Serpent have announced the signing of Singapore’s Nicholas Lee to their nitro on-road team. Nicholas will campaign the company’s Viper 977 and Natrix 748 cars at the Asian FEMCA races and other events while giving on-track support together with recently signed Felix Law. Nicholas had the following to say:
I would like to thank Serpent for the opportunity and Felix for the help. I’m ready to race!
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
The 2016 U.S. World Nitro Cup was held at Full Throttle RC Raceway in Kissimmee, Florida over the weekend. As usual the event attracted some of the country’s fastest nitro on-road racers to compete against guests from abroad and it would be Australia’s Jesse Davis (Infinity) that would lead the way in 1/8th Open qualifying to take the TQ after four rounds of qualifying. In the 45-minute main final though it would be Italy’s Alberto Picco (Mugen) that took the overall win some 7.6s in front of Jesse while Lamberto Collari (Infinity) completed the podium result in third, one lap down.
Source: Mugen [mugen.eu]
Thunder Alley Raceway hosted their Toys for Tots race over the weekend with the event having over 110 entries. Mugen’s Adam Drake would sweep the Nitro Buggy and Nitro Truck classes with his Novarossi-powered rides and he took a commanding victory in the 30 minute Nitro Buggy final by nearly a lap. Cody King (Kyosho/Reds Racing) settled for second and Joseph Quagraine (JQRacing/Reds Racing) finished third.
Source: Novarossi [novarossi.it]
The Euro Nitro Series is excited to announce that it will travel to France for the first time in 2017 with Mulhouse in the east of the country the location for the opening round of Season #4 of the high profile Onroad Nitro Championships on May 19-21. Continuing as a four round championship, this will be the first year all rounds will be staged in different countries with Germany, Austria and Italy making up the rest of the schedule. A country with a rich history of onroad nitro racing, and with the ENS attracting a growing number of French competitors each season, the addition of Mulhouse has been welcomed by both manufacturers and racers.
Continue reading announcement here
Following a first wave of departures and new sponsorship announcements things got a bit more quiet the recent days but the silly season is still in full swing with many high-class drivers jumping ships weather it be chassis, engines or fuel. The latest Pro to announce a change in his sponsorship package is HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk. The 2016 IFMAR Gas Buggy World Champion has just announced his departure from long-term tyre sponsors AKA. So far there are no words on his new deal but in the meantime he had the following to say:
To all friends, fans and followers that have supported my racing, earlier this year I decided 2016 would be my last year with AKA. I’ve been with AKA since the start and just felt like it was the right time for something new after 8 happy years racing together. I will forever be thankful for everything the guys at AKA have done for me and to my racing career. Big thanks to Joel, Mark and Gil for always supporting me to the fullest with great products that made us win those titles together. I would also like to thank Greg, Pres, Jeremy and Brent for their hard work during these years together. I’m delighted that I was able to win the big one a second time for AKA, as well as the 2 Euro titles and many other accolades together as a team in my racing career. I wish them the best in the future and also look forward to a fresh start in 2017!
Italian company Reds Racing have announced the signing of Felix Law to their team. The newly-signed Serpent Asia driver will be running the engines in both his 1/8th on-road and off-road cars and also at select 1/10th scale events.
Source: Reds Racing [reds-racing.com]
The recent 2016 Serpent Asia Cup was run along side the season finale of the Serpent GT Cup and held at the Hong Kong based TRC track. 52 drivers signed in for GT Modified class while over 100 entries were received for the GT RTR category. The Serpent Asia Cup then added two more classes to the special event in the form of the 1/10th Nitro Touring class and 1/8th Nitro on-road class. Current 1/10th Nitro Touring World Champion, Dominic Greiner as well as former IFMAR A-main finalist Takumi Matsuda made the trip as special guest as did Serpent’s Michael Salven and Billy Easton who raced in the 1/8th on-road and GT Modified class respectively. The Asia Cup also attracted driver from America, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippine, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. With more then 100 drivers all on Serpent chassis, the races were intense with a friendly atmosphere around the pit area.
Continue reading the report here
Shortly after walking away from former long-time sponsors Mugen and Modelix and signing a contract with TLR and Horizon Hobby, Spanish front runners Bryan and Oscar Baldo now also secured a new engine deal. The two will use the Italian-made Picco engines in their 2017 campaign that will include appearances at the Spanish national championship, the Euros and other major events.
Source: Picco [teampicco.com]
