Red RC » Industry

August 29, 2013

On the Grapevine – Beijing

After an enjoyable break from the skies, last week I returned to my travels with a journey that from the time I left my house in Ireland till the time I arrived at my other 2nd home (Hotel!!) ended up taking 27-hours. The reason for the long trip was because I was off to China where Red RC would cover its first FEMCA Championships. The event essentially crowns the champions of the Far East much like EFRA’s championships decide who is Europe’s No.1 driver and the ROAR Nationals determine who is top dog in the US/Canada. While FEMCA, which stands for Far East Model Car Association, has hosted the championships for many years across most of its 15 member countries, the 2013 1:8 Offroad event marked a very significant development for our sport in that it was the first sanctioned international r/c car event to take place in China. While pretty much every r/c car to hit a track around the world contains parts made in China, as a hobby r/c racing is almost non existent in a country that has a population of 1.4 billion people. Over the course of the week long event I got a very interesting insight into how that could all be about to change as the powers that be see potential in using r/c racing for the purpose of making education more interesting and interactive – something that can only be a win win situation for the growth of racing in potentially the biggest market in the world.

Continue reading On the Grapevine here

August 27, 2013

One Track Mind?

One of the difficult things I often face when I talk about RC racing to my non-RC friends (yes, I do have those!) is explaining that we have different scales of car, electric and nitro powered, on road and off road…. Last time I checked there was something like a dozen reasonably distinct classes. And that’s before we even look at Stock or Modified variants of the same class.

Continue reading Oli’s column here

August 26, 2013

West Coast RC Raceway to close down

WCRC

West Coast RC Raceway, host venue of the World Famous Reedy Offroad Race of Champions, has announced that is to close effective immediately. The announcement from track owner Danny Stojakovic will come as a shock to the racing community in Southern California with WCRC a go to track for the many quick racers in the area including 4-time WC Ryan Cavalieri to whom this track was local. Team Associated also now have the task to find a suitable new venue for the prestigious annual event which is held in January each year.

Hey Guys and Gals,

It’s with a heavy heart that I have to let everyone know that WC is closing down effective today. We appreciated spending valuable time with all of you and building amazing relationship. Please let us know if there is anything we can do or if you may have products in the consignment case or personal products @ WC that we can store for you.

Thank you again for all your support and we will miss you all.

Danny

August 13, 2013

Driving Sponsorship Forward

When I began racing in the late 1990’s, the racing scene was (as you’d expect!) very different from what it is today. One of the biggest differences I’ve seen has been the evolution of supported and sponsored drivers. Back then, I wasn’t aware of any “full time” drivers. There were a number who worked for a manufacturer or distributor, and sponsorship was something that drivers aspired to achieve. Outside of the top echelon of drivers, someone may have been fortunate to get a bit of money off with their local model shop, but that was usually the best you could hope for.

Continue reading Oli’s column here

July 30, 2013

Great Expectations?

Last weekend, I, along with over 200 other racers, had the experience to race at the ETS Finale at the Hudy Arena. I’m sure you’ve all seen, either through the reports here on Red RC or through the numerous posts on social networking sites from the weekend, the immense positive reaction to both the facility and the organisation of the race meeting. Whilst this was a rather special event, it did make me wonder what our expectations are of race meetings nowadays.

Continue reading Oli’s column here

July 26, 2013

On the Grapevine – Trencin

I have had the opportunity to visit many great, and many more not so great, r/c venues around the world and have vivid memories of my ‘wow’ reaction on entering the world famous Yatabe Arena in Japan and the mammoth Mike’s Hobby Shop in Texas. Last week however arriving at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Slovakia, the Hudy Racing Arena evoked a reaction that is best not put in print. From the time we pulled up in our rental car at the main entrance barrier this place was making a lasting impression. We were greeted by the first of two car-park attendants the second of whom directed us into our parking spot. On entering the building itself the usual handshake and ‘hello’ greeting from drivers and their entourage had been replaced with ‘this place is amazing’, ‘unbelievable’ and ‘mind-blowing’ and that is exactly what the Hudy Racing Arena is.

Continue reading On the Grapevine here

July 24, 2013

Team Associated and LRP to work independently

Team Associated and LRP today announced jointly that Associated will no longer be selling and servicing the LRP brand in North America. Associated has supported the LRP brand in North America for over 18 years and the two brands have achieved great success with many IFMAR World Championships together during this partnership. See below for the remainder of the announcement.

With both brands expanding and their respective product lines overlapping, both sides felt the timing was right to work independently, but still continue a racing partnership. Associated will now fully focus on developing and promoting the Reedy brand in all markets. Reedy develops products in the electric motor, nitro engine, battery, charger and speed control categories. LRP will expand its presence in North America by establishing LRP America, Inc. in Southern California. LRP America will provide marketing, service, and race support for a broadened product range in North America. LRP America will begin serving North America on September 1, 2013.

Source: Team Associated [rc10.com] & LRP [lrp.cc]

July 18, 2013

On the Grapevine – Reims

In 2009 while covering the 1:8 Offroad European Championships in Austria I remember looking through the timing sheets to see what drivers i needed to talk with before I got to work on my latest report and mixed in with Europe’s elite Offroad drivers was a name I had not come across before. Asking around if anyone knew where I might find this Swedish driver I was directed to Frenchman Adrien Bertin. On finding Adrien, beside him was a small shy kid together with his dad. While this was my first encounter with Adrien’s then 13-year-old protege, this kid already knew about winning having just become the European B Champion. Having had to direct my question down at this little figure, with Adrien having to provide most of the answers, last weekend, 5-years on from my first encounter, I was directing my questions up at a much taller and confident driver asking him for his thoughts on a race that had just seen him become the 22nd member of Europe’s most exclusive group of racers.

Continue reading On the Grapevine here