Last weekend the outdoor season kicked off at MCC-Silixen in northern Germany with the first round of qualifiers for the German Nationals in 2011. Timo Engelstätter was in great shape and TQ’d the event with his Team Orion powered MP9 TKI2 buggy. In the final, he continued his top form by taking the overall win with almost one full lap ahead of 2nd placed Abdullah Kilic, with Andreas Bartels taking 3rd spot.
Source: Kyosho [kyosho.de]
The Venezuelan National Championships for 1:8 nitro buggy took place the weekend of earlier this month at the La Lagunita Circuit in Caracas, Venezuela. Reedy/AE factory driver Renato Tradardi Jr. won the title in both 2009 and 2010, but wanted to keep the streak alive. A one-hour final is all that stood between Renato Jr. and another national title. Thanks to some great driving, Renato brought his Reedy 121 VR-ST powered Team Associated RC8B, passed the finish line first to pulled off the hat trick.
Source: Associated [rc10.com]
The 2011 WA State Titles and round 3 of the AARCMCC Australian Championship Series took place last weekend. Craig Laughton took the TQ in both the buggy and truggy classes, but failed to bump into the buggy main following a throttle servo failure. Two days of practice and qualifying under a typical Perth sun and by Sunday the track was perfect for finals racing with an amazing blue-groove. A light shower early in the morning put just enough moisture into the ground and with cloud overhead all day to keep the temperature down you couldn’t ask for better conditions. Both finals were intensely close and it is amazing that after 45 minutes of racing, there was only 6 seconds between 1st and 2nd in the truggy final and only 11 seconds between the 1st three in the buggy final. In the buggy class it has Hobao superstar Josh Pain that took the title from Mugen racers Matt Griffin in 2nd and Josh Taylor in 3rd. In the truggy final Losi racer Craig Laughton that took the win from Josh Pain, with Matt Griffin in 3rd.
oOple are reporting on the opening 4wd national of the season at Stotfold that saw a close race between several drivers but it was Ellis Stafford and Lee Martin that shone above all others as the pair shared qualifying between them. Lee Martin took overall TQ honours and lined up in front of Ellis for the 3-leg A final. Much like qualifying it was a battle between these two that stole the show, Lee taking the first leg and Ellis the second. It was all down to the dramatic final leg and after an intense battle Ellis took the lead but with an increasingly worrying noise coming from his Kyosho he was almost instantly out of the race with some broken gears. Lee Martin took the final leg and with it the win and a great start to his 2011 4wd national title hopes.
Read the complete event report here.
Source: oOple [oople.com]
Schumacher are reporting on the first round of the British buggy nationals which took place on the challenging Stotfold astroturf track.The Cougar SV was dominant in 2wd and reigning British Champion Tom Cockerill got his title defence off to a perfect start with a TQ and convincing wins in all 3 legs of the A final. Lloyd Storey scored a career best 3rd place finish, with Danny McGee in 4th and Grant Williams, Simon Moss and Nathan Ralls made it a total of 6 Cougars in the A final. The new CAT SX3 prototypes made their national debut in 4wd and Simon Moss, Grant Williams and Lloyd Storey showed the new cars potential by placing them in the A final.
Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com] / Image: oOple
Pro-Line have released their new Suburbs 2.0 2.2″ M3 (Soft) Off-Road Buggy rear tires. Introducing the next generation in indoor clay and outdoor blue-groove race tread technology from Pro-Line, the Suburbs 2.0 rear buggy tires. This tire represents the culmination of years of research, development and track testing to give you the best traction and the longest wear available. Featuring a taller tread and more pins which provide longer wear and more traction, subtle changes were made to the tread design to make them produce faster lap times on a variety of racing surfaces.
Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]
Elliott Boots took his DNX408 to a victory at Round 1 of the Slough summer series. Kevin Brunsden put his DNX408 in second to complete a 1-2 for Team Durango. Elliott made few changes from his general setup from the Astroturf track he raced the week before for the Slough dirt track. The track was very rough, dry and dusty, a real test for any can to drive fast. Team Durango cars were a step above the rest however and after taking TQ, Elliott lapped the entire field except for his team mate Kevin during the 20 minute A-Final.
Source: Durango [team-durango.com]
Team Extreme have released details on yet another Vega Elite 2WD race conversions, this time for the Associated B4.1 buggy. As with the other conversions it features a CNC machined aerospace 7075 alloy tub chassis & gearbox, motorplate heat sink, rear shock tower, bodyshell and more. This exciting new conversion changes the weight distribution of the car, allowing it to jump more level & massively helps in-air control and powered landings. Testing has shown the conversion gives a new more positive feel to the car, allowing for a more aggressive driving style. Flatter jumps, quicker landings and better cornering is bringing noticeably faster and consistent lap times. All hardware supplied.
View more images of the conversion here
