Red RC

July 13, 2025

Sobue reigns in Singapore to win eSIC 2025

Axon’s Akio Sobue reigned over the third edition of the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC), the Top Qualifier backing up Saturday’s performance with a dominant Sunday. Taking the A1 win ahead of Xray’s Alexander Hagberg, the Japanese driver would repeat the result in A2 to secure an early overall win in Singapore. Debuting the first production example of Axon’s upcoming TC10/4 Touring Car release the result was the perfect launch for the Japanese manufacturer’s new car. While Sobue had the perfect weekend his team-mate Hayato Ishioka would be less fortunate. Securing P2 in qualifying after topping Q3, he suffered an electrical issue in A1 and A2, but with Sobue able to sit out A3 and watch he gave Ishioka his electrics for A3 and that led to the most exciting of the three A-Main encounters. With the power setting of Sobue’s ESC a little more aggressive to his own, leading away the field Ishioka would overshoot the back straight and drop down the order as Nicholas Lee took over the lead. Shadowed by Hagberg the Xray duo looked to have the race under control until Lee spun out. Having to change car for A3 after an off destroyed his car in A2, Lee was at a loss to explain why he spun out when he ‘wasn’t under pressure’ from his team-mate. With Hagberg now leading and Ishioka seemingly some way back, the Japanese driver came out of nowhere in the last two laps setting up a perfect show down of a drag race to the finish line – Hagberg just getting it by 0.027 to secure second overall. With Atsushi Hara backing up his P3 finish from A1 with another in A3, A2 not going his way, the former World Champion completed the podium at RCMC.

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July 13, 2025

Sobue cruises to eSIC A1 win ahead of Hagberg

Having feared they might wake to rain, racers at the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC) have instead been greeting by the hottest day of the week in Singapore however the hot humid conditions still weren’t enough to stop the reign of Axon’s Akio Sobue at RCMC as he took a convincing A1 win ahead of Xray’s Alexander Hagberg. Leading away the international field, Top Qualifier Sobue and his team-mate Hayato Ishioka pulled clear with Hagberg getting by team-mate Nicholas Lee early on. While running on used tyres, Lee was holding fourth but then a mistake half way into the race dropped the home hero to last. While the race was ticking off laps, Hagberg would suddenly find himself with Ishioka. Unfortunately the hot conditions causing the Japanese driver to lose power resulting in Hagberg making a little contact as the came onto the straight. Once into P2, Hagberg could do nothing about Sobue who took the win by 2 & a half seconds. Benefiting from Ishioka and Lee’s issues, having lined up P6 Atsushi Hara came through with his Schumacher to complete the Top 3 just ahead of E.C Kim’s Awesomatix.

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July 13, 2025

SkyRC e3S Balance Charger

Adding to its extensive range of battery chargers, SkyRC has released their new e3S balance charger. Featuring a compact design and delivering up to 20W of balanced charging power for 2–4S LiPo, LiHV, and LiFe batteries, the versatile and intuitive e3S supports multiple chemistries with effortless operation. Just connect your pack via the balance port to charge or enter Storage Mode, which automatically optimises cells for longer life during downtime. A universal 100–240V input ensures worldwide compatibility, while tri-colour LED indicators keep you informed of charging progress at a glance. With balanced charging that maintains perfect cell alignment and a maximum output of 2.2A, the e3S combines simplicity, safety, and reliability in one certified, ready-to-travel package.

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July 12, 2025

Sobue is eSIC Top Qualifier as Axon claim 1-2 in quali

Akio Sobue is the Top Qualifier at the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC), the Japanese driver leading an Axon 1-2 in qualifying today at the country’s RCMC track. Making his debut at the third & biggest eSIC race to-date, Sobue took early charge of today’s first official day of action by topping seeding and carrying that momentum into qualifying. Taking the opening two encounters, when team-mate Hayato Ishioka took Q3 it was assured a TC10/4 would start on pole. With Xray’s Nicholas Lee finally managing to break the Axon stranglehold in the fourth & final qualifier, taking the round ahead of Atsushi Hara, Sobue was confirmed the Top Qualifier. Trying to split the Japanese pair, unfortunately for Lee he came up 6/10ths of a second shy of bettering Ishioka’s TQ time meaning a 1-2 on the grid for the eSIC debutant Japanese manufacturer. With 2025 also marking Xray’s factory team debut at the international race, their new for 2025 driver Lee one half of the driving force behind the event, it will be the Singapore driver who starts P3. Team-mate Alexander Hagberg lines-up P4 with the top half of the grid being completed by E.C Kim, the leading Korean driver spinning out of a potential TQ run in Q4.

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July 12, 2025

Sobue takes opening 2 qualifiers in Singapore

Having topped seeding, Axon’s Akio Sobue has showed no signs of letting up on being the pace setter at this year’s Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC) as he took the opening two rounds of qualifying at the annual race. With main challengers Nicolas Lee and Alexander Hagberg both sitting out Q1, Hagberg more forced than opting, the first of the four scheduled qualifiers opened with Sobue leading an Axon 1-2 ahead of team-mate Hayato Ishioka with Chinese National Champion Jerry Dai completing the Top 3. With all the eSIC contenders back on track for Q2, Sobue proved Q1 was in fact a true indication of the Japanese driver’s speed at the controls of his new TC10/4 as he held off Lee to go two from two by a margin of 1.3-seconds. After missing Q1 due to his huge off in seeding, Hagberg proved he had rebuilt a good car being the only one to match Sobue in posting a 13.6-second fastest lap time. A spin however from the Swede in the second minute of the qualifier ended that challenge and he registered a P7. The benefactor would be Ethan Cheng, the Xray driver adding a P3 to go with his P6 from the opening round.

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July 12, 2025

Sobue ‘Top Seed’ at eSIC

Axon’s Akio Sobue has got his debut with the new TC10/4 off to a strong start as the Japanese driver topped seeding at the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC). After drivers woke to rain this morning in Singapore, once the track dried out and the first official laps of the event where completed it was Sobue who laid down the fastest 3-consecutive laps ahead of Xray’s Alexander Hagberg. Separated by 4/10ths of a second over the 3-laps, Sobue’s fastest around the RCMC track a 13.695, unfortunately Hagberg’s run would be cut short as he found the circuit’s dreaded bump on the straight. Sending his car flying off the track, the impact means the Swede will miss the opening qualifier as he rebuilds his car. Completing the Top 3 would be Jan Ratheisky, the German visitor 7/100ths faster than pre-race favourite & team-mate Nicholas Lee, the Singapore driver struggling with a set-up change he made for seeding.

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July 12, 2025

RC Maker SP1 | SP1F Optional Alu Chassis’

Australian Touring Car manufacturer RC Maker has released new optional aluminium chassis’ for both its SP1 and front wheel drive SP1F. Both made from 7075 T6 Aluminium with black anodising, the 1.5mm chassis for the SP1 has been developed extensively over several months of testing with team drivers on a variety of classes and surfaces. It has proven to be a great middle ground which works well on a very large range of surfaces, from low grip asphalt, to high grip carpet. Compared to the 2.0mm Aluminium Chassis, the 72-gram 1.5mm option allows more rotation, and makes the car more free in the corner. The overall stiffness of the chassis is comparable to the hard carbon chassis, however being 0.75mm thinner, the centre of gravity is substantially reduced. 110 degree screws are required to install this chassis, the standard 90 degree kit screws not fitting. An optional for the SP1-F, the 2.0mm Aluminium Chassis is a great option for carpet racing. The chassis offers a more forwards weight bias, as well as a very stiff front, and flexible rear thanks to the many cut-outs in the rear section of the chassis for optimal flex characteristics. This increases corner speed and keeps the car sitting flatter under high load cornering. Weighing 80-grams, this chassis uses the standard screws included in the kit.

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July 12, 2025

JConcepts S15 XB8’25 Body

JConcepts has updated its S15 body shell line-up with the addition of an option for the XB8’25 1:8 Buggy from Xray. The S15 blends performance features from the popular Silencer body with new features such as mid-body winglets and rear stabiliser kick-up. The roof of the body remains strong with the upper fin in position for stability and tracking ability. The front and rear body mount area is cleanly designed and allows for a drop-fit on the XB8’25. The S15 concept uses heavily chamfered side-pods blended into winglets made popular by JConcepts heritage designs. Each body comes with an exterior protective film, window mask and decal sheet.

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