Red RC » GRP

December 12, 2008

GRP Gandini NOT sold to Chinese investor

GRP Gandini sold to Chinese investor

According to Italian newspaper ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’, engine and tire manufacturer GRP Gandini has been sold to a Chinese investor. The move follows some financial difficulties for the competition brand following bad months for sales in September and October. This led to the investment bank wanting out and so the owners, Stefano and Maurizio Gandini, were forced by the banks to sell the concern, which they started in 1994. The sale, said to be in the region of six million euros dollars, leaves the former owners no longer at the helm of the company, but both will stay on as technical advisors. It not confirmed whether the production will move to China where the paper claims production costs will be 1/3rd of that in Europe. We have contacted GRP for comment and will add their response when we get it.

UPDATE (17:52): The Gandini brothers have issued a statement (automatic translation) on an Italian forum saying they have not been sold and the whole story was a HUGE misunderstanding by the journalist who wrote the piece.

UPDATE (18:18): GRP have directly sent us a statement which is published below… content

October 27, 2008

Drake tests new Losi/GRP truggy tires

Adam Drake dropped us a mail to say that last weekend the Losi driver did some extensive testing using the first sets of Losi / GRP Eclipse and Reptile tires for truggy together with production inserts. Adam was extremely happy with the tires and the lap times reflected this. Public release of the new truggy tires is expected for early December.

Click more to see the other pattern… content

April 17, 2008

GRP Truggy Extra Soft tires

Mirage Racing are promoting the new addition to the GRP Truggy line up, which has been boosted with the addition of the new Extra Soft compound Tyre. Tested to guarantee the best performance in every racing condition, for both competition and those drivers racing for fun.

Source: Mirage [mirageracing.com]

February 29, 2008

GRP Air Filter Line

GRP have announced their new line up of air filters for use on both on road and off road cars. First thing you will notice is that each air filter set is supplied in an orange plastic box, with the on road version supplied with 5 foam air filters and oil, while the buggy filter is supplied with 12 filters and 2 bottles of special oil. Made from high quality material, these parts are low priced as they are meant to be replaced often.

Click more to see the buggy filter set… content

February 19, 2008

GRP 1/8th scale Foam Tyres

For 2008 GRP 1/8th scale on road tyres have been completely renewed following on going research and tests made in co-operation with team drivers and major model manufacturers from this category. Improvements have been made to all elements of the finished tyre such as foam compound, rim, gluing and more, with the biggest single change coming from the company’s new automatic gluing system which eliminates all elastic tension inside the tyre’s structure, guaranteeing lots of grip and long durability. Also improved is the foam, which is made with a special process and then treated to improve grip and life, and all hardness shores are checked automatically to ensure consistency. Finally, new wheels have been made with a special plastic material, and together with a reinforced yet flexible structure, they ensure no reduction in performance in all temperatures.

Source: GRP [grpgandini.com]

February 7, 2008

Toy Fair – GRP Gandini

GRP Engines

The bright orange GRP stand was hard to miss and in it we were shown the new line of GRP engines, exhausts and accessories as well as the Italian manufacturers main stay of on and off road tires. What can you say new about the GRP engines that is not already known, similar to the previous Ninja, Falcon and Boss branded motors, the new motors are very different internally with different materials and configuration. As with the previous branded motors all GRP motors are sold in a very nice presentation box and both the sport and tined line are available in a promo pack that comes with a hat, pipe, keyring and the exhaust system.

Adam Drake to run GRP Engines

Losi have announced that 2007 ROAR National Champion Adam Drake will campaign Mario Rossi Tuned engines from GRP through to 2010. Drake joins Losi factory drivers Mike Truhe and Yannick Aigoin who have previously announced their commitment to running GRP Engines. With the addition of Drake to the GRP lineup, the potential of a Losi/GRP 1-2-3 finish at the IFMAR 1/8th World’s is now stronger than ever. Drake commented on the announcement:

First of all, I want to thank Trinity for their support over the past 9 years, they have been a very important part of my racing success. I’m really excited for this new opportunity to race GRP engines and joining Yannick and Mike to focus the efforts of the Losi/GRP combination toward the 2008 Worlds.

Adam added that his engines will be powered by Losi Nitrotane Performance Engineered Fuel in 2008. Nitrotane fueled numerous wins by Losi drivers in 2007, and Drake is looking forward to racing with the powerful combination of GRP Engines and Nitrotane Fuel starting at the Dirt Nitro Challenge later this month.

Source: Losi [losi.com]

February 1, 2008

GRP Engines Tooling system

GRP have released a new engine tooling line to ease all those routine operations that are essential for proper maintenance of any engine. All tools in the kit, which include a flywheel puller, bearing remover and a tool for removing the liner are made from steel and then treated and trued to guarantee maximum precision and durability. The use of these tools mean that all operations can be carried out with maximum simplicity and precision.

Click here to see the tools in use… content