May 18, 2012

Xray RX8 brass engine mount

Xray have produced this optional brass engine mount for the RX8 that provides solid engine mounting and easy adjustment. This 90g weight is heavier by 60g than the standard aluminium monoblock. With this extra weight the car has more in-corner steering as well as increased overall traction. CNC-machined from premium brass material it is made with the highest tolerances using premium fully-automatic German CNC machines. Ultra-strong construction provides extra long life and durability in even the most extreme racing conditions.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


May 18, 2012

HPI Ivan Stewart Desert-Trophy truck

HPI have released the Desert-Trophy with an officially authorized, vintage style Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart Toyota pick-up truck body. Of all the drivers that have tried to tame the desert, Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart is one of the most legendary drivers in American motorsport. From his first win in 1973, the Ironman went on to a hugely successful partnership with Toyota trucks and conquered the off-road racing scene, garnering 17 Baja 500 wins, 8 Mint 400 wins, 4 Parker 400s, 3 Baja 1000s and 4 SCORE World Championships. Ivan is an inductee into the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, alongside such legendary figures as Mickey Thompson, Walker Evans, Parnelli Jones and Dick Cepek. The Desert-Trophy truck is topped with a scale replica of a vintage Toyota racing truck and finished in the iconic color slashes that identified Ivan Stewart’s racing team to all his fans.

View more images here


May 18, 2012

IRCC2012 Nagoya Airport race – Announcement

The organisers of the IRCC event that takes place in Japan from the 15th to the 17th of June have been in contact to tell us about this year’s event. The race is unique in that it will be held in Nagoya International airport, in a meeting room near the arrivals section. With the airport having a hotel and restaurants, you wont need to do much traveling and can in fact access the track by foot. After a successful event in 2011 in which current 1/12th world champion Naoto Matsukura won 1/12th and GT class and RC legend Masami Hirosaka entered as a guest driver and won 17.5turns touring class the event is again open to international competitors for almost all electric on road classes in both 1/10th and 1/12th scale. Racers interested can visit the official event site here, where you will find all the information also in English.


May 17, 2012

Óscar Cabezas wins Spanish Nationals Rd2

The second round of Spanish 1/8 On-Road Nationals was held at the Elche track near Alicante managed by Club Carsol. It was a hard race, with temperatures over 35ºC, 50ºC on the asphalt and a high relative humidity making it a hard test for engines and fuel. The Elche track is small, but really fast and so lap times are just about 12 seconds. Oscar Cabezas (Motonica / Novarossi / Merlin Fuel) TQ’d and set a new track record. After winning the semi-final, Cabezas kept the first place during almost 30 minutes, closely followed by Sergio Montensinos, who managed to take the first place in the tire change. Oscar again took the first place after a few laps and a few laps later Montesinos had a glow plug failure, and Cabezas, who was driving with no brakes after a crash with Montesinos could set a comfortable and safe pace to finish the race in first position.

View the final results here


May 17, 2012

Tomi Salonen wins Rd1 of Finnish Nationals

Round one of the Finnish Offroad Nationals was held in Turku under tricky conditions. In the morning they had some rain and heavy wind and in the afternoon weather cleared up, but the wind got stronger which made driving over the jumps very challenging. After 3 rounds of Qualifying Tomi Salonen was 1st, followed by August Poutiainen and Ari Heinonen. Following the semi-finals the top six was Salonen followed by Poutiainen, Heinonen, Leino, Ahoniemi and Siltanen. In the A-final we saw a tight battle between Salonen and Poutiainen, the pair managing to pull away from the rest of the field. After 13 minutes Poutiainen was leading by several seconds until he had a crash with another car and broke his Xray and was forced to retire. Mugen/Novarossi driver Salonen took the lead and controlled the rest of the final easily. Many drivers suffered from flame outs and crashes during the hard 45 minute windy final.

View the final results here


May 17, 2012

Futaba 4PK Super R transmitter

Futaba are also at the Shizuoka Hobby show and are showing off their new 4PK Super R pistol grip transmitter. Continuing on a long line of successful 4PK transmitters, the Super R features increased response over its predecessor. Esthetically it is the same as previous versions but is now lighter, featuring titanium screws throughout as well as aluminium nuts and other parts. Other updates include new software, details of which we will get later, and a new steering wheel foam with a combination of hardnesses.

Source: Futaba [futaba.co.jp]


May 17, 2012

KO Propo EX-1 optional parts

The Shizuoka Hobby show takes place this weekend in Japan and KO Propo will be there showing off a large number of new parts for their recently released EX-1 modular transmitter. First up is the new Kyosho MiniZ specific EX-1 Master Unit for ASF 2.4GHz cars, this is in addition to all the other separate KIY parts such as the standard FHSS Master Unit, the standard steering unit, stick type unit and regular grip unit all of which will be available to buy separately in the next month. The grip unit is also available in a left handed version and for the base of the radio there is the anticipated counter weight set which comprises of two brass weights in 42 and 14.4 grams. Other new parts available next month for the EX-1 include regular and large handle grip sets in grey, green and black.

View some of the other new parts here


May 16, 2012

TeamSR TLR22T rear shock tower assembly

TeamSR have introduced the only complete Quasi-Isotropic carbon fiber rear shock tower assembly on the market for the TLR22T platform. Emphasis has not only been placed on a clean aesthetic and durability in mind, but also with the TeamSR signature ‘sealed wet look’ edges. Aircraft grade 7075 T6 aluminium is used to provide a solid, black anodized precision machined piece and this unique piece is then engraved with the TSR logo on top. The tower assembly is a true ‘bolt on’ part and comes pre-assembled to provide a more rigid and light weight tower thus increasing durability over the existing factory plastic molded tower.

Source: TeamSR [teamsr.co]