Red RC » International

May 30, 2023

Hong Nor sign large scale World Champion Grenenger

In this 1:8 GT World Championship year, Hong Nor has made a significant signing in Australian driver Russell Grenenger. In collaboration with with Speedy RC, the 2015 IFMAR Large Scale World Champion joining the Hong Nor Factory Team and will drive the new Hong Nor X3GTS 2023 World Edition at future Australian state and national events to prepare for the GT 2023 IFMAR World Championship in Sydney, Australia. Commenting on joining Hong Nor, Grenenger said “I’m delighted to join the team and take on this new challenge. Hong Nor has been amazing to deal with, and very supportive of feedback and testing. I look forward to seeing how my many years of on-road large-scale, and more recently 1/8th IC on-road transfers over into the 1/8 GT class. I would like to thank Hong Nor and SpeedyRC Online Store for this opportunity”.

Source: Hong Nor [hongnor-racing.com]

May 29, 2023

Volker wins EC Warm-up Race at Türkheim

Mugen’s Ronald Volker took victory at the official Warm-Up Race for this year’s EFRA Electric Touring Car European Championship. Top Qualifier in Türkheim, the 7-time champion took the win ahead Awesomatix’s Marc Rheinard with Xray’s Marco Kaufmann completing the podium. Only the second time Germany will host the European Championships for the category, it was the Türkheim circuit in the south of the country that also hosted that event when Andy Moore lifted the 2006 title. One notable absentee from the small Modified entry over the weekend was that of back to back reigning champion Bruno Coelho who was racing in the US at the Warm-up Race for the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships. Alexander Hagberg attended the race for Xray finishing 5th sandwiched between the Mugens of Eric Dankel and Robert Pietsch. In Stock, 2018 Champion Max Machler took his Awesomatix to the win ahead of Simon Lauter and Adam Izsay.

Image: Marc Rheinard [Facebook]

May 29, 2023

Rivkin does double at Worlds Warm-up

The official Warm-up Race for this year’s IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship took place over the weekend with reigning 2WD World Champion Spencer Rivkin doing the double. With the event at Hobby Action also doubling up as the 1up Buggy Challenge, the Warm-up Race had a limited international entry with just Xray having a major team presence as many team drivers had already attended the track’s high profile annual Desert Classic event back in March. In qualifying it was Team Associated’s Aydin Horne who took the 2WD TQ ahead of Rivkin with that order reversed in 4WD, while Schumacher’s Broc Champlin completing the Top 3 in both. In 2WD Rivkin opened with a win but Champlin got the win in A2. Rivkin would get the A3 win as Top Qualifier Horne dropped to P7 for a final podium line-up of Rivkin with the win from Champlin with Horne third. In 4WD, Rivkin sealed the deal with wins in A1 & 2 while victory in A3 gave Horne second from Champlin with Dustin Evans P4.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

May 29, 2023

Nicholas Lee wins HKRCSA Cup Round 1

Attracting over 120 entries, the opening round of the latest season of the long running HKRCSA Cup took place over the weekend at Tom Racing Circuit in Hong Kong where Nicholas Lee would take the win. Making the trip from Singapore for the race, the factory Yokomo driver would open qualifying with a TQ run over the Xpress of Japan’s Yugo Nagashima. With four rounds of qualifying, Lee would secure the overall TQ from fellow countryman & new 2023 team-mate Ethan Cheng. A multiple winner of the Cup, Xpress driver Hay completed the Top 3 on the grid for the triple A-Mains. Winning both A1 and A3 from Serpent driver Kenrick Fong, Lee would secure the overall win leaving the rest of the podium to be decided in A3. Keeping ahead of Fong for the A3 win, the result would give Hay second overall in the tie breaker as Fong completed the podium ahead of another Serpent of Patrick Chau. In the Stock class Hong Kong driver Tiger Drity took the win over Lam Suen and Joey Chan for an all Xray podium.

Image: Nicholas Lee [Facebook]

May 28, 2023

Greiner wins ENS Germany

Capricorn’s Dominic Greiner has won the opening round of the Euro Nitro Series in Germany. The reigning European 1:8 Onroad Champion took victory at the Ettlingen track from Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp who finished less than 6-seconds back at the end of the 45-minute encounter. Having secured the overall TQ on Saturday, Toni Gruber lead out the 12-car field but after just 18-laps hit issues that would drop him to last place. This resulted in Simon Kurzbuch’s Mugen taking over the lead but as the race approached half distance he too hit problems as he flamed out. Groskamp and Merlin Depta then took turns at the front before Greiner took charge of the lead in the final quarter of the race where he would stay to the finish. Setting the fastest lap of the race, Gruber wold recover to salvage a podium finish from the weekend. Bumping up from the B-Main Tobias Hepp would finish fourth with Alex Thurston and Teemu Leino completing the Top 6. In 1:10, Top Qualifier Melvin Diekmann converted for the win ahead of French duo Quentin Leroux and Basile Concialdi.

Image: Oli Meggit

May 28, 2023

Gruber TQ’s ENS season opener

Capricorn’s Toni Gruber has TQ’d the opening round of the Euro Nitro Series in Germany. With 2023 a big year for 1:8 Onroad with the return of the World Championship after a four year break, this year’s ENS is an opportunity for Europe’s top drivers to get in some top level competition ahead of the trip to Japan in October. The first of three rounds that make up this year’s series, Gruber secured the overall TQ in Ettlingen when he topped the final two qualifiers with his Ielasi Tuned powered C804. Behind the German, former World Champion Simon Kurzbuch secured P2 for Mugen having TQ’d the opening qualifier. Fastest in Q2, reigning European Champion Dominic Greiner will start P3 ahead of Capricorn team-mate Merlin Depta with Team Shepherd’s Lars Hoppe and Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp completing the Top 6. In 1:10, Melvin Diekmann secured the TQ topping 3 of the four qualifiers for Capricorn with Q3 pace setter Milan Holthuis lining up second.

Image: Toni Gruber [Facebook]

May 25, 2023

Flavio Elais claims 5th South American 1:8 Onroad title

Team Shepherd driver Flavio Elias has claimed his 5th South American 1:8 Onroad Championship title at Club de Aeromodelos de Chile. The leading Brazilian onroad nitro driver showcased his exceptional skills, securing an astonishing fifth title in this prestigious competition. Elias demonstrated his dominance right from the start, winning all four qualification rounds and claiming the pole position for the final race. With high expectations surrounding him, he was poised to deliver yet another remarkable performance. As the final race commenced, Elias wasted no time at the start and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. With each passing lap, he extended his lead, impressing the audience with his rapid and precise manoeuvers with his Velox V8.2. After 45 minutes of intense racing, he crossed the finish line as the commanding leader over the Infinity of Matias Otaegui. The other Shepherd drivers also left their mark on the competition. Alexandro Giardino delivered a solid race, securing a excellent fourth-place finish. Displaying his talent and technical understanding of the model car, he showcased the strength of the Shepherd team. Alvaro Jara achieved an impressive fifth-place finish, while Pablo Riveros, Reinaldo Gil and Pablo Baudino secured a respectable 8th – 10th place position, contributing to the overall success of the Shepherd team.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

May 22, 2023

Electric to run as ‘World Cup’ at IFMAR 1:8 GT Worlds

The organisers of the IFMAR 1:8 GT World Championship in Sydney, Australia, have announced they will have a 1:8 Electric GT class as a supporting ‘World Cup’ race during the event from October 8-14th. Having also run as a ‘World Cup’ race at the inaugural 1:8 GT Worlds in Homestead in 2020, the electric class will continue as a support race given the low numbers achieved last time. While expect slightly higher numbers at John Grant International Raceway than the 18 that was achieved three years ago in the US, IFMAR says this is not enough to warrant a true IFMAR World title. While the official Warm-up Race run by the hosts New South Wales Radio Control Racing Car Club was effected by rain, several drivers have tested on the Monday after that event to check tyre wear for the 1 hour main final and it was confirmed that the Q3 tire from PMT, which is the controlled tyre for this event, can make the 60 minutes without any problems. More news on the Sydney event will be available in the 2nd Stage report which should be available end of June.

Source: IFMAR [imfar.org]