November 19, 2023

2024 Provisional EFRA European Championship Calendar

EFRA, the governing body for RC racing in Europe, has released a provisional 2024 race calendar of which the European Championships are the highlights.  Having hosted its AGM over the weekend, one of the big changes to come from the meeting in Sweden was that the European Championships for 1:10 IC Track, 1:8 IC Track, GT8 and GT8E are now shortened to 4 days running from Wednesday to Saturday.  First of the main 2024 European Championships to be decided will be 1:12 which takes place in Italy in April.  It is going to be a busy year for the Italian Federation as they host European Championships for four different categories.  At the end of May GT8 drivers will battle it out in Sicily, 1:8 Nitro Offroad travels to Sacile at the end of July with 1:8 Onroad crowning its Champion at Locorotondo in late September.  France will be the destination for 1:8 Electric Buggy in Montpellier in early June while later the same month 1:10 Nitro Touring Car heads to Thionville.  In July France will host Large Scale Offroad in Hanvec.  Large Scale Touring & F1 will be decided in Lostallo, Switzerland in early August.  Belgium hosts the 1:10 Electric Touring Car at the end of August.  The season will conclude with 1:10 Offroad as drivers head to Malmo in Sweden in late September.

View European Championship dates here


November 19, 2023

Urbain adds first ETS Carpet win

Having taken his first ETS win last year on the iconic Luxembourg outdoor asphalt track, Awesomatix’ Lucas Urbain has just added his first carpet win of the series with victory in Germany.  The first carpet encounter of the current ETS season, Urbain dominated proceedings at Round 4 in Munden topping all four qualifiers to secure the overall TQ from the Mugen Seiki of reigning champion Ronald Volker and Awesomatix team-mate Marc Rheinard.  In the finals, Urbain would lead A1 from start to finish as the Top 9 finished as they started.  In A2 Urbain again lead from start to finish after getting an early break when an out of shape Volker got collected by Rheinard allowing Tim Wahl through to second.  With the overall win secured, A3 would decide who joined Urbain on the podium with Volker getting the win ahead of Rheinard and Team Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper to take P2 overall with Rheinard 3rd.  In Pro Stock, Adam Iszay had the perfect weekend with Xray securing the TQ and taking maximum championship points with victory ahead of Olivier Bultynck and Lukas Ellerbrock.

Image: ETS [Facebook]


November 17, 2023

Yokomo’s Nicholson confirmed for FIRC 2023

Team Yokomo’s Simon Nicholson is the latest driver to be confirmed to attend the inaugural Foshan International Invitational RC Championship in China on December 15-17.   The Australian, who just last weekend successfully defended his Electric Touring Car National title, becomes the third different factory team representative who will make the trip to the new GDC Indoor Race Club track in Guangdong for the brand new event.  The goal of FIRC is to boost the level of competition among young local racers by giving them the opportunity to race against top international electric onroad racers.  Already the event has confirmed 2016 World Champion Ronald Volker will compete with his Mugen Seiki at the 800 square metres track that was only opened in May of this year.  The largest professional indoor onroad track in China, the organisers have also confirmed the entry of top Japanese racer and Xpress team driver Yugo Nagashima.

Source: GDC Indoor Race Club


November 17, 2023

ARC R8.4 LCG Chassis

ARC has released a new optional Low Centre of Gravity chassis for their R8.4 1:8 Onroad car.  The R8.4 LCG Chassis was tested and raced at the 2023 IFMAR World Championship in Japan with all ARC drivers with the resulting lower engine height improving the corner speed and overall stability especially on the medium traction high speed tracks.  The R822025 LCG engine mounts are necessary parts to fit together with new LCG chassis, with new option chassis and engine mounts lowering the engine height by 2mm.

Source: Team Titan [team-titan.com.tw]


November 17, 2023

Team Associated Apex2 Rally Conversion Kit

Team Associated has released a Rally Conversion Kit for its budget friendly Apex2 sports level chassis.  The conversion kit features Rally Shocks with longer shock shafts and aluminium threaded shock bodies with larger oil capacity to allow the Apex2 to soak up off-road terrain in true rally fashion.  New carbon fibre shock towers with tower covers allow for taller shock mounting positions for increased suspension travel.  Lower +3 arm mounts widen the lower suspension by 3mm from centre to provide increased stability and traction.  The set also includes 5.8mm Ball Stud Set, the taller set of ball studs allowing for more clearance and movement for the links.  An updated chassis includes chamfering for added down-travel and suspension capabilities.  On the drivetrain, there are front CVAs for more on-power traction and more predictable driving feel.  A sealed, tunable 72T 48P Center Diff Set increases traction and stability on-power in off-road
conditions.

Source: Associated [associatedelectrics.com]


November 16, 2023

RadioMaster MT12 Radio

A brand well known in drone racing/FPV circles, RadioMaster has announced the upcoming release of its MT12 surface radio.  The RadioMaster MT12 is a pioneering open-source surface radio, and the first surface radio officially supported by EdgeTX, ExpressLRS, and the Multi-module project.  Boasting 10 physical inputs and the capability to handle either 16 or 32 channels*, the MT12 is primed for a wide array of surface models, from cars and trucks to boats and beyond.  Featuring extensive customisability and a versatile operating system, the MT12 stands out as a highly configurable surface radio, prepared to excel in virtually any scenario.

View Features, Specs and more images here


November 16, 2023

Nova Engines Statement on ‘very confused’ Novarossi rumours

In response to recent social media postings about the rebirth of once iconic Italian engine brand Novarossi, Nova Engines through well respected former racer and engine guru Stefano Colombini has posted a statement to clarify ‘the very confused rumours’ that concern the new Italian engine producer.  Nova Engines was created after the decision of Novarossi’s owners to permanently close the micromotor production activity, a decision made when the liquidation phase began two years ago.

Read statement here


November 15, 2023

Ioannidis & Oikonomou are Greek Champions – Report

Last weekend, the fouth & final round of the Greek Nationals in 1:10 EP Touring took place in the fast track of Fanatix Racing Track(FRT) located in Stamata, Greece. The weather was cool with temperatures not exceeding 21oC. In the Touring Modified class, the battle for the championship was on between reigning champion Dimitris Ioannidis (Awesomatix), Andreas Koutras (Mugen-Seiki) and Nitro champion Dimitris Dimitriou (Xray) for the championship. Ioannidis had not participated in Round 2 as he was hospitalized while Koutras opted out from Round 1 and Dimitriou had participated in all rounds securing podium finishes in the first 3 races but had to hope for a not-good result from Ioannidis who had 2 out of 2 wins+2 TQs and Koutras who had one win and a P2. In qualifying, Ioannidis was able to take pole position winning Q1, Q3, and Q5 with a very solid and consistent drive while encountering issues with his powertrain resulting in significant fading in power. Koutras also showed competitive speed as he saved tires, taking Q2 and Q4 securing P2 on the grid while Dimitriou would line up P3 on the grid after displaying some very good speed too.

Continue reading here


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