Red RC » Eoghain O Briain

September 25, 2017

Akio Sobue takes CETC title with A2 win

During the past 6 months, visiting 4 of the best racing tracks within China, the CETC presented by Infinity has crowned its first Champion with Akio Sobue taking the title at Twin RC Speedway in Hong Kong. In the second round of finals the Infinity factory driver recovered from being passed early in the race by Yokomo factory driver Nicholas Lee to take the title with one round of finals to spare. Using old tires Naoto Matsukura did not pose a threat to Sobue, and only 1.3 seconds ahead of Awesomatix driver Rocket Zhang would finish in 2nd place. Leading the race for the first 3 minutes until a coming together with Sobue, Nicholas Lee would end up on his roof after the Japanese driver made a pass on him. Returning to the track the Singaporean ace could only come back to 4th place, 0.38 seconds behind Rocket Zhang. The two Serpent factory drivers Stick King and Felix Law ended the race in 5th and 6th, with Fai Ho just behind in 7th.

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September 25, 2017

Akio Sobue cruises to A1 win in Hong Kong

The first round of finals at the season finale of the CETC presented by Infinity at Twin RC Speedway has just finished and it was Infinity factory driver Akio Sobue who took full advantage of a crash between 2nd place starter Nicholas Lee and Naoto Matsukura which set of a chain reaction of crashes that affected most of the chasing pack. So without any pressure the Japanese ace won the race with ease and is now only one step away from taking the inaugural CETC season title. Sobue’s team mate Matsukura recovered after the clash with Lee and would finish the race in 2nd place. The first lap incident caused a body tuck for Nicholas Lee, making the start of his race a nightmare, however he kept pushing and would end up in 3rd. Behind the 3 international racers the remaining drivers were involved in an intense battle. Awesomatix driver Rocket Zhang was able to pass Xpress driver Hay 4 laps before the end of the race and took the 4th place with a 1.3 second gap over Hay. Serpent factory driver Felix Law was another 0.4 seconds behind and classified 6th.

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September 23, 2017

Nicholas Lee takes eventful Q1 in Hong Kong

The CETC presented by Infinity finally made it to the first round of qualifying following earlier delays that forced it to be run under flood lights. With an incident filled opening round, Yokomo factory driver Nicholas Lee put in a very stable performance and had a brilliant finish to be able to come out on top in Q1, in front of the very strong Infinity team. Former World Champion Naoto Matsukura, who effectively lost out on the final lap by 0.198 seconds, had to settle for 2nd place for the round. The super fast Infinity driver Akio Sobue led the race early on but made a huge mistake as the race reached the halfway point dropping him to 4th place, but was able to recover to take third. In the 2nd last group, Awesomatix driver Rocket Zhang and Xpress driver Hay would end 4th and 5th overall in what was also an incident packed heat. ARC driver Patrick Chau ended 6th, followed by Hong Kong veteran Fai Ho.

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September 23, 2017

Akio Sobue is top seed in Hong Kong for CETC Rd4

The season finale of the 2017 CETC presented by Infinity is taking place this weekend at Twin RC Speedway in Hong Kong. With rain delaying the start of the action on Saturday for more than two and half hours, free practice was once again interrupted by some light rain lasting only a few minutes, however the track dried up quickly thanks to the high temperature and sunshine and so the race was able to continue soon after. After two rounds of controlled practice it was Infinity factory driver Akio Sobue who drew first blood. With tire strategy in mind the likeable Japanese driver only took part in the 2nd round of controlled practice and only ran 3 laps to set a 42.350, which was the fastest 3 consecutive laps to take the top spot in the ranking. Akio’s team mate Naoto Matsukura was just 0.26 seconds further back while Yokomo factory driver Nicholas Lee also played the tire conservation game by only running the first round of controlled practice and posting a 43.433, ending up in 3rd. New ARC signing Patrick Chau was 0.5 seconds behind in 4th and was the fastest local Hong Kong driver. Xray youngster Lau Ming Hao was a further 0.05 seconds back and ranked 5th ahead of the factory Serpent pairing of Stick King and Felix Law in 6th and 7th. Local Hong Kong youngsters Fong King and Lolo Sam impressed in 8th and 10th respectively, split by local veteran Fai Ho in 9th.

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September 18, 2017

Video – IFMAR 1/8th Onroad Worlds Main Final

All the action from the intense and hard fought 60-minute Main Final at the 2017 IFMAR 1/8th Onroad World Championships in Monteux, France. With race commentary from the great Oli Meggitt.

September 18, 2017

Balestri finally gets deserved World title

Dario Balestri is finally a World Champion. One of nitro racing’s unquestionably fastest & most talented drivers, the Italian delivered a long overdue victory at the 21st running of the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in Monteux, France. Top Qualifier for the 1-hour main, the Infinity driver would waste that opportunity with a very bad start from pole that saw him swallowed up by the pack and off onto the grass. Rejoining a distant last, while new team-mate Naoto Matsukura led from the defending champion Simon Kurzbuch, Balestri set about his recovery eventually going to the front when Matsukura, who he had in his sights, hit trouble. With Matsukura’s championship debut ending with a P8 DNF, it was Kurzbuch who would finish runner-up, 5-seconds back after an hour of intense racing. While not the result the Shepherd driver was after it does complete an impressive run of three consecutive 1:8 World Championship podium finishes. Claiming the final step on the podium would be Shoki Takahata, the Mugen driver having a good recovery after an incident with 2015 runner-up Takaaki Shimo cost him a lot of time due to a tucked body.

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September 16, 2017

Kurzbuch set to defend title after Semi win

Simon Kurzbuch is set to defend his World title this evening in France, the Shepherd driver winning his Semi Final to progress to the 1-hour final that will decide the winner of the 21st running of 1:8 Onroad World Championships. Starting from pole in the second of the Semi encounters have lost out on the TQ to Dario Balestri and the Super Pole to Naoto Matsukura, Kurzbuch would win the 30-minute encounter from Jilles Groskamp and Silvio Hachler with the fastest race time to secure 3rd on the grid. Winner of the first Semi ahead of fellow Japanese driver Shoki Takahata, Takaaki Shimo will line up third ahead with Takahata completing the top half of the grid ahead of Groskamp, Hachler, Alberto Picco, Alessio Mazzeo and Lars Hoppe. Coming into the event as one of the pre-event favourites along Kurzbuch and Balestri, there was cruel luck for Bruno Coelho. Starting from pole the Xray driver was in clear control of the race until he suffered a suspected partial engine seize at the end of the straight. While the engine fired back up in the pits he title hopes were done. Also suffering similar faith was former World Champion Adrien Bertin. With the large French crowd fully behind the HB driver, cheering loudly his every pass, he worked his way to the front leading for a time but with 8-minutes to go his engine stopped. A heartbreaking end to what was to be the veteran racers retirement from competitive racing.

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September 16, 2017

Semi final line-up complete for 21st WC

The 21st running of the 1:8 Onroad World Championships is down the final 22 drivers with the 1/4 finals completing the line up for the two Semi finals which will decide the 8 drivers to join Dario Balestri and Naoto Matsukura in the fight to become the World Champion. In the first of the 1/4 encounters it was JJ Wang who took the win ahead of Takaaki Shimo after the 2015 Vice Champion was given a penalty for bad refuelling. Behind them John Ermen was holding third but the ARC driver came under intense pressure from 2013 World Champion Tadahiko Sahashi in the final laps. With the Serpent driver all over the Dutchman the pair made contact at the final corner with Ermen ending up on the grass. While Ermen protested the result, after watching video footage of the pass officials deemed the result would stand with Sahashi progressing to the Semis.

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