Red RC » R On Road

October 6, 2009

Alvarado & Báez win Rd9 of Puerto Rico Nats

Round 9 of the Puerto Rico Nationals were held last weekend and after 2 rounds of qualifiers the racing got underway in the afternoon, with 45 minute A-Mains in all categories. In the Sedan class, TQ spot went to Andy Báez, but early problems in the main drop him down out of a podium spot, making it easy for Kyosho team driver Pedro Alvarado to take the win with 5 laps advantage over 2nd position, Mugen Driver Juan Rodríguez, with RC America driver Tory Santiago in 3rd. In the 1/8 class Mugen Team Driver Andy Báez set the pace and took the win in an easy victory over team mate Fernando Méndez in second and new Kyosho driver Jaime Ramos.

Click here to see the 1/8th podium

October 6, 2009

Jilles Groskamp dominates the Asian Open

The Asian Open took place at the RC Addict raceway in Bangkok, one of the World’s best RC tracks. New Team Orion signing Jilles Groskamp went on to take a great TQ in the 10 minutes qualification, using the latest Team Orion Alpha engine and fuel in the still prototype Shepherd 1/10 on road car. The race also attracted World class drivers like Surikarn C. and Meen V. and so it was sure to be a great battle, and it was for the first 15 minutes in the one hour long final. The final started with pole man Jilles asking for a 10 minutes delay to fix a broken one way bearing and so he would have to start from dead last position. But with a sensational start, it took him 3 minutes to close in to the leading pack of Surikarn and Meen, and for 15 minutes the battle was on, with the lead changing often due to the different fuel stops strategies. After 20 minutes it was clear that it was going to be Jilles’ race and only a technical problem could stop him taking the win. With 3 minutes to go Jilles pushed once more, to set the fastest lap times of the race ending up with an advantage of 7 laps over Meen, who took the runner up spot.

Source: Team Orion [teamorion.com]

October 5, 2009

Chris Tosolini wins Season Finale in Greece

The 5th and final round of the Greek 1/10 Nitro National Championships took place at the Arena Track in Aspropyrgos recently with two special guests, Chris Tosolini and Mirko Rossi. Greek Federation EL-ME in cooperation with Kyosho Hellas have continued their effort to improve the level of radio control races in their country this year and gave Greek modelers the opportunity to compete with multiple World finalist Chris Tosolini and collect knowledge for their Sirio engines from Mirko Rossi. Chris Tosolini dominated the race holding best lap, TQ and 1st position, this is despite the fact that he spent the whole weekend giving setup tips and advice to all racers, instead of focusing on his car. Mr. Rossi on the other hand took the opportunity to help racers better understand their Sirio engines and clutches with tips for mileage and performance. Runner up on the day was Kostas Sidiropoulos, with Spiros Piknis taking 3rd.

Source: AMRC [amrc-rc.com]

October 5, 2009

Barend Myburgh is 1/5th scale World Champion

Eighteen year old Barend Myburgh has won the 1/5th scale World Championships, held in South Africa, as a result of an impressive meeting long performance, winning all his qualifying heats and thus taking pole position for the one hour final. Jumping straight into the lead and being never headed, Myburg won by almost 14 laps from Rodney Michael with Simon Bradley a further four laps away in third position. Whilst Myburg dictated the terms of the race throughout, Michael drove determinedly from fifth on the grid to earn second the hard way – battling Bradley and Andries Oosthuizen (fourth) for a podium spot for much of the race. Despite at one stage having to pit to replace a failed battery, Michael’s consistency and reliability eventually was rewarded as both Bradley and Oosthuizen suffered mechanical problems in the second half of the race. Willem Hendrick Barnard was fifth, followed in by Willem Vorster and 15 year old Jean Pierre Oosthuizen. Disappointingly this major international race attracted only 7 drivers, all South African.

Source: TRAP [trap.co.za]

October 5, 2009

Merlin Depta takes German Regional in Hamburg

Last weekend saw the German regional and national qualifier take place in Hamburg, North Germany with great weather and warm temperatures. Starting from position two in the grid behind Lars Hoppe, youngster Merlin Depta was able to take the lead after Lars made an error lapping another driver. What followed was a spectacular fight between Lennart Skornia and Merlin Depta, the Serpent pairing were at each other for 29 minutes trying to go for the victory. Only one lap before the checkered flag came down, the 2-speed team driver Merlin was able to gain the lead back again and finish the race first completing his 137th lap with Lennart Skornia taking 2nd and Michael Paetz in 3rd.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

October 3, 2009

2010 Snowbird Nationals – Update

The organizers of the 2010 Snowbird Nationals were in contact again to let everyone know that the 16th annual ‘Speed Week’ racing schedule is now posted. Featuring the first ‘RC Racing Golf Tournament’ and the first pre-race ‘Pool Party’ with band this year, both help kick off a great week of racing action. The ‘birds are 115 days away and the r/c world is counting down. Over 15 event sponsors are locked in and coming with their teams with more details to be finalized soon. Be sure to reserve your rooms now. Expect classes to be posted any day.

Check out the schedule at the official Snowbirds site here.

October 2, 2009

Mark Green wins BRCA 1/8th Rd8

Round 8 of the BRCA championship was held at the Mendip circuit for the second time this season. With Bristol airport being a small drive away and due to the completion of the Irish season, a small contingent from Ireland arrived, including the vastly experienced Clive Connelly (Mugen) and Ian Campbell (Shepherd). The entry of 48 drivers was one of the highest all season and with the addition of some old faces, the future is starting to look brighter for this section. The weather forecast for the weekend was bright which would allow a lot of testing to be carried out in order to find the perfect setup. With top 200mm driver, Kyle Branson making an appearance for the first time this season and the presence of the top Irish drivers would make it difficult for the usual top 10 to be sure of a main final qualifying position and so the pressure to perform was considerably increased.

Continue reading the report here

October 1, 2009

Chris Steele wins Final 200mm round in Ireland

The eighth and final round of the Irish 1:10 200mm National Championships took place at the Ballymoney track in Northern Ireland over the weekend where Chris Steele took his Murnan Modified powered Kyosho to his 6th win of the season. Having already secured the 2009 title Steele continued his domination despite the welcomed return to racing of Mark Gilliland after an abscence of almost a year. Securing pole over Gilliland, Steele converted TQ honours in to victory to finish of the season in perfect style while Gilliland and the only other race winner of the championship, Chris Lawlor, completed the podium. In the overall championship standings, with a drivers best 5 of the 8 rounds to count, it was Lawlor who took second with Darren Gibb third to make it an all Kyosho Top 3.

Click here to see the series podium