Serpent have announced the addition of Dutch top-level racer Jeffrey Halsema to their team. Returning to Serpent after a stint with TLR, Jeffery will race the Cobra SRX8 buggy from now on at events such as the Padova race in Italy and also at the German Mid-west regionals as well as the Benelux Buggy Cup and the 2017 EFRA Euros.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
Sweep Racing have announced the signing of 9-times Chinese 1/8th Nitro Buggy National Champion, Hu Wei Ping to their team. The winner of this year’s Chinese National Championship and the recently held Chinese Open will use Sweep Racing’s tyres and accessories from now on.
Source: Sweep [sweepracing.com]
The 8th and final round of the 2016 JBRL Electric Series was recently held at Hot Rod Hobbies in Saugus, California. In the premier 2WD Open Buggy Steven Hartson would walk away with the win from Jake Mayo and Tyler Fenster but overall in the championship it was Jake who took the title honours from teammate Steven. David Jenson would round out the championship top 3 result.
The 2016 Scaretacular race was held at Cape Fear Raceway in Holly Springs, North Carolina with about 90 entries in total. The race format was straight up rocket round with three rounds of qualifying and 20 minute nitro mains. In Pro Nitro Buggy it was Griffin Hanna who set the TQ and in the main final he would lead the pack around and would swap positions with Blake Pickett but with a small mistake, Griffin was able to regain the lead and take the win from Blake Pickett in second and Colby Bush in third.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
The popular Finnish Winter Jumps RC off-road series recently had its opening round held at the Vaasa RC Club, host of the 2011 IFMAR 1/10th off-road World Championships. Different from other racing series that are run on grippy carpet or astroturf tracks, the Winter Jumps series also has two races held on slippery surfaces with the Vaasa round being one of them. In the 2WD race Joona Haatanen dominated every qualifier with his Team Associated buggy and he would also win the A-mains to take the day’s win from Schumacher driver Touko Silpola and Konsta Saarinen (Xray).
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ROAR in conjunction with Hobbytown Hobbyplex raceway, Fastlane Raceway and The Track have announced the new ROAR Clubman Series. This pilot program focuses on the local level of racing, it is designed to keep it simple, fair and fun. The series targets 17.5T stock racing classes using ROAR-approved non-timing ESCs and handout 17.5T motors and more information along with the basic rules can be found here.
Round seven of the OMK Fall Classic Race series was held yesterday evening on a soaking wet track. Combined with the low temperatures the track was very slippery, making it a bit of a handful for all drivers. Nevertheless Xray’s Malin Karlsen once again dominated the proceedings and she took convincing TQs in every round to obtain the pole position for the triple A-mains. In the opening two finals the young lady jumped into the lead and she never looked back to take the day’s win in style and with it her fifth win out of the five rounds she attended. For A3 she opted to sit out the leg to let the other driver battle for the remaining podium spots and ultimately it was Steffen Larsen (Team Associated) who grabbed the runner-up spot by a narrow 0.5 seconds from third placed Marius Kristensen (Serpent).
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
The final round of the Dutch Nitro Buggy Championship was held at the Purmerend astro turf track. The qualifiers on Sunday started on a wet track but it would soon start to dry, meaning drivers would have to adapt the setups of their buggies quickly. At the end of the qualifying Agama’s Bart Mullink took the TQ from TLR driver Wesley van Helmond in second. Pre-event favourite Wesley had to get at least a fifth place finish in the main final to grab the overall championship but a broken clutch spring meant even an appearance in the main final was in question at the start of the semifinal. Thankfully another driver asked for a time-out so Wesley’s pit crew was able to change the spring but starting into the race Wesley had already lost two laps but putting his head down he was able to make up the time and to get a second place in the 20-minute finale. Starting from the 4 spot into the main final, Wesley quickly got into grips and he soon found himself in second place behind Jarno Piijpers. Wesley eventually got past Jarno later and he was able to open a 6-second gap on the field until he got hit by another car which bend a suspension pin of his car but he was able to proceed and even had the performance to challenge a storming Bart Mullink who was hot on his heels for the win. Changing positions several times Wesley and Bart would make it out for the win but ultimately Wesley would bring home the win after an intense race with Bart Mullink in second and Jordy Velder (Agama) in third. With five wins and three TQ spots, Wesley would then take the overall title in the 1/8th Nitro Buggy class to add to his 2016 2WD championship title.
Thanks to Wesley van Helmond for the report.
