Red RC » Racing

March 25, 2009

Team Orion sign another World Champion

Team Orion have released this teaser in which they claim to have signed another World Champion to their team. “Team Orion is very proud to have six World Champions under contract today which is unique in the RC industry. Who’s next? Today we can only tell you that he is a RC super star. His name will be revealed very soon. The addition of this driver to our World Champion dream team is part of a global expansion of Team Orion. We will inform you about all the details in the near future”. We know who it is, but we will of course be interested to hear what everyone thinks.

Source: Team Orion [teamorion.com]

March 24, 2009

Robert Pietsch takes French EFRA GP win

The opening 1/8th scale EFRA GP of the year was held last weekend outside Paris in a town called Aulnay. The 81 drivers, split between 4wd Open and 2wd Classic, were presented with a fast smooth track and the weather, while cool, stayed dry. Qualifying for the 4wd class saw Mugen racer Robert Pietsch take the pole position in front of the Serpent pairing of World Vice Champion Andrea Cristiani and John Ermen, with another Mugen, that of Rick V. taking the final direct qualifying position in 4th. The 45 minute final started with Robert going straight into the lead, but a mistake behind from Cristiani saw him lose a lot of time in the pits to repair a broken crystal. Behind Pietsch the battle was between John and Rick, but then Ermen too had mechanical problems and had to join early retiree Walter Salemi in watching the race from the stands. With the top 2 positions locked out, the battle was for 3rd spot and this was between Shepherd main man Patrick Schaefer and French racer Louis Christophe with the German holding the 3rd spot, but a crash while passing a lapped car lost the Velox driver over a lap and allowed Louis into the 3rd spot to take the final podium place behind Rick V. in 2nd and Robert Pietsch in 1st, a lap clear up front.

Click here to see the final results

March 24, 2009

Lemieux & Blackstock take ROAR Carpet Mod titles

The 2009 ROAR Electric Carpet Nationals took place last week at the Gate in Cleveland Ohio and the race attracted 284 entrants. In the blue ribboned Modified classes it was Paul Lemieux that took the win from pole position with his Trinity powered Xray ahead of young Associated racer Keven Herbert in 2nd and Josh Cyrul, driving the self designed TOP Racing Photon, in 3rd spot. In 1/12th Modified it was Associated racer Mike Blackstock that won, in a close battle with CEFX designer Josh Cyrul who ended the day in 2nd, while Serpent racer Paul Ciccarello took 3rd spot.

Full final results can be found here.

Image: RC50 [rc50.com]

March 24, 2009

Surikarn takes 2nd Buggy Party win

The 2nd round of the Buggy Party series in Thailand was held at new RC Mania track last weekend with over 100 buggies in attendance. Following qualifying it was Meen V. that claimed the TQ spot, yet in the 40 minute final it was another victory for Surikarn C. The newly signed Xray factory driver took the win by 10 seconds ahead of his Xray team mate Meen V. with 2008 National Champion Yutthana D., driving a Hobao in 3rd spot. This is Surikarn’s 2nd win in as many races using his Xray XB808, powered by Nosram engine & tires.

March 23, 2009

Mark Green retains Merlin Fuel backing

Following previous announcements by World and European finalist Mark Green, the multiple British National Champion has confirmed his final sponsor going into the 2009 season, Merlin Fuels. The Spanish company has backed Mark in previous seasons and continues their support with Mark having already tried their latest batch of fuel, which he says works really well in combination with his new Novarossi engines. The Serpent 966 racer has been testing recently and is pleased with both his car, engine and fuel, as well as the new light weight Xceed wheels, which he feels offers a big advantage, especially upon acceleration.

March 23, 2009

Elliott Boots to run VTEC tires

LRP have confirmed that top European off road star Elliott Boots has decided to run VTEC 1/8th off road tires in both buggy and truggy classes for the current racing season. After testing the tires and understanding the benefits of the complete VTEC tyre range, the RB powered Mugen driver decided to ink the deal for 2009.

Source: LRP [lrp.cc]

March 23, 2009

Surikarn Chaidajsuriya confirmed at Xray

2002 IFMAR World Champion Surikarn Chaidajsuriya has confirmed that he has signed a deal with Xray for the next 2 years. The former Hot Bodies factory driver had raced a Xray car at this years TITC, but a deal had not been struck at that point and so following some negotiations Surikarn will now race both electric and gas touring car, as well as 1/8th scale off road, for the Slovakian manufacturer. The Thai driver won the ITSC World Championships for Tamiya when the event was held in South Africa, but has struggled to recreate that winning form on the international scene in recent times, something a move to Xray will look to rectify.

March 22, 2009

Robert Batlle takes round 1 in Spain

The opening round of the Spanish 1/8th scale buggy championships took place this weekend in Alhaurín de la Torre in Malaga. Qualifying saw Angel Roque Gambero take the TQ spot from Dani Vega in 2nd and Robert Batlle in 3rd and following the semi finals it would be Juanma Vera that would start the 45 minute final from pole position with Batlle lining up 2nd and Vega 3rd. After only 1 lap, Robert Batlle was able to take the lead following problems for the pole man and only during his pit stops would he again give up that lead. Robert would go on to win by 15 seconds from eventual 2nd placed finisher Borja Hernandez, with Antonio Jesus Gomez Salmeron taking 3rd, the top 3 all ending the race on the same lap.

Source: News RC [newsrc.es]