February 28, 2025

MRO Racing secure design services of Gerd Strenge

MRO Racing, the company behind the radical ultra low profile design Inspire4 1:10 4WD buggy project has announced that well respected car design Gerd Strenge will join the project.  Strenge who is probably best known for his time at Durango and for work with top German offroad racer Joern Neumann.  Making the announcement on their social media MRO Racing, who started the Inspire4 project 6-years ago, posted, ‘We at MRO would like to inform you that there are now 4 of us in our team again. Unfortunately, we had to put you off for a while, which made some people smile, and rightly so.  We had an idea and after a brief discussion with our private investor, we realised that this could be the right way forward.  Through open and direct dialogue, we managed to win Gerd Strenge over for our MRO project.  We are convinced that with him we have another designer in the team who will help us with his experience and success with Durango and Serpent.  We will be realising our current ideas in the foreseeable future and then it’s back to testing, testing and testing again.  We will inform you about further news in the foreseeable future.  Thank you for your patience.’   In the photo for the announcement, Strenge teases a little the car which is displayed with a clear body shell.

View car image here


February 27, 2025

Nova Engines power for Vejrak & Phutiyotin

Italian engine manufacturer Nova Engines has announced a new partnership with Maxima Motorsports that will see top Thai racers Meen Vejrak and Charlee Phutiyotin powered by their engines in 2025.  Maxima is well known globally as a producer of nitro racing fuel and now becomes the official distributor for Nova Engines for Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.  Former 200mm World Champion Vejrak is one of Thailand’s most successful and versatile international racers with Phutiyotin also representing his nation well with a podium finish at the inaugural 1:8 GT World Championship and making the 1:8 Onroad World Championship final.

Source: Nova Engines [nova-engines.com]


February 27, 2025

D’angelo to lead Capricorn’s new Large Scale program

Following the news it was to enter the Large Scale racing market with the release of its GT5 back in October, nitro onroad chassis manufacturer Capricorn has confirmed Alex D’angelo will lead driver duties on the new project.  The 2023 1:8 GT World Championship Top Qualifier joined the Italian company’s 1:8 GT program last Summer, and as expected when the GT5 was launched, will now have double duties racing for Capricorn owner Patrizio Rossi.  On the announcement of D’angelo, Capricorn posted, ‘We can only be proud to announce that the official drivers of the Sport category will be Alex D’Angelo together with his teammate Damiano Giolitti!! Alex, after joining us in 2024 for the GT category, has always demonstrated impeccable commitment, his driving career is driven by great passion and we are sure that his talent will allow him to do well in this category too. Damiano Giolitti, our first 1:5 tester, is very happy to have such a strong teammate!

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]


February 26, 2025

2025 TITC Chassis Focus Index

21 editions of the TITC have been completed and thanks to the support of Hobbywing, Red RC was once again able to make the annual trip to the Infinity RC Addict Circuit in Bangkok to cover this truly unique event.  By far the greatest one yet in terms of all the pre-race hype, 2025 was the year the race got to play out moments that will forever be engrained in the sport’s history.  Bruno Coelho’s first ever race with Infinity, Michal Orlowski’s first ever TITC.  As the saying goes, ‘you only get one chance to make a first impression’ and wow was an impression Orlowski made on the ‘world’s toughest race’ – complete domination.  We also have to mention A3 and the last lap between Marc Rheinard and Bruno Coelho, that pass was pure Rheinard gold and having been reporting on his racing at the top level for so many years it was brilliant to see he still has that magic.  It was interesting to chat with a number of drivers for whom this was their first time experiencing the TITC, they didn’t actually need to tell us they were loving it because it was already written all over their faces,  it was like they had rediscovered the joy of racing again.  We get to go to our fair share of races around the world and none come close in terms of everyone enjoying themselves.  The laughter in the pits and the enthusiasm of the crowd watching the racing is infectious, and we still get to see the best in the World race head to head for a title they all desire so much – it truly is the unofficial World Championships.

Continue readinf here


February 26, 2025

VP-Pro MBX8 | RC84.1 Front Bumpers

VP-Pro has introduced new Front Bumpers intended for use on the Mugen MBX8 and Team Associated RC84.1 1:8 Buggies.  Made from high-quality material for durability, the bumper is specially designed to protect your buggies front end and chassis in the event of knocks and crashes, and minimise contact with the track on jump landings.  It is shipped with 2 pieces per bag and VP Pro are planning to roll it out further versions of the bumper to cover all main brands of 1:8 buggies.

View RC84.1 bumper here


February 24, 2025

Yokomo RD2.0 Aluminium Steering Bell Crank Set

Yokomo has introduced a new Aluminium Steering Bell Crank Set and Steel Front Axle for double bearing for its RD2.0 1:10 Drift Car.  The aluminium steering bell crank set has a forward tilt angle on the wiper post to reduce bump changes when the angle of cut is applied, and shows neutral characteristics.  The length of the servo rod attachment can be adjusted with a spacer, so the feeling can be changed by the lever ratio with servo activation.  The front axle used in the double bearing design for ultimate rolling of the front tire is sold separately. Although made of steel for increased strength, the 3mm shaft and hub shape make it lightweight.

View Front Axles here


February 24, 2025

VP-Pro 1:8 GT Body shell

VP-Pro has released this new 1:8 GT bodyshell which features a streamline shape and special design that focuses on the high downforce to enhances the vehicle’s stability at high speed.  Made from high-quality clear polycarbonate with protective film, the lightweight model of 0.8mm thickness helps to improve the vehicle’s speed and handling. The comes with a 1.2mm rear wing, hardware, decals and window masks.

View more images here


February 23, 2025

Sparbier gives new Mugen TITC Open Brushless title

Mugen Seiki can ship its upcoming new MTC-3 electric touring car as a Championship winning car after Soren Sparbier claimed the win of the Open Brushless class at the famed TITC.  Experiencing his first ever time on a plane in order to make the journey to Bangkok, the German returns home with extra luggage in the form of his winning & TQ trophies having wrapped up the title in A2, a race that would prove somewhat controversial.  Having secured pole position by topping two of the four qualifier at the challenging Infinity RC Addict Circuit, the 18-year-old took a very straight forward A1 win on Saturday evening.  In Sunday morning’s A2 however, what was shaping up to be a great battle ended with a body tuck, yet again a great race destroyed by the modern day flimsy lightweight body shells.  After leading away, setting the fastest lap in the process, Sparbier was soon under pressure from Lukas Ellerbrock, the German carrying Awesomatix’s hopes of a fifth consecutive TITC win.  Ellerbrock would find a way passed to take up the lead but Sparbier wasn’t quite done and made a re-pass but contact resulted in Ellerbrock suffering a body tuck.  While Sparbier initially waited, as Ellerbrock pulled off to a marshal for attention, he then resumed the lead.  Taking the A2 win ahead of Fong King he would claim the victory.   In A3, the lively crowd having lot of reasons to ooh & aah, the race eventually going to last year’s Open Brushless podium finisher Adam Izsay ahead of Ellerbrock, the later getting the overall runner-up spot with Izsay’s Xray completing the podium.

Continue reading here


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