Serpent have announced that former European Championship finalist Mikael Fransson has rejoined their team for the upcoming season, having driven for Mugen most recently. The Swede will run the S120 during the cold winter months before turning his attention to the 733 and 966 in the spring time. He will compete in the Swedish Championships, the Nordic Cup as well as the European Championships for both 1/8th and 1/10th scale.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
Italian company Motonica have announced the signing of front running French driver Stéphane Bouche has joined their National team. A 3 time runner up in the French National Championships, last year’s Coupe de France winner hopes to finally capture the National title for his new team. Stéphane had the following to say about the deal:
Firstly, thanks a lot to team Shepherd for their support for the last 3 years. Now it’s a new challenge for me and I’m really happy to join the Motonica team and I will make my best for the next seasons in the different races. The P81 was really performing well and I’m sure that the new RS will be even better for all Motonica’s drivers.
Source: Motonica [motonica.com]
We heard some rumors about his departure from Mugen and today RCAmerica/Xray USA have announced the signing of Mike Swauger for the 2011 season. Mike is a World Champion, Multi-time World’s finalist and has many National titles also. They are very excited with what Mike brings to the table for the 2011 season. Mike will be using the NT1 WE and the all new RX8 this season along with SRC 1/10 and 1/8 tires. The first race out for Mike will be the Winternats in Fort Myers FL and he will also be attending the up and coming 1/8 World Championship in Homestead, FL. Mike had this to say about the deal:
I would like to thank Mugen for the many years of support and wish them the best. I am really looking forward to this next year with RCAmerica/Xray USA. I feel that I will fit in well on the team with follow drivers like Ralph Burch and Paul Lemieux. This will be the start of one of the strongest teams in the US and I am very happy to be part of it. I will be helping Xray USA with R&D and some team management on the West coast. Thanks to everyone that has showed me support thru the years and I am proud to let everyone know that my new home is RCAmerica/Xray USA.
Source: RC America [rcamerica.com]
The Malaysian Shepherd Cup 2010 was held recently at the Niko Race Circuit close to Johor. On Saturday heavy rain hit the track but on Sunday luckily the weather was fine and the race started at 9:30 in the morning with very traction at the beginning. After three rounds of qualifying Shepherd driver Niko Cheng claimed the third position in the grid after having some small problems lapping slower drivers. The start of the final was very smooth and Niko was able to overtake the second placed driver immediately. He chased the leader and on the third lap Niko was able to take the lead and pull away. By half way through the race he had extended his lead to two laps and slowed down a little bit for the rest of the race. After 45 min he crossed the finish line in first position, two laps in front of second placed KS Chu.
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
KM Racing have announced the signing of two times European Champion Dario Balestri. The Italian will be driving the KM H-K1 in the 1/10th scale class for the 2011/12 seasons and will be attending all the major races like IFMAR World Championship, European Championship, Italian Championship & KM Asia Cup. Continuing to use Novarossi engines, the multiple World Championship finalist formerly raced for Team Magic.
Source: KM Racing [km-rc.com]
French engine company RB have announced that 3 time European Champion Renaud Savoya have re-signed with them for another 2 years bringing him up to the end of 2012. Renaud had this to say about the deal:
After 2 successful seasons under the RB colors, it was clear in my mind that I would renew my contract with the french engine manufacturer. I’m glad to follow up our evolution and keep up with our great results for the 2 upcoming years. During the first months, I was really impressed by the motivation and devotion of the team. We achieve awesome results together, either on the track or personally. Today, I think that RB represents what we can do best in technical support and product evolution, looking at all the titles RB got recently. Evolution and professionalism, motivation and dynamism, boosted by a pleasant and closely knit team, I can only be confident for our future together…
Source: RB [rbproducts.com]
Shepherd have announced that Swiss racer Simon Kurzbuch will stay with the team for 2011. After a successful year finishing 11th at the ultra competitive European Championship A in Locorotondo and becoming Swiss Junior Champion he is looking forward to an exciting 2011 season. Besides the Swiss National Championship he plans to attend the World Championship in Miami as well as the European Championship ‘A’ in Luxembourg and some other international races. Simon had the following to say:
This year I had some great results racing for Team Shepherd and I hope the 2011 will be equally successful. The team-work is fantastic and everybody helps each other. Also the factory support is excellent at national races as well as at international races. I would like to thank everybody in the team for the last season!
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
Former European Champion Yannick Aigoin has contacted us to officially confirm current rumours that he is ending his partnership with Novarossi engines, joining Losi team mate Martin Bayer who too recently ended his association with the Italian marque.
After many rumours, I want to confirm that I’ll not extend my partnership with Novarossi. I’d like to thank them very much for this experience and the great support they provided since I joined them at end of 2008. I’d also like to say that I’m proud of the technical and commercial work we’ve done together and to wish them all the best for the future. Now it is time for new challenges about which I’ll give you more details soon.
