We can’t wait to show you what the VRC team has been working on for the past 5 years so here is a sneak preview of what you can expect. In 1:8 nitro you will have the choice between our own Intercept NR8, the Kyosho Evolva M3, the Serpent 966 chassis. The bodies will feature decal sets of all the leading brands in 1;8 nitro on-road racing: Kyosho, Serpent, Mugen, Shepherd, Motonica, Xray, Capricorn and our own Intercept.
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The first city-owned indoor offroad race track in the USA held its first annual January Jam race. The Flowood R/C Indoor Park has been open since the first of December. You won’t find a finer facility anywhere. Bubba Barham, President of Trackseekers R/C Club, reports that they had 85 entries with 120 vehicles. They ran ten classes. The race started at 10 a.m. and ended at 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Bubba said they took a vote after two qualifiers to see if they wanted to run the third qualifier and the majority wanted to stay and run it. “It exceeded any and all our expectations.” Drivers came from Dallas, Atlanta, with many from Lousisiana. Derek Guidry, racing a Team Associated RC8B and RC8T, Top Qualified in both Expert Buggy and Truggy and won first place in both. He had some serious competition with Jason Wendling, Denver Houghton, Reggie Tongue, Brady Walton, and John Tabony chasing him.
Source: Associated [rc10.com]
German company Ansmann Racing have released the first image of their all new short course truck, the X4TT. This 4wd shaft driven truck, with saddle pack battery configuration, is still in the prototype phase and the company expects a May or June release date. We will bring you more details when we get them.
View more images of the truck here
Having already shipped its first drop-down adapter for the Spektrum DX3R transmitter, which gave much improved ergonomics by bringing the steering wheel in-line with the throttle trigger, Grid RC have released this second version. For 2011 they decided to mill the drop-down from a single aluminium billet instead of the two-piece version produced in 2010, the result is a lower weight of 38 grams, which is 10 grams lighter. The kit includes stainless steel fasteners and again installs in minutes.
Source: Grid RC [gridrc.com]
Pro-Line have announced that newly signed JQ Products driver Chad Bradley will continue to use their products heading into the 2011 racing season. Chad gave the following statement:
I would like to say how much of an honor it is to be part of the 2011 Pro-Line Team. I know that I will have the best tires, wheels, bodies and accessories to go with my 1/8 Buggy, 1/8 Truck and Short Course while I am at the track. I believe this will be my fifteenth year on the Pro-Line team and one thing that has stood out throughout the years has been the people behind the scene at Pro-Line and their passion on making the best products possible. It’s so important to be associated with people that want to win. Pro-Line has a countless number of wins and everything that I have accomplished throughout the years is due to Pro-Line tires and wheels. Pro-Line has always been what has connected my race cars to track. I am very excited about the 2011 season. If you’re at the track, feel free to ask me what Pro-Line tires are working best for the condition. See you at the races.
Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]
Cobra R/C have introduced this new range of sport servos available in their sport analogue range for the hobby enthusiast. Designed for 1/8th buggies & truggies as well as 1/10th on road and offroad vehicles, the 13AMG features metal gears and coreless motor and has 11kg (4,8v) to 13kg (6v) torque and 0.18sec to 0.14sec operating speed for the respective voltages while the similar 16AMG has 13kg (4,8v) to 16kg (6v) torque and 0.20sec to 0.16sec speeds. They will also release 3 new digital servos in late March and will consist of a 13kg and 16kg as well as a 9kg low profile case servo for electric touring cars were space is limited. All will consist of metal gears and 24bit microprocessor technology.
Source: Cobra R/C
An amazing 2 weeks of action in Ohio ends with Ryan Maifield and JConcepts on top in the 1/8th buggy pro class taking the first big win in 2011. Ryan was a thrilling driver all weekend in the buggy class by first taking the TQ and then going on to win the 45-minute A-final against some the world’s finest drivers including Jesse Robbers, reigning IFMAR World Champion Cody King and Billy Easton. JConcepts Hybrids in green compound along with the Punisher body made the punishing easier as Ryan and his Associated RC8B made quick work of the fast, technical CRCRC layout with the fastest overall time during qualifying. In the 1/8th truck class, Ryan had to settle for 2nd place, 3.8 seconds behind eventual winner Jessie Robbers who drove a fantastic race. Pit strategy and traffic became a factor as Ryan battled hard for the entire 45 minutes with his RC8T-CE truck equipped with Punisher body and JConcepts Sevens tires.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]
Having raced the new Photon touring car for some months now, former European Championship top qualifier and runner up Steven Weiss from Germany has officially joined the T.O.P. racing team. Steven will race the company’s Photon LiPo spec 2011 chassis in touring car as well as the Rebel12 in the 1/12th scale class. Prior to joining T.O.P. he ran for Yokomo which came after a 3 year stint with Xray.
Source: Raceport [raceport.de]
