March 13, 2007

Matteo Dapporto joins Xray

Matteo Dapporto

The news that Matteo Dapporto had joined Xray first broke in mid February but only today has that announcement been made on the company website. Matteo, who is also sponsored by RB, is one of the best racers in Italy and has made multiple visits to the main final at both World and European Championships

I used to race for many RC companies and collaborate with many companies to develop new products and this is what I prefer to do most. I would like to be a part of a great team made up of people that like to help each other to grow constantly and help drivers to get the best performance
that they can.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


March 13, 2007

Bernsten & Johannessen win Norwegian Nationals

Norwegian Nationals

Last weekend saw the Norwegian Nationals take place on a large indoor track organised by the Spydeberg Motorklubb. In 19T it was young 13 year old Xray driver Adrian Berntsen who won 4 of the 5 qualifying rounds to take the TQ spot. In the race Adrien managed to carry forward his qualifying pace to win 2 finals to take the National title, despite huge pressure from fellow Xray racer Helge Johannessen who ended up 2nd with Tamiya racer Morten Bremsrud in 3rd. In the Modified class it Helge Johannessen managed to win all the qualfiying rounds to take the TQ spot ahead of Tamiya racer Eirik Andreassen and Adrian Bernsten. In the race it was even closer with Helge taking the win in final 1 with Eirik in 2nd while in final 2 these results were reversed meaning it all came down to the last final.

So in the third final Eirik and I went off with only 0.1sec between us. But I drove safely, and felt that I had full control from the start. After 2 minutes, Eirik’s car broke down, and I secured the win.

Read the full report here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


March 13, 2007

Upgrade RC Jammin CRT-5 decal set

Upgrade RC Jammin CRT-5

Another decal set from Upgrade RC, this time for the Jammin CRT-5 1/12th scale 4wd buggy that we have covered in the past. The decal is the usual deal from Upgrade RC, as in wicked looking and top quality, and will be available in blue/yellow and blue/red.

Source: Upgrade RC [upgrade-rc.com]


March 12, 2007

Mickaël Pontal wins Rd1 of French 200mm Nationals

Rd1 of French 200mm Nationals

Kyosho racer Mickaël Pontal has won the first round of the French 1/10th 200mm Nationals held last weekend at the Ampuis circuit, near Lyon. In Qualifying it was Picco powered Kyosho racer BA Arnaldi that took the top qualifying spot with team mate Sebastian Wartelle in 2nd and Xray racer Nicolas Bougnoteau in 3rd. In the final everything started well for Arnaldi who pulled out a strong lead but Mickaël Pontal only making pit stops every 6 minutes managed to catch Arnaldi whos tires were starting to wear. Soon Pontal could take the lead and with it the win, leaving Arnaldi to come home in 2nd with Wartelle in 3rd.

As we mentioned last week, the new EFRA engine regulations were causing some conflicts with whether they should be adopted this year or not, but it was finally decided that for an engine to be legal for racing this year it must conform to the 2006 EFRA rules. This ruling, which calls for a crankshaft with a 7mm inner diameter and with maximum chamfer of 0.5mm, would cause problems for the new GRP made .12 motors, which were only made to the 2007 EFRA regualtions. Despite that ruling there were Ninja engines present at the event, so they must have been able to manufacture a different crankshaft for the motors or found some other solution.

Source: RB Products [rbproducts.com] Image: Kyosho [kyoshofrance.com]


March 12, 2007

Elliot Harper wins last round of Rug Racers

Elliot Harper Rug Racers

Elliot Harper continued his winning ways, this time by TQ’ing and winning the final round of the Rug Racers championship that took place last weekend. The Hot Bodies racer tried a variety of different setup options on his way to the top qualifying spot and then managed to win both finals to take the overall win in the Modified class.

Read Elliots full report here.

Source: Mirage [mirageracing.com]


March 12, 2007

HB High quality matched Springs

HB High quality matched Springs

Hot Bodies have released these matched high quality springs for use with their World Championship winning on road electric Cyclone chassis range. We wrote about these springs last Christmas when they were originally released under the Atsushi Hara Products brand, but now they are available from Hot Bodies / HPI direct.

Featuring ground-flat ends, cool black coating and a simple paint marking to identify the strength of the spring, these are the ultimate Cyclone tuning spring. The springs are each 25mm long and will fit a variety of shock absorbers from various manufacturers.

Source: HB Europe [hbeurope.com]


March 12, 2007

Midlands Astro Masters Series

Midlands Astro Masters Series

Last weekend saw the running of the delayed final round of the Midlands Astro Masters Series at one of the country’s premiere buggy tracks, Kidderminster. In the 4wd class it was TTech racer Tom Yardy that took the pole position and proceeded to lead from the start only to roll on lap 2, dropping him back into the pack and allowing Richard Barton to take the lead. Tom then started to fight back, managing to get back up to the sharp end of the field and eventually regaining the lead only to roll again in the closing moments leaving Barton to take the win ahead of Yardy, with Matt Dodd, 5 seconds back, in 3rd.

In the 2wd class it was more close and exciting racing with Phil Sleigh leading off from the pole position only to be caught after a small mistake by the chasing pair of Lee Martin and Tony Truman. The latter gaining the lead in the closing stages only to go wide in a corner which allowed Phil back to the front and to take the win by 0.3 of a second ahead of Truman with Martin in 3rd.
Read the full report with lots of pictures here.

Source: oOple [oople.com]


March 12, 2007

David Crompton wins BRCA Nats warm up

David Crompton

Last weekend saw the Sandy Nitro Model Club host the warm up race for the upcoming BRCA Nationals and a lot of top drivers were present at the event. David Crompton TQ’d the race with his Team Magic M1B while 2nd position went to HoBao racer Graham Alsop with another M1B in 3rd in the hands of Dave Bailey. In the final it was a close race in the beginning until the first pit stops after which David could extend his lead from which he never looked back and took the win by 17 seconds ahead of Jamie Booth driving the Hong Nor in 2nd with 3rd going to 2nd placed qualifier Graham Alsop.

Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk]