June 30, 2013

Groskamp wins ENS in Austria

Groskamp wins ENS in Austria

Jilles Groskamp has won Round 2 of the Euro Nitro Series ‘Pilot Series’ in Austria, the Shepherd driver taking the victory over Round 1 winner Eric Dankel, just 3-seconds separating them at the end of the 45-minute encounter. Former European Champion Dirk Wischnewski competed the Top 3 for the race which saw Top Qualifier Robert Pietsch suffer two on-track engine flame outs, the first of which happened on lap 3 while the Mugen driver was leading the 12-car field. Eventually finishing 8th, there was some consolation for the German as he claimed victory in 1:8 ahead of former European Champion Jernej Vuga.

View our complete event coverage here.

June 29, 2013

Pietsch ‘Top Qualifier’ for ENS Race 2

Pietsch ‘Top Qualifier’ for ENS Race 2

Robert Pietsch is the Top Qualifier for Race 2 of the Euro Nitro Series ‘Pilot Series’ taking place in Austria after he completed a hat trick of TQ runs in the third round of qualifying to wrap up early pole position for the tomorrow’s 1:10 and 1:8 A-Main finals. The German’s closest rivals in the opening two qualifiers, Jilles Groskamp and Eric Dankel, both crashed in Q3 and retired allowing him to take the round unchallenged ahead of Serpent’s Dominic Greiner and a much improved Dirk Wischnewski. In 1:8 which is lacking the dept of field seen at Race 1 in Hockenheim, Pietsch was easily the class of the field topping the times by over 6-seconds from the Shepherd of Euro B Champion Daniel Sieber and Xray’s Jernej Vuga.

View our complete event coverage here.

June 29, 2013

Pietsch tops opening ENS qualifier in Austria

Pietsch tops opening ENS qualifier in Austria

Robert Pietsch set the pace in the opening round of qualifying at Race 2 of the the Euro Nitro Series in Austria this morning, the Mugen driver topping the 4-minute qualifier ahead of Shepherd’s Jilles Groskamp. The only drivers to record 14 laps of the Stöhr-Ring track, the pair were separated by just 3/10ths with Capricorn’s Eric Dankel the fastest driver on 13 laps in third. Pietsch would make it the perfect morning by also topping the times in 1:8 from Serpent’s Toni Gruber with the Xray of former European Champion Jernej Vuga completing the Top 3.

View our complete event coverage here.

June 28, 2013

Pietsch tops Day 1 at ENS

Pietsch tops Day 1 at ENS

Robert Pietsch ended Day 1 of the Euro Nitro Series in Austria as the man to beat, the Mugen driver setting the pace in controlled practice in both 1:8 and 1:10 at the Stöhr-Ring track.  In 1:8, the reigning World Champion set the pace over 3-consecutive laps from newly crowned European B Champion Daniel Sieber but it is the German’s pace in the highly competitive 1:10 class in which he was fastest from ENS Hockenheim race winner Eric Dankel that is the big news from Kirchberg.

View our complete event coverage here.

June 28, 2013

ENS drivers compliment Stöhr-Ring track

ENS drivers compliment Stöhr-Ring track

Race 2 of the Euro Nitro Series ‘Pilot Series’ got underway today in Kirchberg, Austria, with drivers very complimentary of the Stöhr-Ring after open practice.  Set to host the 1:10 200mm European Championships in August, the ENS encounter has attracted a high quality touring car entry with many of the factory drivers taking the opportunity to use this weekend as important practice for the Euros having never been to the track before.  While no official timing was published for the open practice Mugen’s Robert Pietsch appears to be fastest but so too are ENS Hockenheim race winner Eric Dankel and former European Champion Dirk Wischnewski.  With two rounds of controlled practice set to bring Day 1 of the event to close, with each drivers 3-consecutive fastest laps being recorded, we should have a better indication of where everyone is at later today but as Wischnewski put it ‘the competition is very high’.

View our complete event coverage here.

June 27, 2013

U.S. World Nitro Cup – Announcement

U.S. World Nitro Cup - Announcement

The crew at Full Throttle RC Raceway in Kissimmee, Florida have been in touch to let everyone know about the U.S. World Nitro Cup race that they are organising from the 5th to the 8th of December this year. Located close to all the major Florida attractions such as Disney, Epcot, MGM, Universal Studios etc, the race will be held on their newly resurfaced track and is open to 3 classes, Sedan, 1/8th Masters and 1/8th Open. The event has already attracted entries from a number of top US drivers as well as some major European and Japanese names. Full details on the event can be downloaded here (PDF).

June 27, 2013

Nicholas Lee wins 2013 Futaba Cup

Nicholas Lee wins 2013 Futaba Cup

The annual Futaba Cup took place last weekend in the city of Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia and Nicholas Lee gave this report. ‘The track was resurfaced two weeks before the event but the layout remains the same as to the one I attended last year with the surface sugar watered for increased traction on Saturday. This year’s event attracted drivers from 8 different countries, but most notably, 1 Reigning World champion from Thailand (Meen.V) and 2 Worlds finalists (Alexander Hagberg and Chavit). As I had a good result finishing 2nd last year for the 10th and the 8th scale, I was hoping for a strong result. My dad and I arrived on Wednesday and we headed to the track right away. There were some new rules for this year as addictive is allowed and 4 rounds of 5 minutes qualifiers were to be run. My initial plan was to break-in engines and choose the best engine for the race. However, I had a stressful week because none of my engines would finish 5 minutes. I wasted the time stressing on my engines rather than finding a competitive car setup and tyre combination.

Continue reading the report here

June 27, 2013

Morganti double at Byron Fuels On Road Challenge

Morganti double at Byron Fuels On Road Challenge

Nitro racers from all over the USA and from as far away as Shanghai, China descended on Leisure Hours RC Raceway in Joliet, IL for the 2013 Byron Fuels On Road Challenge. Qualifying would JJ Wang take the top spot in 1/10th 200mm, Joaquin DeSoto Jr the top spot in Nitro GT and Paolo Morganti the top spot in 1/8th scale. First on the schedule was the 1/10th scale class which following an early exit by Wang after 4 minutes, say Morganti go to the front of the field and take the win only 3 seconds in front of DJ Apolaro in 2nd, with Vincent Jackson in 3rd, 4 laps further back. The GT class turnout was very large this year and this resulted in some intense racing. Taking the TQ honors and finishing first in the 60 minute A main was Joaquin DeSoto Jr. Bill Sydor finished in second place followed by Andy Liu in third to complete an all Serpent podium. Although the first 20 minutes of racing during the 1/8th 60 minute A main was exciting and intense, lightning and rain forced the end of racing for the day. As a result, the top qualifiers were awarded the podium positions. Paolo Morganti, TQing took the first place followed by Mike Pulfer (Xray) and Jason Conley (Xray). Byron fuels took the win in all three classes.

View the other podiums here

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