August 24, 2013

FEMCA title a ‘Special win’ for Hara

FEMCA title a 'Special win' for Hara

8-days on from making the shock announcement that after 13 years of racing for HB the had left the team, Atsushi Hara claimed a ‘special win’ today as he became the FEMCA 1:8 Offroad Champion after a near perfect day at Fengtai Raceway in China.  Racing as a privateer with a Mugen that he went out to a hobby shop and bought himself, the Japanese ace won the 1-hour final easily from Top Qualifier Dani Choi and Sheng Chie Huang who had a great battle towards the end of the race.

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August 24, 2013

Wurst & Lenaers are 2013 Western German champs

Wurst & Lenaers are 2013 Western German champs

Christian Wurst and John Lenaers are the Western German 1/8th nitro on-road champions. Serpent racer Wurst took the title and the prestigious #1 start number for the 2014 season in class 1, Mugen driver Lenaers caught the title in class 2. The decisions about both titles were taken at the fourth and final round at Oberhausen that, for the first time in the 2013 season, was spoiled by rain. Enjoying a permanent #1 start number in 2013, Uwe Baldes entered the final race as the reigning champion and also as the leader in the class 1 ranking after three rounds, equal on points with Xray racer Claus Nauth, with Karl-Heinz Meister on the third spot. The initial position was clear, seven racers were able to fight for the crown in Oberhausen.

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August 24, 2013

Hara on pole for FEMCA final

Hara on pole for FEMCA final

Atsushi Hara is on pole position for the 1:8 Offroad FEMCA Championships after the Japanese ace convincingly won his Semi final in the faster time.  A lack of clarity in the ruling meant there was a long wait before the grid was finalised with officials disagreeing on the interpretation of the rule. JMRCA representatives were adamant that the rule should see the pole position go to the winner of the odd Semi final as this was deemed the faster race as it contained the Top Qualifier. With Sheng Chie Huang beating Top Qualifier Dani Choi this would have but the Taiwanese driver on the pole for the 1-hour title deciding race. In the end a call to IFMAR’s Sander De Graaf saw the ruling interpreted as the driver with the fastest time from the 2 Semi finals getting pole position, Hara’s time being 2 laps faster than that of Huang.

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August 23, 2013

Bruno Coelho wins Portuguese Albufeira race

Bruno Coelho wins Portuguese Albufeira race

Xray’s Bruno Coelho has won the Albufeira opening race in the South of Portugal. The race for the 43 drivers started with three rounds of qualifying and no practice at all and in the end it was Bruno Coelho who took the overall TQ. The start of the main final was a bit of a disaster for the Xray driver who ended up at the rear end of the pack in the beginning but he moved his way back into the lead and brought home the win one lap ahead off S-Workz’ Antonio Peixe with Xray team mate Joao Ramos completing the podium.

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August 23, 2013

Wu claims first Chinese 1:8 Offroad National title

Wu claims first Chinese 1:8 Offroad National title

Taiwanese driver Chin Yi Wu claimed his first 1:8 Offroad Chinese National title this morning at the Fengtai Raceway in Beijing.  This year’s single race Chinese Nationals was held alongside the FEMCA Championships which are being hosted for the first time in China at Beijing Model Sports Association’s all new facility.  Starting from 4th on the grid a good start saw Wu take his SH engines Z-Car to the front of the field early on from where he would lead through to the end of the 30-minute encounter.  It was a 1-2 result for the Z-Car and SH Engines with SH owner Lien Sheng Chang, who started third on the grid, taking second in the final minute of the race.  Driving a Sirio powered Team C buggy, Top Qualifier Wei Zhan completed the podium.  The Chinese driver was running second until he ran out of fuel at the 29-minute mark allowing Chang through to second.


August 22, 2013

Choi Top Qualifier at FEMCA Championship

Dani Choi

‘Can’t believe it’ was Choi’s reaction to the result.  Going into the final qualifier tied on points with Hara he said he just tried to ignore Scotty Ernst’s commentary but towards the end of the race he found himself battling with two world champions.  Running the same set of Exagon tyres he used to TQ the penultimate round of heats, he said his MP9 was really good and the hardest thing was actually trying to stay calm as he ran wheel to wheel with Hara and Vejrak.  Looking forward to Saturday’s Semi Finals, Choi said with his buggy performing so well and also being extremely good in terms of tyre wear, his tyres after two 10-minute qualifiers still looking like new, he said the plan is just to fully rebuild the buggy and for the race itself keep calm.

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August 22, 2013

Joe Kerry wins British 200mm Nationals Rd7

Joe Kerry wins British 200mm Nationals Rd7

Round 7 of the British 200mm Championship took place at the Colchester circuit. The weather was very good on both days with temperatures reaching 29 degrees on Sunday. The grip was surprisingly not that bad when the first cars took to the track which is quite rare in the UK. At the end of practice it was Serpent/O.S. driver Joe Kerry setting the pace getting down to 14.1 lap times. Shepherd/Sonic driver Andy Hastings headed the rest of the field around 0.2 seconds behind. At the end of qualifying Joe took TQ with Andy taking second and John Zottl third.

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August 22, 2013

Hara takes damp 4th FEMCA Qualifier

Hara takes damp 4th FEMCA Qualifier

Atsushi Hara took the fourth round of qualifying at the FEMCA Championship in Beijing as day 2 of qualifying got off to a damp start at Fengtai Raceway. Despite the slippery conditions, the Japanese ace backed up his Q1 topping performance to record a new fastest 10-minute run of qualifying finishing 12.5 second clear of overnight provisional TQ holder Dani Choi with Yuichi Kanai a further 7/10th off the 2008 World Champion’s pace.

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