For the 977 and 966, Serpent now offers front and rear CVD driveshafts in hard anodized 7075-T6 aluminium. Laser engraved with the length and Serpent logo these are around 50% lighter than the same durable units in spring-steel meaning an important reduction of rotational masses to improve acceleration and braking. The pair of front shafts are 7.15 grams, while the rear are 7.8 grams.
Last weekend the third Belgian national took place at the new MRG track in Genk and with a sunny forecast the race was well attended. The track lay-out is fast and with the 5 minute qualification system, fuel management was crucial for a good result. After 3 rounds of qualification the 4 direct finalist where John Lenaers (Mugen) on pole followed by Daan Haling (Motonica). 3rd place went to Yarmishyan Alexy (Capricorn) and 4th place to Dewynants Cédric (Capricorn). With only a few seconds between the 4 drivers, it would promise to be a very interesting race. After the Lunch break, two semi finals where driven. Victory in Semi final B was for Poesen Bert, who drove a steady final and was very closely followed by Vandonck Erwin. Only a gap of half a second was between these drivers after a 15 minute race. Third place went to Van Calster Danny. Semi final A was won by Dutchmen Frank Baggen, who cruised to an easy victory, followed by Pollet Michel and Machon Gert.
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Round 2 of the Luxembourg 1/8th scale nationals was held this weekend on the fast LMCC track in Luxembourg. On Sunday it was dry but the track was a bit slippery after track repairing, so it was Dirk Richard who took the pole position in front of Jacques Libar and Jerome Hirtziger. The 30-minute main final saw the new Xray driver Jacques Libar cross the finishing line in first position, followed by Christophe Deliege with Mugen in 2nd an Jerome Hirtziger with Capricorn in 3rd.
Source: LMCC [lmcc.lu]
Team C Racing, better known for their offroad cars have announced they are releasing a 190mm EP touring car. Showing only the first photo of the car and no further information, from looking at the image, it seems like a pretty standard affair, with dual crank steering, floating servo mount etc. More details as we get them.
View another image of the TC here
Last weekend round 3 of the Swiss championship headed to the wonderful Lostallo track in the south of Switzerland. The weather forecast was perfect with about 30 degrees on the whole weekend and because of this most of the 80 competitors already arrived on Thursday to avail of the perfect conditions. Once again the track was driven in the opposite direction from the Worlds in 2009. Qualification was run under extremely hot conditions and so the last round when it was colder would be crucial for deciding the TQ. Simon Kurzbuch had a really perfect round and had an gap from more than 4 seconds.
Continue reading the report here
Italian brand Futura 2012 have released their latest product line, Futura Tires. In cooperation with a premium Italian manufacturer they have created this new line of on-road foam tires. Offering excellent grip combined with low tire wear the 1/8 scale tires fit on Shepherd, Mugen, Capricorn, Kyosho and Serpent OS2 adapters, while the 1/10 scale rims have 0mm off-set. The complete range will be available with two types of rims, light yellow and carbon. Available now.
Source: Futura [tyreadditive.com]
The Nordic championship is a yearly race with drivers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland attending. This year Denmark was supposed to arrange the meeting, but after a while Norway got the event, with the Oslo Modellbilklubb hosting it. The event was supposed to be a 2 day event with qualifying on Saturday and finals on Sunday. But with the weather that was showing, and the usual Norwegian weather, everybody agreed to make it a 1 day event. After practice Thomas Holmesland was fastest and set the pace for the event. In the first qualifying heat both Oskar Fjeld and Joakim Nicolaisen was driving incredible fast, and with no errors being done Joakim set a good qualification round. This was his TQ run.
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Team Grid have released what they claim is the most sensitive wheel balancer for touring cars. Touring car wheels are much lighter than off-road wheels and can benefit from even more precise balancing and the BalancePro Zero is the tool that can deliver the extra racing edge needed for modern touring cars. It uses a true parallel twin blade knife-edge balancing system to provide Zero friction balancing on its continuous contact area, that no other ball bearing based system can offer. Even balanced wheels from a bearing based balancer may still appear unbalanced on the BalancePro Zero. Ultra sensitive it can level perfectly on any surface on its three adjustable legs with the aid of a bubble level. Its balance rod is precision ground with an ultra light weight Delrin hub adapter and a finger guard to ensure total safety.
View another image of the system here
