Red RC

July 18, 2009

Stunning comeback from Volker in ETS qualifying

After a disastrous third qualifier in which his car suffered heavy damage, Ronald Volker made a stunning comeback to TQ the last qualifier of the day here at the Muchmore sponsored Euro Touring Series finale ahead of Viktor Wilck. The German driver had his work cut out to get his BD5 rebuilt in time for the run, having damaged the front spool and suspension mounts, but he got it done to put in a run that denied Wilck from taking overall TQ honours. The result means we will have to wait till the final qualifier in the morning to see whether its Wilck or Volker that claims the No.1 spot on the grid.

View our complete event coverage here.

July 18, 2009

CSO NT1 CNC machined Front bulkheads

Having previously released the precision made option parts for the 966 and NT1 in the past, Hong Kong based manufacturer CSO, have released their CNC machined 7075 T6 front bulkheads for the Xray NT1. The part will not only give extended rigidity and better overall balance at the front end, but also claims to offer more aggressive steering as well.

Source: CSO [cso.com.hk]

July 18, 2009

Michele Romagnoli takes Rd2 in Italy

The 2nd round of the Italian 1/8th scale Nationals was held last weekend in Gubbio and of course featured some of the fastest drivers in the World taking part. Qualifying went the way of Andrea Pirani, with Michele Romagnoli in 2nd, 8-time World Champion Lamberto Collari in 3rd and Fabio Domanin taking the last direct final spot in 4th. The start of the hour long final saw the lead change numerous times, but by half way distance, Collari has established himself in the lead, that was until his engine flamed out at the 45 minute mark, allowing Romagnoli who had had earlier problems, into the lead, only 7 seconds ahead of the World Champion. A further engine flame out gave Michele the breathing room to take home the vicotory, ahead of Fabio Domanin in 2nd and Collari eventually taking 3rd spot.

Thanks to Michele Romagnoli for the report.

July 18, 2009

Wilck TQ’s first qualifier in Andernach

Viktor Wilck has carried his practice pace through to the first qualifier here at the 2008/2009 ETS finale recording the fastest run ahead of Ronald Volker. The Swede said his Tamiya felt OK for the run and was surprised by how far off his rivals were having not expected his own pace to be good enough to TQ the round. Volker said he had to switch to safe mode for his run after finding his Yokomo difficult to drive on the fresh set of controlled tyres. The car improved during the run but the former European Champion was still not happy with the feeling of his BD5 compared with yesterday.

View our complete event coverage here.

July 17, 2009

DMS Partz X-5 Squared optionals

DMS Partz have announced their latest optional parts designed for the X-Factory X5 Squared 4wd buggy. This Carbon LiPo battery retainer set enables the user to easily fit conventional type stick pack LiPo batteries in their X5 buggy. The rear vertical carbon brace features three slotted positions to suit all variants of LIPO packs (height related) and is secured to the chassis via two countersunk screw locations. The main strap itself is secured through your chosen slot at the rear and secured using a relocated kit supplied standard battery post, there is also a slot at the rear to line up with the anti roll bar mount for extra secure location if required. The other new part, a carbon transmission cover brace, provides extra reinforcement to the layshaft area which can be put under a lot of strain when running the belt very tight.

Click here to see the transmission brace

July 17, 2009

Sebastián Recio wins Argentinian Nats Rd2

Last weekend saw the second round of the Campeonato Argentino de Touring in Rosario, Argentina. A difficult race for the leaders, Sebastián and Juan Pablo had a hard fight throughout the race with both drivers need to stop for tyres. At the end of the race it was Xray/Sirio driver Sebastián Recio that took the win from team mate Juan Pablo Golobic with Kyosho/Picco driver Hernan Lebenbau in third place.

July 17, 2009

Volker sets pace in controlled practice at ETS Rd5

Ronald Volker is the pace setter here at the end of controlled practice with the LRP/Yokomo driver posting a fastest lap of 16.55 to top the time sheets from Marc Rheinard who was on a 16.70. The World Championship runner up switched from an LTC-R to the Speed 6 body for his last run and felt it made his BD5 easier to drive. Volker is running a new chassis, top deck and harder suspension arms on his Yokomo, which are designed to make the car more suitable for European traction levels, and the German is very happy with the results. Slighlty concerned about the weather, he is confident that if it stays dry he is in good shape for qualifiying.

View our complete event coverage here.

July 17, 2009

LRP LiPo Battery Parallel balancer

LRP have released their new LiPo battery parallel balancer, seen last week at the European Championships in Austria. Especially developed for the use of LiPo and LiFe batteries and automatically recognises the cell condition of all 2-5 cell batteries. If the condition of the cells is not equal, an automatic equalizing of the cells starts and balances the cells during charging to ensure all cells are 100% equal. The micro-controller-regulation guarantees a particularly high precision. The balancer is not as positioned between the charger and the battery as usual, but is connected in parallel and therefore there is no influence on the charger and its functions.

Source: LRP [lrp.cc]