June 22, 2023

Huge RC to host FEMCA ISTC Championships

Huge RC Circuit, the track owned by former ISTC World Champion Surikarn Chaidajsuriya is to host this year’s FEMCA ISTC Championships.  The event will take place at the Indoor asphalt track in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 23rd to 26th.  Huge RC Circuit is no stranger to hosting major international events with the track the location of he 2014 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship which was won by Alexander Hagberg.  FEMCA is the governing body of radio-controlled car racing in Asia and Australasia and represents 15 nations.  Full details of the 2023 ISTC Championships are published in the first stage report.

View Stage Report here


June 21, 2023

OfficinaRC ‘Smart Body Tuck – Click Ball Connect’

OfficinaRC has released their new ‘Smart Body Tuck – Click Ball Connect’ body stiffener solution.   In recent years, body stiffeners have become an almost essential accessory for those who want to use lightweight car bodies.  These stiffeners, thanks to their reduced weight, allow ultralight bodies to maintain their aerodynamic shape while driving.  OfficinaRC chose to call it “Smart” because it solves one of the most common issues associated with bodies featuring a Body Tuck: space.  It is often challenging to stack these bodies.  With the use of a carbon fibre rod with two aluminium balls at each end, attaching and removing the stiffeners, whether for stacking bodies or observing their performance on the track with or without stiffeners, will be a breeze.  The two aluminium ball joints, made from black anodised aluminium, fit perfectly into the appendages.  The appendages, 3D-printed using a resin mixture, ensure impeccable details and excellent resistance to removal and insertion.  Each stiffener comes with numbered appendages (1 and 2) that allow you to choose which side to leave exposed for detachment.  The Smart Body Tuck is incredibly lightweight, weighing only 1.45 grams per pair, and it comes with ultra-thin pre-cut 3M VHB adhesive for maximum adhesion.  It fits on all touring cars, both for side stiffeners and rear wheel arches, and it is compatible with FWD bodies.

View more images here


June 21, 2023

Yokomo BDFWD Front Wheel Drive Touring Car

Yokomo has announced its new 1:10 Front Wheel Drive Touring Car contender, the Master Speed DBFWD.   The car has evolved to the latest specifications, equipped with graphite suspension arms, which are the mainstream today, and a thoroughly lowered centre of gravity.  The kit’s standard aluminium main chassis and redesigned front section provide outstanding stability despite the heavy front section. The low centre of gravity shock tower, short shocks, small diameter spur gears and new motor mounts result in a thoroughly low centre of gravity, which, combined with the low-mounted stabiliser in the front, enables high-speed cornering.  In the rear, R.T.C. rear toe control is standard equipment, making it easy to obtain turning characteristics suited to the course layout, reducing understeer that is common in FWD machines, and improving time through sharp cornering.

View more chassis images here


June 19, 2023

Powerstar electronic power switch

Powerstar has released its new style electronic Power Switch. It can be used with various batteries like Ni-Cd, Ni-MH 5 cell, Li-Po, Li-Fe 2 Cell. It features a connector clip to prevent disconnection, Over-discharge and short-circuit protection functions, Li-Po voltage protection function to protect Li-Po battery from over-discharging and is IPX4 Water Resistance. The power switch has locations for screws which align with many popular vehicles on the market so mounting is neat, handy, and secure.

Source: PowerStar [powerstar-racing.com]


June 19, 2023

Xpress Arrow AM1 M-Chassis

Hong Kong chassis manufacturer Xpress has released a new M-Chassis, the Arrow AM1.  The shaft driven car is an M-Chassis version of the full size Arrow AT1 1:10 electric touring car.  Sporting all the designs that made the Arrow AT1 a competitive chassis, they have turned it into a M-Chassis platform.  The AM1 features 4WD Shaft Drive Floating Gearbox System with a sealed transmission gearbox with drive via aluminium propeller shafts which providing extra durability and weight saving.  It uses the same self-lubricating plastic that is found on Arrow AT1 with suspension plastics the same as the XM1, so Xpress mini fans will have parts already.

View features and more images here


June 17, 2023

Gruber wins second European 1:10 Nitro title

Toni Gruber is the new EFRA 1:10 Nitro Onroad European Champion, the Capricorn driver retaking the title he previously held in 2017 with the win at Naxos World in Italy today.  The only driver to better Dario Balestri in qualifying, taking the first of the five rounds after which the Italian topped every round, the German would go on to take Super Pole to lock in his direct No.2 starting position in the final behind the Top Qualifier.  Locked in battle with Infinity team-mates Balestri and 3rd place qualifier Jilles Groskamp, as the race entered its final 8-minutes Balestri would suffer a flame out ending his chances of a 3rd European title in the class.  While Groskamp would chase Gruber, the Dutch driver ran out of tyres and couldn’t match the leader.  At the end of 45-minutes Gruber took his Ielasi Tuned powered C04 to victory by just over 4-seconds.  Carmine Raiola would complete the podium, one lap down.  Unfortunately Balestri would suffer a DNF, retiring in the final 3-minutes of the race.

Image: EFRA [Facebook]


June 16, 2023

Balestri Top Qualifier at 1:10 European Championship

Infinity’s Dario Balestri is the Top Qualifier at the 1:10 Nitro Onroad European Championships in Sciliy, Italy.  The 17th running of the EFRA championships, Thursday presented drivers with some weather issues that stopped the action.  Friday they managed to get all 5 rounds of qualifying completed and it was Balestri who reigned at the Naxos World track.  Posting four TQ runs, the 2006 & 2007 European Champion secured pole for the final from Toni Gruber, the Capricorn driver fastest in opening round from Carmine Raiola who would end up third ahead of Infinity team-mates Jilles Groskamp and Francesco Tironi.  With these four drivers going into Super Pole to try secure a direct starting place in the Main final with Balestri, it was Gruber who posted the fastest lap.  The rest of the grid will be decided by the Semi Finals.  With back to back reigning 1:10 Champion Dominic Greiner not making the trip to Sciliy, a new champion will decided in tomorrow’s final.

Image: Dario Balestri [Facebook]


June 16, 2023

Serpent 990 Shockmount Flex Sets

Serpent has released new optional front and rear Shockmount Flex sets for their 990 1:8 Onroad Chassis which allow for more flex. The traditional shock bracket is replaced by 2 separate mounts. Due to the use of the shims, the angle of the shocks can also be adjusted in smaller steps, allowing for an even better suited set-up. The two separate mounts can be connected to give more stiffness, especially on high traction tracks.

View rear set here


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