Hot Bodies have announced the addition of Tyler Vik to their factory driver list. The former Kyosho driver races multiple classes from 1/8th off-road to 1/10 touring and is successful with everything he drives. Tyler joins an already strong team stateside that features Ty Tessmann, Jesse Robbers and Josh Alton and will make his debut race at the Silver State Nitro Challenge in April.
Source: Hot Bodies [hotbodiesonline.com]
Team Losi Racing have confirmed 2011 Reedy International Race of Champions Invitational winner Dustin Evans will travel over from the US to represent them at the ‘Euro Offroad Series’ pilot race in Sweden which runs from April 1-3. The 25-year-old from Denver, Colorado, is the latest big name driver to join the growing entry list that already includes current European Champion Lee Martin, former champions Marc Rheinard, Hupo Honigl & Jorn Neumann, Petit RC race winner Paul Bradby and young Swedish star David Ronnefalk.
Continue reading the announcement here
Last weekend saw the new LRP-Offroad-Challenge held in Solms, central Germany. The race was a great success with 69 entries in 4 different classes at only the first round of this new German national offroad series, sponsored by LRP. In the “Rookie-Challenge” it was Martin Klees who took the win, while in the popular “Short-Course Class” Bernd Haas could secure TQ honours as well as the win with his HPI Blitz Shortcourse Truck. The 2WD and 4WD classes were also raced and showed off the highest amount of drivers and competition. A little sensation happened in the 4WD class as Bastian Schäfer took the win with the LRP S10 Blast BX Chassis beginner chassis, in front of two time world championship A-finalist Marcus Lübke, driving for Team Ansmann Racing and Dai Sakaguchi with his Tamiya 511 in third
Source: LRP [lrp.cc]
Rody Roem’s emerging engine brand TecnoPower has signed big name driver Kazuya Tanaka from Japan. The deal, brokered through national distributor Hirofactory, sees the reigning Japanese National champion and Kyosho factory driver run the Italian made engines. Having already run the motors in testing he is happy with the stability, reliability and believes there is much more torque and top speed than his previous engines.
Source: TecnoPower [tecnopower-motor.com]
Round 2 of the popular Southern California Grass Roots series was held at Thunder Alley RC Raceway in Beaumont last weekend. This particular series is drawing rave reviews, as the entry fees are reduced to fit the tough economy, as well as encouraging a fun family oriented atmosphere. The series boasts kid classes where racers under 14 years of age can start out with Short Course competition. The attendance would reflect this popularity, as round 2 drew 220 entries, the 2nd largest draw in the history of Thunder Alley for a one day event. Fresh off his Nitro Challenge podium performance, current World Champion Cody King was in attendance at round 2. Cody didn’t disappoint, earning TQ honors in both buggy and truggy, and winning the buggy final in convincing fashion over Team Losi’s Matt Castellano. Cody built a half lap lead in the truggy main as well, only to have a servo horn break ending his bid. Joining Cody in the winner’s circle was intermediate class driver and Southern California hot shoe Jim Pierce, who won his main in dominant style lapping the field. Both drivers were using similar equipment, running the MP9 chassis with Orion power and AKA rubber.
AKA have announced the release of their new R-Line pre-mounted 1:8 Buggy tires and the update of their current 1:8 Buggy and 1:10 SC tires. AKA’s new R-Line Evo pre-mounts feature AKA’s World Championship winning Evo wheel which combined with the stiffener disc claims to be the most technically advanced wheel on the market today. The Evo pre-mount also features AKA’s new soft red insert which was used by Cody King along with the Evo wheel to win last November’s World Championships. Combine these two new revolutionary products with the quality and endurance of AKA tires and the sum is the most technically advanced pre-mounted tires ever offered for 1:8 buggies. The Evo pre-mounts will be replacing the current pre-mounts starting March 4th and they will be discontinuing the older numbers as supplies run out. AKA also announced the update of all their current 1:8 Buggy and 1:10 SC tire and insert combos with their new red insert. The fluted I.D. of the soft red insert allows it to absorb the heavy hits while still having enough internal structure to retain it’s shape and stiffness in the turns to keep corner speeds up. The result is more consistent handling on a wider variety of surfaces with less compromise.
Source: AKA [raceaka.com]
Confirming what everyone already knew, Billy Fischer has joined Team Durango to race the full suite of electric and nitro off-roaders. Billy has an impressive race record since he started hitting the track in 1998, a highlight being his 5th place qualification at the 2010 1/8th buggy World Championships in Pattaya last November. Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, Billy will boost the ranks of Durango’s already impressive team of drivers.
Source: Durango [team-durango.com]
The second round of the MRC Winter Challenge, indoor buggy race was held over the weekend of 26-27th February at an indoor carpet track in Moscow, Russia. Team Durango Russia drivers Zuykov Denis and Malyshko Dmitry qualified 1st and 2nd respectively in the 4wd class. In a final that would see 5 DEX410 in contention it was Zuykov that would take the win followed by Malyshko.
Source: Durango [team-durango.com]
