February 6, 2008

Toy Fair – Team Orion

Team Orion 5300

Alongside its new parent company Kyosho, Swiss manufacturer Team Orion was present and on the stand were a number of new and interesting items and I was lucky enough to have Oscar Jansen run me through the good stuff. First up are these 5300SHO cells, which have an amazing capacity combined with a very safe cell, while for the US Market there are some new ROAR legal 4600SHO cells. Team Orion were also happy to inform me that there range of LiPos had been approved by ROAR.

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February 6, 2008

Toy Fair – Schumacher Racing

Toy Fair - Schumacher & CS Electronic

So we are here at this years fair on setup day and we have had a look around, first coming to the Schumacher booth and try as we might, we couldnt get to see the new Schumacher buggy. A closely guarded secret, the buggy was present but was only to be shown to key distributors at the show. We were told previously that we would get to see it but we asked again and were once more told ‘No’. The stand did feature a large poster for the new car which reveals the name to be the CAT SX and it should be available around May.

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February 5, 2008

Serpent S500, S120 and S240

Serpent S500, S120 and S240
^ Click for larger image

Serpent have announced that they will release 3 new electric powered cars at this week Nuremberg toy fair, which Red RC will be covering live from the Show floor. To be shown at the fair is the new S500 4wd buggy, the S120 1/12th scale pan car and finally the S240 1/24th scale pan car. The Serpent booth will contain all the company’s usual products as well including the 08 versions of the 720 and 960 as well as the S400 and F180.

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February 5, 2008

Jon Hazlewood joins Team Losi

Jon Hazlewood joins Team Losi

Horizon Hobby in the UK are delighted to announced that top off road racer Jon Hazlewood has joined their team to race Losi and Spektrum for 2008. He will be using the new Spektrum DX3R, Losi 8ight and 8ight-T at all events of his choice along with this years Euros and the all important World Championships. Jon brings with him his long standing pit man Jon Dell, years of experience and an amazing dedication to his racing and leaves behind a team who have supported him over the past few years and Jon had this to say.

I am leaving a very hard working team who have given me great support, but I feel it is now time for a change and some new challenges. Losi have proven over the years that no matter what class of racing they participate in they dedicate their resources until they succeed and I want to be a part of their plans. During 2007 I watched how fast the car was and the excellent level of trackside support that Horizon UK were providing. I am delighted that I am now part of the team and incredibly excited at the prospect of driving the cars this year.

Source: Horizon Hobby [horizonhobby.co.uk]


February 5, 2008

Team Magic 1/8 Concept Car

Team Magic 1/8 Concept Car

Team Magic have released details about their new 1/8th scale circuit Concept car. Still in its prototyping phase, the car still sports many white proto parts and is sure to have some final tweaks and small design changes before the car hits the market. Yet to be named, this new competition racer features lightweight precision made bulkheads & mount, quick release front and rear axles, quick release 2 speed system as well as many features you would expect from a 1/8th scale chassis.

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February 4, 2008

Michael Salven to use Merlin Fuel

Michael Salven to use Merlin Fuel

Merlin Fuel have announced that German racer, and Serpent chief designer, Michael Salven will contest this season using their products. Michael has been 4 time European Champion, 2 time World Champion and has won lots of National titles in both 1:10th and 1:8th scale, which makes him one of the most experienced drivers around. Together with the Merlin R+D Department, he will be giving his input to help improve the Spanish company’s range of products.

Source: Merlin [merlinfuel.com]


February 4, 2008

Adam Drake to run GRP Engines

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 4, 2008

Xray Column – My Micro Love

Xray Column

The 15th installment in the Xray column from Xray owner and chief designer Juraj Hudy is now online. In this months column, Juraj talks about the development of the Pro version of the M18 truck.

It was fairly easy to brainstorm about what we needed and wanted to improve and change for the new M18T. We needed to bring the platform to the new level of high-competition racing so as to meet and exceed the expectations for reliability and performance. The code project for the new car was set right away, to make a professional M18T and as such the name M18T PRO was set in place. The goal was set, we just had to work out all the details.

Read the full column here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]