The recent fifth round of the RCE Championship saw Rafael Panayi walking away with the TQ and win. Rafael would also pull the fastest lap of the day while Pantelis Makrides came in second from Rafael’s teammate Savvas Savva.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
SDRC Raceway of San Diego, California held the 2016 Top Gun Shootout this past weekend. After qualifying was complete, Ryan Cavalieri would take the TQ in 2WD Modified Buggy and Modified Truck while 4WD Modified Buggy was lead by his teammate Rivkin Spencer Rivkin. Cavalieri went onto win A-mains one and two of 2WD Modified Buggy to take home his first title of the weekend.
The inaugural Xray Race Series Australia race was held at Sydney’s Moorebank raceway. 57 entries were received over the three classes, 1/8th, GT and Nitro Tourer. The Saturday was open practise with three rounds of qualifying and bump-up finals on Sunday. Good weather and a well organised meet allowed all the races to be completed with everyone enjoying some close racing and friendly atmosphere. There were even some interstate competitors that flew in from across the country to join in. With the track hosting next year’s nationals it was a good opportunity to get some track time for the non-locals.
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The Protoform Western Canadian Indoor Championship Series round 1 brought racing excitement to the capital city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Hosted by SarCar it was a great season opening race weekend and with two major changes this season, there was lots of anticipation for the opener. On track, the new CRC Black Carpet was the star attraction, presenting the first opportunity for most racers in Western Canada to try this new carpet. The second major change was the AAA Main finals format. In the Touring Modified class the TQ, Team Awesomatix’s Wayne Mah would take the leg 1 win from Danny Buck (Xray) in second and privateer Josh Carter third. Then a break in leg 2 for Wayne would see Danny capitalizing with a win, Josh second. An epic battle in A3, which saw them cross the line just a few seconds apart, Danny posting the faster lap, but Wayne taking the win and first overall, and Josh third.
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RC Concept have announced the signing of Australian Off-road frontrunner, Ben Sterling. Ben is well known around the world and brings in some 16 years of knowledge in the industry. The 2016 Victorian State Titles holder will work together with the Australian RC Concept distributor to support all RC Concept users in Australia and he had this to say:
Firstly I would like to thank Alpha for the past 3 years. It has been an absolute pleasure working with them and evolving their company and product. Thanks so much for RC Concept for giving me this opportunity to run their great engines and also 1/8 EP electronics for the 2017/2018 seasons. I can’t wait to race this awesome package.
Source: RC Concept [rcconcept.net]
Destiny have announced the signing of up and coming Japanese drivers Shin and Jin Sawada. At 17 years old, Jin already made several A-mains at the Japanese Nationals while 12 years old Shin already showed some very impressive speed and results. The first big race for the two was the recent AOC finale at Yatabe arena where Jin achieved a fine third place after the qualifiers.
The 37th running of the US Indoor Championship was held at the Embassy Suite/Hilton in Independence, Ohio. The race has slowly grown over the last few years to reach a peak of 413 entries this year, making it one of the largest indoor races in the country. This time the format was special as the organizers left the track open all night so you could get in a lot of track time. Still, most of the testing took place on Friday during the seeding rounds and controlled practice. In true US Indoor Champs fashion, qualifying went on Friday from 7pm to 2am and Saturday from 7am to 3am, with main events on Sunday finishing at 3:30pm for those racers wanting to get on the road home. Once again Keven Hebert proved to be the man to beat. Taking the top qualifying honors in both Modified Touring and 1/12th scale, Hebert was in the best position possible for Sunday’s main events. In 1/12th, Hebert was able to win the main event by over a lap and in the Touring Car main event he was again able to take the win, even after an altercation with backmarkers close to the end of the race.
Source: Team Associated [teamassociated.com]
The second round of the Washtenaw RC Raceway Points Race Series was held at the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds between Ann Arbor and Saline, Michigan. Conditions were great for a perfect day of racing on the indoor 1/10th scale off road track. The atmosphere was electric and racing was fantastic. This season the WRCR track has a number of detailed sections such as the option lane, an inside line heading to a tight S-Turn with four wood strips with dirt smoothing them. This round most of the classes were using the option lane as it became faster after track updates from round 1. The 4WD Buggy class is most impacted by the bumps but those willing to risk the trip through this lane may gain time on their competition. Conner Stanley was one of those drivers who took the advantage and was able to qualify into the top spot. Ben Belote was the next fastest driver starting in the second position only a few seconds ahead of Tom Erickson.
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