Tamiya will soon have a new limited edition kit available in the form of the M-05 Gold Edition chassis. The kit is based on the standard M-05 and features a gold colour main frame, aluminium steering parts and a rear aluminium suspension holder with 1 degree toe-in. An updated front suspension allows for better adjustability, more shock travel and the kit is designed for the use with 210mm, 225mm and 239mm wheelbase body shells.
Source: Tamiya [tamiya.com]
LRP introduce the SRG-BLS Version 2 low-profile 1/10th scale servo. The updated version of the well-known touring car steering servo sports a speed of 0.05s, a torque of 7.6kg-cm and is usable in Sanwa’s SSR mode for ultra-fast steering reactions. The features list includes a brushless motor, ball bearings, metal gears and a heatsink middle case.
Source: LRP [lrp.cc]
KO Propo introduce their new PDS-2531 ICS mid-profile servo designed for many 1/10th applications. It sports dimensions of 41×31.8x21mm, a weight of 46,5g and a cool feature in the form of a transparent lower cover illuminated by an LED for that special look in your chassis. The metal geared servo offers a speed of 0.13s and a torque of 9.5kg-cm and is available with red, yellow or blue illumination.
Source: KO Propo [kopropoamerica.com]
New from Vision Racing comes this 3mm carbon fibre steering rack for Team Associated’s 1/10th 2WD off-road kits such as the B4, T4 and SC10. The rack offers four holes which gives finer adjustment of the steering Ackermann. Also the bushings included are machined for tighter tolerances, resulting in less slop in the steering system.
Source: Vision Racing [vision-racing.net]
MIP introduce their Bypass1 team tuned shock pistons set for the TLR SCTE 2.0 4WD short course truck. The kit includes pistons whose design is based on full-scale valve technology to allow for nearly infinite setup possibilities of shock compression and rebound thanks to special valves that control how the pistons moves through the shock fluid. The octagon shape of the piston reduces drag while keeping it guided in the shock housing. Included in the set are four #7 shock pistons, ‘fast’, ‘medium’, ‘slow’ and ‘gap’ valves as well as shims and locknuts. Additional pistons and a wider range of valves are available separately. The set fits all TLR SCTE 2.0, Losi SCTE 1.0 and MIP Pro4mance converted trucks.
Source: MIP [miponline.com]
The Yokomo-supported Mibosport Offroad Meeting 2013 was run at the Mibosport astro turf track in Trebic last weekend. The follow-up race of the very successful Winter race series was run from Friday to Sunday and saw two rounds of controlled practice followed by five qualifiers on Saturday. Sunday was used for a final practice and the main finals. Star of the race was young Vojta Flek, brother of famous Radek Flek. His third place in 4WD buggy qualification just behind Michal Orlowski and Kaja Novotny was a testament to his speed.
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Last weekend saw Team Durango’s Jörn Neumann attend the NRW Offroad Cup for the second time. Since its creation in 2009, the NORC has become one of the most popular German electric offroad series on the club racing level and occasionally also attracts drivers from Luxembourg and the Netherlands. As other races in the region proved not to be as attractive in the past few years, the clubs involved decided to hold the West German regional meetings together with the NORC in 2013. As a result, Team Durango’s Jörn Neumann joined the NORC crowd again for an intense weekend of racing at the MC Dortmund’s clay track. Dominated by Short Course racing in the last few years, the NORC has recently experienced a surge in the buggy groups. Being the only driver to manage 15 laps, Jörn’s win in 2WD was never at risk, but the battle for runner up was interesting to watch, and a tight affair between the two Yokomo B-Max2 MR drivers Yannic Prümper and Jens Becker.
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My column this time around was going to be about tires. But, following the events of this weekend’s British Formula 1 Grand Prix, it appears all the best headlines have been snatched up by the newspapers across the world. In thinking about why manufacturers are involved in full size motorsport, I am reminded of a conversation I had last week with one of my racing friends. We were discussing the results of one of the recent RC World Championships and thus who the current World Champion driver and manufacturers were. He then replied “well, it doesn’t really matter to me, because I’m never going to race on that track or with those tires”. That got me thinking – one of the big movements in full size motorsport at present is to enhance the “real world relevance” of the various categories and formulas. Essentially, what is learnt from building faster, more efficient or more aerodynamic race cars filters through into the road cars you and I can buy. Does that also apply to the RC world?
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