms of lap times it is very consistent and unlike many of his rivals, run time with his factory Novarossi is no problem.

View our full event coverage here.

July 29, 2010

Yokoyama ups the pace in Texas

Young Japanese sensation Shinnosuke Yokoyama has upped the pace at the World Championship this morning becoming the first and only driver to record 35 laps around the Gulf Coast Raceway here in Houston, Texas. The 17-year-old, who is making his Worlds debut, achieved a time of 35 laps in 10:17.208 despite getting hit from behind on laps 2 & 4 which cost him over 3 seconds and left him last on the timing screens. Describing the set-up on his OS powered Xray as ‘perfect’, the 2006 Japanese Sport Class National Champion was able to put in a spectacular recovery recording the fastest lap of the round enroute to the new TQ time.

View our full event coverage here.

July 29, 2010

IFMAR 1/8th scale Worlds track layout

The organisers of the 2010 IFMAR 1/8th scale buggy World Championships that takes place in November in Pattaya Thailand have released details of the track which will be used for this event. Using a neat scale model to show of the new layout it sports some significant changes compared to that used at the Warm up race which then was a very fast punishing layout with a lot of high speed jumps.

View more images of the new layout here

July 29, 2010

SpeedMerchant Linear Tweak spring conversion

SpeedMerchant have announced the release of their Linear Tweak spring conversion. After months of testing, moving from the Rev.5 to the new Rev.6, they’ve found that the lighter & quicker Single Cell LiPo cars perform much better with Linear side springs compared to the standard ‘progressive’ side springs that have been run for years. These new springs tend to smooth the cars out, and generally just make it easier to drive, without a loss of steering or chassis response.

Source: Speed Merchant [teamspeedmerchant.com]

July 29, 2010

X-Factory SCX-60 is now ROAR legal

X Factory have informed us that they have received an e-mail from the ROAR Technical Director which states that the SCX-60 Conversion kit is now legal for all classes of ROAR competition. This includes the stock and sportsman classes and includes the upcoming National Championship in Joliet, Ill.

Source: X-Factory [xfactoryrc.com]

July 28, 2010

No change at the Top in Q2 – And the rain is back

The second round of qualifying here at Gulf Coast Raceway produced little change at the top of the time sheets with Shinnosuke Yokoyama’s time from this morning still the time to beat. The Xray driver was again fastest for Q2 but in a slow time of 34 laps in 10:03.868 due to the hatter track conditions. The biggest improvement in Q2 came from Italy’s Giuseppe D’Angelo who set the second fastest time. Having failed to finish Q1 due to radio problems, the factory Reds Racing driver took his Mugen around in a time of 34 laps in 10:06.991 which puts the Italian National Champion 8th fastest overall.

View our full event coverage here.

July 28, 2010

Yokoyama Top Qualifier after Round 1

Young Japanese driver Shinnosuke Yokoyama is the current early pace setter as the first full round of qualifying for the IFMAR 200mm World Championship has been completed here in Texas. The 17-year-old Xray driver was on target for the only 35 lap run of the round until his OS engine ran out of fuel on the last lap but he still managed to top the round with 34 laps in 9:58.355.

View our full event coverage here.

July 28, 2010

Racing Experience Engine screw drivers

Adding to the already extensive range of tools from Racing Experience these engine screw-drivers are the latest offering from the French company. They have the same purple handle but the tips have more spring effect compared to allen wrench as HSS would have been too brittle for flat head screw drivers.

View the other tools here