April 1, 2009

Adam Drake joins Novarossi

Adam Drake joins Novarossi

Adam Drake has been in contact to confirm that he has made a move to Novarossi. The deal which is for 2 years sees ‘The Drake’ leave behind a successful partnership with GRP engines for whom he has raced for the past few seasons. Adam has the following to say about the deal:

I’m very excited to be running for Novarossi. The testing has been great and this past weekend was my first race with the new engines. The power and fuel consumption is amazing. I’m really looking forward to the Silver State Nitro Challenge this weekend. Thank you to everyone at Novarossi for this great opportunity.

Adam made his Novarossi debut last weekend at Revelation Raceway for the 3rd round of the Losi Winter Series in which he won both the Buggy Expert and Truggy Expert classes, the latter from the TQ spot. The buggy class was TQ’d by Ryan Lutz running the new Tamiya 801X buggy, and he finished in 2nd place behind Adam, with Mugen driver Jeff Guest taking 3rd, while in truggy it was Matt Screffler that took the runner up spot in front of Ryan Lutz in 3rd.

Click here to see Adam’s Novarossi powered rides


March 31, 2009

Martin & Cragg win 2009 Players race

Martin & Cragg win 2009 Players race

Our friends oOple have a detailed report on the three day ‘The Players’ race held last weekend in Worksop and was run to a Reedy style format for the top drivers who’d qualified earlier in the event. Neil Cragg set the early pace, winning all his 2WD and 4WD ‘Players’ races on Saturday but Lee Martin took the top spot away from Neil Cragg in 2WD with an impressive series of wins on Sunday to seal a well earned Victory. 4WD went down to the wire, with Associated’s Neil Cragg & Hot Bodies Adam Skelding on equal points going into the final round. By virtue of his faster time, Neil Cragg sat on top and only Skelding could steal the victory from him. It wasn’t to be however as the two were drawn in the same race and Adam simply couldn’t match Neils pace, as he went on to set an even faster time.

View the full report here.

Source: oOple [oople.com]


March 31, 2009

Team Orion confirms Yuichi Kanai

Team Orion confirms Yuichi Kanai

Following on from last weeks teaser image from Team Orion, and the subsequent guesses that you guys put in, the Swiss company has announced that Japanese star driver Yuichi Kanai is their newest team member. The Kyosho Inferno MP9 designer is already using the Alpha engines in his car, and this with great success having just won his first race using the new equipment. The former World Champion Yuichi Kanai will not only use all the Team Orion engines and accessories, but will also be part of the R&D process to developing new products. With the addition of Yuichi Kanai, a total of 9 World Champions are actively racing, testing and using Team Orion nitro and electric products to ensure their customers get the best quality and performance available.

Source: Team Orion [teamorion.com]


March 25, 2009

Team Orion sign another World Champion

Team Orion sign another World Champion

Team Orion have released this teaser in which they claim to have signed another World Champion to their team. “Team Orion is very proud to have six World Champions under contract today which is unique in the RC industry. Who’s next? Today we can only tell you that he is a RC super star. His name will be revealed very soon. The addition of this driver to our World Champion dream team is part of a global expansion of Team Orion. We will inform you about all the details in the near future”. We know who it is, but we will of course be interested to hear what everyone thinks.

Source: Team Orion [teamorion.com]


March 24, 2009

Surikarn takes 2nd Buggy Party win

Surikarn takes 2nd Buggy Party win

The 2nd round of the Buggy Party series in Thailand was held at new RC Mania track last weekend with over 100 buggies in attendance. Following qualifying it was Meen V. that claimed the TQ spot, yet in the 40 minute final it was another victory for Surikarn C. The newly signed Xray factory driver took the win by 10 seconds ahead of his Xray team mate Meen V. with 2008 National Champion Yutthana D., driving a Hobao in 3rd spot. This is Surikarn’s 2nd win in as many races using his Xray XB808, powered by Nosram engine & tires.


March 23, 2009

Elliott Boots to run VTEC tires

Elliott Boots to run VTEC tires

LRP have confirmed that top European off road star Elliott Boots has decided to run VTEC 1/8th off road tires in both buggy and truggy classes for the current racing season. After testing the tires and understanding the benefits of the complete VTEC tyre range, the RB powered Mugen driver decided to ink the deal for 2009.

Source: LRP [lrp.cc]


March 22, 2009

Robert Batlle takes round 1 in Spain

Robert Batlle takes round 1 in Spain

The opening round of the Spanish 1/8th scale buggy championships took place this weekend in Alhaurín de la Torre in Malaga. Qualifying saw Angel Roque Gambero take the TQ spot from Dani Vega in 2nd and Robert Batlle in 3rd and following the semi finals it would be Juanma Vera that would start the 45 minute final from pole position with Batlle lining up 2nd and Vega 3rd. After only 1 lap, Robert Batlle was able to take the lead following problems for the pole man and only during his pit stops would he again give up that lead. Robert would go on to win by 15 seconds from eventual 2nd placed finisher Borja Hernandez, with Antonio Jesus Gomez Salmeron taking 3rd, the top 3 all ending the race on the same lap.

Source: News RC [newsrc.es]


March 22, 2009

Cavalieri take 4wd Mod at Cactus Classic

Cavalieri take 4wd Mod at Cactus Classic

The 23rd Annual Cactus Classic was held this past weekend in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. The weather was perfect all week reaching up to the mid 80’s and the event attracted all the major race teams from Kyosho, Team Associated, Team Losi, Yokomo, Tamiya, and X-Factory. In the 4wd Modified Class it was Team Orion’s Ryan Cavalieri and Jared Tebo who were on fire throughout qualifying. In the first round Tebo set the TQ, while Cavalieri then went on to TQ rounds 2 and 3, with Tebo coming back to TQ the 4th and final round with an amazing run, being the only driver all weekend long to make it by for the 12th lap. The tie break went to Tebo when the laps and times were added together, with Cavalieri lining up on 2nd on the grid. In A-Main 1 Tebo led from start to finish with Cavalieri finishing in 2nd, only a few seconds back, and Ryan Maifield in 3rd. In A-Main 2 Tebo and Cavalieri once again battled it out but Cavalieri went on to make a late race pass and take home the win from Tebo in 2nd with Maifield in 3rd. In the final A-Main Tebo got a good start and set a fast pace with Cavalieri staying close and not making any mistakes. Cavalieri got around Tebo with a few laps to go and held on for the win from Tebo in 2nd, with Maifield once again bringing home 3rd.

Source: Team Orion [teamorion.com]