March 28, 2023

Ryosuke Yamamoto joins Hobbywing

Hobbywing has announced the addition of Japanese touring car talent Ryosuke Yamamoto to its team line-up.  The factory Infinity driver was runner up at the 2022 Japanese Touring Car Championship to Akio Sobue.  On the international stage Yamamoto just recently had a very impressive showing at the legendary TITC in Bangkok where he just missed the podium finishing 4th in the Modified A-Main which was won by World Champion Bruno Coelho who he joins now as a Hobbywing team driver.

Source: Hobbywing [hobbywing.com]


March 27, 2023

Balestri wins Italian 1:8 Onroad National opener

Dario Balestri opened the AMSCI Italian 1:8 Onroad National Championship over the weekend with a dominant winning performance at Locorotondo.  The former World Champion would take three of the four qualifiers to secure the overall TQ from the Xray of rising talent Filippo Domanin who was quickest in Q3 with Carmine Raiola securing third on the grid.  With reigning European Champion Dominic Greiner taking part, qualifying his Capricorn 5th, in the half hour final Balestri took control of proceeding setting the fastest lap of the race en route to winning by lap as his Infinity team-mates Raiola and eight place qualifier Francesco Tironi battled for second.  With Domanin retiring after 12-minutes, Raiola held off Tironi by just 2/10th of a second at the finish.  Having qualified 6th, Jonathan Gandin took his Serpent to fourth followed home by Davide Caporossi and Shepherd’s Luca Romagnoli.

Image: Francesco Tironi [Facebook]


March 27, 2023

Senesi dominates UISP 1:8 GT Italian National opener

The opening round of the UISP 1:8 GT Italian National Championship in both GT and GTE classes took place over the weekend with Natanaele Senesi dominating to take the TQ and win in both categories.  The Xray team driver took the win at a temporary track that was build in Gropello Cairoli, in the north of Italy.  Senesi topped all four rounds of qualifying with his Senesi Motorsport powered X-RAY GTX8 ‘23 and his Hobbywing powered X-RAY GTXE ‘23 and would confirm both the results after the finals.  The podium in the GT class was completed by Adriano Tarragoni in second and Filippo Beretta in third, while Fabrizio d’Aietti in P2 and Stefano Tallarico in P3 completed the GTE podium.

Source: Natanaele Senesi [Facebook]


March 22, 2023

Jackie Shum rejoins Yokomo factory team

Continuing to bolster its Asian Factory team having signed leading Indonesian racer Bowie Ginting last week, Team Yokomo has announced that top Hong Kong racer Jackie Shum has rejoined the brand.  Shum previous raced for Yokomo for 4-years before switching to Serpent at the end of 2020 but now returns to the Japanese manufacturer.  Commenting on the switch Shum said, “Firstly, I would like to thank Mr. Lau from Serpent for supporting my racing program in the past years.  But, Yokomo has always been where my heart belongs and I am excited to be rejoining the famous Japanese RC brand. I am looking forward to representing Yokomo in the best way possible for years to come.”

Source: Yokomo [teamyokomo.com]


March 22, 2023

BRCA LMP12 Nationals Rd 5 & 6 – Report

The concluding rounds of the 2023 BRCA LMP12 nationals took place last weekend at the new venue of the Chesterfield club in Alfreton. The Chesterfield club have been hosting 12th circuit nationals for many years, so it was great to be able to visit the club in their new venue following the redevelopment of their previous home.  Stock and modified classes were on track with around 75 drivers competing at the event. This weekend’s racing would see the conclusion of the Stock national championship which was the closest fought competition, having had four winners from four rounds up to this point. Going into the final two rounds the championship was tied between Andy Smith and Mark Stiles, with a further four drivers having the potential to win the championship.  The Chesterfield club now have a smaller track area than previously but laid a technical track that was all about carrying corner speed to maximise lap time. It was a track that rewarded the best drivers and perfect for the championship battle.

Continue reading report here


March 21, 2023

RC Vision announce ‘Club Mod’ initiative

RC Vision has announced a new innovation for their 2023 King of Clubs RC Series, working together with the British Radio Car Association (BRCA) to nurture the best 1:10 electric onroad racing talent across the south of England and the UK, while also promoting grassroots sports participation.  The King of Clubs RC Series will feature an innovative new class called Club Mod, which will serve as a stepping-stone for stock drivers looking to transition to the blue-ribbon modified class and showcase their skills. To further elevate the competition, RC Vision will be offering a unique opportunity for three drivers from the 2023 King of Clubs Club Mod class to be selected for a 3-driver team that will attend a signature round of the 2024 ETS racing series as an official BRCA team, with financial and technical support.  The signature round is expected, subject to confirmation, to be at the legendary Dutch track, AMCA Apeldoorn.

Continue reading here


March 20, 2023

Collins wins Italian Indoor TC Championship

Mattia Collina is the 2023 Italian Indoor Champion for Modified Touring Car, the Schumacher driver claiming the title ahead of Xray’s Alessio Menicucci at RC Landia in Scandiano over the weekend.  The race was the first sanctioned event of the 2023 national sporting calendar for RC Car Racing of ACI Sport, the Italian Motorsport Federation and member of the FIA.  Having secured the overall TQ in qualifying, Collina then converted it into the title after 3 hard-fought finals with EZ Power driver Guido Ristori completing the podium.  In Touring Stock, Orlando Fenili (Team Xray) dominated the day with pole position and overall win, preceding his brother Riccardo Fenili (Team Xray) and Federico Collina (Team Schumacher) on the podium.  In FWD, great emotions for Enrico Rabitti (Bittydesign) who won the title of Italian Indoor Champion after three hard-fought finals ahead of Emiliano Dagliana and Andrea Selva (Awesomatix).  Finally, in GT class, Luca Tassinari (Team Schumacher) took pole and overall win with second place going to Daniele Pacini (Awesomatix) ahead of Andrea Tonini.

View Stock, FWD & GT podiums here


March 19, 2023

D’angelo wins Italian 1:8 GT Championship opener

Alex D’angelo has won the opening round of the AMSCI 1:8 GT Italian National Championship.  The Genius Racing team driver lead a 1-2 for the GTc8.23 and Gimar engine combo, taking the win at the Naxos World track in Sicily from 1:8 Buggy World Champion Davide Ongaro.  A track that will host the EFRA 1:10 Nitro Onroad European Championships later this year, in qualifying it was Natanaele Senesi who would take the overall TQ ahead of Alessio Mazzeo’s Capricorn with D’angelo P3.  Senesi took two of the four rounds of qualifying with his Ielasi Tuned powered Xray but would hit trouble early on in the 45-minute final retiring after just 6-minutes.  Upfront and recording the fastest lap D’angelo would win by 2-laps from Ongaro with the new Raptor Max23 of Loris Luise completing the podium.  In the Nitro Sport Category Fernando Campeti took the win while in electric Andrea Muscolino was the winner.

Source: Alessio Mazzeo / Image: Alex D’angelo