June 23, 2008

Serpent 960 Shock tower & 720 CVDs

Serpent 960 Shock tower & 720 CVDs

Serpent have released some new products including this new shock tower for the front of the Serpent 960. Made from 3mm thick carbon fibre, the new shock tower features a 3rd hole for mounting your cars shock absorbers 3mm lower, giving a less aggressive increase in steering at the front. Also for the Serpent 720, is a set of super strong CVD pro-shafts. Sold in a pair, they are made from the highest quality spring steel, meaning they are extremely durable and highly resistant to crash damage. Coming pre assembled, they are a direct replacement for the kit versions.

Click here to see the CVDs… content


June 20, 2008

Edam Razor 1/8 scale Pro Kit

Edam Razor 1/8 scale Pro Kit

The Razor 1/8th scale from Edam has been around for a while now, but they have released a Pro Kit version which has received a number of updates recently to make it a more worthy consideration for competition use. Updates to the kit include and all new 5mm thick chassis plate, with both space for a 5 cell 2/3A racing pack as well as the ability to use carbon stiffeners in the plate itself. Other changes include an updated clutch system as well as lightweight 2 speed, and the car is supplied with CVD’s up front and extremely lightweight rear axles as standard.

Click here for the feature list and more photos… content


June 19, 2008

Concialdi wins 1/10 French Nats Rd4

Concialdi wins 1/10 French Nats Rd4

The 4th round of the French 1/10th scale 200mm Nationals was run last weekend at the Besancon track in the East of the country. Saturday’s qualifying runs were run in dry conditions and it was Basile Concialdi that took the pole position in the Elite class in front of Xray team mate Arnaud Chaussard in 2nd, while Thomas Eytard and Mickael Pontal rounded out the top 4. In the National class Maxime Favrelle took the top spot from Roman Jaureguy, Anthony Bruyer and Stéphane Raquin. Sunday morning brought grey skies and rain and following the Semi finals being run the main finals were held in equally wet conditions. The Elite final was reduced from 45 to 30 minutes and the win was taken by Concialdi, who led from start to finish, taking the flag 8 seconds ahead of Pontal in 2nd, with Chaussard falling to 3rd at the end of the race, keeping his National title ambitions alive going into the last round. The National final saw a close battle at the front between Frédéric Bourrillon, JP Michel and the pole man Favrelle, but it was Bourillon who came out in front, and took the win to claim the 2008 class title, with JP Michel finishing 2nd and Favrelle 3rd.

Click here for the final standings… content


June 19, 2008

Mark Green wins UK 1/8th Nats Rd4

Mark Green wins UK 1/8th Nats Rd4

Round 4 of the Britsh 1/8th scale National Championship was held at the Mendip Circuit in Wetern Super Mare last weekend with very good weather all weekend for the first time this season. In qualification it was Mark Green who was TQ with a blistering 20 Laps in 309 using the DS2 Picco engine and new Efra 2007 tuned pipe and manifold. Second and 3rd were team mates Tim Wood and Pete Hastings with a 20 lap and a very quick 19 laps respectively. Andy North was the quickest non Serpent with 19 Laps in 304 closely followed by Gareth Bell and Neil Diver, while round 3 winner and Championship leader Richard Hicklin was 7th. The final started with the racers maintaining their grid order until a crash towards the rear of the pack and a bad couple of corners from Andy North dropped him down the field. Mark Green meanwhile extended his lead quite comfortably up front, while the first retirement was team mate Richard Hicklin followed by Jason Frost and Tim Wood, who had gearbox problems. Whilst in a podium position, Neil Diver ran out of fuel and dropped down the order from which he recovered to finish a creditable 5th. Gareth Bell’s consistency ensured 4th position, while Chris Heath again drove a faultless race to finish 3rd, after doing one less fuel stop due to his very efficient Sirio powered Motonica. Peter Hastings continued his strong qualifying pace to take a fine 2nd place behind team leader and race winner Mark Green.

Click here for the final results and some more photos… content


June 18, 2008

Ralph Burch wins Capitol Classic

Ralph Burch wins Capitol Classic

Xray have a report from their team driver Paul Lemieux on last weeks Capitol Classic race held at the 301 Raceway in Maryland. With rain early on in the week limiting track time, by Thursday the weather had improved and racers could fine tune their setups. Qualifying saw Ralph Burch take pole position ahead of fellow Xray driver Josh Cyrul in 2nd and Vincent Jackson in 3rd. In the final there were no surprises as Burch got a jump on the rest of the field and stretched out a lead, helped by early problems for Cyrul and Mike Blackstock. Serpent racer DJ Apolaro was having a good battle together with Chris Tosolini for 2nd until issues forced him to retire, leaving Chris alone in 2nd. The race ended this way, as Burch won by a comfortable margin ahead of Tosolini in 2nd, with Jimmy Deprez taking 3rd.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


June 18, 2008

Celakovice Extreme 24 hour race

Celakovice Extreme 24 hour race

The Extreme 24 hour race was held last weekend on Celakovice race track near Prague in the Czech Republic. The race format was inspired by the real Le Mans, and so the start was scheduled for the same day and time as famous French race. Eight teams of six drivers and pit men fought it out over 24 hours battling exhaustion while trying to keep their equipment running. The race rules were strict to ensure an equal chance to all participating teams and so only Tamiya F-103 chassis, stock 540 motor, LRP tires and Le Mans style bodies were allowed. After 24 hours it was MPM Hobbyteams that took the win with 3749 laps, some 850km of running, finishing in front of Team RC DRiFT, only 56 laps back and RC Celakovice, the host team, 3rd with 3643 laps.

Click more for the final results… content


June 17, 2008

S. Bouche wins French 1/8 Nats Rd4

Stéphane Bouche wins French 1/8 Nats Rd4

Round 4 of the French 1/8th scale National Championship was hosted last weekend by the CMB club in Ferrière aux Etangs. Weather was fine for most of the event but the rain eventually came just before the finals, but the track had dried by the time the Elite final took the track. In Saturday’s qualifying for the Elite class it was European B Champion Richard Volta that took the pole position followed by Stéphane Bouche and Romain Picard, while in the National class it was local Serpent racer Gérald Colinet that claimed the top spot from Romain Baehrel and Philippe Cima. The Elite main saw Volta, who could claim the National title, disappear into the lead at the start and by the middle of the race had a 2 lap advantage, but it wasn’t to be as he had a technical problem that dropped him out of contention. This left Bouche in the lead, from where he went on to win by a lap from Laurent Pageneau in 2nd and Picard Romain in 3rd, completing an all Shepherd Velox podium. In the National class final, a wet track meant conditions were tricky for the racers, but pole man Colinet was able to translate his top qualifying form into a race win, taking the flag 4 laps in front of Philippe Cima in 2nd place and Philippe Regolle in 3rd.

Click more for the final standings… content


June 17, 2008

Eric Dankel wins German South Rd6

Eric Dankel wins German South Rd6

The 6th round of South regional qualifiers for the German Championship was held last weekend in Türkheim. Perfect weather greeted all the racers, meaning drivers could test a lot and find the ideal setup for their cars. In the qualifying heats Erik Dankel, driving a Velox put on a great show, setting a new track record of 12.1 seconds on his way to pole position ahead of Andreas Hammerl in 2nd and Jan Dankel in 3rd. At the start of the final Erik could hold his first position and as the race progressed he could increase the gap at the front to 2 laps at the 20 minute mark. Erik went on to win the race from Philip Erbele in 2nd with Norbert Mayrhofer in 3rd, and the Shepherd racer now also takes the lead in the series with 3 wins.

Source: Novarossi [novarossi.com]