Red RC » P On Road

May 12, 2013

Hobby Arena Romania grand opening

Our friends in Romania got in touch to tell us about their all new state of the art track which recently held their grand opening event. The Hobby Arena track saw hundreds of people come out to enjoy the event and track in Frumusani near Bucharest, not just from all around Romania, but they also had international visitors from Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. The opening day was not only the occasion to present the track, it was a festival for the hobby and fun, everything for rc car enthusiasts, whether they are professionals or just hobbyists. The hosts, representatives of Hobby Arena, Autorc Hobby Store and Motosport Racing Team Club, spent every effort to make everybody feel at home. Soft drinks, soda’s, beer, even some meal, everything provided. This is the biggest project of its kind in Eastern Europe, and yes, this was a rc car festival.

View more details & photos here

May 11, 2013

Xenon VSS 1/12th scale front-end

Xenon Racing have released details about their soon to be released VSS 1/12th scale front-end. Made to a very high quality it will be compatible with the Associated R5 and L4 and other direct drive pan cars. Available in regular or hard material Xenon are the first company to allow you to choose the kingpin angle for the front knuckle from 6 steps (0-5 degrees). Other features are its easily adjustable width using screws from the outside of the lower arm as well as a two part upper arm with turnbuckle adjustment. The bulkhead has been made from 7075 aluminum and will be available in blue or black while the king pin and hinge pin have been been made from coated titanium.

View images of the kingpin angles here

May 11, 2013

WRC F-One steering option parts

Italian firm WRC have announced some new parts for the front of the F-One chassis. First up is a new threaded front king pin and nut which replaces the previous version which used a c-clip so the new version is easier to assemble and more reliable. Next up is a new front steering hub made from a combination of aluminium and carbon fibre, super high quality and lightweight. Next up continuing to focus on the front end are new high quality and lightweight aluminium wheel axles. Finally for the shock absorber are new 3 hole pistons for increased tuning options.

View more images of the front end here

May 10, 2013

John Ermen wins Benelux Cup

Last weekend the Benelux cup was held in Bierset, Belgium and John Erman filed this report. ‘It was a little bumpy track with medium grip and a long straight. On Saturday we had some practice to setup the new Xray RX8 2013 spec car. I had some problems with the track layout as it was the first time for me on this track. But at the end of the day I had a good setup and the car/engine combination was good to go. On Sunday the weather was perfect, around 25 degrees and sunny. We had 3 qualifications and I was able to get 2nd position tight after Robin. In the last qualification I changed from the Blitz ARX to the Blitz R18 v2 body and the car was instantly better to handle but because some back markers I was unable to improve my time any further. But the car felt allot better than in the first 2 qualifications, so I was confident for the final.

Continue reading the report here

May 10, 2013

Tamiya TRF101 F1 chassis

Tamiya have released details on their upcoming Formula 1 release the TRF101. This pure competition chassis feature carbon throughout including for the front upper arms which are made from 2.5mm thick carbon fibre. The car will utilize a vertically mounted steering servo while the side links of this pan car can be mounted in 3 different positions for multiple setup options. Available in late June.

Source: Tamiya [tamiya.com]

May 10, 2013

Xray Challenge Grand Final report

The Xray Challenge Grand Final was held at the Hudy Racing Arena in Trencin, Slovakia and Alexander Hagberg made this report. ‘Once again we saw a perfectly organized event. More than 100 drivers from many different countries joined the race to come and have fun at this great venue. It was a good opportunity as well, to prepare for the upcoming ETS final. The race was run in seven different classes, both electric and nitro, to allow for all kinds of adrenaline charged fun. Unfortunately the weather gods were not with us on Friday as it rained away. It was not a problem for those who had signed up for the electric categories though, as the newly prepared indoor track was open for practice. New curbs and paint gave the track a really nice look and was very enjoyable to race on. Traction levels became high eventually as sugar water was used.

Continue reading the report here

May 9, 2013

Olivier Bultynck wins FBA Nationals Rd2

The second race of the FBA electric touring car championship took place at the indoor hall in Chatelineau. The track was small and very technical and the surface was not giving the grip that everyone had expected, so the key issue was to find a stable and fast car. It was Olivier Bultynck with his VBC car who set the pace. Manuel Henriet, last years winner and driving at his home track, put his car on the second spot on the grid with Nick Joosens in third place. In the first final Manuel tried to attack from the start and was pushing just behind Olivier but after a few laps Olivier found his rhythm and was pulling away from the rest. Manuel was a strong second but for the third spot a big battle was going on between Nick, Thomas Stockman, Maxim Claes and Nicolas Delisé. It was Nicolas who took third place. The second final was a different story. Olivier made a good start but after lap 11 he lost the lead to Manuel who was strong and defended his lead. Olivier made another mistake and Nick Joosens took the second place but everything was still possible in final three. From the start Olivier was pushing hard driving a splendid last final and setting the fastest time in the finals. Also with this win Olivier took the second win in two races. Manuel was very strong at his home track and took second place with Maxim Claes a very good third. Overall results saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC Racing) the winner, second to Manuel Henriet (Awesomatix) and third went to Nicolas Delisé (Team Yokomo).

Source: Swingman [google.com]

May 9, 2013

Smokem Racing T4MX chassis

The team at Smokem Racing has released the latest version of their MX-series chassis, this time for the Xray T4 electric touring car. Like all Smokem Racing’s MX-series chassis, the 2.25mm thick Smokem T4MX features distinctive curved shoulders that enhance the flex characteristics of the chassis compared to the stock Xray design. As a result, the T4MX delivers superior chassis response during quick direction changes and turn-in, while maintaining excellent stability. The added flex also widens the tuning window in your T4, allowing your car to be easily dialed-in over a wider range of temperature and track conditions. And in response to racers’ feedback, the T4MX also incorporates an enlarged pinion gear access hole to make pinion changes a breeze.

View another image of the chassis here