The Olibollen Cross XXL race was held just before the Christmas holidays and it saw Xray’s Nico Risser taking the TQ in both the 2WD and 4WD buggy classes. Nico went on to dominate the finals also, taking the overall win in both 2WD and 4WD. Oliver Speith (Schumacher) would grab the runner-up in 2WD in front of Schumacher teammate Bart Mulin. In the 4WD class D. Pauwels (Yokomo) ended the race in the second place from Kristof Dehert (Xray) in third.
Mugen Seiki Racing have announced the signing of former Serpent driver Mike Truhe. Mike brings a tremendous amount of experience in racing and development and will be a huge asset to Mugen Seiki Racing’s off-road and on-road team. Mike Truhe has won countless ROAR National Championships, The Dirt Nitro Challenge, Silver State Nitro Challenge, was an IFMAR Worlds top qualifier and multiple podium finishes at the IFMAR World Championships. Mike had the following to say about the deal which sees him team back up with former TLR team mate Adam Drake.
Mugen Seiki Racing has always produced the highest quality vehicles and their commitment to racing is outstanding. It’s an honor to be racing for Mugen Seiki Racing in 2016 and beyond.
Source: Mugen Seiki Racing [mugenracing.com]
Serpent have announced the signing of Japanese frontrunner Shin Adachi to their 1/8th nitro offroad team. Shin, who is under contract with Yokomo for the 1/10th scale classes, will join Serpent as a driver, campaigning the company’s forthcoming brand-new nitro buggy, but he will also work closely with Serpent’s offroad designer Billy Easton on future 1/8th offroad projects. Shin has the following to say:
I’m very excited join Serpent 1/8 buggy team. I’m confident and cannot wait to 2016 season. I would like to provide everything that I have learned and experienced from my long R/C racing experience to the team. Thanks to Serpent team to allow me this chance.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
The annual Avesnes club race saw the attendance of around 110 drivers to battle it out on the club’s very slippery carpet track. Both the 2WD and 4WD buggy class saw some epic battles between Nicolas Risser and Lorenzo Crolla and in the premier 2WD class Nicolas came out successful from young Clement Boda with Lorenzo Crolla ending the day in third place. In the 4WD class Lorenzo would then hold the upper hand over Nicolas who grabbed the runner-up spot after the finals. Anthony Demarais rounded out the podium result in third.
The Victorian Drivers series is one of the biggest in Australia and 2015 was the biggest yet, with over 480 entries received for four rounds of 1/10th electric outdoor dirt racing in Victoria, South Eastern Australia. Running from April through November, the series finished with the Keilor Cup, with over 150 entries received for the one-day event. In the premier 2WD Modified Buggy class, the series came down to the last race of the last round between Matt Griffin and Ray Munday and ultimately Griffin took the series title by one point from Ray. In 4WD Modified, Ray Munday took the series after three rounds, with young teammate Cameron Zammit finishing second.
US front runner and former World Champion, Jared Tebo has announced his departure from long-term tyre sponsors AKA. The Kyosho factory driver has yet to announce his new destination but for now, he has the following to say:
I will be making a big change in 2016, I will no longer be running for AKA tires. I started my relationship with AKA in 2009 when I made my HUGE career change, and they have been great the entire step of the way. Of course, you have ups and downs, like any relationship, but my memories are great working with them. We won countless races together, IFMAR World Champion, ROAR National Champion, The Dirt Nitro Challenge Champion, Silver State Champion, NEO Champion, Cactus Classic Champion, we had a great run for sure. I would like to thank them all, Joel, Mark, Gil, Brent, and Pres for all the hard work that must happen to create great products and win on the biggest stages. I wish AKA well, and I will never forget what we did in those 7 years together. We are ending on good terms, sometimes you just need a little change. 2016 will bring a new challenge and a new tire sponsor for me, I’m excited and ready to get back racing!
Revelation Raceway hosted their annual Christmas Gifts for Kids Race this past Saturday. This year’s event was very successful with 12 heats and it was a great day of racing for a great cause. Mugen’s Adam would set the pace and was the overall TQ in Nitro Buggy and Nitro Truck. Drake led both finals from start to finish to sweep the event with JQRacing’s own Joseph Quagraine finishing in second in the Buggy class and Barry Pettit (Mugen) rounding out the podium. In the 40+ Nitro Buggy class Tim Long took the TQ but it was Miguel Perez who came out fastest in the main final.
View the Truggy & 40+ podium here
The third round of the Lestr Cup was held in Dubec over the weekend. Right from the start everyone was struggling with the low-grip carpet and in the 2WD class Kaja Novotny (Xray) made the best out of the conditions, taking the TQ for the triple A-mains. In the 4WD Buggy class it was again Kaja who came out fastest after TQing all three qualifying rounds. In the 2WD finals Kaja then made a clean sweep, taking the overall win from runner-up Jiri Mara (Serpent) and Xray teammate Max Götzl.
