October 10, 2013

RB/Xray Cup – Report

RB/Xray Cup – Report

The RB/Xray Cup took place at the SAMC club in La Motte Servolex in France. 65 drivers attended in 1/8 Buggy Open and Promo as well as 1/8 E-buggy. Friday allowed for a lot of track time but come Saturday the heaven opened its gates ruining most of the day. Fortunately the club was well prepared offering good lighting to continue running in the evening. The qualifiers and finals were run on Sunday in an electric race format with 6 minute qualification runs and three 10 minute finals. The short runs made for lots of action on the track and especially the Open class saw hard battles between Miguel Matias, Marco Baruffolo and Lorenzo Crolla. At the end the three came in in the aforementioned order handing Matias the Open class win. In Promo Tanguy Vandre took the winning honours in front of David Restani and Joel Santos. The E-buggy class saw Yannick Brozzini taking the win with Corentin Precoma and Youssef Lesbir in tow.

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October 10, 2013

Adam Drake triples at Southern Nationals

Adam Drake triples at Southern Nationals

The 2013 Southern Nationals and R/C Expo took place at the Ike Hamilton Expo Center in West Monroe, LA. The event was a huge success with over 300 entries. Three rounds of qualifying were run on Saturday, followed by lower nitro mains and the first round of electric mains. The remaining two rounds of electric mains and upper nitro mains were run on Sunday.  Adam Drake had a mechanical issue in the first round of nitro buggy, but TQ’ed round two and three to take the top qualifying honours in 1/8th nitro buggy. At the start of the 45 minute nitro buggy final, Drake was hit and sent to the rear of the field but he was able to quickly move his way back to the front and had a good battle with Taylor Peterson and Ryan Lutz before taking control of the race and settling into a comfortable lead.  Drake took the victory followed by Lutz and Peterson.

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October 9, 2013

Tadahiko just one run away from being Top Qualifier

Tadahiko just one run away from being Top Qualifier

Tadahiko Sahashi is just one qualifier away from securing the honour of Top Qualifier at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships and based on today’s qualifying the Team Serpent driver can already get the glasses ready for the champagne to celebrate.  After yesterday evening’s rocket round, today’s hot conditions meant no one came near to challenging Sahashi with the Top 16 remaining unchanged from yesterday.  The highest placed driver to post their quickest time today was HB’s Hideo Kitazawa who holds 17th position.  With the top drivers using today’s three qualifiers as a test run for the finals, it was the Sahashi brothers who still locked out the top of the time sheets.  Having posted the fastest time in the days opening & third qualifier, when the only 36-lap runs were recorded, Tadahiko also ended the day with the fastest time of Q5 & the day albeit it over a full lap of his TQ pace. In Q4 his brother Yuya took his Serpent 977 to the fastest time again a full lap off the Q2 topping time.

Continue reading this story here or view our complete event coverage here.


October 9, 2013

The Dual – Announcement

The Dual – Announcement

Thunder Alley R/C Raceway and the Pro-Line Test Track play host for The Dual, a unique 2-day event on the weekend of the 27th of October. Run in 1/8th Nitro Sportsman, Intermediate and Expert, 1/8th Open E-buggy and invitational Buggy and Truggy classes the race schedule sees three races at Thunder Alley Raceway on Saturday and three on the Pro-Line track on Sunday, with one throw out at each venue counting the best four to award the winners on Sunday evening. Race director is none less than Jimmy Babcock. More information and the registration can be found here.


October 9, 2013

Tadahiko remains fastest as brother Yuya tops Q4

Tadahiko remains fastest as brother Yuya tops Q4

Serpent’s Tadahiko Sahashi remains at the top of the qualifying time sheets in Japan with the latest round of qualifying again failing to see any change within the desired Top 14 direct Semi Final qualifying order.  While Tadahiko only completed 20-laps as he worked on engine tuning, it was his brother Yuya who was fastest from Jilles Groskamp and Shinnosuke Yokoyama, with a time that was a full lap off the current TQ pace.  The biggest mover of the round was Team Shepherd’s Oliver Mack setting the fifth fastest time for the round who jumped from sitting 42nd to 25th in the standings.

Continue reading this story here or view our complete event coverage here.


October 9, 2013

1/8th onroad Worlds Manufacturer Statistics

Shimo

IFMAR have released the official manufacturer statistics for this year’s 1:8 Onroad World Championship, the sport oldest and longest running category. In terms of equipment being used by the 97 racers taking part in the Japanese event it is the host nation that is the most popular choice in the four main categories of chassis, engine, tyres and fuel.

Continue reading this story here or view our complete event coverage here.


October 8, 2013

Sahashi again in Q2

Sahashi again in Q2

As predicted the second of today’s qualifiers at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in Japan proved to be the rocket round with Tadahiko Sahashi again fastest improving his Q1 topping pace by 11-seconds on the 16-seconds a lap track.  As in the opening round it was Mugen’s Takaaki Shimo who was closest to the Serpent driver, 5/10ths of his pace over the 10-minute qualifier.  After a bad start to qualifying, Q2 saw Jilles Groskamp bounce back to post the 3rd fastest time as the only foreign driver who appears to be a serious treat to the Japanese.

Continue reading this story here or view our complete event coverage here.


October 8, 2013

Richard Volta wins 2013 French Cup

Richard Volta wins 2013 French Cup

The 2013 French Cup was held in Ampuis near Lyon. It was a difficult race for the drivers with lots of issues to consider, as there was first of all the weather with only the final qualifier was being held at dry conditions. There was also the very demanding track with its fast sweepers that made it tough for the drivers to make the 5 minute qualifiers without refuelling. Romain Picard (Mugen/JP Gimar) managed all of the above taking pole position. Richard Volta (Velox/CRF Andelle Competition) who had the fastest pace only finishing 6th because he ran out of fuel. Recently crowned french champion, Christophe Aygon (Mugen/NDS Tech) secured the second place and local driver Thomas Eytard (Xray/RB) followed in third. After the semis, Thomas Eytard would start from pole position into the final with Richard Volta in second.

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