February 21, 2007

Xray on their NT1 debut

Xray on the NT1 debut

Although we already covered the Winternats I thought it was interesting to get an insight on how the Xray team felt they had performed, considering the hype surrounding the event and the debut of their new 200mm racer, the NT1. While the car definitely performed, it suffered from some off track problems when it mattered most such as poor pit stops as well as the problem that got Jilles Groskamp disqualified after the B-main, but they showed some good speed in the A-main but suffered major tyre wear problems as the track conditions on the finals day changed.

Despite using the harder tire compounds the tires were wearing more than expected and with only a few minutes remaining the rear tires on both Martin and Ralph’s cars wore down almost to the rims making the car more difficult to handle; in the last laps, both lost their 2nd and 3rd position respectively.

You can read the full report here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


February 20, 2007

JR Mitch wins Buggy class at Rd3 Florida State Series

JR Mitch

Yesterday we told you about Gene Hickerson winning his 3rd straight truggy race in a row at round 3 of the Florida State series. Well this race was attended by nearly 200 racers in a number of different classes and in the buggy class it was JR Mitch driving a Werks powered Thunder Tiger that won the race ahead 2nd place Jason Rouna whilst the 3rd position went to Ryan Eckert.

Source: Neo-Buggy [neo-buggy.net]


February 19, 2007

Gene Hickerson wins Rd3 Florida State Series

Gene Hickerson

Buggy-Sport are reporting that Gene ‘The Machine’ Hickerson has won the 3rd round of the ROAR Florida State Series held last weekend. Racing in the truggy class, Gene powered his way to his 3rd TQ and win from 3 rounds, an amazing record for him and his Mega powered CEN Matrix Arena TR. Jeff Keeton, racing a Kyosho came home in 2nd just ahead of 3rd place finisher Kyle Sokol, also running a Mega powered CEN Matrix.

Source: Buggy-Sport [buggy-sport.info]


February 19, 2007

Martin Pater wins Czech Kyosho Masters

Czech Kyosho Masters

Xray have a report on their site about last weekends Kyosho Masters race in the Czech Republic. The event attract around 100 racers from all around Europe and included many top international racers like former World Champion Daniel Reckward. In qualifying it was Michael Jonsson that got the fastest time ahead of Thomas Passmann and Martin Pater. After the semi finals were run it was on to the main final were Martin Pater was able to pull out a lead and keep it to the end despite heavy pressure throughout the race.

Martin was able to get a good lead which allowed him to take one extra fueling to keep a safe run. Despite having World Champion Daniel Recward pushing hard and trying to catch the leader, Martin stayed calm the whole race and was able to bring the XRAY XB8EC to the final win of this prestigious race.

Read the full event report here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


February 18, 2007

Race Announcement – Handy Models Grand Prix

Cotswold track

We received a mail from the race organisers at the Cotswold Model Car Club asking us to plug their upcoming Handy Models Grand Prix and we were happy to oblige, after all thats what we’re here for. The Grand Prix will take place on the 17th and 18th of March on their fast looking new track and is open to Stock, 19T and Modified Electric touring, Gas foam and rubber as well as 1/5th bikes. It should be a good event and a good chance for gas and electric racers to mingle and see each others racing class up close.

Click here to find out more information… content


February 18, 2007

Morganti & Tosolini win 2007 Winternats, Florida

2007 Winternats, Florida

The 2007 Florida Winternats is in the bag and it has produced some very exciting racing, none more so than the A-mains which were packed with talented racers and the best machinery. In the 1/10th scale A-main, the class with the most big names and most varied manufacturers, Paolo Morganti could easily convert his pole position into a much deserved win. The Serpent 720 racer could pull away from his pole position starting spot to win the race 6 laps ahead of 2nd placed racer, Chris Tosolini, driving for Kyosho. The final podium step went to Ralph Burch driving the Xray NT1, who finished only 3 seconds down on 2nd place Tosolini. Danny Horta and Martin Hudy had a close race for 4th with the Serpent driver getting the position by 1 seconds from the Xray racer after 45 minutes racing. It was worth mentioning that Jilles Groskamp managed to win every final from the H-main to the B-main, only to be disqualified after his car failed scrutiny stopping him from bumping up into the A-main.

In the 1/8th scale class it was Chris Tosolini, driving a Kyosho Evolva, that took the win, moving up 1 place from his grid spot to power his way to a 1 lap advantage in the end over 2nd place Rick V, who driving a Mugen MRX4-R had managed to bump up from the B-main after a difficult qualifying. An interesting thing to note was that while everyone else in the final had changed their tyres mid race Chris had left it until the 43rd minute of the race to change his tyres and ensure he was over the weight limit when his car went into race scrutiny. The final step of the podium went to Kyosho racer and pole position sitter Josh Cyrul who ran into some problems and had dropped back to 3rd spot finishing 8 laps clear of 4th placed finisher, Italys Marco Vanni driving a Mugen. Morganti and Salven were out early and this left Scotty Gray to uphold honours for Serpent but he then tangled with last years winner Mike Swauger and Kyoshos Joel Johnson causing damage to all 3 cars and effectively ending their races.

Red RC and The-Border wish to thank the race organisers and fellow racers for making this years event another action packed, well run and enjoyable event.

Click here to view the final A-main results for each class as well as some more images… content


February 17, 2007

European B Championships Slovenia – Warm up event

European B Championships Slovenia

We have been contacted by the organisers of this years EFRA European B Championships for 1/8th scale to tell us about the warm up race that will be held on this beautiful track on the 10th – 11th of March. This warm up race is open to all competitors not just those who will take part in the actual championship race at the end of May and will be run as a rehersal for the big event. If you are planning to race the European B Championships, this is the perfect opportunity to get some practice in on the track before the event itself, and if your not taking part this would be a great chance to race on this challenging 300m long track.

To find out more information you can go to the official Championship site here.


February 17, 2007

2007 Winternats, Florida – Friday Day 6

2007 Winternats, Florida

So on Friday we saw the lower mains being run for all classes up until the C-mains which will be the first races run on Saturday, weather permitting. In 1/8th scale there was plenty of action in the lower finals as always and the big winner of the day was Vince Tate who won his D-main and will progress into Saturdays C-main, with a nice win over Nigel Sim and Renato Dias. Tire wear came up today as well, thanks to the rain which had changed the characteristics of the track, and it caught a lot of people out when making their tire choices. The big story of the day however was in the 1/10th 200mm class were the unfortunate Jilles Groskamp, who we told you was disqualified for being under weight after setting the 3rd fastest time in qualifying, managed to move up from his H-main position to win 5 finals in a row (completing over 500 laps) and will take his position in Saturdays C-main. And incredible drive and he is lucky to make it to the Friday evening where he can now get his Xray NT1 rebuilt for his attack on tomorrows main finals.

To view all the lower final finishing orders and to view some pictures from Friday click here… content