January 15, 2023

2 in a row as Branson wins EWS Round 3

Round 3 of the popular British based Essex Winter Series took place over the weekend with reigning Champion Kyle Branson making it two in a row.  Runner-up at the opening the season opener when Xray team-mate Bruno Coelho took the win on the series’ return following Covid, Branson would qualify on pole for the latest encounter taking all four round of qualifying.  Xray team-mate Harley Eldridge qualified second but found herself defending from Capricorn’s Alex Thurston in the single leg final allowing Branson to take the win.  Eldridge kept Thurston at bay reversing their finishing order of the previous round.  Following his rejoining of the Schumacher team last week, Chris Grainger qualified & finished 4t ahead of his new car’s designer Andy Murray.  Continue reading here


January 15, 2023

Freeman takes Mod win at RC Chili Bowl

Running alongside its full size oval racing counterpart, the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, it was Zachary Freeman who came away with the SC Modified win at the ninth edition of the RC Chili Bowl held in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Attracting over 500 entries, the Scotty Ernst organised event is one of the biggest in the industry with its tented indoor pit area packed with manufacturers involved in the R/C oval racing scene.  Concluding the 2023 edition of the RC Chili Bowl was the final of SC Modified presented by HobbyWing.  All throughout qualifying it had been Zac Rose and Addison Krol, throwing down the heat for the ladies, going back and forth for the top spot with Rose edging out Krol to take the TQ honours.  It would be a super smooth start for the 10 car field with all drivers holding their starting positions for the opening laps.   A huge pile up in turn 4 however collected almost all the cars and would shake up the entire order creating a completely new race.  Third place qualifier Zachary Freeman would come out on top in the lead holding that position to the end with Krol finishing on the same lap fpr second.  Dropping back to sixth, Rose would recover to come through to complete the podium.

Image: RC Chili Bowl [rcchilibowl.com]


January 11, 2023

2023 Desert Classic – Announcement

Hobby Action in Chandler, Arizona have announced the date for the 2023 Desert Classic with the 7th edition of the annual event taking place from March 1st to 5th.  An event that has established itself as a major fixture in the early part of the international 1:10 Offroad calendar after filling the void left after the demise of the Cactus Classic.  Again sponsored by Stickit1 Racing, the 2023 edition is set to have even more significance on the calendar as a preparation race for the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships that Hobby Action will host in September of this year.  Entries for the Desert Classic are open from the 22nd of this month and the race will be open to all the usual classes.

View event flier here


January 8, 2023

Phend does triple at ‘Clash of Champions’

Dakotah Phend has got his 2023 season off the perfect start with a triple TQ & Win at the 1st Annual ‘Clash of Champions’ at Hoosier RC Hobbyplex in Indiana.  Qualifying for 1:10 indoor electric offroad dirt event saw an untouchable Phend take the 2WD Mod Buggy TQ from Team Associated pairing Spencer Rivkin and Dustin Evans.  In 4WD Buggy it was Xray team-mates Tom Rinderknecht and Ty Tessmann who filled P2 and 3 on the grid behind the TLR star.  In Mod truck took all three rounds of qualifying for the TQ ahead of Tessmann, Rivkin and new TLR signing Cole Tollard.  In the triple main finals, Phend wrapped up all three classes by winning the opening two A-Mains of each.  In 2WD Buggy, the A3 win gave Rivkin second from Rinderknecht in third. While Tessmann won A3 of Mod Truck second places in A1 & 2 was enough for Rivkin to hold the overall runner-up spot.  In 4WD, with Phend again able to sit out A3, it was Rinderknecht who took the win to secure second overall with Tessmann completing the podium.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]


January 8, 2023

Herbert wins Hudy Indoor Champs

Keven Hebert has won the Hudy Indoor Champs at ProLevel RC in Chesterfield, Missouri.   Attracting more than 150 entries over the classes, in Modified Touring Car it was a battle between the factory Xray drivers of Hebert and Alexander Hagberg.  Setting a fastest time of 32/5:00.870 in the fourth & final round of qualifying, Hebert would secure the TQ from Hagberg who put in his best run in Q3 when the Swede set a time of 32/5:02.688.  Behind, the Awesomatix of Kemp Anderson secured third ahead of Donny Lia, both also posting their fastest times in Q3.  In the single Main, the top three remained unchanged with Hebert having a 2.3 second advantage over his team-mate at the finish.  Behind Anderson, Andrew Ellis got passed Lia for fourth.  In 1:12 Mod, it was a reverse of the TC podium with Top Qualifier Anderson taking the win from former World Champion Hagberg and Hebert.  In Stock Touring Car Billy Sydor took the win while in Stock 1:12 Fabio Evangelista was the victor.

Image: Xray [teamxray.com]


December 31, 2022

RC Indoor Arena to host opening round of Swiss 1:10 Offroad Nationals

The newly opened RC Indoor Arena in Wädenswil, Switzerland, is to host the opening round of the Swiss 1:10 Offroad National Championships.  The 600m2 offroad track which is equipped with new EOS carpet, will host the event over the weekend of January 21-23 with Saturday’s programme made up of 1:10 2WD Buggy while Sunday will see 4WD Buggy and 2WD truck action.  While a round of the Swiss National Championship, the race is open to drivers who do not hold a Swiss Federation licence.  Race registration is via myrcm.ch .

Source: RC Indoor Arena [rc-indoor-arena.ch]


December 21, 2022

Richardson & Kilgariff take Stoke RCMCC Autumn Series

Sam Richardson (17.5 Touring) and Andrew Kilgariff (Mini) have taken the overall wins of the Stoke RCMCC Autumn Series.  They earned the top spot after 14 weeks of racing in the Monitex Racing support series with both titles being decide at the final round.  In Touring Car, Xray driver Richardson would see off son and father pairing Adam and Steve Ball.  In the Mini Class, which is limited to Mardave Mini Assassin or Kamtec Ministock, Kilgariff would also see of the challenge off Adam and Steve with their similar Mardave Minis.

View Mini podium and results here


December 18, 2022

Matsukura hosts 1st Naoto Cup

It is nice to see one of the great drivers of RC racing Naoto Matsukura giving back to the sport that has served him well by hosting the 1st Naoto Cup in his native country of Japan over the weekend.  The multiple 1:12 World Champion and both Electric & Nitro Touring Car World Champion, held the race at New Next Rush Circuit in Chiba Prefecture, where he was joined by his mentor and legend of the sport Masami Hirosaka.  Masami was instrumental in bringing a very young Naoto onto the international stage as a Yokomo driver.  The first of hopefully many Naoto Cup events for years to come, after attending Naoto Cup the 14 time World Champion paid tribute to the now factory Infinity driver.

Continue reading here


Mibosport
VP Racing
T-Works