Red RC » P On Road

June 1, 2013

ENS to get underway this evening

Washed out by wet weather which caused the cancellation of controlled practice yesterday, competitors at the opening race of the new Euro Nitro Series again woke to rain this morning in Germany however at a drivers briefing held at 11:00 and lead by Race Director Uwe Rheinard it was agreed that racing will get underway later this evening. Forecasts for the area are showing that from 15:00 local time the weather is set to improve and based on this information it is hoped to be able to get racing underway on a dry track at 17:00 or earlier if conditions allow. Planning to run three rounds of qualifying today it was agreed to set a cut off time of 18:00 irrespective of the track conditions as to start any later would not leave enough time to fully complete three rounds of heats. Unlike the normal qualifying format used in onroad nitro which decides the grids on a drivers overall fastest time, the ENS will use the same round by round points system common to electric touring car racing which should, if the track is still drying, make for a fairer qualifying. With the weather for tomorrow, Sunday, giving a dry day it is planned to have a fourth round of qualifying with a driver counting their best two rounds from the four.

View our complete event coverage here.

June 1, 2013

JJ Wang signs for Matrix Tyres

JJ Wang sign for Matrix Tyres

Matrix Tyres in Italy have announced the signing of JJ Wang to their factory team. The young talented 15 year-old is the current reigning Chinese National Champion in both 1/10 and 1/8 GP and a member of the US National team competing in this year’s 1/8 Worlds Championship in Japan. After extensive testing at the Pre-Worlds, Matrix and JJ have formed this new partnership. JJ had this to say about the deal:

I want to thank Cristian at Matrix for his support during the Pre-Worlds and for giving me the opportunity to drive with Matrix. I enjoy working with Cristian on tyre testing in Japan and feel really good about using Matrix tyres for my 2013 race season as well as the upcoming Worlds.

Source: Matrix Tires [matrixtires.it]

May 31, 2013

Shepherd debut new Velox V10 Pro at ENS

Shepherd are this weekend debuting their new 1:10 nitro touring car at the opening race of the Euro Nitro Series ‘Pilot Series’ in Germany. Featuring 70 percent new parts over its predecessor, Red RC have an exclusive feature on the new Velox V10 Pro as the first of its Chassis Focus reports from the ENS Race at the Hockenheimring.

View more images and details on the new car here.

May 31, 2013

A visit to Shepherd Micro Racing

Fri-Shepherd-Factory-1

With the weather forcing Day 1 of the new Euro Nitro Series to be postponed, Red RC took the opportunity to go and visit the headquarters of Shepherd Micro Racing, a company who has played a big roll in the creation of the ENS. Located less than 10km from the Hockenheimring, the venue of the opening race of the ENS, company boss Patrick Schafer was on hand to greet us and show us around their impressive building. Originally opened by his father as a model shop in 1998, complete with its own indoor asphalt track & pit area, the building took on its current guise in 2005 when Shepherd Micro Racing was formed, then as the distributor for the Speed 1:8 Onroad chassis produced by the famous Picco engine company. Taking over that project from the Italian company, in 2007 the company produced its first car the Velox V8 and now as an established onroad nitro manufacturer also produces a 1:10 200mm chassis.

Continue reading the report here.

May 31, 2013

Ronald Volker dominates Euros warmup race

Last weekend the Euros Warm-Up Race for EP touring cars took place at the Mini-Autodromo Track in Torres Novas, Portugal. Some of the best European drivers attended the race since the weather prediction for the weekend was really good and it was confirmed by some very high temperatures. Ronald Volker was the man to beat since he TQ’ed 4 out of 5 qualification heats and was just beaten in one round by the Awesomatix driver Viljami Kutvonen. In the finals the Ronald show continued and he won all 3 A-mains with Elliot Harper taking the runner up spot and Alexander Hagberg in 3rd.

View the final results here

May 31, 2013

Rain postpones Day 1 of ENS

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The much anticipated new Euro Nitro Series will start a day later than originally planned as racers woke to a very wet morning in Hockenheim, Germany, leaving organisers no choice but to postpone Day 1 of the event which should have seen 5 rounds of controlled practice. With the weather down for the day and set to improve mid morning tomorrow, Saturday, it is hoped to be able to get the event officially underway at around lunchtime. Sunday’s weather is giving perfect conditions for racing. Despite this morning’s conditions one driver decided he could do with some wet practice, bravely taking to the track with his touring car but his first attempt on the soaked track lasted just two laps before the engine decided it had consumed enough water. Today’s weather is in total contrast to yesterday’s set-up day when the sun shown down on the home of Formula 1’s European Grand Prix with many drivers including most of the main contenders able to get in some track track time as the host club ran a day of open practice.

May 31, 2013

John Bruins wins Dutch Stock Nats Rd2

Last weekend saw the second round of the Dutch electric track nationals take place at the 2012 electric TC worlds track, The MACH in Heemstede. The worlds chicane proved to be a challenge to many drivers however it was round one winner, Team Kyosho driver John Bruins who would take the TQ honours in the stock class followed by track local Jitse Miedema and reigning Dutch national champion Rob Janssen. With the weather forecast seeming to be a bit dismal and chance of rain high, many drivers came prepared with rain cars however it thankfully remained dry all weekend which resulted in John taking the clean sweep, winning all three finals. Behind him an exciting battle took place with the following three drivers ending up on the same points total. Final times would be tie-breaker in the end which saw Jitse Miedema driving a Spec-R R1 take second place, followed by Rob Janssen and his Tamiya taking third. Serpent driver Ronald Arts came in an unlucky fourth place, just missing out on a podium place.

Thanks to John Bruins for the report.

May 30, 2013

Capricorn big bore shocks & springs

Capricorn have released this new 11mm big bore shock absorber set. Featuring a new treatment on the steel shock rod, there is a range of pistons available with 1 to 6 holes (1.2mm each). Designed for the Lab C02, they also fit the Xray NT1 2013 version with a length from uniball to uniball of 50mm. For the new shocks, Capricorn also have a new line of big bore springs. Made with wire from 1.5mm to 1.8mm diameter and from 5 to 6.5 turns, there are a total of 8 different springs available.

View the big bore springs here