Red RC » R On Road

October 6, 2024

Balestri wins ENS Leno, Kurzbuch takes title

Dario Balestri has won the Euro Nitro Series Season Finale in Leno but it is Simon Kurzbuch who comes away from Italy with the 2024 title. The fourth & final round of the championship would see World & newly crowned European Champion Balestri take his Infinity to the overall TQ as he topped two of the 4 qualifiers. Fastest in the opening qualifier, it was the Mugen Seiki of ENS Ettlingen Round 1 winner Kurzbuch who secured P2 ahead of Infinity’s Thomas Lorenzi and Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani. With the original timetable effected by rain, the Main final would be reduced to a 30-minute encounter with Balestri setting the fastest lap en route to becoming the fourth different winner of the season, 2023 Champion Toni Gruber the Round 3 winner and Lars Hoppe the victor at Round 2. 10-seconds behind Balestri, Lorenzi would come home in second in a repeat result of the Italian Nationals held at the same track earlier this year. Finishing just ahead of fellow Swiss racer Kurzbuch, ARC’s Silvio Hachler completed the podium but P4 was enough for Kuzbuch to take the title by 1-point ahead of Infinity’s Teemu Leino, the Finn’s championship tally made up of three podium finishes in the first three races. In 1:10, having secured the TQ it would be a sudden & cruel finish to British National Champion Alex Thurston’s first ENS outing of 2024. Leading the race from Champion elect Melvin Diekmann, just after half way point as he came up on traffic a car spun in front of him and with nowhere to go the impact broke Thurston’s car putting an immediate end to his race. Shortly after title contender Jilles Groskamp would also go out of the race, leaving Diekmann’s Capricorn to take it ahead of Milan Holthuis for his third win of the season to successfully defend his title.

Image: ENS [Facebook]

October 4, 2024

AX Arena to open as Switzerland’s biggest indoor track

New Swiss RC accessories producer Axxelerate RC has announced that in addition to it products that the soon-to-opened AX Arena in Cham, Switzerland, will be at the heart of the brand. As the largest indoor RC racing facility in the country, the arena will offer both on-road and off-road tracks, catering to all levels of racing enthusiasts. Behind Axxelerate RC is a dedicated team that not only aims to provide a world-class racing experience but also delivers top-tier RC racing products. Currently gearing up for the grand opening on October 18th, the track is already set to host the Swiss Indoor Championship this December. We will bring you more details and images of the new track once it is near completion.

Source: Axxelerate [axxeleraterc.com]

October 4, 2024

Hobbywing announces Aussies Stanley & Nicholson

Continuing to bolster its Electric Touring Car team around the world, Hobbywing has announcement that top Australian racers Brayden Stanley and Simon Nicholson will officially represent the electronics brand. A multiple Australian Champion, Nicholson is a veteran of touring car racing and will use Hobbywing as part of his program with Yokomo while Stanley is one of the country’s emerging talents. Signing for ARC earlier this year and impressing with a podium at the recent eSIC race in Singapore, posting about join the Hobbywing race team, Stanley said, ‘Im soooo excited and honoured to be joining team Hobbywing!!! l’ve always used the equipment with absolutely zero issue so it was a no brainer to jump on board and have the chance to be apart of something great. A massive thank you must go to Nicholas Lee and Jason He for the opportunity and trust in me. Opportunities and result’s like these have come from many months of hard work from myself and the people around me on finessing my Electric Touring program.’

Source: Hobbywing [hobbywing.com]

October 3, 2024

Takara & Coelho win Brazilian AARC Cup titles – Report

Last weekend marked the third & final round of the AARC Cup of ABC in Santo André, Brazil, with two categories, 1:10 Nitro 200mm and 1:8 GT Nitro, still wide open in terms of the championship titles. The 1:10 Nitro 200mm battle was between points leader, Issao Takara (Mugen/OS Speed/Ulti/Nitromax) with 96 points, followed by Alexandre Kimura (KM Racing/OS Engines/Matrix/Nitromax) with 84 points, and João Dulac (Capricorn/OS Speed/Hot Race/MK Fuel), also with 84 points. Im qualifying it was Dulac who secured the TQ after two rounds of qualifying however after 30 minutes of a very competitive race it was the KM Racing of Alexandre Kimura who took the win ahead of Takara with the later securing the overall championship.

Continue reading here

October 3, 2024

European Finalist Weigerding join PNP team

Spanish onroad accessories and optional parts brand PNP (Pata Negra Parts) has announced that Serpent’s 2024 European Championship A-Main Finalist Marco Weigerding will officially represent the brand. Weigerding used the PNP carbon option parts and ball bearing sets in his Serpent 990 Evo during the recent European Championships held at Locorotondo in Italy. On his deal the German racer said, “I am very proud to be part of the PNP team. I’m really looking forward to the next few years together. PNP has many important option parts and super ball bearings. Many thanks to PNP for their support.”

Source: PNP RC [pnp-rc.com]

October 2, 2024

EC Kim joins Hobbywing

Hobbywing has announced that top Korean Touring Car racer EC Kim will represent its motors and ESCs as part of his racing program with ARC. Announcing their latest team driver, the multiple World Championship winning electrics manufacturer said, ‘We’re thrilled to welcome EC Kim to the Hobbywing Racing family! EC has an impressive track record. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the team and will be on-site, providing expert support whenever needed. We can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together!’ Finishing sixth recently among the international entry at the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC), on his move to Hobbywing Kim said, ‘I’m thrilled to officially join Team Hobbywing! I’m eager to contribute and share my passion with the team and the Hobbywing community. I hope my future activities will be valuable and beneficial to both the team and all the Hobbywing users. Thanks to Nico, I am excited for the future!

Source: Hobbywing [hobbywing.com]

October 1, 2024

FEMCA Clarification on 1:12 World Championships

Following the release of the 2025 World Championship dates which we reported on yesterday and some resulting conversations about 1:12 not appearing on the list, our friends at FEMCA (Far East Model Car Association) have been in touch to clarify their position on the subject. The governing body of RC racing that represents 15 nations in Asia and Australasia, the bloc has been tasked with bringing together the next 1:12 and next ISTC World Championship for IFMAR. While the next 1:12 Worlds are due to take place in 2025, and the next ISTC in 2026, FEMCA after discussing internally & with IFMAR, that the prospect of jointly hosting the two World Championships together in China 2026. While keeping Red RC updated on its progress, they would now like to publicly share these details with the wider RC community and avoid confusion especially within the 1:12 racing community. Personally knowing all the people involved in putting together FEMCA’s exciting plan, Red RC is already looking forward their hosting of the championships .

Read FEMCA’s update here

September 30, 2024

Sobue wins ISTC Worlds Warm-up Race

Akio Sobue took the win at the official ISTC World Championship Warm-up race over the weekend, the Axon driver coming out on top of the small international entry to win ahead Xray’s Alexander Hagberg and Serpent’s Dominic Greiner. With Finishline RC Raceway in Bakersfield, California, set to host the 12th running of the IFMAR World Championship for Electric Touring Car from Nov 5-10th, the official Warm-up race attracted 23 modified entries. With reigning back to back World Champion Bruno Coelho and hotly tipped title favourite Michal Orlowski competing at 1:10 Offroad European Championships in Sweden, where they claimed a title each, it was 2022 Worlds podium finisher Sobue who set the pace throughout the event. Topping all three qualifiers he secured the TQ ahead of Hagberg and former Nitro Touring Car World Champion Greiner and that’s how they ran & finished in the opening two A-Mains. Hagberg took A3 from Greiner with multiple 1:10 Offroad World Champion Ryan Cavalieri getting a third that gave him fourth overall. In Pro Stock it was Schumacher’s Ollie Payne who took the win. Former World Champions Marc Rheinard and Atsushi Hara opted to not race and instead will begin testing at the track today. Red RC will be travelling to Finishline RC Raceway in 5-weeks time to cover the main event.

Image: Serpent [Facebook]