November 11, 2008

Matsukura is 1:12 World Champion

Three years ago he was taken under wings of one of rc racing’s greats Masami Hirosaka and today aged just 15-years-old Naoto Matsukura has become the youngest ever IFMAR World Champion after a dominant performance at the 1:12 Onroad Worlds in Bangkok, Thailand. The Japanese driver came here with an already impressive CV with back to back titles in his National Championship but faced with the best in the world, including all four Touring Car World Champions, he rose impressively to the challenge.

Read the full coverage on our event site here.

November 11, 2008

Matsukura TQs 1:12 Worlds

He is the protege of Masami Hirosaka, he is back to back Japanese Champion and is rated very highly by the likes of Atsushi Hara, 15-year-old Yokomo hot property Naoto Matsukura is the Top Qualifier for the 2008 IFMAR 1:12 World Championship here in Bangkok, Thailand.  Driving an Associated RC125R, Matsukura won the final qualifier to secure himself a place in the history books as he becomes the youngest ever World Championship Top Qualifier.  Winning four of the six qualifiers the only one to come close to challenging to emerging world star was his Finnish 1:12 scale team-mate Juho Levanen who TQ’d Heat 3 & 4 giving the US manufacturer total domination here at Radio Control Speedway.

Read the full coverage on our event site here.

November 11, 2008

Xray Offset TC spur gears

Xray have developed a new range of precision molded offset spurs in both 48 and 64 pitch. These spur gears have been strategically lightened to reduce rotating mass and are made from specially created hard composite material. Available in 78T and 81T in 48 pitch and 104T, 106T, 108T & 110T in 64 pitch.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

November 10, 2008

Oliver Mack joins Shepherd Racing

Shepherd Micro Racing are pleased to announce that former European Champion, World Championship finalist and multiple German National Champion Oliver Mack will be joining their Team in 2009. With his extensive experience, he will aid in the development of the Velox, but Of course he will also be promoting the Shepherd brand at all major races as an important part of their national and international team.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

November 10, 2008

Levanen & Matsukura untouchable

Day 2 of the IFMAR Electric Onroad World Championships has come to a close and yet again the final 1:12 scale qualifier of the day saw Juho Levanen and Naoto Matsukura crush the opposition.  The Associated duo managed 1-2 in Heat 4 despite both of them dumping at the end of the run in which Levanen produced the fastest lap of the event with a blistering 11.675 second tour.  Top Qualifier in Round 3, Levanen put his dumping down to the increased traction but the Yokomo team pointed blame for their young star dumping down to the pair battling throughout the heat for the TQ.  Running 40 laps in 08:07.965 the Finn was a little under a second ahead of his Japanese team-mate despite nursing their cars to the line but such was their advantage that third place Groskamp was too far behind to capitalise and end the RC12R5’s reign in Thailand.

Read the full coverage on our event site here.

November 10, 2008

Matsukura tops first Qualifier

Naoto Matsukura has made his intentions clear here in Thailand by topping the time sheets when it counted most, as qualifying for the 1:12 IFMAR World Championships got underway at the RCS in Bangkok.  The 14-year-old Yokomo star driver is running an Associated, due to Yokomo’s Japanese distribution links with AE, and put in a 39 lap run in a time 08:02.244 which was some 8 seconds faster than second placed Juho Levanen who made it a 1-2 for the RC12R5.  In the final practice Matsukura had run a 40 lapper but believes increased wind at the track made for a slower run time in the first heat.

Read the full coverage on our event site here.

November 9, 2008

Leino surprises rivals in Thailand

Teemu Leino has surprised his rivals in Thailand by recording the fastest time in controlled practice as day one of the 1:12 scale World Championships comes to a close.  The flying Finn is debuting Xray’s new XII and was the only driver to record 39 laps over 8 minutes with his closest rival being CRC driver Jilles Groskamp who just missed out on 39 laps recording 38 in a time of 8:00.644.

Read the full coverage on our event site here.

November 9, 2008

New in Thailand – Xray XII

As mentioned previously on our news page as well as in our 1:12th scale introduction piece, Xray are the latest manufacturer to enter the market, with the XII. We were able to get up close and personal with the LRP X12 powered example belonging to Factory Xray driver Alexander Hagberg from Sweden. Already in it’s second version, following feedback from the team after a recent test at the RCS track, the car is in appearance at least very similar to other brands on the market. Chief designer Juraj Hudy, who has limited experience of the class, says that while the car may be similar in appearance to others out there, that is more a reflection of the state of development of the class which has seen chassis design developed to a point where extra performance can only be found in small refinements. Featuring a T-bar, which some believe would be more suited to a lower traction surface, as opposed to the trailing link design seen on the CRC and Associated cars, the cars debut later today will be closely watched by all racers and manufacturers present.

Visit our event site here for XII photos from Bangkok.

Click more to see the official promo photos… content

Tonisport
Mibosport
LC Racing
VP Racing
T-Works