With 2023 just around the corner, making a clean start to the season begins with your pit set-up and Kyosho Europe has just released this Kyosho Motorsports pit mat just in time for the New Year. Measuring 600x1200mm, it is made from a high quality yoga mat type material that makes its easy to roll up for transportation between workshop and race track.
Source: Kyosho Europe [kyoshoeurope.com]
T-works has introduced a carbon fibre laydown motor plate for the Team Associated B6.3 and B6.4 2WD 1:10 Buggy. Machined from 3mm thick carbon fibre, the plate is a lightweight option to replace the standard aluminium plate that comes with the original AE kit.
Source: T-Works [rc-tworks.com]
Back to back 1:8 Buggy World Champion Davide Ongaro is set for another change to his 2023 racing package with the announcement he will no longer be using RunnerTime Fuel. Having announced his departure from tyre sponsor AKA earlier this month, the Italian has enjoyed a similar 5-year stint with the RunnerTime netting the 2018 and 2023 World titles in that time. On his Facebook page Ongaro said, ‘It has been 5 amazing years, We have achieved a lot of amazing results together and goals, we have had a lot of fun and you are part that helped me to be what I am. I hope you are happy about what we have done together, races, dinners, good and bad results because they are part of racing. I can only say a big thank you for all the help you have to use during these years, was a pleasure for us to work with you. It’s time now to take different roads, I wish you the best in your future. Thanks a lot for everything. Thanks Matteo Passerini and Runnertime.’
Source: Davide Ongaro [Facebook]
With the news earlier in the week that his stint with Tekno RC was over, Jared Tebo has today announced that he will also not be continuing with long time tyre sponsor AKA in 2023. The American started with the brand in 2009 and has been running their products every year since with the exception of the 2016. Making the announcement on social media, in thanking everyone at AKA, he attributed their Three Rib front tyre as being a major part of his 2013 1:10 2WD Offroad World Championship victory. Also switching engine for the new season, it will be interesting to see what new package Tebo hits the track with in 2023. Read Tebo’s announcement here
Sam Richardson (17.5 Touring) and Andrew Kilgariff (Mini) have taken the overall wins of the Stoke RCMCC Autumn Series. They earned the top spot after 14 weeks of racing in the Monitex Racing support series with both titles being decide at the final round. In Touring Car, Xray driver Richardson would see off son and father pairing Adam and Steve Ball. In the Mini Class, which is limited to Mardave Mini Assassin or Kamtec Ministock, Kilgariff would also see of the challenge off Adam and Steve with their similar Mardave Minis.
View Mini podium and results here
2022 would see Infinity driver Graeme Lougheed crowned Ireland’s National 1:8 Onroad Champion. The IF18/ASM Nuclear/Eirerc driver claimed the overall title following 2 victories and a second place, all three round being hosted by the ORCA Club at Ireland’s only 1:8 Onroad track in St Annes Park on the outskirts of the capital city of Dublin. It was a tough battle between Lougheed and Austin Elliot (Shepherd Velox v8.2/Ielasi Tuned) all year with both setting blistering times and both dominating every round. In the end it all boiled down to the last race as each driver came into the event with one win a piece. With Elliot fresh back from the European Championship, and all to play for going into the last round, it was a tough ask for Lougheed but he was able to TQ and set the fastest lap of the year to clinch the 1:8 National title.
JConcepts has introduced two new tyres for carpet and astroturf 1:10 Offroad, the Siren rear tyre and the front Pin Swag 2WD tyre. The Siren, shares styling cues from its successful racing sibling, the Nessi. Racing on artificial surfaces require a lot of stability and forward-bite and the JConcepts design team went to work to substantially improve performance for deep nested turf or carpet surfaces. The new tyre brings a new larger and taller sized 3D blended pin-size, pin-separation, and a lightweight and incredibly low-profile carcass. The Pin Swag combines the outer lugs of a JConcepts Swagger front tire with the dense arrangement of specialty pins. Now optimised as a 2WD front tyre, the pins themselves are round and crisp to the top where they climax to a point. Near the sidewall, the Swag enters with a smooth transition and drops off to a ledge giving steering control.
Tekno RC has announced the departure of Jared Tebo from its factory team. The move was much anticipated when the American offroad manufacturer announced the signing of Ryan Maifield last month. Tebo joined Tekno four years ago after being the main face of Kyosho for many years and put the smaller brand into the mainstream with plenty of successes in that time, most notably the 2019 Reedy Race of Champions. Making his own follow up announcement on social media thanking Tekno for ‘the journey’, Tebo revealed the announcement came sooner than planned adding he had hoped to retire with the brand. As yet no announcement has been made on his future plans but he did clarify he will continue his racing career in 2023. Announcing his departure, Tekno said, ‘The end of the year is almost here and with it brings a change to our team. Jared Tebo will no longer be representing Tekno RC after 2022. We’ve had four excellent and memorable years with Jared. We enjoyed learning and improving together as well as celebrating some big wins. Piloting his various Tekno RC vehicles, he reached the top step of the podium 17 times at major events across the country. Add another 28 major event podium finishes along with a decent stint as the #1 driver in the world according to Top25.com, it becomes apparent that his time at Tekno RC has been very successful. We would like to thank Jared for all of his positive contributions to Tekno RC, on and off the track. We wish him the best in the next chapter. Thanks, Jared!!!’
Read Tebo’s follow up post here
