Red RC » National

January 13, 2024

EssexCarpetClash Round 4 – Report

Round 4 at EssexCarpetClash saw everyone return after Christmas ready for another round of the popular south based UK series. Another track was ready for a full days racing, that some found challenging to grips with, but would find their feet quickly once racing started. Lee Martin showed the pace of his Schumacher ride, topping the timing sheets in all the four qualifying runs. Team mate Ben Smith would line up second on the grid joint on points with Xray driver Harley Eldridge, only being beaten by a second on count-back timing. Charlie Ware, Kyle Moon and Ed Kerry all had good qualifying round scores, taking the next three grid places for the 11 car A final. Martin continued with how he set off in qualifying and would not look back, again taking all 3 leg wins and giving him the perfect race day! The fight would then be between Smith and Eldridge, who would sit where on the podium having both finished 2nd and 3rd in the first 2 finals. Smith managed to take the second step, with Eldridge rounding off the podium position.

Continue reading report here

January 8, 2024

Phend wins 2nd edition of ‘Clash of Champions’

Having won the inaugural ‘Clash of Champions’ 12-months ago, it was a case of deja vu for TLR’s Dakotah Phend over the weekend as he again took the top honours in the modified Buggy classes winning both 2WD and 4WD at the Hoosier RC Hobbyplex event in Indiana. In qualifying it was Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin with the new B7 who secured the TQ ahead of Phend after taking two of the three rounds with Davey Batta completing the Top 3 ahead of Cole Tollard. Sporting a FlySky radio, as was World Champion team-mate Tater Sontag at the race, in 4WD Phend topped all three qualifiers to secure the TQ ahead of Schumacher’s Broc Champlin with Rivkin 3rd on the grid. While Phend would wrap up the 4WD win after taking the opening two encounters, in 2WD things went to A3. After a win in A1 ahead of Champlin as Rivkin dropped to third in the second half of the race, Phend would be only P8 in A2 after a bad first lap as Tollard took the win from Champlin with Rivkin again third. The former World Champion would lead A3 until he broke just inside the final minute handing Phend the win and overall victory over Tollard with Rivkin completing the podium. Bringing a close to the second running of the Clash of Champions was the big money Champions race. A single 8-minute 2WD Mod Buggy encounter involving drivers having to take one, faster, joker lap during the race it was Champlin who came out on top to take home the $2,000 first place prize.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

December 21, 2023

British GT12 Nationals RD4 Eastbourne – Report

Round 4 of the BRCA GT12 Nationals took place on the 17th of December and was hosted by the Eastbourne club at their facility in Robertsbridge. 24 of the nations keenest racers took to the track to compete at one of the countries best tracks. A superb venue with a fantastic technical track layout and some great track markings. Along side the GT12 racers they had the mini super cup entries with a support class of LMP12 featuring the former world David Spashett. The day consisted of the usual format of 1 practice, 4 qualifying rounds and 1 final to decide the winner of the Event. Round one saw the usual front runners and title contenders taking the lead with smooth and fast driving from Adam Mackman to TQ the first round of qualifying with a 4 second gap back to his closest rivals Sam Coult and Morgan Williams who was making his return to GT12 after racing LMP at the IFMAR world championships. Round 2 was a virtual stalemate in the top 5 with no improvements in the top 3 and only Ewan Thompson and James Taylor swapping places in the top 5. The big winners of round 2 were Matt Hunter and Matt Gammons as they both made big jumps in the standings.

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December 19, 2023

Schumacher Winter Series Round 3 – Report

The 2023/24 Schumacher Winter Series presented by the Louth Radio Control Car Club reached its midway point with Round 3 taking place last weekend. Schumacher front runner James Hart joined the series and set the fastest times in the opening qualifier and continued on to take four commanding rounds. Chris Lovely would lead the Xray charge and take 2nd spot in the qualifications with two 2nd places, 3rd would belong to 1:8 nitro ace Tim Wood and his Mugen. In 4th would be Paul Sleight with his Awesomatix mixing it with the front times, 5th was Dave Sedgewick with his Awesomatix showing consistent speed. Daniel Burks would round out the A-final with his Destiny.

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December 18, 2023

Harper wins EWS Round 2

New Schumacher recruit Elliot Harper has won the second round of the popular Essex Winter Series. Securing podium at the opening round, Harper TQ’d all four qualifiers while behind their was a nice fight through the qualifying between Round 1 winner Kyle Branson and Alex Thurston for 2nd, with Branson getting the nod. In the final, Branson stayed in touch with Harper, but had to worry more about defending from Thurston behind. Harper opened up a small gap as they worked through lapped traffic, and Thurston couldn’t get close enough to seriously challenge Branson. Chris Grainger had a lonely race after qualifying fourth and finishing fourth. In Stock Round 1 winner Zak Finlay TQ’d ahead of Tony Broad and Andy Murray. Murray dropped back in the opening laps, and there was a great battle for 2nd between Broad and Billy Fletcher. Finlay checked out while Fletcher lined up a great pass on the final lap to take 2nd place, leaving a Broad to settle for 3rd. In FWD Ben Moorey took the TQ & win.

Source: EWS [ewsevents.co.uk]

December 14, 2023

XRS Finland – Report

Some 50 drivers lined up at Fullspeed RC in Vantaa, Finland, for the highly anticipated XRS Finland race last weekend. Organised by EuroRC, this event featured a diverse lineup of racing classes, including Touring Prostock, Touring Modified, CS-12, C12, and Eurotruck. With skilled competitors not only highlighted the exceptional skill level of its participants within the national level but also showcased a European-class proficiency, with drivers such as Joseph Quaqraine, Pekko Iivonen, Juho Levänen, Janne Koivisto, and Oiva Metsola demonstrating a level of racing finesse that placed them among the elite in the European racing community. Their presence elevated the competition, making each class a true spectacle of high-speed precision and strategic mastery.

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December 11, 2023

Rivkin & Phend turn RC teachers for a day!

They are two of the biggest names in offroad racing and represent two of the biggest manufacturers on the international stage but last week both Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin and TLR’s Dakotah Phend became RC teachers for a day as part of two different events. Two time World Champion Rivkin was taking part in the launch of Hobbywing Tech Explorers. Held at World Championship venue Hobby Action Raceway, it marked the first collaboration with a school outreach program. Rivkin touched on his journey with RC, overcoming challenges, and dreaming big. He also discussed the mechanics, electrical aspects, and disciplines of the hobby, along with the incredible values it’s brought into his life – from friends, mentors, and unforgettable experiences. On his social media Rivkin said he was ‘So thankful to have had the opportunity to hold my first public gathering and launch a new program with Hobbywing North America called Tech Explorers! Meeting and seeing these kids remind me what it was like when I first laid eyes on RC cars. I want to personally thank Larry and Hobby Action RC Raceway for letting us utilise the track and rental cars. I’m totally looking forward on doing many more of these!’ Phend brought his 1:10 Electric and 1:8 Nitro buggies to a middle school as part of a career day where he shared his story with pupils. On his Facebook page he posted, ‘I was able to be apart of career day earlier this week at Angola Middle School. I went over how I was able to turn a passion into a career. There are a lot of great and unique opportunities in today’s world!’. It is great to see both drivers promoting RC racing in this way and well done to everyone involved in inspiring the future generation.

View Mr.Phend taking his class here

December 11, 2023

Maifield completes clean sweep at U.S. Open Fuel C/ships

Tekno RC’s Ryan Maifield became the first Pro driver to complete a clean sweep at the annual U.S. Open Fuel Championships which held at Adobe Mountain R/C Speedway in his home state of Arizona over the weekend. Attracting almost 250 entries, qualifying would see Maifield take the TQ in the Open classes of Nitro Buggy, eBuggy and Nitro Truggy before wrapping up the perfect weekend with wins in all three finals. In Nitro Buggy he took the win ahead of Kyosho’s Ryan Lutz having a 3-lap advantage at the end of the 1-hour in encounter. Ryan Pavidis would complete the podium driving his Sparko buggy. In eBuggy, the single 10-minute Main saw Maifield led home the Sworkz of Spencer Heckertt by over 7-seconds with Lutz finishing 3rd. In the 45-minute Nitro Truggy Final, it was the Mugen of Frankie Contresas Jr who followed Maifield home.

Image: MOD Media Live [Facebook]