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March 29, 2007

RC Pro Series expands to South Africa

RC Pro Series

The RC Pro Series is going global, following their first move to the Caribbean, the top racing series in the US is now expanding to South Africa with the announcement that RC Pro South Africa will be running their own National Series for Nitro Offroad, similar to the series in the US. Members of RC Pro SA will be full RC Pro members and be eligible to compete in any RC Pro event and together the Series organisers are working on plans for a World Finals in the future.

The first RC Pro South Africa event is this coming weekend hosted by Avion RCX in Kempton Park. The board of directors for RC Pro South Africa are working feverishly to put everything together for a live broadcast of this event. We will keep everyone informed of start times etc as soon as they have everything setup.

You can view the series flyer here and read more about it here.

March 28, 2007

Ilia van Gastel leaves Sirio?

Ilia van Gastel

To continue our long running look into the partnership breakdown between Kyosho and Sirio, we today heard a rumour, that backed up something we heard a while back, that multiple Belgian Champion and Euros podium finisher Ilia van Gastel has not re-signed to use Sirio engines. Van Gastel is of course a factory sponsored Kyosho racer and his abandoning Sirio as an engine partner is in keeping with the other Kyosho factory racers Collari, Bertin, Cyrul and Shimo who have all abandoned Sirio as their engine supplier in recent months.

So where does Van Gastel go from here? Should he choose Novarossi like 7 time World Champion Collari or choose the Team Orion CRF like Cyrul and Bertin or perhaps go for some other manufacturer? Who knows, but we’re sure to find out soon, as the new outdoor season is about to start up.

UPDATE: According to a number of e-mails from other top European racers that i have received and also the current entry list (PDF) from the 1/8th scale EFRA GP that will be held at the end of April, Ilia will race Team Orion CRF engines.

Image: JE Racing [jeracing.eu]

March 24, 2007

Motorsport Mania at the Dirt Nitro Challenge

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US TV show Motorsport Mania (FSN) was present at this months Dirt Nitro Challenge, that we reported on previously, and from the event they made a 30 minute programme that includes interviews with Chad Bradley, Jay Halsey, Ryan Maifield, Scott Hughes, Jim Hottinger and more. The video itself has been split into 3 sections with the 1st part shown above and the other 2 videos shown below.

Click here to view the 2 other videos… content

March 21, 2007

Hobby Model Expo 2007

Italian site RC Bazar was present at last weekends Hobby Model Expo show at the Novegro Exhibition Center in Milan, Italy. While the event was for all types of hobby products including trains and planes etc, there was a number of RC car manufacturers, mostly Italian, present and showing off some of their products. The picture above is from the BP Racing stand, a company that we know from their BP engines but they also make other things too including these 1/8th scale rally game optionals that include the fanciest rear anti roll bar ever as well as an aluminium rear diff pulley and many other parts.

Check out more pictures from the BP Racing stand and other exhibitors here… content

March 21, 2007

Gil Losi Jr joins Kyosho America

Well it seems i’m the last person to get the news that Gil Losi Jr has joined Kyosho America, as my mailbox was full this morning with people telling me about it, damn that time difference. So heres the lowdown from Kyosho.

Gil Losi, Jr., an icon in the RC business and co-founder of Team Losi(tm), is coming to Kyosho America. Beginning in April, Losi will join the Kyosho America team as R&D Director in an effort to better align Kyosho products with the US market.

Continue reading… content

March 20, 2007

Luxembourgs MCCK track gets a facelift

Luxembourg MCCK

The people at Luxembourgs MCCK track have begun work on altering their World famous cork screw corner that provided so many drivers at the 2004 European Championships, as well as VRC users, with so many challenges. As you can see from the picture, the corner will turn right at the bottom of the original corkscrew instead of left and go back up hill and into a double left and then dropping in another corkscrew corner before rejoining the original track. The alterations should be ready in time for the new season.

Source: RC Tech [rctech.net]

March 19, 2007

RC Zone Live Webcast from RCX 2007

RCX 2007

We just got dropped an e-mail from the guys over at RC Zone telling us about their upcoming Live Webcast from this years RCX show that takes place in Pomona California on the 31st if March till the 1st of April. The webcast will be streaming live interviews, track demos including the Supercross Challenge, and showcasing some of the latest products throughout both days. It is completely free to view and no registration is required. A chatroom will be made available for members to simultaneously discuss the latest happenings and product releases. The entire webcast will be archived and broken in to separate videos for download after the show for those who can’t tune in.

Be sure to checkout RCXLive.com during the event to see this great coverage.

March 6, 2007

French Engine regulation Row

French engine regulation row

There is a bit of a storm brewing in France with regards the new EFRA rulings that allow the previous Outlaw crankshafts be used in EFRA legal motors. The row stems from a long standing FVRC (French Federation) regulation that states that EFRA rules will only be adopted 1 year after they are decided upon. The new engine regulations according to the FVRC do not fall under this year delay and are to be implemented immediately, so far all is fine. But it starts to get tricky when a certain French engine manufacturer objects to the new engine regulations being implemented this year and thus causing the new .12 Ninja motor, that has only just been released and only supplied with the current EFRA legal crankshaft to be illegal, therefore stopping the use of this engine completely in France. Of course the engines importer is fighting back and the battle is continuing on, and you can check out some info about it here and here (french).