Red RC

March 23, 2010

JR Mitch does double at FSORS Rd5

Round 5 of the Florida State off road series took place recently at B&B Hobbies in Hudson. The week leading up to the race, Florida was hit with heavy rains for several days straight and the weekend’s race was certainly in question but B&B Hobbies however had no doubt that their track would be ready to go Saturday morning for the first round and they certainly didn’t disappoint. After about an hour of open practice qualifying got under way. Just coming off his recent success at Motorama; JR Mitch lead the way by taking the overall TQ position in both Pro Buggy & Pro Truggy with his JConcepts equipped Rc8B and RC8T-CE. By the main events the track had taken on a nice blue-groove condition and JR took full advantage by reaching for his favorite tires, Double Dee V2 in buggy and Sevens in Truggy. Once the dust settled, JR Mitch stood on top by winning both classes in dominating fashion beating Billy Easton and Jason Ruona in buggy and Ryan Eckert and Joey Perez in truggy.

Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

March 23, 2010

Tobias Hepp gets support from Shepherd

With the start of the new season getting close, talented 16-years old up and coming German driver Tobias Hepp has signed a deal to use different products distributed by Shepherd Micro Racing. Besides Novarossi engines he will also use MLC fuel by Lamberto Collari as well as Shepherd Racing Tyres in both classes, 1/10th scale on-road and 1/10th scale touring car. Tobias will race the West German Championship, the EFRA Grand Prix in Apeldoorn and Hildesheim and of course the German Championships in Rötz (1/8) and Leipzig (1/10). He had the following to say:

I am looking forward to working together with Team Shepherd and I am sure that the use of such high quality products will help to increase my performance in the upcoming season.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

March 23, 2010

Vesa Yli extends series lead with FinTrack Rd3 win

The 3rd round of the FinTrack Tour nationals was held last weekend in Kiiminki, near the city of Oulu in Northern Finland. Most of the 1/12 tops were attending, with names like Simo Ahoniemi, Teemu Saarinen, Tony Raikas, Tom Kalves, Viljami Kutvonen, Panu Vehniainen and of course championship leader Vesa Yli from the organizing club, OSPA. The venue was a big school sports hall with plenty of room for pitting and spectators. The track was a bit different from other tracks used in FinTrack series as track was 90% surrounded by tubes which is not so usual in Finland. So for 1/12 the track was ideal by being pretty technical but for touring it was a bit narrow with its 2m width.

Continue reading the report here

March 23, 2010

Chris Kerswell does British National double

The final round of this seasons BRCA 12th scale nationals took place last weekend at the home of British 12th scale racing; Chesterfield. Going into the meeting there were 6 drivers still in contention for the stock championship, while any one of 3 could still win modified. Chris Kerswell came to the meeting on a crest of form after winning the EFRA stock Euro’s 2 weeks previously and looked to be one of the favourites to take the BRCA stock championship with his GM powered V-Dezign car. Qualifying was all about 2 drivers. Andy Moore and Chris Kerswell were the class of the field with Chris’s pole time being over a lap clear of 3rd place. With Mark Stiles in 5th, Andy Griffith 6th and Matt White 9th, once again V-Dezign proved to be the most popular chassis in the A final.

Continue reading the report here

March 23, 2010

Lamberto Collari takes victory at Euros Warmup

The warm up race for the 1/8th scale European Championships took place last weekend under cold weather conditions in the south of Italy at the Locorotondo track, host of this year’s main event. Qualifying saw Worlds top qualifier Robert Pietsch put his Mugen on pole position ahead of new Motonica signing Walter Salemi in 2nd, with 9 time World Champion Lamberto Collari in 3rd and Dario Balestri taking the final direct qualifying spot in 4th. In the final Collari drove a flawless race while Pietsch hit trouble, as did Salemi, allowing the Kyosho driver a simple run to the win. He crossed the finish line a lap in front of Dario Balestri, who had a fast closing Andrea Cristiani only 1.5 seconds behind. Belgian Serpent driver Ilia van Gastel set the fastest lap in the final with a 15.277, 6/100s quicker than pole man Pietsch.

Click here for the final results

March 23, 2010

Joaquin Desoto Jr dominates Ipanema GT Worlds

Last weekend the Homestead RC Raceway in Florida, host of next year’s 1/8th World Championships, played host to the Ipanema GT Worlds. Qualifying saw Joaquin Desoto Jr dominate qualifying turning a 13 laps in 5:03, about 4 seconds ahead of 2nd place qualifier Joerg Schaedler. Desoto, driving a Novarossi powered stock OFNA DM-1 was the only driver to turn laps in the 22 sec. range. In the finals it was a close race between the Joaquin Jr and Schaedler, with Desoto leading the way. Different pit strategies and tire choices made the race interesting and exciting to watch with Joaquin going with harder tires for the final, making his car a little slower but very consistent in the long final. Good pitwork and smart driving allowed him to manage the gap to 2nd place without having to overheat the tires and he took the win by about a 12 seconds ahead of Schaedler in 2nd, with Mike Lyday taking the final step of the podium in 3rd.

March 22, 2010

ST Racing Concepts SC options & tool updates

ST Racing Concepts has released a complete steering bellcrank set for the HPI Blitz. Because of the type of nylon composite material used on the Blitz, while durable for suspension components, it tends to make the steering components flex under heavy load or from high-torque servos. STRC’s aluminium steering bellcrank system add great precision to the steering and take away any flex. A full set of 4 ball bearings are also included to make sure the bellcrank system operate smoothly and it is available in orange, gun metal, silver and limited edition red. STRC have also introduced a CNC machined aluminium adjustable position battery plate for the OFNA Hyper 10SC that allows owners to adjust the weight distribution of the battery side on the truck. The plate allows for 10mm, 20mm, 30mm move back towards the rear of the truck from stock battery position (In 10mm increments). Available in gun metal or limited edition silver. Finally on to tools where the CNC machined aluminium 4mm/5mm universal turnbuckle wrench is now available in anodized Black, while their popular shock shaft pliers are now available in limited edition blue. Also the CNC machined aluminum 17mm/23mm combo wrench is also now available in red and black.

Click here to see the other new items

March 22, 2010

Dirk Wischnewski joins Matrix Tires

Matrix Tires in Italy have added another top name to their driver roster with the signing of current 1/10th scale 200mm European Champion Dirk Wischnewski. The German driver, who has also previously won the European 1/10th scale 200mm ‘B’ title, has completed a deal that sees him join a team which includes current World Champion Daniele Ielasi, Worlds TQ Jilles Groskamp, former World Champion Adrien Bertin, Alexander Hagberg, Martin Hudy and Paolo Morganti to name a few. Dirk will be looking to defend his European title in Sweden this summer with his Matrix shod Xray NT1 as well as aiming for the title at this year’s World Championship in Houston, Texas.

Source: Matrix Tires [matrixtires.it]