Red RC » Gas

March 30, 2010

Exciting season opener for the Nitro West Masters at Oberhausen

There are a couple of question marks when the first round of the Nitro West Masters is held on the Easter weekend at Oberhausen: Who has changed chassis? Who is racing which engine? Who is already well prepared after the long winter? How are the new balance of power in the 1/8 and 1/10 nitro on road classes? The season opener on the 3rd and 4th of April at the old-established race track of the MRC Alstaden Oberhausen in Western Germany will for sure shed light but many drivers will put their cards on the table probably not before the races for the Western German Championships. Nevertheless, the Easter weekend offers a good opportunity to zero in on qualifying for the Nationals.

Continue reading the preview here

March 30, 2010

Robert Batlle joins Spektrum

Horizon Hobby have announced that former European Champion and multiple Spanish National Champion Robert Batlle has chosen to use Spektrum DX3R radio, receivers and servos in his RC8 buggy. Robert had the following to say about the deal:

I’m excited to race with Spektrum, they are the first factory selling 2.4 system, I think this is the future so my team has decided to start working hard with them. The radio is really lighter and servos are perfect so I cannot want anything else. I hope achieve good results this year and I hope to help Spektrum in all we can.

Source: Horizon Hobby [horizonhobby.co.uk]

March 30, 2010

Niki Duina signs for Capricorn

Capricorn RC have announced that front running Italian touring car racer Niki Duina has joined their team for 2010. The former Xray driver will race the company’s new LAB-C01 chassis which has been proving quite competitive in the hands of new team mate Chris Tosolini, and will compete in the Italian Nationals together with this year’s World Championship in Houston, Texas.

Source: Capricorn RC [capricornrc.com]

March 30, 2010

Tobias Hepp confirmed at Serpent

Following a deal with Shepherd to supply him with their own brand tires, MLC fuel and Novarossi engines, Tobias Hepp has also been confirmed with Serpent for 2010. The Serpent 966 is very much to Tobias’ liking and he expects to do very well in the Germans Nationals and this year’s European Championship in Italy. The co-operation with Michael Salven is working really well at races and together with the help of his dad/mechanic Rudiger Hepp it has enabled Tobais to continue to get faster. Tobias will also race a number of 1/10th races with the Serpent 733 in 2010.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

March 29, 2010

Dreschers wins BRCA National warm-up event

The annual BRCA National Warm Up event took place at Frankley over the weekend and saw Craig Drescher stake his intentions for the up up coming season. The weather turned out to be dry which looked pretty unlikely in the week up to the race, but dry it was. In qualifying the Associated RC8B’s of Craig Drescher and Neil Cragg were on fire, taking all the round wins between them and putting Neil Cragg on pole position. Neil & Craig were using the new ST version of the Reedy engine and Reedy 2039 pipe set which are both due to be released soon. Neil was also the only driver able to get through for the sacred 9 lap run, which on this largely unchanged track layout, only Neil and Darren Bloomfield have ever achieved.

Continue reading the report here

March 29, 2010

Losi Racing Winter series Rd1 double for Drake

Last weekend the first round of the Team Losi Racing Winter Series took place at Revelation Raceway. Adam Drake put in great runs in both rounds of qualifying and started on pole in buggy and truck. The buggy final was all Drake. Cody King moved into second at the start of the buggy final, but wasn’t able to match the pace of The Drake and eventually had a flameout. This opened the door for Matt Schreffler who finished in the runner up spot, 1 lap behind race winner Adam. The truck final was a great race with Adam and Matt battling most of the final with Adam able to take home the victory followed by Matt.

March 29, 2010

Jerome Aigoin wins Loudun French National

Round 1 of the French 1/8th buggy Nationals took place last weekend in Loudun in the west of the country. Qualifying saw Losi/Novarossi racer Yannick Aigoin take the TQ spot ahead of his brother Jerome Aigoin in 2nd for Kyosho, with Jerome Sartel for Xray in 3rd and recently crowned Australian Champion Renaud Savoya in 4th for Mugen. With little drama for the front runners in the semis, Yannick would start from pole position but a crash early on in the race would sideline him for a number of laps as his car received attention. This left a battle out front between Savoya and Jerome Aigoin, but with the latter running longer on a tank he could gain an advantage that saw him up front when it mattered and would take the win in front of Savoya in 2nd, with Sartel taking the final podium spot in 3rd.

Source: RC Mag [rcmag.com]

March 29, 2010

Luis Cortez wins opening Portugal Regional

Last Sunday the first round of the Portuguese Regional was held in the Circuito Automodelismo do Funchal. This year the qualifying rounds were extended from 5 to 7 minutes making the fight for the pole position very close. Team Magic driver Mario Oliveira took the pole position but the first seven drivers all managed to complete 21 laps. Mugen driver Luis Cortez, who had engine problems all weekend and opted to change to a Siro XXX for the final, started from 4th position and took the early lead of the race and managed to win the race with 87 laps. Kyosho driver Paulo Rodrigues lost six positions following a driver error, but drove a very good race managing to get the 2nd position of the podium on the final lap. The current regional champion Duarte Faria, who started from the second position on the grid, set a new track record but at the final stage of the race didn’t have any rear tires left and he ended up in 3rd.

Thanks to Paulo Rodrigues for the report.