Red RC

January 28, 2009

Brushless Tornado – Team Orion Vortex BL ESC

When it comes to competition Electronic Speed Controls (ESC’s) for 1/10 scale cars, consumers are faced with an ever expanding range of offerings. One of the newest additions is the Team Orion Vortex BL sensored/less 100A speedo. It was introduced some time ago and is available now. Please do not mistake it for the KO Propo based Team Orion Vortex Race Spec ESC we introduced in our 2008 Electric On-Road Worlds coverage. We hope to bring you a review of the Race Spec version at a later date. But back to the Vortex BL 100A. It comes in a neat cardboard box together with a small but comprehensive manual and a small Team Orion sticker sheet.

Read the full review here

January 28, 2009

Daniele Ielasi joins Maugrafix

Italian decal and design company Maugrafix have been in touch to tell us that current 1/10th 200mm World Champion Daniele Ielasi has joined their team. The deal will Daniele run the company’s decals on both his 1/8th and 1/10th scale cars throughout the year.

Source: Maugrafix [maugrafix.com]

January 28, 2009

Optimized X-Factory X-6 motor plates

French company Optimized, have released some new parts for the X-Factory X-6. Suitable for use with the 4 gear transmission, these new motor mounting plates are made from a thicker metal and so improves rigidity and reliability of the transmission. They are also available in 4 different colours – blue, black, red & light blue, and so can also help improve the looks of your car too. The full range of products are available in France and Belgium through Select Models, in the UK through DMS Racing, in Spain through Positivo-Negativo and in Germany through Rudog.

Source: Optimized [teamoptimized.blogspot.com]

January 28, 2009

Báez & Mendez win Puerto Rico Nats Rd1

The first race of the Puerto Rico Championship was held in Barceloneta this past weekend under perfect weather conditions. The sedan class saw the win go to Mugen Driver Andy Báez who also took the TQ, followed by Serpent driver Juan Rodríguez and Kyosho Team Driver Pedro Alvarado. The race was 40 minutes long and was exciting from the very beginning, with Andy and Juan constantly changing positions. Unfortunately later in to the race Andy lost his second gear, however quick work from his pit crew got the problem fixed and they managed to keep him in the lead. Later on in the race Juan hit problems giving Andy a comfortable lead and allowed him to take the win.

Click here to continue reading

January 28, 2009

F1 RCGP Round 1 report

Formula 1 racing is big again in Japan and so top Japanese racer Hideo Kitizawa organised a 10 round Championship for the class called F1 RCGP. The first round took place last weekend at the Nexter Circuit in Fukuoka and the drivers were greeted with snow, which actually prevented a lot of the racers getting to the track so instead of the 68 racers that had booked in, only 37 made it to the circuit. The series open to 2 classes, one with Mabuchi 540 (F1) motors and one with 30T motors (F1 GP), wile both classes use the control Zen F1 foam tire. Qualifying was held over 4 minute runs with the finals made up of 8 minutes and only the F1 GP class would be counting towards the final standings, with 5 from the 10 rounds counting. In the F1GP class it was Daiyu Kobayashi, who started from 2nd on the grid, who managed to cope with the wet conditions best to beat the pole man, and former Japanese 1:10 2wd buggy champion, Shinya Kimura to become the winner of the 1st round of the F1 RCGP race. Shimonabe Jyunichi took 2nd while Shinya Kimura dropped back to third by the end of the race.

Click here for the rest of the report

January 28, 2009

Drake & Truhe clean sweep at Airtronics Winternats

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_ztSPVNuJU[/youtube]

This past weekend saw the Airtronics Winter Nationals take place at Revelation Raceway in Ontario, CA with a lot of pro drivers in attendance. The expert buggy class saw a clear win for Losi racer Adam Drake ahead of Jeremy Kortz, racing the Hobao in 2nd, while Mike Truhe took 3rd spot less than 3 seconds further back. In expert truggy, it was the Losi 8ight T 2.0 show up front with Mike Truhe (video above) taking the win by almost a lap from team mate and top qualifier Adam Drake, while Travis Amezcua, racing the prototype Hot Bodies buggy took 3rd.

Video by Upgrade RC

January 28, 2009

Trinity I-Balance Software interface program

Trinity were in touch to let us know about their I-Balance Software interface program. Working with the I-Balance charger, the program allows racers to view their packs status while its charging and you will have access to the charts of current, temperature, voltage and capacity. A small chart on the side of the graphs shows your your cell status, cell type and when charging a LiPo will give you the individual reading of each cells voltage. Requires a sensor cable, which along with the USB Cable and Software can be bought directly from Trinity.

Source: Trinity [teamtrinity.com]

January 27, 2009

Reedy 121VR .21 Off-Road Competition Engine

Reedy have finally released their all-new 121VR .21 Off-Road Competition Nitro Engine. Designed in-house by their esteemed engineering staff and track-tested by racing team drivers such as Ryan Maifield, Craig Drescher and Richard Saxton, this engine has been produced using state-of-the-art materials and high-tech manufacturing processes. The result is a race-proven engine that is capable of producing world-class power and fuel economy with a driver-friendly linear power band.

Click here to view the features list