KO Propo America have been in touch to let us know that sedan racing ace Ron Atomic has joined their US team. Ron has proved he has what it takes and in the past five years has made the finals at many ROAR national events, and in doing so has shown great talent and a great work ethic. Ron will be using the new EX-1 UR and KO servos for year.
Source: KO Propo [kopropo.com]
2007 French buggy Champion Alexander Valente has joined the X Factory Team. Valente drove his own X -6 to win in the first three events of the 2007 French Championship and took second in the fourth event to lock up the title. “I’m looking forward to this season so much,” said Alex. “It’s hard for me to believe that now I’m part of the X Team”. Valente added,
I was hooked on The New Math when I first heard about the concept. If just makes so much sense, I had to get one. And what a dream to drive, right from the start. Brian Kinwald calls this car ‘cheating,’ and I knew why right from my first lap. Now I’m part of this exciting innovative Team. It’s amazing! The X – 5 is the perfect car for our French outdoor tracks. I haven’t driven 4WD for quite some time, and can’t wait to start driving it. That single-belt driveline is just ballistic, and the xx-4 suspension is still the best one ever built. With a year of driving the mid-motor X – 6, I know I’ll be right at home with the X – 5. Support from the other Team drivers has been fantastic. It’s so much fun being with a group of guys who are so smart and share my desire to win. So far it’s just been E-mails because of distance, but it’s a super Family.
Valente will run the full schedule of French National Championship races, as well as the Coupe De France and Petit R/C races in 2008.
Source: X Factory [2wdrc.com]
We heard this mentioned at the fair on the Motonica booth but thought the announcement was still a time away, but today we have gotten confirmation from Motonica USA that Josh Cyrul will race their car for this season. Cyrul is a former IFMAR World’s TQ, and multiple national and international race winner and he brings with him many years of racing knowledge and engineering experience. His debut with the Motonica P8.0R 08 will be at the upcoming Winternats held in Ft. Myers, Florida and joining Josh will be sedan racing ace Ron Atomic and one of the best 1/8th on road drivers in the US, Scotty Barrera. This is the second announcement regarding Josh this week, having been confirmed as a TOP team driver on Thursday.
Source: Motonica USA [motonica-usa.com]
Tokyo hobbies Optional Parts (T.O.P.) have announced that they have signed top US racer Josh Cyrul who will be representing T.O.P. as a driver and engineer. Masato and Vincent Yip of T.O.P. Racing had the following to say:
We are extremely happy that Josh has decided to race for us. Not only is he a world class driver, but also a respected inventor and innovator. We are dedicated to making an impact in the R/C industry and we feel Josh is the right person to lead us.
Source: RC Tech [rctech.net]
The 4th round of the Norwegian Winter Series took place this past weekend hosted by Borg MRK, who presented the racers with a small and tricky circuit to race on. In qualifying for the modified class it was Adrian Berntsen that claimed the TQ spot in front of his Xray team mate Helge Johannessen in 2nd while the 3rd starting spot would be taken by Eirik Andreassen. The SuperStock (19 turn) class saw the best starting field so far this year, and all racers were out to stop Kyosho racer Marcus Alvestad’s winning streak, having won the last 2 rounds. Marcus however was still the man to beat in qualifying, taking the top spot in front of Petter Berntsen with Kai Ronning in 3rd.
Read the rest of the report here… content
Last weekend saw the first race of the 2008 regional season take place in the centre of Spain in a town called Valladolid. The weather was very windy and cold and the drivers had to contend with a slippery track, but the atmosphere was good and everybody enjoyed themselves. The final saw Mugen driver Daniel Vega start from pole position and he went on to win the race ahead of Losi driver Felix Zamorano in 2nd with Hoboa racer David Marcos in 3rd.
Source: Vas Modelismo [vas-modelismo.com]
Horizon Hobby in the UK are delighted to announced that top off road racer Jon Hazlewood has joined their team to race Losi and Spektrum for 2008. He will be using the new Spektrum DX3R, Losi 8ight and 8ight-T at all events of his choice along with this years Euros and the all important World Championships. Jon brings with him his long standing pit man Jon Dell, years of experience and an amazing dedication to his racing and leaves behind a team who have supported him over the past few years and Jon had this to say.
I am leaving a very hard working team who have given me great support, but I feel it is now time for a change and some new challenges. Losi have proven over the years that no matter what class of racing they participate in they dedicate their resources until they succeed and I want to be a part of their plans. During 2007 I watched how fast the car was and the excellent level of trackside support that Horizon UK were providing. I am delighted that I am now part of the team and incredibly excited at the prospect of driving the cars this year.
Source: Horizon Hobby [horizonhobby.co.uk]
Merlin Fuel have announced that German racer, and Serpent chief designer, Michael Salven will contest this season using their products. Michael has been 4 time European Champion, 2 time World Champion and has won lots of National titles in both 1:10th and 1:8th scale, which makes him one of the most experienced drivers around. Together with the Merlin R+D Department, he will be giving his input to help improve the Spanish company’s range of products.
Source: Merlin [merlinfuel.com]
