We have received notification from Jacky Mouton that the front running French man has joined Kyosho and Novarossi for the 2009 season. Previously running Serpent and RB, which has has done for a number of seasons, the owner of Jacky Modelisme will contest the French 1/10th scale Nationals as well as a number of international races next year for his new sponsors.
It has been officially announced that Robert Pietsch has changed to Sanwa R/C products. From the beginning of next season the nationally and internationally successful Nitro Champion will use the Sanwa Exzes Plus transmitter along with the Sanwa range of servos and receivers. The decisive factor for this change came at a test held in September which made up Roberts mind:
I tested the new 2.4GHz FSSS system and was suprised that it is absolutely capable of keeping up with current FM Technology. Until now I was sceptical because i had already had problems with various other 2.4GHz systems. But Sanwa seems to have really mastered 2.4GHz technology.
Source: LRP [lrp.cc]
Team Shepherd is proud to announce that the 2007 Brazilian Champion Eduardo Dulac has joined Team Shepherd. Dulac will use the 1/8th scale Velox in all major events like the Brazilian Championship, the Portuguese Championship, the World Championship Warm-up in Switzerland as well as the World Championship itself. Additionally Eduardo will also start to manage the sales of Shepherd products to all interested drivers in Brazil.
Source: Team Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
VP Pro Racing have announced that Xray factory driver Ian Haley from Australia has joined the VP Pro International Team. VP Pro are proud that Ian has decided to join their team, putting trust in their products, trust which is already paying off with Ian using his new tires to win the recent 2008 Proline Championships in Sydney.
Source: VP-Pro [vp-racing.com]
Tim Wood (pictured on podium at Round 7) is the new British National 1:8 Champion after atrocious weather conditions at the weekend caused the cancellation of the ninth and final round of the BRCA championship at the Adur track which is situated on the south coast of England. The Team Serpent UK driver, who won three rounds this year, only had one challenger to the title in team-mate Mark Green who had two to his credit but the weather meant they didn’t get to go head to head for the title. This is Green’s, a member of the Serpent factory team, second National defeat by a younger driver as last month he lost out on the 1:10 200mm title to emerging young talent Kyle Branson.
U.K. Electric Off Road star Phil Sleigh has signed with X Factory for the 2009 season. The 31-year old who hails from Telford in England has 18 years r/c racing experience behind him and this year finished in the Top 10 of both BRCA National Championships. “It’s an awesome opportunity to join the X-Team”, said Sleigh. “Right from my first run with the New Math I couldn’t believe that it was so easy to produce quick lap times with such ease and consistency.” X Factory president Charles Sinclair said, “We’re so happy to add Phil to the X Factory Team. He’s another experienced A main driver who has lots of great design ideas. All the other X Team drivers already get on very well with him, and Phil will provide that blend of top 10 ability and intellect that’s so important to us.” Joining X Factory, Sleigh will team up with U.K Champion Ellis Stafford who had this to say about his new team-mate, “I’m so happy to be racing with Phil instead of against him, and we get on great. We looked at several possible drivers, and Sleigh is the one I most wanted for our team.”
Source: X Factory [2wdrc.com]
Robert Pietsch, the designer behind the successful Shepherd Velox as well as top international racer has made a shock return to the MID Mugen Team for the start of the 2009 season. The 2007 German Champion will compete with the MRX-4X and MTX-4 but he will not just represent Mugen as a driver but will bring with him his experience and design ideas and will work closely with the technical designers at Mugen’s Japanese Headquarters. This is big blow for Shepherd who not only lose a World class racer, but a product designer too.
Source: Mugen [mugen.eu]
Hobbico have come with the bombshell that as of September 30, 2008, Jared Tebo is being released from the O’Donnell, Team CheckPoint, Futaba and O.S. Engine brands racing teams. Throughout his 11-year career with the O’Donnell team, Jared has won several National Championships as well as an IFMAR World Championship. Hobbico wanted to thank Jared for his hard work and dedication and wish him much success in his future endeavors. Where to next for young superstar, I’m sure time will tell, but with close ties to Associated through his electric racing they could be a strong option? Stay tuned.
