Team Losi have got off to a near perfect start in qualifying here at the Arena Offroad Meeting in Italy as their team drivers set the pace in all categories. In Buggy it is Martin Bayer who set was fastest in the first qualifier recording 7 laps in 5:19.794 to head a Losi 1-2-3 from team-mates Yannick Aigoin, who is setting the pace in Truggy, and Brushless pacesetter Ricardo Rabitti.
View our full event coverage here.
The Utah State Electric Off Road Championships were held at Intermountain R/C Raceway located in Magna Utah last weekend. The race entries included drivers from California, Wyoming, Idaho, and Colorado and had nearly 200 entries, which made for some fierce competition. Pro Line racers Eric Willardson topped qualifying and won the Mod Buggy class, with Rob Gillespie doing the same in the 4wd Mod class and also finishing second in the Mod buggy class. Both drivers posted the fastest laps along with the fastest overall time for the weekend.
Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]
Normally a Rodeo Ring is where a cowboy puts on an exhibition of his skills at rounding up cattle but this weekend the ‘Arena of Cowboys’ will play host to a very different form of taming the wild as some of Europe’s best r/c drivers exhibit their skills at controlling 1:8 Offroad cars. Situated on the outskirts of Voghera, which is around one hours drive south of Milan, the organisers of the Arena Offroad Meeting have created a fantastic US style dirt track and after the opening practice drivers are full of praise for the large indoor track.
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Last weekend saw the 2nd round of the Polish Indoor offroad series, run once again in Warsaw. 120 drivers were in attendance met to the test of strength. In the 2wd class it was eight-year old Michal Orlowski with his Tamiya that took the win from 2nd placed Piotr Blazucki, while the 3rd spot went to Bartek Maciejewski. In the 4wd class it was Dennis Fadtke that took the TQ spot and would win the first final, but it would be Morris Indovino that would take the overall win, with Fadtke taking 2nd spot and Artur Kramza.
The full results can be found here.
The Jimmy Babcock Racing League has become the premiere racing series in Southern California consisting of eight rounds of action at famous facilities like Thunder Alley in Beaumont, Revelation Raceway in Montclair and concluding at Hot Rod Hobbies in Saugus. The opening event at Thunder Alley saw record crowds with over 350 entries for the one day event and entrants from as far as Canada in attendance. A foreshadowing of the series played out at this event with a battle between Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri and Cody King. Throughout the series, Cavalieri and King battled for supremacy and the ever critical bonus TQ point. With seven round complete, the stage was set for a winner take all scenario at the 8th round. Heading in to the final round, Cavalieri had already sewn up the 1/8th Pro Truggy title but was tied with King for the 1/8th Pro Buggy title. With King securing the TQ position and bonus point, the pressure was on Cavalieri to win the “A” main event. A quick start from King made Cavalieri push hard to keep up, but as the race wore on Cavalieri ascended to the lead position and never looked back taking the victory at the final round and the overall 1/8th Pro Buggy title.
Source: Associated [rc10.com]
EFRA have released their race calendar for 2009 and it looks to be another busy summer next year as they have managed to squeeze 8 European Championships, running alongside 3 World Championships, into the months of July and August. The season starts early with back to back championships at the end of February, beginning of March, with the Indoor TC euros in Finland, followed a week later by the 1/12th EC in Birmingham. The first EC ‘B’ championships kick off in Lostallo in the middle of May for 1/10th 200mm, followed 2 weeks later with the 1/8th scale on road ‘B’s in Monaco, and then another 2 week gap to bring us to mid June and the 1/8th buggy Euro B’s in Spain. The 1/8th scale on road A champs kick of the mid summer madness in Italy with the 1/12th Worlds in Germany starting on the Sunday of that event and running into the EP Touring car Worlds the weekend after, which happens to clash with the 1/8th buggy Euros in Portugal. Then the week after you have the beginning of 3 weeks of 1/5th scale Euros, in the meantime the Worlds for 200mm will be run in Houston. The week following that event is the Euros for Electric Touring in France, with a one week gap and then back to back Euros for 200mm in Sweden and EP buggy in Austria. The World championship for 1/8th buggy completes the major races, taking part in Thailand in mid November. The late decision to run the Electric track World championships appears to have really clogged up the calendar, clashing with two major events. Normally EFRA would not run a European Championship for a class where Europe has the WC, yet the 1/12th and TC Euros will still take place, further increasing the number of events.
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This past weekend Leisure Hours Raceway presented the 2009 Electric Fall Classic and with over 140 entries this year, it would prove to be another great event. In the competitive 2wd Modified class it was Chad Due, driving his JConcepts equipped Factory Team RC10B4, who was able to TQ with the only 18 lap run of the day. Using TQ honors, Chad was able to jet away from the field and secure the top spot on the podium. 4wd Modified again saw Chad Due, driving his Factory Team B44, taking the TQ honors. In the main however unfortunate circumstances took Chad out early leaving local Wisconsin driver Steven Just, also equipped with JConcepts, to cruise to victory lane.
Source: JConcepts [jconceptsracing.net]
Following on from earlier information that European Touring car Champion Jilles Groskamp was going to run for Tamiya in 1/8th off road, we have finally received the official statement from the Japanese company that he will be driving the TRF 801X. With his recent signing for Team Orion and Shepherd, and with commitments already in electric touring and gas on road, the Dutch driver’s workload is about to get even bigger as he starts to compete in this competitive class, aiming for a good performance at next year’s buggy World Championships.
TRF driver Jilles Groskamp of the Netherlands begins his next racing chapter. Jilles will be conquering new ground by tackling the world of nitro off-road with the TRF 801X buggy. Jilles, now living in Thailand, will be practicing for the upcoming IFMAR World Championships, which will also be taking place in Thailand late in 2010. Jilles started with R/C at the age of twelve and one of his first R/C vehicles was a Tamiya TA-01 Toyota Celica. Jilles is best known for his on-road racing prowess. His accomplishments include: winning the Snowbirds twice, more than 20 A-mains at the European Championships, 6 IFMAR World Championship A-main appearances and TQ at last year’s Nitro 1/10 Worlds. His biggest achievement thus far was winning a European Title in the 2009 Touring Car Euros that was done with his Tamiya TRF416! His ultimate goal is winning a World Title. His current sponsors are Tamiya, Team Orion, Shepherd, Muchmore, Ko Propo, Protoform, Xenon, Nosram and The Border.
Source: Tamiya [tamiyausa.com]
