December 20, 2011

Hébert takes Midwest Grand Slam Series Rd2

Hébert takes Midwest Grand Slam Series Rd2

Rapid Competition Raceway in Grand Rapids, Michigan was the site of the second leg of the 2011/2012 Midwest Grand Slam Series and Keven Hébert gave this report. “A slightly different race format than the previous round meant that the entire program would run on Saturday and Sunday. Practice early Saturday morning was followed by three rounds of qualifying. A final round of qualifying and the main events were scheduled for Sunday. Some of the best names from the Midwest were in attendance in both TC and 1/12. The largest class was Stock 17.5 TC and after a few practice rounds I already felt comfortable with my Reedy-powered TC6.1. Only a few small changes from my US Indoor Champs setup were needed to lock her down.

Continue reading the report here


December 19, 2011

Cavalieri & King win at KO Offroad Champs

Cavalieri & King win at KO Offroad Champs

The 2011 KO Off-Road Championships were held December last weekend at West Coast R/C Raceway in La Mirada, CA. This years event brought in over 180 entries, which included 5 IFMAR World Champions, Ryan Cavalieri, Jared Tebo, Cody King, Brian Kinwald and Hayato Matsuzaki. The race program would run 3 rounds of qualifying on Saturday taking each drivers single fastest run to determine the overall qualifying order. Then the top 8 drivers would go straight into the A-Main, with 2 car bump-ups from the lower mains to make a full 10 car field. Triple A-Mains were ran to decide the Champion in each class.

Continue reading the report here


December 19, 2011

ProTek R/C TruTorque tools

ProTek R/C TruTorque tools

ProTek R/C ‘TruTorque’ tools are offered in a variety of metric and standard sizes to suit even the most demanding hobbyist. Each tool features a lightweight, machined aluminium handle that has been knurled to provide a high leverage, non-slip surface that will be comfortable to use during long wrenching sessions. The tool size is etched into the handle for easy identification and a black rubber cap is fitted to the end to increase comfort during use. The precision cut steel tips provide an exceptional fit with the fastener, and feature a bronze colored finish that not only looks good, but also helps to protect the steel from corrosion.

Source: A-Main Hobbies [amainhobbies.com]


December 19, 2011

Philip Tschupp wins Stock at Italian Charity race

Philip Tschupp wins Stock at Italian Charity race

The annual Charity Race Italy took place at Scandiano recently, the location for round 2 of the ETS which will be held there in January. In Pro stock qualifying TOP Photon race Philip Tschupp, using the new Photon EX prototype brought it all together in the final round to take the TQ spot. In the first final Philip had very little steering and got pressured by Franceso Martini and Diego Macchioni. He had to block in every corner until Francesco made a mistake. Then it was Diego who put Philip under pressure. It was a very close race until Diego touched a curb and lost control of his car, so there was a gap between Philip and the other two local drivers and he could take the win. In the second final Philip changed his tire treatment and had much more steering and so could hold a little gap between his and Diego’s car. After a few minutes the Italian Champion closed up to the Swiss driver and they had a great battle but in the end it was Philip Tschupp who won the final to take the overall title ahead of Diego Macchioni in 2nd and Francesco Martini in 3rd.

Source: TOP [top-racing.jp]


December 19, 2011

Orcan BT5 Plus .21 off-road engine

Orcan BT5 Plus .21 off-road engine

A year after the release of BT5 engine from Orcan the .21 off-road engine has undergone further development and will be offered in an optimised version called BT5 Plus. Beside a couple of detailed improvements, the most important step comes from a new carburetor. A special idle needle screw makes the adjustment easier and also creates better response characteristics especially at low revs which is a very important aspect in off-road racing. Featuring five ports it comes with a combustion chamber for turbo plugs. As usual for Orcan engines, which are exclusively produced by Novarossi for SMI Motorsport, the BT5 Plus power plant comes in a handy Orcan multifunction bag.

View another image of the engine here


December 19, 2011

Jefferies clean sweep at European Pan Series Rd2

Jefferies clean sweep at European Pan Series Rd2

Round two of the European Pan Series visited Ardent Raceway in the UK. The entry was a little down on numbers possibly due to the pre Christmas date, but a strong field of top UK 1:12 drivers turned out including multiple World and European champion Dave Spashett, former European stock 1:12 champion Chris Kerswell and current UK national front runner Olly Jefferies. Nine heats covered F1, World GT, 1:12 and Mardave. In 1:12 it was Olly Jefferies who took TQ in both the stock and modified class, F1 TQ man was Mark Burgess and in the World GT class it was John Dawson setting the pace with his Xray.

Continue reading the report here


December 19, 2011

Yuichi Adachi joins KM International team

Yuichi Adachi joins KM International team

KM Group International have announced that 2010 All Japan National Sports Class Champion Yuichi Adachi has signed to race with KM for the coming season. Yuichi was looking for a new challenge and is joining the KM International Team with team mates like Dario Balestri, Meen V and Hang. He will attend many races as an International Team Driver like the All Japan Nationals, FEMCA and IFMAR World Championship, as well as all major races in Japan. Yuichi had the following to say about his new challenge:

I am very happy KM International give me this chance, I will do my best to represent KM brand and make good race result in the upcoming races. Especially, my goal for 2012 is to make grand final in 1/10 GP Touring IFMAR World in Thailand. I have a big confidence to my new car, H-K1, this is the best of the best GP sedan I have ever driven before. Also, I will do my best to support KM R&D staffs by using my 20 years of racing experiences, for KM Future products. See you guys in 2012 Worlds in Thailand.

Source: KM [km-rc.com]


December 18, 2011

LMR 201X brass bulkhead

LMR 201X brass bulkhead

New from Lee Martin’s LMR brand is this brass bulkhead for the Tamiya 201X. Used to help Lee win the 2011 European championship and make the IFMAR worlds A main, it adds 35g of weight over the front end. The block uses utlises plastic inserts to reduce wear and make maintenance less costly.

Source: LMR [l-m-racing.co.uk]