At the end of the first day of qualifying for the 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships it is Team HB driver Teemu Leino who holds the provisional TQ honours in Bangkok after the Finnish ace ran a time of 39/10:01.655 outpacing Q1 pace setter Jilles Groskamp by half a second. Andy Moore completed the Top 3 ahead of former World Champion Keisuke Fukuda with a time thats somewhat off the pace of the Top 2.
View our complete event coverage here.
Kyosho mastermind Yuichi Kanai has released a handful of pictures of suspension weights for the MP9 1/8th buggy in the wake of the upcoming 1/8th nitro buggy World Championships in Argentina. The parts are clamped to the front steering knuckles and rear uprights using set screws. Although automotive textbooks explain that adding weight to unsprung parts such as suspension components is a bad idea pre-Worlds testing revealed that the additional weight may help with one-track performance and drivability. Although the 10g and 15g parts sport a part number it is not clear if they are a one-off for the meeting or if they will hit the stores later.
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The final round of the Malaysian Nationals was held at the famed RCC track in Malaysia. The series was all tied up with 3 drivers aiming to be champion. Ben Panic (Kyosho/Novarossi/JConcepts), David Lim (Kyosho/OS/AKA) and Daniel Law (Losi, Orion, Sweep) were all tied on points in the best 3 of 5 race series so this final round would prove crucial in deciding the champion. 110 drivers attended the fifth round of the Malaysian nationals, with guest appearances from factory Team Associated driver from Australia Jason Dyckhoff and compatriot Jacob Wilson.
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The annual Pierrefeu GP recently took place in mixed conditions with the questionable weather forecast kept away many of the international drivers. After a dry Friday rain was predicted from Saturday noon on meaning a rocket round qualifier was held in the morning and it was dominated by Xray’s Renaud Savoya. Come Sunday the track was soaked with water but thanks to the effort of the club members the surfaces was well prepared for the final that saw Renaud taking the lead closely followed by Jerome Aigion. Both drivers changed positions a couple of times and after 30 minutes Renaud crossed the finish line in first position followed by Jérôme Sartel and Rayan Medjoubi.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com] & Automodelisme [automodelisme.com]
RC-Trim introduce the latest release in the TrakGear line accessories, the aluminium car and shock rebuild stands. Starting with the car stands, they are available as 45mm height on-road and pan car variant and also as 80mm height 1/10 and 1/8th off-road stand. The third new part, the shock rebuild stand, features an assortment of holes to accept all standard and big bore diameter 1/10 and 1/8 Offroad Buggy, Truck and Short Course shocks. All are made from high quality 6061 aircraft grade aluminium, come with a satin black powder coated finish and four rubber feet to provide a stable station. Every piece comes labelled with a signature RC-Trim dog-eared brand, denoting that the item is part of the TrakGear line.
Click here to view the other stands
The Norwegian electric off-road championship was held in Moss, Norway with around 40 participants in the 2WD buggy class. After qualifying TQ was held by Niklas Bjørkås Roos in front of 2011 champion Martin Sorlie and Andreas Daving. Come the finals Niklas was able to conserve his form by taking the first two A finals. Joakim Nicolaisen took the runner-up spot with Magne Kobbevik completing the podium.
Thanks to Niklas Roos for sending the report.
JConcepts have released two new additions to their already extensive line up of pre mounts with their 2.8″ Subcultures & G-Locs now available on white Rulux wheels. Subcultures are now available in the popular 2.8″ bead mounting diameter used on the popular Traxxas line of vehicles including the Stampede, Stampede 4×4, Rustler and Jato vehicles. The JConcepts design conveniently matches the Traxxas standardized design and is interchangeable back and forth between all Traxxas 2.8″ wheels and tires. The G-Locs 2.8” tire, by JConcepts is a super low-profile, aggressively treaded tire, purpose built for those aggressive speed-runs and specifically for vehicles capable of high-voltage or high-horsepower fun.
View the G-Locs pre mounts here
For 2012 the Victorian State Championships were held at the Keilor track in Melbourne with just under 200 entries received from all around Victoria as well as from Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Tasmania. The Keilor club had prepared a high grip track with an abrasive surface and had chosen the JConcepts Bar Codes as the control tyre (in Orange compound). With temps reaching close to 30c, this was the perfect tyre choice for the track with high grip and good wear. JConcepts / Associated / Novak factory driver Ray Munday calls this track home and was looking to add more state titles to his tally, however he was facing stiff competition from the likes of Ashley Peeler (Kyosho), Leigh Cheeseman (JC / Associated), Jody Denner (Associated), young guns Glen Bonetti (JC / Associated) and Logan Symes (Losi), and 2011 National Off-Road Champ Josh Pain (Yokomo). After a long weekend of racing, Ray would walk away with victories in 4wd Open and 2WD SCT, with Glen Bonetti taking a surprise win in 2wd using his JC equipped B4.1. In Mod truck, Leigh Cheeseman would finish a close second to Ash ‘king of truck’ Peeler.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net] / Image: Pete Brady
