See for the first time at the toy fair last month GS Racing have released full details about their new 1/8th scale Storm CLX Pro buggy. Using the highly successful Storm CL-1 Advanced Plus as the foundation, GS has created a lighter, stronger and more nimble buggy. Durability, balance, quality and weight have all received improvements, resulting in a buggy that turns faster lap times yet is consistent and easy to drive.
Source: GS Racing [gsracing.com.tw]
The opening round of the French 1/10th scale Nationals took place last weekend in Monteux in the south of France. The weather was dry all weekend with 18 degrees temperatures on the finals day and there was 87 drivers in attendance, split between Elite and National classes. In the Elite class, it was Thomas Eytard who took the top spot in qualifying from Mikael Pontal in 2nd and Thomas Desmaries claiming 3rd, while in the National class it was Anthony Bruyer who claimed TQ ahead of local racers Jérôme Di Crocco and Thomas Corréard. In the Elite final the first 20 minutes saw the race still wide open to a number of front runners with Thomas Desmaries leading the way. At the 30 minute mark a lot of drivers came in for a tire stop with Chaussard doing all 4 and the leader Desmaries only doing the rear tires. Basile Concialdi would not change any tires and could take the lead and with it the win, with Chaussard taking 2nd and Maxime Favrel 3rd, all 3 drivers with the Xray NT1. In the National final it was all about the pole man Anthony Bruyer, who cruised to victory in front of Thomas Correard in 2nd and J-Paptiste Geneau in 3rd.
Click here to see the final results
The 28th installment in the Xray column from Xray owner and chief designer Juraj Hudy is now online. In this months column, Juraj talks about the start of the 2009 race season which takes in the DHI Cup and European Indoor Championships in Italy.
This January was busy as usual, even a bit more so than usual. First of all, internally we have worked on four new big XRAY projects at the same time as well as finishing plenty of new HUDY products which is by far the largest amount of new stuff we have ever worked on simultaneously. Secondly, in addition to the annual DHI Cup which kicks off the electric touring car season, we had another major and highly competitive race on schedule; the newly-added European Indoor Championship for 1/10 electric touring cars and 1/12 pan cars and the US team headed to the annual US Touring Car Championship.
Read the full column here.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
Last weekend was the final test at the Boulder City track to get ready for the Silver State Nitro Challenge the first week of April. Drivers from Losi, AE, Tamiya, Mugen, Kyosho, and O’Donnell were in attendance to do some final testing. The conditions were very dusty and bumpy and at the end of qualifying it was Losi / GRP’s Adam Drake on top of both the 1/8th buggy and 1/8th truck class. The conditions in the mains were even rougher and the weather was getting cold, but Adam Drake was able to come out on top again in both 1/8th buggy and 1/8th truck, in the latter Adam won the final by more then 1 lap.
Seen during our coverage of the Toy Fair in Germany last month, RB Products have now released their Exhaust protect spray. Spraying it on your exhaust system prevents dirt, such as tire foam, fuel, exhaust gas and dust, sticking to its surface so you can keep it clean longer. The dirt on the exhaust system can cause cooling problems which can lead to a decrease in performance. The spray can resist very high temperatures and also works very well on the nylon parts of the cars.
Source: RB Products [rbproducts.com]
New from Florida based JConcepts are 3 new tires types, Sevens, Crowbars & Crossbows. Sevens are a result of 2-years of research and development on the world and national 1/8th buggy circuit. They incorporate the small pin design of the Double Dee’s combined with directional and functional undertones which produce increased grip while reducing wear. Wear is always the trade off when going to a small pin tire and with the Sevens these worries are a thing of the past. Running qualifiers and main events on the same quick tire is now possible. Combining the unique Sevens lug technology with the sticky yellow and blue compound allow the flexibility necessary to compete on even the most demanding surfaces for an extended period of time. These new tires excel on hard packed or blue groove conditions where the track surface has started to take rubber. Available in Medium Yellow or Soft Blue compounds.
Click here to read about the Crowbars & Crossbows
New from Traxxas for the Slash is this big bore shock kit for the ultimate in bump and jump control. These fully assembled precision dampers are the perfect addition to the popular Slash Pro 2WD Short-Course truck, using machined aluminium bodies for consistent action lap after punishing lap, with a hard-anodized finish for extra strength. Also new from Traxxas, but for the gas powered Slayer is a new centre differential which helps balance power distribution from the TRX 3.3 Racing Engine to reduce front end lift on acceleration and improve steering responsiveness. When used with the dual-disc rear brake kit, brake bias and power distribution can be adjusted independently for maximum performance in various conditions. This is the perfect combination for putting power to the ground in rough terrain and maximizing corner speed.
Click here to see the centre diff
The opening round of the French 1/8th scale National series was held last weekend in Toulouse in the south west of France, close to Spain. The race saw 63 drivers entered separated between Elite and National classes and the weather for the event was cold but dry for most of the event. Qualifying for the Elite class saw Team Orion engine man Adrien Bertin, driving a Kyosho, take the pole position for the main final in front of Sebastian Zatla in 2nd and Stéphane Bouche 3rd, while in the National class it was Maxime Tenet who started 1st ahead of Philippe Regolle in 2nd and Jérémy Cassagne 3rd. Following the semi finals the main finals got underway and in the Elite class it was Bertin and Bouche who lead away, remaining like this up until the 15 minute mark when there was some light rain which made some drivers pit for new tires, something Bertin didn’t do and he could stretch his lead to win by 3 laps from Bouche in 2nd and Laurent Zatla in 3rd. In the National class it was local driver Jérémy Cassagne that took the lead and stretched out a gap, and despite the engine stopping once, could maintain his lead and take the win by a lap from Gérald Colinet in 2nd and Maxime Tenet in 3rd.
Click here to see the final results
