February 18, 2007

Zuykov Denis wins at Russian Nationals

Zuykov Denis

Xray have a report on their site about the recent Russian National electric touring car race that was held last weekend in Vladimir, not far from Moscow. In the Modified class Zuykov Denis dominated the event by taking TQ spot and the overall win, finishing ahead of team mate Lopukhin Artem whilst in stock class it was Smirnov Alex that took the win ahead of Dren’kov Evgeniy.

Team XRAY dominated the qualifications up to the last final and as a result, best lap, TQ and win in TC10 were set by Team XRAY which was represented in the A final by Zuykov Denis, Artem Lopukhin, Bogdanov Vladimir. It’s also important to know that 11 year old Vladimir won the Junior Championship.

You can read the full report here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


February 18, 2007

Morganti & Tosolini win 2007 Winternats, Florida

2007 Winternats, Florida

The 2007 Florida Winternats is in the bag and it has produced some very exciting racing, none more so than the A-mains which were packed with talented racers and the best machinery. In the 1/10th scale A-main, the class with the most big names and most varied manufacturers, Paolo Morganti could easily convert his pole position into a much deserved win. The Serpent 720 racer could pull away from his pole position starting spot to win the race 6 laps ahead of 2nd placed racer, Chris Tosolini, driving for Kyosho. The final podium step went to Ralph Burch driving the Xray NT1, who finished only 3 seconds down on 2nd place Tosolini. Danny Horta and Martin Hudy had a close race for 4th with the Serpent driver getting the position by 1 seconds from the Xray racer after 45 minutes racing. It was worth mentioning that Jilles Groskamp managed to win every final from the H-main to the B-main, only to be disqualified after his car failed scrutiny stopping him from bumping up into the A-main.

In the 1/8th scale class it was Chris Tosolini, driving a Kyosho Evolva, that took the win, moving up 1 place from his grid spot to power his way to a 1 lap advantage in the end over 2nd place Rick V, who driving a Mugen MRX4-R had managed to bump up from the B-main after a difficult qualifying. An interesting thing to note was that while everyone else in the final had changed their tyres mid race Chris had left it until the 43rd minute of the race to change his tyres and ensure he was over the weight limit when his car went into race scrutiny. The final step of the podium went to Kyosho racer and pole position sitter Josh Cyrul who ran into some problems and had dropped back to 3rd spot finishing 8 laps clear of 4th placed finisher, Italys Marco Vanni driving a Mugen. Morganti and Salven were out early and this left Scotty Gray to uphold honours for Serpent but he then tangled with last years winner Mike Swauger and Kyoshos Joel Johnson causing damage to all 3 cars and effectively ending their races.

Red RC and The-Border wish to thank the race organisers and fellow racers for making this years event another action packed, well run and enjoyable event.

Click here to view the final A-main results for each class as well as some more images… content


February 17, 2007

European B Championships Slovenia – Warm up event

European B Championships Slovenia

We have been contacted by the organisers of this years EFRA European B Championships for 1/8th scale to tell us about the warm up race that will be held on this beautiful track on the 10th – 11th of March. This warm up race is open to all competitors not just those who will take part in the actual championship race at the end of May and will be run as a rehersal for the big event. If you are planning to race the European B Championships, this is the perfect opportunity to get some practice in on the track before the event itself, and if your not taking part this would be a great chance to race on this challenging 300m long track.

To find out more information you can go to the official Championship site here.


February 17, 2007

2007 Winternats, Florida – Friday Day 6

2007 Winternats, Florida

So on Friday we saw the lower mains being run for all classes up until the C-mains which will be the first races run on Saturday, weather permitting. In 1/8th scale there was plenty of action in the lower finals as always and the big winner of the day was Vince Tate who won his D-main and will progress into Saturdays C-main, with a nice win over Nigel Sim and Renato Dias. Tire wear came up today as well, thanks to the rain which had changed the characteristics of the track, and it caught a lot of people out when making their tire choices. The big story of the day however was in the 1/10th 200mm class were the unfortunate Jilles Groskamp, who we told you was disqualified for being under weight after setting the 3rd fastest time in qualifying, managed to move up from his H-main position to win 5 finals in a row (completing over 500 laps) and will take his position in Saturdays C-main. And incredible drive and he is lucky to make it to the Friday evening where he can now get his Xray NT1 rebuilt for his attack on tomorrows main finals.

To view all the lower final finishing orders and to view some pictures from Friday click here… content


February 16, 2007

Serpent release brake pulley one-way set

Serpent release brake pulley one-way set

Serpent have announced the release of this great add on for your Serpent 720 that puts a one way bearing on the brake pulley on the cars 2 speed axle. This set, which allows your car to run as normal, comes into play when the rear tires start to wear more than the fronts which in normal cases where permanent 4wd is in place can cause the car to be unstable under braking in long runs. This optional set allows the front wheels to rotate independantly from the rear wheels when off throttle which means when you have uneven tire wear you dont get the rear end of the car trying to pass out the front under braking. Neat.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


February 16, 2007

2007 Winternats, Florida – Thursday Day 5

Paolo Morganti - Image by Mike Myers

Well the rain came and interrupted play today on the last day of qualifiers for this years Florida Winternats. With the 1/8th scale class not managing to complete a full round of qualifying without the rain stopping proceedings, the results from Wednesday will stand, which means Kyosho racer Josh Cyrul will start on pole position for Saturdays A-main race. In 2nd position is Chris Tosolini driving another Kyosho Evolva, with reigning champion Mike Swauger driving his MRT Ninja powered Mugen MRX4-R lining up just behind him. Vincent Jackson, also driving for Mugen, looks like the danger man in this race, the relative unknown lines up 4th and could produce the surprise of the day. In 5th sits former multiple winner, and highest qualifying Serpent, Michael Salven from Germany just ahead of team mate Paolo Morganti, both drivers with something to prove after showing top pace in the heats but just not being able to pull it together when it mattered.

In 1/10th scale its all change, with the organisers managing to get in one of the final 2 rounds of qualifying for this class run, in between the showers. Serpent 720 driver Paolo Morganti pulled out a stunning drive in cold conditions to go 9 seconds quicker than he previously managed, to take the pole position from top Xray driver and overnight pole man Ralph Burch. Jilles Groskamp who moved to using a Mega MF motor for his final qualifying runs, managed to get 3rd fastest qualifying time but was disqualified for his car being underweight after the lead weight in his car fell out, which meant that 3rd position went to Kyosho racer Josh Cyrul. In 4th position was Danny Horta, driving a Serpent 720 who managed to move himself up the order and finish ahead of hot shot Xray driver Paul LeMieux who ended qualifying a very respectable 5th for his first nitro race.

The lower finals take place today, Friday, and if there is no rain delay, the A, B and C-mains will take place on Saturday. The top 11 fastest qualify directly into the A-main in all classes with the winner of the B-main bumping up to make it 12 starting in the A-main.

Not so many pictures today but the ones we have you can see below along with the final top A-main standings… content


February 15, 2007

Hirosaka prototype Kyosho Stallion TF-5

Hirosaka prototype Kyosho Stallion TF-5

We’ve written briefly about Masaaki Hirosaka, father of multiple World Champion Masami and top RC mechanic, before and the fact that he makes some pretty cool well thought out products. Well here is his take on the Kyosho Stallion TF-5 which takes a different approach to that used by Josh Cyrul who’s car we saw at the Snowbirds. As you can see from the pictures, the batteries have been set further back than normal and where the top deck connects with the front bulk head is pretty unique too, although i cant tell you exactly why. Also note that the rear body mount is bolted directly to the bulkhead which means the downforce generated by the body shell is pushed straight down onto the chassis, its mounting position also protecting it from crashes.

Masaaki has also created patent pending one touch total length adjustment shock absorbers. I cant tell how they work either but i have included pictures of them below.

Click more to check out more pictures of the car and shocks… content


February 15, 2007

Robitronic Scalpel full option

Robitronic Scalpel full option

The Robitronic Scalpel has to be one of my favourite cars to have been released in the last year, not only does it look great but it goes like a rocket too. Now the good people over at Robitronic have released details on all the options you can get for the car to make it handle, perform and look even better. And it seems that apart from the actual carbon chassis, you can replace almost everything on the car with a new, and most of the time red anodized, optional part. Robitronic have also released information on the optionals available for the Avid and Protos.

You can find the options pages here (Scalpel), here (Avid) and here (Protos).

Source: Robitronic [robitronic-usa.com]