Red RC » Industry

February 2, 2012

Toy Fair 2012 – Novarossi

Novarossi have been showing off their patented main bearing for their engines, which will come in the new Keep-On .12 and .21. The bearing features a narrower centre ring compared to the outer ring and this not only reduces rotating mass for better acceleration but it also reduces back flow to the carburetor by having the outer run wrap around material on the inside of the crankcase preventing the fuel from getting past. The bearing will be eventually available with ceramic or steel balls and while it is only now available in the on road engines, with more testing it may become available for the offroad engines too.

Click here for more information and photos

January 14, 2012

Shin Adachi departs Kyosho

Japanese star Shin Adachi has announced his departure from Kyosho, a company he has seemed so closely linked to for so long. In a message on his FB page the multiple National Champion explained that he will depart the Red Army on January 20th. We contacted him for further details but he wasn’t remaining tight lipped on the subject, but we can expect a follow up announcement in the coming weeks. His statement read:

I will leave from Kyosho on January 20. It was hard decision for me to leave the company, please understand. I thank you very much for your support and your cooperation past days. I really enjoyed working with you. I think I will see you some racing track. Please free feel to speak me at that time, it would be pleasure for me. Thank you again and wish you the best.

January 12, 2012

Kurt Wenger partners with Avid

After 9 years at Team Associated developing World championship products, Kurt Wenger has decided to branch out on his own to create parts and accessories that will change the pace of development in the R/C industry. His new mission is to focus on research and development of cutting edge, value-based 10th and 8th scale products that will enhance the racing experience for avid RC enthusiasts. With 6 IFMAR World Championships under his belt, lead engineer Kurt “Coach” Wenger is taking his unique and unparalleled R/C experience into a new endeavor. After making the decision to move from a traditional desk job at Associated to developing a new product line he reached out to David Joor of Avid Racing Concepts, who is an expert in e-commerce web solutions as well as an accomplished racer. David has been successfully building the Avid brand for 8 years and was looking for a way to expand his business. Kurt and David decided to create the perfect partnership by adding a world champion product engineer to the world championship Avid brand. Expect the first results of this partnership to be released later this month.

Source: Avid RC [avidrc.com]

January 9, 2012

Hobbico acquires Axial, Team Durango & Arrma

Big news tonight with Hobbico, Inc. announcing that they have acquired the Axial, Team Durango and Arrma brands. Axial will continue to operate as an independent company from its facility in Irvine, California, while Team Durango and Arrma will also continue independently from their current offices in Ashby, Leicestershire, UK. The product lines will continue to be available through a worldwide network of distributors. “We’re proud to bring these strong product lines into the Hobbico family,” said Wayne Hemming, President of Hobbico. “I’m particularly happy to welcome the teams of talented professionals at Axial, Team Durango and Arrma and look forward to the innovative products that they are developing.” “I’m excited about this new affiliation with Hobbico,” said Jeff Johns, General Manager of Axial R/C Inc., “This will give Axial additional resources to continue our rapid growth.” “I look forward to working with Durango and Arrma staff as well as those within Hobbico to continue to introduce innovative and successful products. This is an exciting step which we are sure will help take us to the next level” said Jason Dearden, Managing Director of Arrma Durango, Ltd.

Source: Hobbico [hobbico.com]

December 28, 2011

Revolution Design Racing Products

Revolution Design Racing Products is a new brand founded by Ruddog Distribution owner Sven Rudig and former Robitronic, Serpent and Team Durango designer Michael Vollmer. Both are passionate RC-car racers and have together decided to release the new RC-Car accessories brand RDRP. The company is run by Sven Rudig who also owns Vampire Racing and newly founded Pulse RC. Revolution Design Racing Products are unlike other aftermarket companies and focus on self-designed accessories, components and tools never seen in this form or function before to make setting or maintaining RC-Cars not only easier but also a lot more fun. All products are designed in Germany and manufactured using global sources to ensure the highest possible quality standards at a reasonable price.

Source: RDPR [facebook.com]

December 22, 2011

Protoform celebrating 20 years

Protoform is celebrating 20 years of race body development and they wanted to share the good news with everyone. And so master mold maker Dale Epp wrote the following piece look back at the company’s history from its humble beginnings making rc funny car bodies to the modern Worlds winning TC shells.

Read the full piece here

December 8, 2011

EFRA seeking tire additive manufacturers

EFRA logo

EFRA got in touch with us to ask the different brands of tire additives, who wish to have their product approved for use at EFRA gas on road events next year, to send them samples of their product for testing. At the recent AGM, EFRA made the use of tire additive legal at 1/8th and 1/10th scale gas on road events but they wish to ensure that the treatments used are not volatile or toxic, hence the need for pre approval.

View the full EFRA letter here

November 3, 2011

Tecnopower Motor to close down

Our friend Rody Roem at Tecnopower has sent us the bad news that he has had to close down operations due to not being able to generate enough sales for his engines. “TecnoPower is forced to stop the manufacturing of model racing engines for the simple reasons that we are not managing to generate enough sales to cover our costs and so cannot continue our existence as a real manufacturer. TecnoPower will officially close at December 2011”. The company which was started by the former RB front man in 2009 from the remnants of the GRP engine project, produced some good products, but unfortunately entered the market at the wrong time as even the bigger Italian engine manufacturers began to struggle.

Read the full statement here