Thunder Alley R/C Raceway played host to the 15th Annual Pro-Line Nitro Explosion this past weekend. The event had 165 entries and in Expert Nitro Buggy it was Mugen’s Adam Drake with the overall TQ. Adam then also came out fastest in the 25-minute A-main event, leaving behind Team Associated’s Ryan Pavidis in 2nd and HB Racing’s Anthony Westergaard, who qualified 8th, in 3rd.
Source: Mugen [mugenracing.com]
The 2018 Masters of Dirt Championships were held at Beach Hobbies in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina over the weekend. Team Associated’s Dustin Evans was the man to beat in the Modified classes as he took the TQ and win Pro 2WD Mod Buggy, 4WD Mod Buggy and Mod Stadium Truck. Yokomo’s JP Richards came in 2nd in Pro 2WD Mod Buggy from TLR’s Tyler Jones on the 3 spot. The 4WD Mod Buggy top 3 was completed by Yokomo’s Max Flurer and TLR’s Tyler Jones while Dustin was accompanied by Yokomo’s Max Flurer and TLR driver Aaron Kothman in Mod Truck.
View the 4WD Mod Buggy and Mod Stadium Truck podiums here
Ronald Volker has finally broken his victory drought that stretched 11 races, all the way back to Mulheim Kaerlich at the beginning of the 16/17 season, having taken the win here in Vienna. Starting from pole position the former World Champion leaves Austria with a solid lead in the points standings, having also taken the bonus point for TQ. Despite some close racing with his long time rival Marc Rheinard, Volker was able to pull a small gap at the end to take the race, with Marc having to settle for 2nd place, just ahead of Alexander Hagberg and Freddy Sudhoff, with reigning Champion Bruno Coelho suffering another difficult race ending up in 5th. Ronald was quick to thank those who made it possible saying ‘I’m super happy to get the overall win for this event, we worked the last few weeks really hard to get the upcoming BD9 in good shape. A special thanks to Hayato and Team Yokomo for this as well as thanks to Jurgen from LRP for the support’. About his race he said ‘A2 was starting well but I struggled with my driving in the middle of the run and I made a few small mistakes on the left part of the track so Marc was very close but I really didn’t want it to go to A3 so I put my head down and got a bit of a gap so I didn’t need to defend’, concluding by saying ‘Very very happy, after a couple of ETS races I finally got the TQ and win again.’
Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.
Multiple Electric Onroad World Champion Naoto Matsukura has added a Nitro Touring Car World title to his tally with a very convincing performance at the 1:10 200mm World Championships in Florida. After a messy start which saw Top Qualifier Dario Balestri, Super Pole winner Robert Pietsch and reigning champion Dominic Greiner receive penalties, the Infinity driver quickly stamped his authority on the 1-hour final. By the first round of fuel stops the 200mm rookie, who stopped early at 4:30, had already pulled out over a 6-second lead and such was his lead at the mid race tyre change his crew was able to switch to 4:00 stops ensuring his massive lead was never at risk. At the end the Japanese driver becomes the 8th different World Champion of the class by almost 2-laps. Battling with Tadahiko Sahashi for second place before the Infinity driver suffered a flame out in the final minutes of the race Capricorn’s Kyle Branson would finish second with Team Shepherd’s very quick Eduardo Escandon coming through from the back of the grid to complete the podium at Homestead RC Raceway. Half a lap back Pietsch would recover from his penalty and a bad tyre stop to finish fourth ahead of Mugen team-mate Jeff Hamon, with Greiner, who got a second penalty completing the Top 6. Ending up 9-laps off the lead after running out of fuel, Balestri ended up 7th but his biggest frustration was the length the cars were held on the starting grid. He said his penalty was a result of him trying to make sure his engine didn’t cut.
Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.
The RC Clubhouse held their Halloween Race last weekend with over 160 entries for the 1/10th and 1/8th electric off-road classes. In 4WD Modified Buggy it was Mark Sousa with the TQ, however in the single 5-minute A-main it was Charlie Maiorana with the win as Mark, who lead a good part of the race, made a mistake in the closing stages that allowed Charlie to pass Mark for the win. A lap down on the two it was George Wickenden Jr. who rounded out the top 3 results as Joey Bourdon and Keith Ives completed the top 5.
Image: Mark Sousa
The Fuencarral club held their New Track Social Race this past weekend and it was SWorkz’s Alberto Garcia with the TQ and win in the 1/8th E-Buggy class. Alberto left behind Mugen’s Miguel Izquierdo and SWorkz’s Ignacio Gutiérrez in 2nd and 3rd respectively after the qualifiers and the top 3 would remain the same also after the triple A-mains.
Image: Alberto Garcia
Ronald Volker has taking a straight forward win in the opening modified A-main at the ETS season opener in Vienna. Starting from pole position the Yokomo driver was unchallenged as the chasing pack were held up by their own battles. Alexander Hagberg would manage to get by 2nd place starter Marc Rheinard after a mistake from the Infinity driver allowed the Swede to stick it down the inside. On a track that is very difficult to pass, the rest of the race had little in the way of opportunities and despite a last lap effort by Bruno Coelho on Rheinard, it was a very processional race. Volker, who claimed the bonus championship point for TQ yesterday, said ‘I couldn’t ask for more, basically we are all on the same speed but they were in a battle so I could drive my race, the track was again a bit different’. Asked about his plans for A2 the former champion said ‘it is up to me to put in a clean run and repeat it for A2’.
Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.
The 2019 edition of the iconic DHI Cup will be held from the 11th to 13th of January 2019 at Sparekassen Fyn Arena. The race will see the running of Touring Modified and Touring Super Stock as well as 2WD Buggy and 4WD Buggy classes on the usual split-track layout. Sign-up for Touring Modified starts on Tuesday the 30th of October at 20:00GMT1+ with sign-up for the Super Stock class being possible an hour later at 21:00GMT1+. Sign-up for the 4WD Buggy class starts on Wednesday the 31st of October at 20:00GMT1+ and for the 2WD Buggy class at 21:00GMT1+ the same day. To offer a sensible time table entries are capped at 60 Modified, 80 Super Stock and 70 each for the Buggy classes. The 2019 edition marks the end of the cup’s cooperation with the Sparekassen Fyn Arena and thus this year’s race will be the last at the iconic spot. Full information on sign-up, hotels etc. can be found on social media here.
