Red RC » Eoghain O Briain

September 12, 2017

Kurzbuch comes good to top CP2

Reigning World Champion Simon Kurzbuch has hit the top of the time sheets for the first time in France as he set the pace in the second round of controlled practice. Starting Day 3 of the 21st running of the 1:8 Onroad World Championship with a confidence boosting time in the final free practice that left him P2 behind Dario Balestri, the Shepherd driver after struggling with windy conditions in CP1 adjusted his car perfectly for CP2 to set the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the afternoon run. Behind him it was his new for 2017 rival Bruno Coelho who was second fastest, the Xray driver also making improvements to his car after struggling in the the opening controlled practice. The first time an Infinity hasn’t filled the top spot on the time sheets, it was Naoto Matsukura who was their quickest driver setting the third fastest time despite crashing out of the 7-minute run. For free practice pace setter Dario Balestri a rear drive shaft failure in the warm-up would prevent him from taking the start of CP2, the Italian saying the drive shaft was due to for changing after the run.

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September 12, 2017

Davis fastest in opening controlled practice

Jesse Davis has set the fastest time in the opening round of controlled practice at the 1:8 Onroad World championships in France. The Infinity driver set the fastest 3-consecutive laps in difficult windy conditions ahead of team-mate Naoto Matsukura. Continuing to be the main challenger to the Infinity team reigning champion Simon Kurzbuch would take his Shepherd to the third fastest time ahead of free practice pace setter Dario Balestri. Two improvements for the round would be Francesco Tironi and Robert Pietsch who having been seeded in the second fastest group based on free practice times set the 5th & 6th times respectively.

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September 11, 2017

Balestri leads strong Infinity practice showing at Worlds

After 2 days of practice it is Dario Balestri who is fastest at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in France. The Italian led a 1,2,3 for Infinity setting the fastest 3-consecutive laps around the RC Circuit Jean Nougier track which drivers have unanimously described as difficult. With Balestri’s fastest time posted in yesterday’s fifth & final run, the main improvement of today came from reigning champion Simon Kurzbuch who would manage to break up the Infinity domination, them having held the Top 7 times for most of the day. Despite engine issues in the 9th round of free practice he would end his curtailed run with 3-laps that where good enough to put his Shepherd driver fourth fastest. The only other non Infinity drivers in the Top 10 would be new Mugen signing Syoki Takahata in 7th and Bruno Coelho who took his Xray to 9th.

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September 8, 2017

IFMAR 1/8th Nitro Onroad World Champs 2017 – Preview

The 1/8th Nitro Onroad World Championships has a certain special feel to it. As the oldest class in RC racing, the ‘formula one’ of our sport is a highly competitive class and the coveted title will be awarded for the twenty first time next week. After a slight lull in nitro on-road racing, the last few years have featured some exciting and close competition, with an interesting mix of drivers and manufacturers really bringing the class to life once again. I’ve had the opportunity to watch most of the teams throughout the last couple of years from my enviable position of overseeing the ENS championship, and that’s the experience I’ve drawn on to review the contenders and challengers for this year’s World title.

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August 21, 2017

Kurzbuch completes perfect weekend at ENS Austria

Simon Kurzbuch completed the perfect weekend at the penultimate round of the Euro Nitro Series in Austria. Having maintained 100% TQ record, the Shepherd driver pulled off his second win of the season ahead title rival Bruno Coelho. With Coelho running out of fuel during the 45-minute Aigen encounter, making things a lot easier for Kurzbuch to claimed his third ENS Austria win in a row, the result sets up a title showdown between the two great drivers for the season finale at Fiorano in Italy. Behind them Lars Hoppe would complete the podium ahead of a battling Jilles Groskamp, John Ermen and Robert Pietsch, the latter recovering from an early crash with Silvio Hächler.

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August 21, 2017

Coelho back on top with Aigen win

After his DNF in Germany, Bruno Coelho has moved back to the top of the Euro Nitro Series standings with a dominant 1:10 win at Round 3 of the championship in Austria. Taking his third TQ start of the season at Aigen, the Xray driver controlled the race from start to finish, even with his rivals getting a second chance after the first attempt at running the 45-minute encounter was stopped by a rain shower. In the first running, second place qualifier Leo Arnold would suffer a flame out while Thilo Tödtmann would lose drive due to a loose set screw. With cars struggling to make it around the track due to the passing shower, the race was stopped but having just failed to reach 25% distance it meant a complete rerun, luckily for Arnold and Tödtmann. After a wait to allow the track to dry, Coelho led the field away again and never looked back while behind Tödtmann made good use of his second life to secure second with Marco Kaufmann completing the podium as Arnold again had engine issues.

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August 18, 2017

Pietsch & Coelho post TQ runs in Austria

With the first official day of the Euro Nitro Series third round in Austria starting out looking like a Simon Kurzbuch affair, the second part of the day’s qualifying changed things up as Robert Pietsch and Bruno Coelho posted TQ runs to set the stage for a TQ shoot out tomorrow should the weather permit. Having taken Q1 and Q2, top seed Kurzbuch would make a rare driver error in the third round and Coelho would hit trouble also suffering a big crash while working his way through traffic. This left a much improved Pietsch to TQ ahead of Kurzbuch, Silvio Hächler and Dominic Greiner, Coelho ending up 10th. Suffering a bent chassis in the impact, Coelho would surprise nobody more than himself when due to a lack of time to fit a new one he would take his damaged car to a TQ run in the fastest time of the day. Finishing just 4/100ths of a second ahead of Kurzbuch, to deny him claiming an early TQ championship point, the result sets up a three way battle tomorrow to decide the Top Qualifier. With rain forecast for overnight and the morning, both the organisers and drivers are confident that the remaining two qualifiers can be run.

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August 18, 2017

Kurzbuch in control at ENS Austria as he takes Q1 & 2

Simon Kurzbuch remains in control at ENS Austria with the Shepherd driver taking the opening two rounds of qualifying. Having set the pace in practice at Aigen, the reigning champion would take both qualifier’s ahead of title rival Bruno Coelho, the Xray driver just 2/10ths of a second off in Q1 after hitting traffic late in the run. After a crash with Toni Gruber in Q1, Silvio Hächler completing the Top 3 of the opening qualifier, Robert Pietsch would have a better second attempt setting the third fastest time in Q2 ahead of Gruber, Hächler and Jilles Groskamp.

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