The Pan Am GT8 Grand Prix 2016 was held at the Homestead RC Raceway in Florida over the weekend in the three classes of GT Pro, GT Sportsman and GT Electric. The GT Pro class had Paolo Morganti taking the win in the 45 minute main final some two laps in front of Joaquin Desoto Jr., who took the TQ after the qualifiers. Fabrizio Martello completed the podium result in third while Uriah Murnan and Loran Whiting rounded out the top 5 result.
The RC Chili Bowl has quickly established itself as the premier dirt oval race in the nation with some referring it to the “Super Bowl of dirt oval racing”. It’s not just a race, but a unique event that has sparked the entire dirt oval racing community into a frenzy. With entry count nearing almost 300, the 2016 RC Chili Bowl was a showdown of the best dirt oval racers from around the nation gathering in Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete for the title of RC Chili Bowl Champion. Running parallel to the Chili Bowl National’s midget race in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the passion for oval racing is alive and going strong in the US.
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The 17th Annual The Dirt Nitro Challenge will be held from the 17th to 21st of February at the Fear Farm R/C Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. After last year’s record breaking attendance the organiser has decided to limit the entries, allowing to keep everything to a schedule and to also provide time to enjoy the other activities that make the race such a fun place to be. To limit the entries it is not allowed to sign-up for multiple skill leves. This means experts must only sigh up in the Expert class, sportsman must only sign up in Sportsman and so on. This will limit the number of entries, allowing the organiser to finish at a scheduled time. Beside the usual array of 1/8th and 1/10th classes the event will again see 1/5th scale racing in several 2WD and 4WD classes with the 2016 event awaiting the biggest large scale field so far. More information about the Nitro Challenge and the DNC5 as well as sign-up can be found here.
The Hudy Indoor Championships marked the first large carpet race of the year and it was held at Pro Level Raceway in St. Louis, MO, host of the upcoming ROAR Carpet Nationals. The format for the event was simple with Friday practice, Saturday qualifying and a last chance qualifier and finals on Sunday. Paul Lemieux controlled most of the Modified Touring qualifying and after a clean start in the final was able to pull a good lead on Chris Adams but Chris was not to be denied and came back in the end to finish a very close second, Cody Woods would have a great drive to come to third.
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Xray have introduced the 2016 version of the popular X10 1/10th scale 200mm pan car kit. The latest incarnation of Xray’s World GT car features and all-new chassis design with a very narrow carbon fibre main chassis place cut from 2.5mm material. The 2016 kit does away with the wide design of the former cars in favour of a very narrow chassis that minimises scrubbing on high-traction tracks or in high-speed corners. As a result the car also handles much better over bumps and it incorporates mounting holes for a long centre shock position which further increases on-power traction and drivability over bumps.
New from Fenix comes the PhiGamma2 formula bodyshell. Designed using 3D CAD techniques with CFD validation the body offers improved aerodynamics for optimised steering response especially on typical electric circuits while retaining a stable rear end. As usual the body comes made from clear high-quality polycarbonate and it fits most of today’s 1/10th formula pan cars.
Source: Fenix [fenix-racing.com]
Italian company Picco introduced their new Torque .21 EM-Otto CER nitro on-road engine. Based on the EMX-WC, the engine was specially designed for 16 percent nitro fuel and it features an all-new crankcase with a new carburettor position that is 5mm lower than standard for increased mileage, power and RPM. Additionally the engine features a new 8-port sleeve for improved top speed as well as a CNC-machined Billet piston, a knife edged conrod, a balanced 14mm Turbo crankshaft with silicone insert and a 14mm Swiss-made ceramic main bearing. The package is rounded out by a super-lightweight cooling head and a set of 8mm and 9mm venturi inserts.
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Yokomo have released new front suspension mounts for the BD7-2016 electric touring car. Used already by the factory team at events such as the AOC, ETS and DHI Cup with great success, the front FR suspension mounts are available in 42.7mm and 43.5mm configuration and they improve the steering response as well as optimise the flex characteristics to achieve higher corner speeds. The blocks are best used in medium to high-bite conditions.
Source: Yokomo [teamyokomo.com]
