December 30, 2016

Ty Tessmann makes HB Racing leave official

After a short Christmas break the silly season is picking up speed again with the latest Pro-level driver, Ty Tessmann, having announced his departure from long-term sponsors HB Racing. His move was awaited as industry insiders, such as HB Racing designer Torrance Deguzman, already waved Ty and father Gord goodbye on social media but an official word from Ty was yet to surface. Tessmann is still silent about his new home and in the meantime he had the following to say:

As most people already know, my relationship with HB Racing has come to an end, it is true that I will not be re-signing with HB for 2017. 12 years ago I started my career with what is now known as the HB Racing brand, the past 12 years there have been some struggles but many, many successes that many people can take credit for having a part of. I would like to thank Tatsuro Watanabe for giving me a start when I was very young and continuing to support my racing right up until June of 2016. I would also like to thank Philippe Neidhart who at that point purchased the company and continued the support until the end of 2016. I would also like to thank Torrance Deguzman for the efforts that he put into designing cars that gave me the ability to accomplish what I did with them. At this point in my career I feel like it is time to take on new challenges and I am excited for what the future holds.


December 30, 2016

World Champ Ronnefalk also takes Virtual Worlds title

The recent VRC World Championship saw 2016 IFMAR 1/8th Gas Buggy World Champion, David Ronnefalk, walking away with the win in the 15-minute long 1/8th E-Buggy final. The race was held at RC Tracks of Las Vegas, the very same track the Swede took his real life Worlds title about three month ago. 2014 VRC World Champion, Marcin Maliński from Poland, took second some 9 seconds back on Ronnefalk, while pole-sitter Warren Jones from the US snatched the final podium spot from Swede Robert Hillman in the last corner of the final lap.

Continue reading here


December 29, 2016

Tamiya announces future plans for TRF brand

The recent shock departure of 4-time World Champion Marc Rheinard from chassis sponsors Tamiya and TRF left many doubts about the future of Tamiya’s racing brand as the iconic company looked to clarify their future plans. Now Tamiya have issued a rather vague statement regarding their plans for the 2017 season and beyond that, from what we understand, will see the TRF brand used only to provide support at Tamiya-branded events rather than as a brand with its own competition products and race team which it was up until recently.

TRF has long contributed to Tamiya’s successful R/C product designs via the valuable race data gained through its racing activities in elite races such as world championships. In 2017 TRF will look to provide Tamiya R/C fans of all abilities across the world with even more comprehensive support. We will be present at official Tamiya-sanctioned events around the globe, ready to forge a closer bond with local racers and R/C fans, our goal being to provide a truly all-encompassing experience for the hobby. We look forward to your support and participation in 2017 and beyond.

Source: Tamiya [tamiya.com]


December 29, 2016

Giorgio & Cabal win at FORGASS Rd3

The third round of the Florida Onroad Gas State Series was held at Homestead RC Raceway, home of the 2011 1/8th IFMAR World Championship and the upcoming 2018 1/10th IFMAR Worlds. In 1/8th nitro on-road it was Gianni Giorgio, starting from second on the grid, who took the win in the 30-minute final. Gianni took the lead halfway through the race and never looked back, scoring the fastest lap of the race and crossing the line seven seconds ahead of second placed Joaquin Desoto in what was a very close race. TQ Joe Sumasky would round out the top 3 result.

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December 29, 2016

Schumacher GT12 GP – Report

The annual Schumacher GP took place this past Tuesday with this date being chosen due to being a UK Bank Holiday as Christmas and New Year being on a weekend this year. It seemed to be a good choice as the race attracted 97 drivers with the entries were mainly GT12 and a couple of heats of LMP12. The race format was four rounds of qualifying and one final for everyone. For GT12 the duration was 6 minutes and for LMP12 it was 8 minutes. In qualifying it was very close at the top all day in GT12 but not so in LMP12. For the GT12 class it was Andy Murray and Adam Catchpole that were battling it out on track, with Adam coming out on top and lining up on pole position for the A final. In LMP12 it was a dominant performance by Andy Murray taking TQ in all four qualifying rounds and therefore lining up on pole position for the A-final.

Continue reading the report here


December 29, 2016

Northern California Carpet Series Rd1 – Report

Round one of the 2016/2017 Northern California Carpet Series was held last weekend in Stockton, California at 209 Raceway. Each race of the series is a one day event which consists of four rounds with one throw-out. Round one saw a total of 73 entries that included multiple ROAR national title winners and Reedy Race Champions. The biggest classes were USGT and TC 17.5 with 20 racers in each class with other classes run were WGT-R, Formula, Touring Modified, VTA, and 1/12th scale 17.5. In Touring 17.5 it was Eric Albano from pole that lead the field. EJ Evans pressured Albano early in the race, but Albano held his line and was able to finish off with the victory from Juan Aveytia and EJ Evans.

Continue reading the report here


December 27, 2016

Rheinard statement confirms demise of TRF race team

The opening round of the 2016/17 ETS marked the end of an era with Marc Rheinard unofficially announcing his departure from long-term sponsors Tamiya during the event. Having won three IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championship titles, an ETS title and countless major event wins for the Japanese manufacturer, Marc has released an official statement regarding his time with Tamiya, the stopping of their TRF team as well as what the future holds for the super quick German:

I have often heard the saying ‘all good things must come to an end’ but now that I am faced with such a situation I really don’t know what to say. After 22 great years with Tamiya, it is time for it come to an end. It is really hard for me as Tamiya is and will always be in my heart. I started in 1994 with the Tamiya Euro Cup and since then I have used only Tamiya cars. We had many ups and luckily not so many downs and overall achieved lots of titles and had always a good friendship with all the great people who make up the Tamiya Company.

Continue reading Marc’s statement here


December 27, 2016

The Fabulous Barry Baker joins Serpent

Serpent have announced the signing of veteran racer and living RC legend, Barry Baker to their team. “The Fabulous” will be representing Serpent at national events and races around the West-Coast of the USA. Barry will focus on 1/8th and 1/10th off-road racing and also select on-road events, campaigning Serpent’s Project 4X touring car. The multi-time national and Reedy Race champion has the following to say about the deal:

I am so proud to represent such a legendary brand. Serpent produces some of the best quality products on the market. I will do my best to promote and build the brand throughout. Thank you to everyone at Serpent for this opportunity. Looking forward to the 2017 racing season. See you all at the track.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


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