Team Associated Italy have announced the Team Associated International GP for the weekend of the 26th of March. Held at the Castelnuovo Scrivia outdoor facility the event will be held in Touring Modified, Touring Stock 13.5T, Touring Super Stock 13.5T, and Formula classes and it will also see workshops and a meet and greet with the AE Italy team. The race is open for everybody and entries can be made here.
Shepherd have announced the signing of Germany’s Thilo Tödtmann to their team. The former Capricorn factory driver has inked a long term contract to represent the Shepherd brand. A regular ENS and Euros A-finalist and former EFRA Euro-B champion, Thilo will campaign the Velox V10 “WC” 200mm platform while also running the Velox F1 at selected events. Thilo says:
First of all I want to thank Patrizio Rossi from Capricorn for his support and help during the last 2 1/2 years on and off the racetrack. He is a well known character and I improved my racing and my knowledge during that time. Nevertheless I felt it was time for a change and now I am very excited to rejoin Team Shepherd. Racing and learning in such a strong team with a great history of inventing, development and design is a opportunity which I take gratefully.
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
Capricorn have introduced the new ONE 2.1cc nitro touring car engine. Making use of the latest nitro engine technology the powerplant features a double balanced, silicone-filled crankshaft that received a special DLC treatment in order to improve its durability. Furthermore the engine is equipped with front and rear ceramic ball bearings, it is assembled using thoroughly selected parts and its crankshaft, crankcase and sleeve are hand tuned. Offered in very limited quantities, the 3-port ONE engine is only sold in a pre-run version to assure the customer that the breaking-in process has been carried out in the best possible way.
Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]
HB Racing have finally officially revealed all details of the D817 1/8th scale nitro buggy. The pre-production D817 buggy snatched the 2016 IFMAR World Championship title in the hands of Sweden’s David Ronnefalk and it is up for grabs for everyone else now. The buggy comes with a long wheelbase chassis with the chassis’s outer shape has been revised compared to the 815 as it is now symmetrical left-to-right. The steel rear skid plate has been removed for lighter weight and a revised D-Mount works in conjunction with the new chassis, and has added material at the bottom for longer wear. 3.0 degree toe-in is the standard D-mount in the kit, and optional D-mounts now come in finer 0.25 degree increments with 2.75, 3.00, 3.25, and 3.50 variants available. The rear hub geometry has evolved to allow a lower axle height and the camber link location hole pattern to be shifted higher and allows for a longer rear link. The settings that worked on the D815 car can still be replicated but HB Racing removed the unused settings and added new ones. This rear hub is the same standard hub that comes on the E817. The buggy is also equipped with universal drive shafts for improved bumpy track performance and for ease of maintenance but the CVA shafts from the D815 are still compatible with the D817. New body mounts that are made of tougher material are included and virtually all of the tuning parts available for the D815 are still compatible with the D817.
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Modelix Racing have welcomed French frontrunner, Yannick Aigoin to their world-wide team. The Xray factory driver is backed by multiple national and international titles and he already used Ultimate Racing engines in the past, but the former Pro-Line driver will now also roll on Procircuit tyres while also helping with research and development of upcoming products.
Source: Modelix Racing [modelixracing.com]
German brand VIP Performance has released first images of their forthcoming VTE 235mm Pro10 kit. Based off of the championship-winning Vorlon, the VTE will feature a new thinner main chassis plate with side rails, it will utilise a 4mm lower V-link geometry and 2mm lower side links. To this add a new upper damper plate, a floating servo mount, a redesigned top deck for less tweak as well as new side wings. The car is meant to be lighter, it offers improved cornerspeed due to the optimised chassis stiffness and it will generate more traction for low grip conditions. The wider pod kit and HD bumper will also be part of the kit that is set for a release this Spring.
Italian Alpha distributor Planet Racing has announced the signing of Italian off-road frontrunner, Walter Floris to the Alpha Power racing team for the 2017 season. Walter and his mechanics will take part at all major national events while also giving support to Alpha customers and to the growing Italian team.
Source: Planet Racing [alpha-rc.it]
RPM have introduced an ESC cage for the Traxxas XL-5 and XL-10 speed controllers. The design eliminates the use of the two undersized mounting tabs on the ESC in favour of a complete cage system that solidly locks the speedo in place. By completely surrounding and capturing the controller’s case, damage from broken tabs and ejection from the vehicle has been completely eliminated. The works even if one or both mounting tabs have already been broken or cut off and the cage is made of black or blue colour engineering grade nylons.
