Red RC » Eoghain O Briain

August 18, 2013

Alessio Mazzeo is 1/10th European Champion

The 1/10th 200mm ‘A’ Euros were held this weekend at the Stohr Ring near Kirchberg in Austria with 89 drivers in attendance. Practice would take place under changeable weather conditions with heavy rain stopping running a number of times but qualifying and the finals were all run under sunny dry conditions. Qualifying would go the way of newly crowned 1/8th European Champion Jilles Groskamp with his Shepherd, narrowly beating out Eric Dankel (Capricorn) with Dominic Greiner (Serpent), Toni Gruber (Serpent), Dario Balestri (KM) and Alessio Mazzeo (Serpent) completing the top 6, separated by only 1 second.

Continue reading the report here

August 16, 2013

Atsushi Hara leaves HPI/HB Racing

Atsushi Hara leaves HB/HPI Racing

Two-time World Champion Atsushi Hara has announced that he has left long time main sponsor HPI/HB Racing following 13 years with the team. Widely regarded by many as the best all round driver in the history of the sport, the 2 world titles in both touring car (2000) and 1/8th offroad (2008) are just the highlights of a very successful career which has included countless podiums in all the major classes both onroad & offroad at World, International and National level. The decision to part company with HPI was mutual and for now the Japanese ace has yet to make any decision on a replacement chassis sponsor. We chatted with Atsushi some weeks back, when he flew to Slovakia for the ETS Finale, and he hinted back then that something was about to change.

Read Hara’s full statement here (in English & Japanese)

August 13, 2013

Driving Sponsorship Forward

When I began racing in the late 1990’s, the racing scene was (as you’d expect!) very different from what it is today. One of the biggest differences I’ve seen has been the evolution of supported and sponsored drivers. Back then, I wasn’t aware of any “full time” drivers. There were a number who worked for a manufacturer or distributor, and sponsorship was something that drivers aspired to achieve. Outside of the top echelon of drivers, someone may have been fortunate to get a bit of money off with their local model shop, but that was usually the best you could hope for.

Continue reading Oli’s column here

August 11, 2013

TA 5th Annual Gas Championships – Announcement

TA 5th Annual Gas Championships - Announcement

Thunder Alley have announced their 5th Annual Gas Championships held from September 21st to 22nd. With a unique format, which features heads up qualifying, and an all new layout built by SiK Track Design / Levi Jackson, racers can expect lots of track time thanks to the capped 180 racer entry. Open to a multitude of 1/8th offroad classes, sign up is now open with more details here.

August 10, 2013

2013-2014 Essex Winter Series – Announcement

2013-2014 Essex Winter Series - Announcement

Oli Meggitt and the Essex Winter Series (EWS) Organising Team are proud to announce that the series will be returning for its third season later this year. The EWS is one of the largest and most popular Touring Car championships in the UK and last year was fully booked for every round of the series. Building on that success, the organisers have opted to change little of their proven format. The Championship is well known for its relaxed, yet competitive atmosphere and will again consist of 6 one-day meetings, held between October 2013 and March 2014. The racing will take place at Deanes Sports Centre in South-East Essex, on one of the largest carpet tracks in the world, a massive 35×22 metres. The fully heating pitting area is well lit and mains power is available for all competitors.

View more details here

August 5, 2013

Ronald Volker claims 2013 European TC title

The EFRA 1/10th scale touring car European Championships was held this week in Portugal attracting 60 drivers. Qualifying started and it all looked familiar at the top with Yokomo driver Ronald Volker dominating the first two Heats as he TQ’d both, but on Saturday morning Alexander Hagberg showed that somehow Team Xray has found the way to reduce the gap from Ronald’s pace and took the 3rd round. Now all was to be decided until the last round, since Hagberg had the best 21 Laps time. In the end Ronald didn’t fail and TQ’d the last 2 heats and was declared the TQ of the race. Looking at the timesheets, the expectation for some very tight racing in the finals surrounded the pits.

Continue reading the report here

August 4, 2013

Naoto Matsukura retains JMRCA touring car title

The 2013 JMRCA Touring Car National Championships were held this weekend at the Wangan Circuit under rain affected conditions. Qualifying would go the way of Yokomo super star Naoto Matsukura just beating out team mate Hayato Matsuzaki who put in a stellar performance following a year off racing. Tamiya team driver Akio Sobue rounded out the top 3 with Nagashima 4th and Thai driver Meen Vejrak in 5th. In the finals it was a close affair in Leg 1 with the top 3 covered by 3 seconds with Naoto winning from Hayato with Akio 3rd. The second leg was a repeat for Yokomo pairing, Naoto taking the win and wrapping up the overall title with Meen V taking 3rd. Leg 3 was a repeat of the first leg with Sobue taking 3rd to wrap up the final podium position behind Matsuzaki with 2nd overall and Matsukura in 1st, the 3-time World Champion taking his 3rd consecutive National touring car title.

Source: Yokomo [teamyokomo.com]

August 3, 2013

Arrowmax aluminium set-up wheels

Arrowmax has released of the new CNC-machined premium-quality aluminium set-up wheels for electric and nitro 1/10 touring cars. Laser engraved with the Arrowmax logo and arrow pattern they offer precise and repeatable set-up adjustment and tweak correction. Sold in a complete set of 4.

Source: Arrowmax [arrowmax-rc.com]