Tekno RC’s Barry Baker and Chad Panek brought home the overall titles in their respective classes at the 2013 JBRL finale. After consistent scoring during the season Barry took the overall championship in the Pro4 Short Course class with his Tekno RC SCT410 while Chad grabbed the 1/8th E-buggy title with his EB48.2 buggy.
Source: Tekno RC [teknorc.com]
Modelix Racing introduce the latest version of the Ultimate Racing Compak clutch system called Dual. The system is an evolution of the well known Compak clutch and comes with a 34mm gold-anodised aluminium flywheel with tempered steel pins, one carbon and two aluminium clutch shoes as well as all three springs installed. The clutch is designed to provide a smooth power delivery, it extends the life span of the bearings and it also helps to lower the fuel consumption. The unique construction of the clutch allows to prepare an entire clutch body in advance that can be easily swapped and replaced when needed. The assembly is available with three different spring hardnesses from soft to hard allowing for a fine adjustment of the clutch engagement and using the standard or conical-shaped V2 flywheel.
Source: Modelix Racing [modelixracing.com]
Xray announce the addition of the young and talented French driver Lorenzo Crolla to their off-road team. Lorenzo will attend all French championship races, French Cup, European Championship and he will try to get his ticket for the World’s in Italy. Lorenzo has been as a private driver already and will now receive the full factory support for his 1/8th and 1/10th campaigns. Lorenzo has this to say about the deal:
I am very pleased to be a part of the official Xray team. I have been very satisfied with the XB4 and after my first success at Euros my motivation has been even greater. After some extensive testing of the new prototype of the Xray’s 1/8 off-road car I was amazed with both the performance and handling and had no doubts at all to join the team for 2014. My motivation and excitement are at maximum and I am looking forward the next season.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
JConcepts introduce their new 6.6″ wide Hi-Tension wing specially designed for mid-motor buggies. Mid-motor buggies are all the rage in competitive off-road racing and when compared to rear motor vehicles, have a slightly different rear wing placement. JConcepts has stepped up to offer a replacement Hi-Tension wing for drivers utilising the mid-motor option and released a specific wing for the application. The more aft position of the mid-motor wing allows more tyre clearance than normal. The wing also features redesigned the side-dams to accommodate this position and it comes with a flow-through feature in the form of a small angular plane which can be trimmed for a slot which air can pass during racing conditions. In addition, the actual vertical side-dam now has a profiled shape near the bottom, tightening the section and also increasing the stability of the side-dams. Although specifically designed for mid-motor applications, the new wing works also great on 2WD rear motor vehicles as well as 4WD buggies.
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The annual Nitrofest took place in Thesaloniki in the North of Greece. On Saturday the race was on between Paparegas and Quagraine with the latter winning two out of the three qualifying rounds. On Sunday Paparegas shifted into second gear and won all qualifiers taking TQ for the finals. In the final Paparegas and Quagraine battled until Xray driver Paparegas made his move leaving the remainder of the field in the dust. At the end Papanikolaou was able to put some pressure on Paparegas but the latter was able to stay in the lead.
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The last round of the Greek electric off-road nationals was held at the Action Race astroturf facilities just outside Athens. Both 2WD and 4WD modified buggy classes were open for different title contenders, in 2WD Team Kyosho had two cars in the A-Main starting from TQ and third position on the grid. Pole man John Papanikolaou took two convincing wins in A1 and A2 securing the win. Argiris Papagiannakopoulos who was leading the 2WD championship and had to settle for 4th but that was enough to win the 2WD national championship. In 4WD again anything could happen with two racers aiming for the win and title. Again John Papanikolaou had the speed to TQ but settled for second on the grid with Argiris starting 6th in the A-Main final. Papanikolaou took his Kyosho Lazer FS2 SP to the second place on the podium that actually gave him his first national EP off-road title, while Papagiannakopoulos finished 5th after some troublesome final heats, but secured his second place on the championship title.
Source: Kyosho [kyosho.com]
Team Durango keep releasing more images of their upcoming DEX408v2 1/8th E-buggy. No detailed information are available yet but it is understood that the kit will include a host of new tuning options and platform refinements. According to Team Durango the v2 will become available World-wide next month.
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The Hobbywing Asia Open 2013 will be held on December 14th and 15th in Guangzhou, China. The event will be run in Modified and Stock Boosted 13.5T classes and will see the attendance of the three former Touring Car World Champions Atsushi Hara, Andy Moore and Surikarn C. More information can be found here.
