HB Europe have announced the signing of Morgan Renzi to their nitro on-road team. The Italian will campaign the company’s R8 1/8th nitro on-road car and he plans to attend at all major races in Italy while also providing technical support for HB racers with the help of Alessandro Sabbatini.
Source: HB Europe [hbeurope.com]
The inaugural Trofeo PGRacing was held at the Le Pescine off-road track in Tuscany, Italy over the weekend. The event attracted both local talent and internationally experienced drivers such as Elliott Boots, Alex Zanchettin and others to race in several 1/8th off-road categories. The start of the Expert class A-main saw Davide Tortorici, Alex Zanchettin and Elliott Boots breaking away from the field early. Elliott tried to pass Alex which cost both a bit of time, allowing Davide to gap both. Once Elliott passed Alex he got his head down, beginning to chase Davide. Some 10 minutes into the race Boots finally found a way past the leader and he never looked back. Finding a good rhythm and not making any mistakes allowed Elliott to finally take the win despite some minor issues during the 45 minute A-main, such as not having track lights for around 5 minutes. Thankfully the track guys were able to light things up again and at the end Fabrizio Teghesi (Kyosho) and Alex Zanchettin (TLR) would complete the top 3 result behind winner Elliott Boots (Kyosho).
Source: Elliott Boots | Image: David Menichetti
Ryan Cavalieri denied long standing arch rival Ryan Maifield from retaining his Dirt Nitro Challenge buggy title reversing the outcome of last year’s final to win an epic 45-minute encounter at the Fear Farm. Starting 3rd on the grid, Cavalieri would take a late lead and see off a final corner lunge by Maifield to claim his first DNC title at the Fear Farm by 1.151-seconds, his last win coming in 2010 when the race was held at the Nitro Pit. With both Cavalieri and Maifield hitting trouble in Saturday’s Truggy Main when they ran out of fuel, in Buggy it was the new Truggy Champion Ty Tessmann who was to have the bad luck as he was robbed of the race lead just after the halfway mark when a stone got caught up in a rear wheel. The race’s most winning driver, Tessmann would drag his HB back to pits and while a repeat of his 2014 double was done the Canadian would still finish on the lead lap to complete the podium at the 17th running of the Joey Christensen event.
Continue reading this report here or view our full event coverage here.
Zen Racing have announced that the 1/8th scale racer Andy North will join the team for the 2016 season. Andy, the current British Open Champion and veteran Mugen driver, will focus on local races this year but he will very likely return to national events soon. Andy had the following to say:
I am very privileged to be asked by Paul and especially David Spashett of Zen Racing to test the ARC 8.0 chassis of which I have accepted to race in the 2016 British racing season. I firstly have to thank Mugen Seiki Europe and especially Stefan for their direct supporting after the Ted Longshaw era of which I have been racing Mugen products for the last 14 years and since the MRX3 incarnation. I am however good friends with David Spashett and Pitman Richard Sheriff on a personal level away from racing which makes this deal even more special to me and a no brainer going forward. This year will also see me become a Dad for the first time in April so my racing will be limited to local races in the short term but I expect to complete the full championship come the end of the year since nitro racing is in my blood. I am very much looking forward to working with all the Zen Racing Team and producing good results.
Source: Zen Racing [zen-racing.co.uk]
The Pista Verde track in Fener, Italy played host to the Gara delle Frittelle race this past Sunday. Classes run were 1/8th on-road 1/8th 2WD and 1/10th Touring and in the premier class of 1/8th Nitro On-road it was Mattia Collavo who set the pace after the qualifiers by taking the top qualifier position and he would also come out fastest in the A-main, scoring not only the win but also the fastest lap of the event.
Source: Novarossi [novarossi.it]
Ryan Lutz together with Mike Truhe and Renaud Savoya complete the grid for the main event at the Dirt Nitro Challenge after filling the Top 3 places in the B-Main. Starting on pole, Lutz would initially drop to 2nd behind Adam Drake after a first lap bobble before going back to the front again on lap 2. Losing the lead to Truhe, the Tekno driver would retake the lead at the first round of stops as Truhe suffered a flame during refuelling. Once back in front, the Tekno driver would take control of the race to win by a very comfortable 25-seconds margin over Truhe’s Mugen. Also surviving a flame out on his second stop, Savoya would come out on top of a frantic battle for 3rd that involved early leader Adam Drake, Austin Blair, Steven Harris and Joseph Quagraine. Running in a Top 3 place early on, Xray’s Martin Bayer would be forced to retire just before the halfway distance due to a protruding chassis screw.
Continue reading this report here or view our full event coverage here.
Round 7 of the Israeli League was held at the Speed Racing track this past Friday. Yaniv Sivan took the TQ after the qualifiers, followed by Aviv Mimon and Omer Assayag. At the start of the 40 minute A-final Yaniv instantly took the lead and never looked back. Behind him, Omer Assayag, Tal Siles, Aviv Mimon , Ofer Avitan, Gil Harush, and Ido Carmon battled for the positions. Some four minutes into the race Omer Assayag had to quit with mechanical issue, promoting Aviv Mimon into second place but a flame out soon after cost him several positions. Meanwhile Ofer Avitan, with a super fast pace, took the second place followed by Tal Siles and Aviv Mimon who managed to recover from his earlier flame out. Ultimately at the end of the 40 minute encounter, Yaniv Sivan would take the win from Ofer Avitan in second and Tal Siles in third.
Ty Tessmann has resumed his reign as Truggy Champion of the Dirt Nitro Challenge after an action filled 45-minute final in which both Ryan Maifield and Ryan Cavalieri both ran out of fuel while leading. Starting second behind Top Qualifier Maifield, the first lap was an indication of the intensity of the racing that was to come over the first half of the race, as Tessmann bumped his way passed for the lead in front of the drivers stand. Taking the lead at the 25-minute mark, 2-minutes later Cavalieri would come to a halt leaving Maifield to lead from Tessmann and a very impressive Joe Bornhorst. With Tessmann dropping back after collecting a back marker who was badly marshalled by spectators, Maifield then looked set to cruise to an easy win but with the final round of stops coming up the TLR driver would also come up short on fuel. With Tessmann now clear of Bornhorst, the Canadian would go the extra lap to claim his 5th Truggy title but the action continued to the last lap where Spencer Rivkin forced his way passed Tekno’s Ryan Lutz to snatch the final podium placing.
Continue reading this report here or view our full event coverage here.
