February 14, 2007

Racer In the Spotlight – Teddy Syach

Teddy Syach

Serpent.com continue their Racer in the Spotlight series with an interview with Worlds finalist and top Indonesian racer Teddy Syach. In the interview Teddy explains how he got started in RC Racing, his best and worst moments, and if your travelling to Indonesia, which track is the best to visit. Also did you know that Teddy is a very famous actor in Indonesia, thats way cool.

Read the full interview with Teddy here. You can also check out the first interview with Portugese hot shot Ricardo Nogueira here.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

February 13, 2007

Werks Racing power Ari Heinonen for 2007

Ari Heinonen Werks

Werks Racing have officially entered the European racing scene by sponsoring their first European racer, top Scandanavian racer Ari Heinonen. The Finnish HoBao racer has agreed terms for 2007 and along with running their Werks Teamline B7 .21 Engines he will also use the Werks pipes as well as the companies buggy and truggy tires.

Source: Buggy-Sport [buggy-sport.info]

February 11, 2007

Toni Rheinard to quit Kyosho?

Toni Rheinard

According to a report by rc-car-net.de, German racer Toni Rheinard will quit his drive at Kyosho to apparentley race Hot Bodies. Toni had only signed for Kyosho, from Tamiya, last year after it was rumoured that the Japanese manufacturer couldn’t get their first choice, Toni’s brother and former World Champion Marc Rheinard away from his drive at Tamiya despite their deep pockets. This news hasn’t officially been confirmed but when we hear something more about this situation we’ll let you know.

Source: RC Car Net [rc-car-net.de] Image: Kyosho [kyosho.de]

February 11, 2007

Yannick Aigoin switches to GRP tyres

Yannick Aigoin switches to GRP tyres

I guess I’m not as up to date on the tire sponsors as i should be, and in buggies it is quite difficult to follow, as it seems i didnt notice the fact that European Champion and Xray team driver Yannick Aigoin has made the switch from Pro Line tyres to GRP. This news came to everyones attention yesterday as he was seen sporting the new rubber, as well as new GRP team wear, at this weekends Montpellier GP. RB Products, for whom Yannick works import both the Pro Line and GRP ranges of tyres into France.

Image: Ligue13 [ligue13.com]

February 7, 2007

Kyosho and Sirio partnership close to an end?

Kyosho and Sirio

We have been hearing this rumour for a while now and from a number of sources, the fact that the partnership between Kyosho and Star Motor Engineering, makers of Sirio, was strained and may even be coming to an end. Things started to be mentioned when World Champion Lamberto Collari didnt renew his contract with the Italian engine manufacturer and jumped ship to Novarossi, followed relatively closely by fellow World Champion Adrien Bertin who left his job at Sirio and moved to Team Orion in Switzerland. Rumour has it that Francesco Tironi, a Collari protegé, has also left his position in the company but this hasnt been confirmed as yet. All the previously mentioned racers are heavily backed by Japanese manufacturer Kyosho and seems like too much of a coincidence to be not related to their engine and car sponsors relationship going sour.

Now i dont pretend to know why this could be happening but the shift could see Team Orion and their range of CRF Wasp motors taking over the supply of motors to the Japanese teams drivers with Bertin and fellow Kyosho team driver Josh Cyrul already running these motors and the unannounced news that another top European Kyosho racer, that we havent mentioned, will also jump from Sirio to Team Orion in the coming weeks. We will watch and see how this unfolds and update you when we hear more.

February 7, 2007

Masao Tanaka signs to Motonica for 2007

Masao Tanaka signs to Motonica

Top Japanese racer and multiple World championship podium finisher, Masao Tanaka has been confirmed to race for Motonica for the 2007 season. Tanaka had previously tested the Motonica prior to last years 1/8th Nationals, but decided for the Mugen as he didn’t have time to learn the car, but obviously he liked the car enough to decide to race with it for the 2007 season. Tanaka has been out of a sponsored drive since Ninja motors were pushed upon Mugen team drivers last year which forced Tanaka to make a decision between staying with Mugen or with Kawahara where he works, who just happen to be the Novarossi importers for Japan, he chose to stay in employment. Whats also interesting is the close relationship now between Motonica and Novarossi, with suggestions that they are both pushing to build an all Italian dream team which could possibly include 7 time World Champion Lamberto Collari.

Image: Eco Model [ecomodel.it]

February 7, 2007

Chris Tosolini signs for Team Br00d

Chris Tosolini signs for Team Brood

Multiple US National Champion Chris Tosolini has signed to Team Br00d and will use their batteries and motors from this weeks Snowbird Nationals onwards. Chris up until this move used Checkpoint cells and motors and made the decision to move over to his new sponsor after giving its products a trial run at the Novak US touring car champs event last month.

Source: RC Tech [rctech.net]

February 5, 2007

Billy Easton signs to OCM Racing & TQ fuels

Billy Easton signs to OCM Racing & TQ fuels

US driver and former World Champion, Billy Easton, has signed to race for OCM Racing USA and TQ racing fuels. According to the report by Neo Buggy, Easton will not only be the teams star driver but will also head up the North American teams research and development for both brands.

Source: Neo-Buggy [neo-buggy.net]