Red RC » Oisin O’Briain

March 27, 2017

Infinity 1-2 at CETC opening race

After two very busy days of racing, the opening round of the CETC presented by Infinity has come to an end. The Infinity team of Sobue and Matsukura has achieved the best possible result against some very tough competition taking a 1-2 in the modified class. Having sewn up the race win early, Sobue decided to stand and watch A3 from the drivers stand and cheer on his team mate and good friend Matsukura and the former World Champion didn’t disappoint with a blistering run to record the only 28 lap run of the entire event to finish up the event in Guangzhou in the best possible way. Serpent factory driver Viktor Wilck also had a great run in A3 taking 2nd place again and securing himself the final spot on the podium. Having almost collided earlier in the race, while running 2nd and 3rd, Yokomo team mates Naoki Akiyama and Nicolas Lee eventually touched just as the race passed halfway, the accident giving Wilck the chance to get by and dropping the Yokomo drivers to 3rd and 4th which meant Yokomo would miss out on the podium.

Continue reading this report here of view the full event coverage here.

March 26, 2017

Akio Sobue becomes first ever CETC Top Qualifier

The fourth and final round of qualifying saw Akio Sobue successfully take the first CETC overall TQ honour in the Infinity Modified class, the Worlds Finalist quickly setting off from the grid and never looking back. Right behind him Naoki Akiyama crossed the finish line 1.4 seconds later to take 2nd place for the round and secure 2nd overall on the grid. Newly signed Sunpadow driver Naoto Matsukura showed good pace again with only one mistake, the Japanese driver took 3rd place this round and with 1 point less than Akiyama will start 3rd overall. ‘Using old tires’ Nicolas Lee wasn’t competitive and could only take 5th for the round and 4th overall while Viktor Wilck’s quest for the TQ was over after retiring following a traction roll and so he would claim 5th on the grid for the triple A-mains.

Continue reading this report here of view the full event coverage here.

March 25, 2017

Naoki Akiyama ends Day 1 of CETC with TQ run

The first day of the opening round of the CETC presented by Infinity has just come to an end with the conclusion of the 2nd round of qualifying and it was Yokomo driver Naoki Akiyama who successfully hit back by taking Q2 with ease, the top heat seeing a lot of mistakes. After the young Japanese driver it was Serpent ace Viktor Wilck who took 2nd place, both drivers benefiting from consistent driving. Missing out on 27 laps by 0.07 seconds Viktor was just behind Akiyama by little over a second. Sitting in the lead for the first minute Akio Sobue could not hold his Infinity car on the driving line and although he made two serious mistakes the Japanese driver could still come back from 7th place to finish 3rd. Thinking himself ‘lucky’ Japanese National Champion got 4th place for the round, humbly stating that many people made a mistake, while Infinity driver Naoto Matsukura and Xpress driver Hay Lai again completed the top 6. Sitting in 2nd place for the first minute and half, Xray driver Gary Huang retired after 2 mistakes.

Continue reading this report here of view the full event coverage here.

March 25, 2017

Akio Sobue takes Q1 at CETC

Infinity team driver Akio Sobue continued to stamp his authority on the opening round of the 2017 CETC presented by Infinity, taking Q1 with ease. With his heat underway this Worlds finalist showed really pace putting in a very consistent run to finish 5 seconds ahead of young Yokomo driver Naoki Akiyama, to back up his pace from controlled practice. Akiyama and team mate Nicholas Lee got 2nd and 3rd for the round respectively with the pair separated by 0.7 seconds, the top 3 drivers all getting 27 laps. Although close to the Yokomo pairing during the middle of the run, two late mistakes dropped Gary Huang back to finish 4th, just missing 27 laps by 3 seconds. Just like Huang, former WC Naoto Matsukura had a number of mistakes which saw him finish the run 2 seconds back on the Chinese National Champion. Behind Matsukura was top Hong Kong driver Hay Lai, driving the all new Xpress chassis, with Xray driver Lao Minhao in the 2nd group completing the top 6.

Continue reading this report here of view the full event coverage here.

March 16, 2017

Orlowski targets first EOS title at Arena33

The Euro Offroad Series makes its second trip of the season to Germany this weekend (March 17-19) with the all new Arena 33 the venue for the penultimate round of the championship. With three of the expanded five round calendar to count, both Michal Orlowski and Bruno Coelho will be targeting wrapping up the Season #6 titles. Completing back to back victories in 2WD last time out at the Hudy Arena, a third consecutive win in Andernach would bring Orlowski and Schumacher their first EOS title and end Yokomo’s three year reign as champions of electric offroad’s premiere class.

Continue reading preview here

March 6, 2017

ENS chooses single tyre partner for Season #4

The Euro Nitro Series is pleased to announce that for its upcoming fourth season it will switch to a single tyre partner for all four rounds of the championship. With 2016 another growth year for the high profile onroad nitro championship, the number of drivers registering points at the end of the third season breaking the 300 mark, feedback highlighted a desire among racers for the ENS to switch to a single brand of tyre for the entire season. Also taking onboard racers’ experiences of previous seasons, tyre quality was identified as the No.1 priority for drivers and reacting to this the ENS has agreed a partnership with Matrix for 2017. The Italian tyre manufacturer supplied the tyres for the very first ENS race in 2014 and has provided tyres for a race each season since. Apart from the single tyre brand creating a level of familiarity for drivers another key benefit is that racers can carry sets of tyres through for practice at the following round.

Continue reading announcement here

February 23, 2017

Coelho out to extend ETS advantage in Germany

The Yokomo Euro Touring Series moves to Muelheim-Kaerlich in Germany this weekend (24-26 Feb) with Bruno Coelho looking to extend the championship lead he established after taking the TQ & win at the Season #10 opener in the Czech Republic in December. Riding on a high from his TITC win in Thailand last weekend where he fought off intense pressure from former ETS Champion Jilles Groskamp in A3 to secure overall victory, Coelho’s mindset for the resumption of the ETS will also be boosted by the fact that the Round 2 venue is where the Xray driver took a breakthrough first win on carpet last year. That weekend would prove a strong one for Xray with team-mate Alexander Hagberg, a previous winner of the event, making it a 1-2 for the Slovakian manufacturer but their rivals will be determined to prevent such celebrations this time round.

Continue reading preview here

February 5, 2017

Martin wins hectic A2 as Xray dominance derails

Lee Martin came out the winner of a hectic second A-Main of 4WD at the Euro Offroad Series after the three Xrays starting up front all crashed out to retire with broken cars. With the Xray dominance coming to an end on the first lap, that would set up a race between Joern Neumann, Michal Orlowski and Martin but it was the latter that would hold on for the surprise win. With Coelho coming under pressure from team-mate Bayer, the pair would trip up at the left side double double with Neumann finding a way to the front but in the first run down the straight Coelho would rear end the Serpent sending both cars flying off the track. While Neumann would continue, Coelho broke a rear camber link and was out. In all the chaos this set off, it was Orlowski from 8th on the grid who led the way for 3-laps until a mistake that allowed Martin through. Coming under pressure from a recovering Neumann, the Yokomo driver would spin on the landing of the double after the straight but instead of capitalising on the error Neumann would also get it wrong giving back 2nd to Orlowski with this how they would finish the race.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.