Red RC » R On Road

May 15, 2023

Branson wins British Touring Car National opener

Xray’s Kyle Branson got his BRCA National Electric Touring Car title defence off to the best possible start over the weekend taking victory at the opening round in Stafford. In qualifying it was new Yokomo signing Alex Thurston who took the first round from the Schumacher of Zak Smith. Branson responding to go quickest in Q2 again with Smith second fastest. All to play for in Q3, multiple British Champion Chris Grainger popped up to take the final round with his Schumacher from the Xray of Ben Cosgrove. With Branson in third, that was enough for him to take the pole position. Cosgrove’s second place was enough to give him the tie-break for third over fellow Xray runner, Harley Eldridge. In the finals, it was Branson, who came, saw and conquered, taking all three legs of the final for the overall win. Behind him it was Smith with two seconds and a third, and Harley Eldrige took the third podium spot with a brace of thirds.

Read 13.5 & 17.5 Class reports here

May 15, 2023

2023 1:12 World Championship Stage 1 Report

The organisers of the 2023 IFMAR 1:12 World Championships have just published the Stage 1 Report for the 21st running of the title which will be decided at Beachline Raceway in Cocoa, Florida, from December 4th to 9th. The largest indoor racing facility in the state, this will be the seventh time these World Championships are hosted in the US and mark only the second running of the title since it separated from being part of the same World Championship week as 1:10 Electric Touring Car after South Africa in 2018. The most significant information from the Stage 1 Report is the tyre information with Jaco tires the official controlled foam for the event with their Magenta front and Pink rear. These tyres will be available to competitors for practice from late June. Beachline Raceway, which recently hosted the ROAR Electric Carpet Off-Road Nationals, will run a Warm Up Race on November 24-26. With the last 1:12 Worlds held in 2020 in the UK just before Covid hit the World, with Marc Rheinard taking the title for a second time, the return of the championships is set to be extra interesting following the news that reigning back to back Touring Car World Champion Bruno Coelho will make his first attempt at the title. Red RC will travelling to Florida in December to cover the unfolding of the fourth and final World Championship of the 2023 season.

View Stage 1 Report here

May 9, 2023

Hächler & Fankhauser win Swiss Nationals Round 2

Round 2 of the Swiss Nitro Onroad Nationals took place at Aigle over the weekend with Silvio Hächler with the 1:8 win and Patrick Fankhauser making it 2 from 2 in 1:10. A lack of grip made for a challenging day of practice on the Friday as drivers tried to find a set-up for the conditions. In qualifying it would be Hächler who would take the TQ despite a small problem in Q2 after a mistake and the fourth & final round of qualifying being cancel due to rain. Unfortunately, it rained on Sunday morning and the track was wet. It was therefore decided to reduce the time of the finals from 45min to 30min and to finish the race before 3pm, as there was a threat of rain by then. The semi-finals took place mostly on a damp track, which then gradually dried out.

Continue reading here

May 8, 2023

GDC Indoor Race Club opening race – Report

Over the Labour Day long weekend, the GDC Onroad Opening Race was held at the brand new GDC Indoor Race Club facility in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China. Foshan, a city known for its culture, tourism and food, plays the perfect host for events that can be enjoyed by both racers and their families. GDC itself is located in Foshan Hongyu Cultural and Creative Park, which is also home to numerous restaurants, leisure and entertainment spaces, creative exhibition halls and other outlets. Over a hundred drivers from around the country and Southeast Asia took part in this event. This was the largest RC car race in China since the pandemic began 3 years ago, with more big races hopefully to come in the near future. In the premier TC Modified class, Xray Factory Team duo Dominic Quek from Singapore and local hero Gary Huang led the way throughout qualifying and finals. Quek took the TQ and overall victory ahead of Huang who qualified and finished in second place. Alfred Lao from Guangzhou City rounded out the podium in third place. content

May 8, 2023

Clements wins West Coast Onroad Nationals

Brandon Clements took the win at the West Coast Onroad Nationals over the weekend, the event the first major race to be hosted by Finishline RC Raceway. The impressive facility in Bakersfield, CA, which is a joint venture between Track Time Hobbies and Finishline Signs, attracted almost 200 entries with the grids set over 4 rounds of qualifying, with 2 to count. In Modified Touring Car, it was Clements who set the pace taking the first three rounds to secure the overall TQ with 1Up Racing’s Randy Caster hitting the top of the time sheets in the final qualifier for second on the grid in the triple A-Main ahead of David Mayhew, Lex Tyler and Aaron Lewis. From the front Clements was untouchable winning A1 from Jacob Cruz before wrapping things up with victory in A2 over Lewis. Having opened with a P5 and suffered a DNF in A2, Caster would win A3 but overall it was Lewis and Cruz who joined Clements on the podium.

Image: 1up Racing [Facebook]

May 2, 2023

Roche signs Japanese National Champion Yamashita

Following last week’s signing of Vesa Yli to it’s race team, World Championship winning 1:12 manufacturer Roche has announced the addition of 1:12 Japanese National Champion Kazuki Yamashita. Representing Yokomo in 1:10 Touring car, he will race with Roche P12 in coming years, also work on testing the new P12 chassis ahead of the 2023 1:12 World Championships which takes place in November in Florida. Commenting on the news, Yamashita said, ‘I am looking forward to the new challenges at Roche. And I would like to thank Max for giving me this opportunity, and I would like to work together to develop a high performance 1:12 chassis. I would like to focus on the World Championships in Florida this year and do my best’.

Source: Roche [rocherc.com]

May 2, 2023

Vejrak wins Hotrace Asia Cup

Meen Vejrak was the winner of the the inaugural Hotrace Asia Cup which was hosted at the Tom Racing Circuit in Hong Kong over the weekend. Attracting an international field, in qualifying it was the former 1:10 200mm World Champion who set the pace topping all four rounds of qualifying. Driving a Capricorn, the Maxima team driver would start from the TQ ahead Italy’s Carmine Riola, Australia’s Jeff Hamon and Hong Kong’s Lolo Sam. In the 45-minute final, Vejrak continued that form leading throughout the 45-minute encounter. Initially chased by Riola, the factory Infinity driver would retire with engines issues just as the race reached 1/3 distance. Promoting the Serpent of Hamon to second, Vejrak would win by a lap with the Infinity of Sam completing the podium. In 1:8 GT Wong Wai Kin took the win driving a Capricorn while in the 1:10 235mm final KK made it a clean sweep for the Italian manufacturer.

Image: Team Corona [Facebook]

April 28, 2023

Roche sign Vesa Yli in 1:12 team driver & design roles

1:12 World Championship winning manufacturer Roche has announced that the top Finland 1:12 and 1:10 onroad driver and professional R/C designer Vesa Yli is joining to their factory team. Ali will race the P12 platform and also manage the design and development of new P12 project with their new factory drivers. Commenting on the announcement Ali said, ‘I am super excited to join the Roche team for the next years not only a factory driver but I will also manage the design in the coming development projects! I would like to thank Max Ma for giving this opportunity to work together. I have always been a huge fan of the Roche products – the innovative design, super cool look and the performance has always been outstanding – it’s no wonder why they are World Champions! Really looking forward to hit the track with my new gear and give my best performance and knowledge to the team at the track and with design work as always!’

Source: Roche [rocherc.com]