JConcepts founder Jason Ruona interviews multiple World Champion Jared Tebo and talks about racing, life, retirement, and his relationship with Speed RC owner, former Formula 1 & Nascar racer Scott Speed.
Following a first wave of departures and new sponsorship announcements things got a bit more quiet the recent days but the silly season is still in full swing with many high-class drivers jumping ships weather it be chassis, engines or fuel. The latest Pro to announce a change in his sponsorship package is HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk. The 2016 IFMAR Gas Buggy World Champion has just announced his departure from long-term tyre sponsors AKA. So far there are no words on his new deal but in the meantime he had the following to say:
To all friends, fans and followers that have supported my racing, earlier this year I decided 2016 would be my last year with AKA. I’ve been with AKA since the start and just felt like it was the right time for something new after 8 happy years racing together. I will forever be thankful for everything the guys at AKA have done for me and to my racing career. Big thanks to Joel, Mark and Gil for always supporting me to the fullest with great products that made us win those titles together. I would also like to thank Greg, Pres, Jeremy and Brent for their hard work during these years together. I’m delighted that I was able to win the big one a second time for AKA, as well as the 2 Euro titles and many other accolades together as a team in my racing career. I wish them the best in the future and also look forward to a fresh start in 2017!
1/6th scale European Champion and multiple 1/12th Euro A-finalist, Jörg Tiit will get Nosram power for the 2017 season. The Estonian SWorkz driver will compete at events such as the EOS, the 1/8th Euros and other major races using Nosram electronics and he has the following to say about the deal:
I am very happy to be part of the team. The performance and quality of Nosram makes me feel very confident for the coming season.
Source: MW RC Cars [mwrccars.at]
Xray have announced the signing of Hungarian Formula champion, Balint Rajki to their team. The former ETS Stock, Hungarian 1/10th 200mm Nitro, and HPI Nitro Stock European and World Champion will focus on electric touring car and formula racing at all major electric on-road events including the ETS and he has the following to say:
I’m very happy to announce and also feel honoured to be able to join the Xray factory team. I have been following the formula project since the beginning and I truly believe that the X1 car is the best car at the moment so far and I’m sure it will remain the same. Besides the X1 I will also race T4 cars in our National Championship, ETS and some XRS races. I had been basically racing the past 10 years with one brand, but now I feel that this is the right brand to join with having all the different cars I had raced before and also planning to race in the future. I would like to thank Jan Ratheisky and the Hudy family for the opportunity, I will do my best. I also would like to say Thank You to Modell & Hobby and Arpad Kocsis for supporting me with cars over the past years.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
The Reedy Offroad Race of Champions organisers have announced a unique opportunity for those racers who were not drawn in the lottery for the Open class. On January 14, 2017 at 6pm, OCRC will host a qualifying event where racers will vie for six additional spots in the Open Class and earn a position into the Reedy International Offroad Race of Champions. These six spots will be in addition to the original 100 drawn lottery entrants. More information about the qualifying event can be found here.
Having topped 4WD seeding at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals, Jared Tebo went on to complete the double when he topped the 2WD times but only just from Spencer Rivkin. Tebo set the fastest three consecutive laps in a time of 50.804 while Rivkin posted a time of 50.809. The only other driver to manage a 16-second lap around the Speed RC track, Brent Thielke would complete the Top 3 with the Team Associated Team Manager outpacing his team driver Alex Kosciuszek and Serpent driver Will McIver.
Continue reading this report here or view our full event coverage here.
The recent 2016 Serpent Asia Cup was run along side the season finale of the Serpent GT Cup and held at the Hong Kong based TRC track. 52 drivers signed in for GT Modified class while over 100 entries were received for the GT RTR category. The Serpent Asia Cup then added two more classes to the special event in the form of the 1/10th Nitro Touring class and 1/8th Nitro on-road class. Current 1/10th Nitro Touring World Champion, Dominic Greiner as well as former IFMAR A-main finalist Takumi Matsuda made the trip as special guest as did Serpent’s Michael Salven and Billy Easton who raced in the 1/8th on-road and GT Modified class respectively. The Asia Cup also attracted driver from America, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippine, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. With more then 100 drivers all on Serpent chassis, the races were intense with a friendly atmosphere around the pit area.
Continue reading the report here
The Essex Winter Series team have announced the 2017 EWS International event. Formerly known as the ICC, now re-named in line with their well-known EWS series of races, the event will take place over the weekend of 31 March to 02 April 2017, at EWS’s popular venue in the south-east of the UK. An ETS-carpet track covering 24×34 metres will greet racers, with classes for Modified and Super Stock 13.5 Touring Car, plus a Formula class. The event looks to grown on previous years, with race teams and international drivers from Infinity, Tonisport and Awesomatix already confirmed to attend. Entries are open now, and will only remain open until 23 December. Race entries, along with details of hotels, travel tips and full event rules, can be found on the EWS Website here, or by emailing Oli Meggitt (oli.meggitt@gmail.com).
