A quick report from the German West off road qualification race that took place last weekend at the MFK Kürten track. The race was won by Mugen racer Dario Vita, of Vita Tuning, with another Mugen in 2nd driven by Marcel Guske, while a 3rd Mugen driven by Frank Derksen gave the MBX5R a complete lockout of the podium.
Click here for the final race order… content
Our partners Neo Buggy are reporting that 1996 World Champion Alex Laffranchi (old photo) has left Crono to race for Xray. Alex already had his first race this weekend at a regional championships race in Italy in which he used the XRAY XB8 EC. Alex, who was a long time Thunder Tiger driver, only joined Crono at the start of the 2006 season and has left after just 1 year, he will however stay with OS engines for the 2007 season.
Source: Neo Buggy [neo-buggy.net] / Image: Modellismo RC [modellismorc.net]
This weekend saw the first round of the Chinese National league take place in Shenzhen, China. It was Kyosho driver Hu Wei Peng that took the top qualifier spot but in the race it was Sam Poon, driving a Nanda NRB-3, that took the win, followed home by another Nanda racer ZhiJian Woo in 2nd while 3rd position went to Zhan Wei driving a Kyosho MP777.
Click here for some more pictures… content
CEN contacted us to tell us that their man Arto Heinonen was unbeatable at the second Koski Challenge indoor race, which was held last weekend at Valkeakoski, Finland. In the buggy class Arto was able to win by a lap ahead of Markku Honkanen while in the truggy class Arto was holding strong the 3rd position until the servo broke in the A-Main resulting him 9th.
Click here for the final buggy results… content
Following the statement made yesterday by Ricardo Gomez, father of Richi, in relation to the disagreement between his son and engine manufacturer Axe Rossi, the Italian company has responded with their own statement. In it they claim that the products that Richi received were up to scratch and even allowed Richi win his first National race that he took part in with the engine and they are of the opinion that the only reason he has left Axe Rossi was because he was offered a better offer from a different manufacturer. The saga continues.
Click here to read the full Axe Rossi statement… content
The second round of the French Electric buggy Nationals took place last weekend at the Antibes track. Although this was the second round of the Nationals, it was the first outdoor race of the year and in qualifying it was local racer Nicolas Vouilloz that took the TQ spot in the 4wd mod class while in 2wd mod it was Carl Maignien who claimed top spot. In the 4wd mod finals it was Vouilloz, driving his JConcepts BJ4WE, that carried his form forward from qualifying to take the win ahead of Cyril Baldini with X-Factory driver Antoine Rossetti claiming the 3rd spot. In the 2wd mod finals it was Team Losi XX4 racer Carl Maignien that took the win in front of Alex Valente while Olivier Demonfumat took the final spot on the podium in 3rd.
Click here to see the final results… content
CML Distribution in the UK have announced that they will back former World finalist, European Champion and multiple British Champion Jamie Booth. One of R/C’s evergreen drivers and a true ambassador of the hobby, he has already been hooked on the performance and reliability of Byron RACE fuel and has now signed up to join the UK Pro-Line 1/8th off road team and use Pro-Line rubber throughout the coming season on his Hong Nor buggy and truggy.
Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk] / Image: oOple [oople.com]
Last week we wrote about a piece we saw on Neo Buggy stating that Richi Gomez could be brought to court by Axe Rossi for breach of contract. Today our other site partners Buggy Sport received the exclusive manifesto from Ricardo Gomez, father of Richi, in which he states (in my understanding as its difficult to read) that they have upheld their side of the agreement and that Axe have not lived up to theirs. What it essentially comes down to is that Axe Rossi have not supplied them with sufficient product support and that what they have recieved has been of substandard quality and definitely not worthy of a top international racer who needs to compete at the highest level. Problems like leaking in both the combutsion chamber and carburettor, to poorly made exhaust systems, these motors have been unusable and replacements have not been forthcoming and thus to fullfill his obligations to his other sponsors he has had to source other engines, which seems fair enough.
Read the full statement below… content
