Red RC » Eoghain O Briain

September 1, 2013

Atsushi Hara takes FEMCA ISTC title

Atsushu Hara takes FEMCA ISTC title

Following the 1/8th Offroad FEMCA Championships in Fengtai, China, attention turned to the ISTC portion of the championships which is held on the outdoor asphalt track on the opposite side of the softball stadium to the buggy track. In the modified class attention was on Atsushi Hara, who was driving a Tamiya, to see if he could pull off the double having taken the buggy title a few days previously. Following free practice there was 5 rounds of qualifying in which Hara stamped his authority on the event buy taken the TQ spot for the triple mains in front of Wang Hai Feng driving a TOP in 2nd and Chan Chau Man in 3rd for Xray. In the finals it was Hara who took the win in A1 but a problem in A2 meant he didn’t finish and so Chau Man took the win ahead of Feng and Samuel Chiu in 3rd. Hara would win again in A3 to secure the overall while Chau Man would take 2nd overall with Feng rounding out the podium in 3rd. In the Stock class it was victory for Chan Kalok, with the top 3 after qualifying not changing order meaning Bilguunbaater Erdenbaater was 2nd and Lai Bin 3rd.

View the Stock podium here

September 1, 2013

Yokomo B-Max4 III – More details

Yokomo B-Max4 III - More details

Having just released two photos of their new B-Max4 III chassis earlier in the week, Yokomo have now more details and images available. Confirming what we wrote previously the car has a newly designed aluminium main chassis and separate composite side plates for improved straight line stability and rapid cornering. This new configuration has done away with the need for a top deck which also helps with the ease of maintenance. The car also features a new gearbox, slipper drive unit, new wheels with a 12mm Hex and sports a lower centre of gravity for improved cornering.

View more chassis images here

September 1, 2013

Orlowski & Zambrzycki win Polish TC Nationals

This past Saturday saw the Polish Open 1:10 electric TC Championships run by the Polish Model Car Federation and hosted by ATA Racing Team at the well-known Polish Automobile Club race track in Warsaw, Poland. This time the weather was beautiful, sunny but not so hot and dry and the conditions at the sugared asphalt track were perfect. It was one day event, one controlled practice heat, then 4 round of qualifying and 3 finals. The TC Modified class was dominated young Team Durango driver Michal Orlowski. The new TC Junior European Champion did a perfect job at his home track in Warsaw / Poland winning all 4 qualifying heats and 3 final runs as well. In addition Michal established new track record driving the latest Team Durango DETC410 prototype car powered by SpeedPassion electrics. Second spot went to Piotr Okonski, Michal’s former Tamiya team mate, driving his Tamiya / Raceberry conversion TRF417x car with third spot going to Team Yokomo Poland driver Bartosz Pochopien.

Continue reading the report here

August 31, 2013

Avid caged diff thrust bearings

Associated and TLR owners can upgrade their diff with an Avid caged diff thrust bearing. The Avid caged bearings make working on your diff much easier, and you don’t have to stress out about losing one of those tiny thrust balls. You also won’t have to get your hands covered in black grease to build the thrust assembly. Avid offers 3 types of diff thrust for varying levels of cost, maintenance, and performance. Tungsten Carbide balls are more true in size and harder than steel, so they are smoother and last longer, but diff setting is still relatively easy. Ceramic balls are completely smooth and the hardest material they offer. This makes for the smoothest feeling, but the diff setting is the most narrow window of adjustment. Steel balls are the least expensive and easiest to set the diff. They do not stay smooth for as long as Tungsten Carbide or Ceramic so there is a small drop in performance for the lower price. Fits all B4.2, T4.2, SC10.2, SC10B and previous models along with TLR 22, 22T, 22 SCT.

Source: Avid [avidrc.com]

August 29, 2013

On the Grapevine – Beijing

After an enjoyable break from the skies, last week I returned to my travels with a journey that from the time I left my house in Ireland till the time I arrived at my other 2nd home (Hotel!!) ended up taking 27-hours. The reason for the long trip was because I was off to China where Red RC would cover its first FEMCA Championships. The event essentially crowns the champions of the Far East much like EFRA’s championships decide who is Europe’s No.1 driver and the ROAR Nationals determine who is top dog in the US/Canada. While FEMCA, which stands for Far East Model Car Association, has hosted the championships for many years across most of its 15 member countries, the 2013 1:8 Offroad event marked a very significant development for our sport in that it was the first sanctioned international r/c car event to take place in China. While pretty much every r/c car to hit a track around the world contains parts made in China, as a hobby r/c racing is almost non existent in a country that has a population of 1.4 billion people. Over the course of the week long event I got a very interesting insight into how that could all be about to change as the powers that be see potential in using r/c racing for the purpose of making education more interesting and interactive – something that can only be a win win situation for the growth of racing in potentially the biggest market in the world.

Continue reading On the Grapevine here

August 28, 2013

Video – FEMCA 1/8th Offroad Main Final

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSSRgNDN3KQ[/youtube]

Watch the full 1 hour A-main from the 2013 FEMCA 1/8th Offroad Championships that took place in Beijing, China last weekend, the country’s first international sanctioned race. It was Dani Choi from Korea who claimed the TQ spot but following the semi finals it was 2-time World Champion Atsushi Hara from Japan in his first race since leaving HPI, driving a Mugen, who would take the pole position. Watch to see how the whole race unfolds with commentary from Scotty Ernst.

August 27, 2013

One Track Mind?

One of the difficult things I often face when I talk about RC racing to my non-RC friends (yes, I do have those!) is explaining that we have different scales of car, electric and nitro powered, on road and off road…. Last time I checked there was something like a dozen reasonably distinct classes. And that’s before we even look at Stock or Modified variants of the same class.

Continue reading Oli’s column here

August 27, 2013

JConcepts JC Racing tires theme t-shirt

JConcepts has released a newly designed t-shirt based on the popular JC Racing tires theme. This new t-shirt sports a completely detailed front logo design including the popular JConcepts.net along with graffiti type ‘Racing Tires’ font. The image is based around the Dirt Nitro Challenge championship tire, the Metrix. The back of the shirt includes an even larger version of the front print identifying the elements that go into a successful race tire line. The shirts are made of a heavy-duty 50/50 Cotton/Polyester blend and are available in the usual range of sizes.

Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]