T-Works have introduced captured 5.8mm ball ends for Kyosho’s Optima re-release buggy. Made from high-quality spring steel and coming with a brownish surface finish the ball ends also sport a conical upper section that prevents the ball cup from popping off of the ball end under high stress or heavy loads. The ball ends are ideal for the upper camber links, the steering links and also the lower shock mounts.
The third round of the Czech 1/10th Buggy Nationals was held at the big astroturf track in Potstejn. Heavy rain kept most of the drivers from attending the free practice on Friday and even on Saturday morning the track was rain soaked but every driver tried to get at least a couple of laps in. In the 2WD qualifiers Marek Schiller would take the TQ from Kaja Novotny, who suffered from unusual mistakes. In the 4WD class Kaja then went on to win Q2 and Q3 for the overall TQ.
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Over 190 drivers arrived to contest the second round of the Australian National Championship in Brisbane with two classes consisting of Buggy and Truggy were to be contested over the four days. Due to the change in the schedule the Buggy final was to be run first. The top 3 of McBride, Stringer and Laughton cleared out very quickly from the pack with the lead changing frequently in the first 10 minutes. A failed clutch bearing saw Laughton out at the 11-minute mark which left Aaron and Kyle to battle it out. McBride had a tire come loose which forced a tire change, which was done in record time by his dad Scott, and saw Kyle out only 12 seconds down. A thrilling race then developed between Stringer and McBride. At the end Aaron Stringer missed the last lap by 0.9 of a second giving him second for Buggy behind winner Kyle McBride with Mitch Mcallen coming in third.
Arrowmax have introduced their new foldable aluminium pit lamp. Fully CNC-machined and made using high-quality aluminium the lamp weighs in at only 260g while measuring a compact 200x65x10mm when folded. Fully extended the lamp is up to 360mm high, perfect to brighten up pit tables and work spaces. An included wall mount makes for an even more secure stand. The lamp is rechargeable using the integrated USB port and it comes with a protective pouch.
Coming from Tresrey are two new LCG LiPo battery packs. Available as 5800mAh 80C variant, weighing in at 257g and even lighter 4200mAh 50C pack, weighing in at 230g, both packs are made of high performance LiPo cells that offer a high amount of robustness compared to conventional packs while delivering more power at the same time. Both packs are of standard 139x47mm dimensions with the lower height of 22.6mm, compared to standard 25.1mm packs, making for an overall lower centre of gravity of the car.
The Pitkämäki RC-Circuit in Vaasa, Finland played host to the 2016 Buggy Nordic Championships and the combined second round of the Finnish nationals. Considered to be the sunniest city of Finland, things were a bit different this weekend as rain postponed the start of the controlled practice and qualifiers on Saturday. At the end only the opening qualifier for both the 2WD and 4WD classes could be held. Sunday started off with more drizzle and moist weather. A muddy second round of qualifiers was interrupted by light rain and after another delay, round three started in dry weather conditions. The TQ in the 2WD class went to Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen who won two of the three qualifiers with a clear margin on his competitors. Joel Valander would come in second while Karri Salmela rounded out the top 3 result.
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The second round of the Swedish 1/8th Off-road Cup was held this past weekend. HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk would take the TQ in the 1/8th Nitro Buggy class and he would continue to dominate in the 45-minute main final by bringing home the win almost two laps in front of Markus Sandberg (Mugen). Kyosho’s Jessica Palsson would complete the podium result in third, another lap down.
Image: David Ronnefalk
Coming soon from Tamiya is the TG10-Mk.2 FN 190mm 1/10th 4WD nitro chassis kit. The car builds on a 3mm aluminium chassis with composite upper deck and it was designed to utilise standard 190mm touring car bodyshells thanks to more narrow suspension components compared to the standard TG10. The car’s shaft-driven drivetrain is equipped with front and gear gear differentials and the kit makes use of front and rear CVA shock absorbers as well as a front double wishbone suspension. Included is also the 2.1cc FS-12FN glow engine with tapered sliding carburettor, die-cast cooling head and TM-4 exhaust.
