SDRC Raceway of San Diego, California held the 2016 Top Gun Shootout this past weekend. After qualifying was complete, Ryan Cavalieri would take the TQ in 2WD Modified Buggy and Modified Truck while 4WD Modified Buggy was lead by his teammate Rivkin Spencer Rivkin. Cavalieri went onto win A-mains one and two of 2WD Modified Buggy to take home his first title of the weekend.
Virtual RC have announced the addition of this year’s IFMAR 1/8th Gas Buggy World Championship track to VRC-Pro. With 2016 IFMAR World Champion David Ronnefalk on the VRC Worlds drivers list, this is your chance to re-live the 2016 IFMAR event in Las Vegas, trying to beat David on his own turf. 3D track designer and artist Tony West was pushed to the limit by the beta test team to make the track as close to the Worlds track as possible, including the many holes and bumps that occurred after all the hard racing during the event. Having to master such a beaten up track will present a new challenge and experience to VRC racers. The 2016 VRC Worlds kick off with 1/10th Short Course trucks on December 6th, then 1/8th E-Buggies will follow on the 13th, and 1/8th Nitro Buggies with David Ronnefalk on the 20th of December.
RC Concept have announced the signing of Australian Off-road frontrunner, Ben Sterling. Ben is well known around the world and brings in some 16 years of knowledge in the industry. The 2016 Victorian State Titles holder will work together with the Australian RC Concept distributor to support all RC Concept users in Australia and he had this to say:
Firstly I would like to thank Alpha for the past 3 years. It has been an absolute pleasure working with them and evolving their company and product. Thanks so much for RC Concept for giving me this opportunity to run their great engines and also 1/8 EP electronics for the 2017/2018 seasons. I can’t wait to race this awesome package.
Source: RC Concept [rcconcept.net]
The second round of the Washtenaw RC Raceway Points Race Series was held at the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds between Ann Arbor and Saline, Michigan. Conditions were great for a perfect day of racing on the indoor 1/10th scale off road track. The atmosphere was electric and racing was fantastic. This season the WRCR track has a number of detailed sections such as the option lane, an inside line heading to a tight S-Turn with four wood strips with dirt smoothing them. This round most of the classes were using the option lane as it became faster after track updates from round 1. The 4WD Buggy class is most impacted by the bumps but those willing to risk the trip through this lane may gain time on their competition. Conner Stanley was one of those drivers who took the advantage and was able to qualify into the top spot. Ben Belote was the next fastest driver starting in the second position only a few seconds ahead of Tom Erickson.
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The German ESV Bischofsheim club has announced the 11th edition of their iconic International Warm-up Race for the 28th to 30th of April 2017. After a one year break the event is back and reloaded and it will be held in the usual classes of Nitro Buggy, Nitro Truggy and E-Buggy. The popular Rhein Main Circuit near Frankfurt will feature some improvements for 2017 and all information on the event together with sign-up, that starts on the 4th of February, can be found on the official website here.
The ERMC club played host to the opening round of the Swiss Indoor Offroad Cup in Geneva. The first of three rounds attracted nearly 100 drivers from all over the country and also neighbouring France. Cham Dassanyake would dominate the qualifiers in the 4WD class, taking the overall TQ and pole position for the A-mains. He would also take the opening A-main with fast and consistent laps and despite a few bobbles and even some marshalling and ultimately Cham would take the overall win from Cyrille Gruaz in second and Remy Bertrand after the triple mains.
This past weekend the 2016 ROAR Region 9 1/10th Championships were held at the world-famous Thornhill racing circuit on their JR track. Last year this race had 56 entries, but this year the numbers almost doubled with 101 entries making it the biggest 1/10th only race in Texas in many years. In the 2WD Modified Buggy class the competition would be very tight as the top two would be separated by less than a second and third to seventh would be separated by three seconds. At the end Aaron Breuer would take TQ and teammate Ethan Lefebvre would take second. In the first of two mains Aaron and Ethan had a great battle throughout the main, finishing in the same order as they have had started. In the second main Aaron made a mistake over the triple and ended his race.
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The team signings and departures are coming thick and fast with the announcement by Kyosho Europe that Jerome Aigoin has left their team. Following 10 years together in which they won the very competitive French Nationals 3 times in a row between 2012 and 2014 as well as finishing runner up at the 2011 Euros, the time has come for the two parties to go their separate ways. The statement from Kyosho Europe states:
Over the last 10 years Team Kyosho International have relied on Jerome’s good image and qualities, he has represented the Kyosho brand at multiple occasions on the worldwide racing scene. His speed, knowledge and driving skills allowed him to remain competitive on many international and national 1/8 offroad races and championships, winning sever national crowns. Jerome joined Team Kyosho International early 2007 and immediately entered the highest level in the ranking list of pro drivers. Working tightly with Kyosho Japan, as well as Kyosho Europe, he has been a great ambassador for every brand distributed by the group over the years. With 2017 new season in the loop, this 10 year close relationship is coming to its end, Kyosho Corporation and Kyosho Europe would like to thank Jerome and are wishing him the best for his future, on and off the track.
Source: Kyosho Europe [kyoshoeurope.com]
