Red RC » Electric

November 26, 2007

Norway lifts ban on EP Racing

Update on the Exploding cells

The Norwegian RC federation have announced that following their Annual General Meeting on the 17th-18th November, they have lifted the ban on EP racing in their country. The racing ban was put in place following a number of cell explosions during charging which could have led to someone getting injured. The NMF have laid out a number of guidelines, similar to the BRCA, regulating how to safely charge batteries during training and racing up until 1st April 2008, at which time the new EFRA approved cell requirements will be adapted across Europe.

Click more to read the full press release… content

November 25, 2007

BRCA 1/12th Nationals Round 3

The 3rd round of the BRCA 1/12th scale Nationals was held last weekend on the Cramlington track, which replaced the Teesside event that had been on the calendar for a number of years. Saturday’s 19T turn event saw Keith Robertson take the pole position from Chris Kerswell in 2nd and Andy Griffiths in 3rd. In the final it was the top 4 that got away cleanly but a mistake from Griffiths dropped him down the order, and then Keith hit a back marker that knocked him out of the race. This left Chris up in front and he was able to take his first 12th National win from Russ Williams in 2nd and a recovering Andy Griffiths in 3rd. In the Modified race on Sunday Adny Griffiths took the pole position and in the final dominated the race, winning from Russ Williams in 2nd, who was well clear of Chris Kerswell in 3rd.

Source: Mirage [mirageracing.com]

November 24, 2007

Travis Amezcua joins Avid RC

Travis Amezcua joins Hot Bodies

Avid RC have announced that Travis Amezcua has joined their team, bringing with him great experience having raced in the top level for over a decade. Having just switching over to Hot Bodies, from Team Losi, to help head up their Team Management and R&D,Avid is very excited to have him on board. Travis has always been the racer that never stops searching for the next level in handling or speed, and will make a great addition to Avid Racing Concepts.

Source: Avid RC [avidrc.com]

November 24, 2007

Goo Ki Bon wins Much More TC Champs

Xray have a report on their site from the Much More Touring car Championships that were run recently in South Korea. Qualifying saw Nam Dong Woo take the event TQ ahead of top Xray driver Goo Ki Bon in 2nd and 3rd spot going to Goo Sung Mo. After preserving his control tires in the qualifying session Goo Ki Bon was able to dominate the finals with fresher tires, winning all rounds to take the overall championship win in front of race TQ Nam Dong Woo in 2nd & Kim Byung Whan coming home in 3rd.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

November 24, 2007

Greg Hodapp Joins Team Kyosho

World class driver, Greg Hodapp has joined Team Kyosho for the upcoming race season. This return to racing for Greg will also be the second time that he has been able to work with Gil Losi Jr.

I spoke with a few other interested manufacturers, but when given the opportunity to work closely with Gil Losi Jr once again, the choice was simple. Gil has always been able to bring out the best in me and I’m very excited about the direction this team is taking.

Greg will be driving both of Kyosho’s RB5 and ZX5 for the upcoming season. His Kyosho buggies will be powered by Slingshot Batteries and Novak Brushless systems. Look for Greg to be attending major events throughout the 2008 race season.

November 19, 2007

Federations react to Exploding cells

Update on the Exploding cells

Following up on the decision by the Norwegian federation to stop all EP racing until the new year in response to the safety hazard of exploding NiMh cells, a number of other countries have also reacted, however so far not as strictly. Neighbours Sweden decided to just ban a certain batch of the offending IB4200 cells, as have Belgium, and racing will continue as normal, while the BRCA in the UK have advised their members on the best way to handle, use and charge NiMh cells. In the meantime the Intellect Battery Co. have now supplied the batch numbers which may contain cells that could potentially explode when subjected to race type conditions.

Click here to read the list of affected cells and also the BRCA recommendations… content

November 18, 2007

Marc Rheinard wins JMRCA Touring Nats

Marc Rheinard has won the Super expert class at this years JMRCA EP touring car nationals held at the Yatabe Arena. Having qualified 2nd, the Tamiya driver was able to win the first final by less than a second from pole man Hayato Matsuzaki driving for Hot Bodies, with Masami Hirosaka racing for Yokomo in 3rd. In the 2nd final the German former World Champion could win once more by less than 2 seconds, once more from Matsuzaki, with Daisuke Yoshioka coming home 3rd. This result was enough for Rheinard to claim the title and he didn’t then run the last final, which was won by Atsushi Hara which secured him 3rd overall behind Matsuzaki in 2nd.

Click more for the final standings… content

November 17, 2007

Hayato Matsuzaki TQ’s JMRCA Touring Nats

This weekend sees the best Japanese, and some top International, touring car racers battle out in the Super Expert class at this year JMRCA Japanese EP touring car Nationals. Held once more at the great indoor facility of the Yatabe Arena, the racers have been present since early in the week to try to find the best setup for this race. After qualifying, it is current 2wd off road World Champion Hayato Matsuzaki that has taken the top qualifier spot for Hot Bodies in front of former World Champion Marc Rheinard for Tamiya in 2nd with 3rd spot going to Yokomo racer and current Champion Masami Hirosaka (not shown). Current World Champion Andy Moore lines up in 5th with team mate Hara in 6th, Victor Wilck for Tamiya in 9th and British National Champion Chris Grainger for Yokomo in 11th.

Image: Team Novi [teamnovi.blog.drecom.jp]