Red RC » 2012

July 30, 2012

Mike Aliberti wins SC Nationals warmup

The warm-up race for next weekend’s Short Course National Championship was held recently at R/C Madness in Connecticut. X Factory drivers Mike ‘Lights Out’ Aliberti and Chris Cristo qualified first and second, with privateer John Cravotta third, all driving the new SCX-60CF. It was a very large and busy lay-out with triples, doubles, a table-top and a monster berm, and as is often the case with short course outdoors, the wind make the many jumps interesting. Aliberti took the first round of qualifying by 10sec over second and that time stood up for the pole position in the main. In the second qualifier Mike was set to improve on that time with an 8-lap run when he did a big wheelie on the straight and the truck flipped over backward. Cristo’s time in Q2, four seconds behind Aliberti’s Q1 time was good for second on the grid. John Cravotta took Q3 five seconds off Aliberti’s time. It was all Mike Aliberti in the main as he checked out for the win. Cristo was involved in some first-lap ‘short course racing’ and came out of it 9th. He put he head down and worked his way through the pack to finish third.

Source: X-Factory [xfactoryrc.com]

July 30, 2012

Merlin Depta takes North German title

The last round of the German regional championships took place in Munster last weekend. The race was set to be a thriller with three youngsters, Lars Hoppe, Merlin Depta and Timo Schroeder, with almost the same points in the overall ranking and all in with a chance to take the title of the north German regional champion. Having won the last two rounds, Merlin only had to prevent his two title competitors from winning to take the title. Starting from pole Merlin had Lars behind him and pushing hard from the beginning. Lars flipped his car at the end of the straight and also broke his engine which increased the gap to second. Unfortunately Merlin hit engine problems again, his Max powered Serpent 966 stopping on the main straight. With only Timo Schroeder the only title contender left in the race, he flamed out, which opened the way for ‘1/10th guru’ Ralf Krause to win in front of Friedrich Roehrs and Timo Schroeder. This result would give Merlin Depta the title ahead of Lars Hoppe in 2nd and Timo Schroeder in 3rd.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

July 29, 2012

Jimmy Maddison joins Awesomatix

Touring car driver Jimmy Maddison will make a return to the world of R/C after a four and a half year sabbatical. The multiple British champion, 2007 IIC winner and 2008 DHI cup winner has joined the Awesomatix team and will be great asset and ambassador in the coming years. Jimmy will join an already strong team that includes Ivan Laptev, Steen Graversen, Viljami Kutvonen and Freddy Südhoff. Jimmy had this to say:

Wow….I am so pleased to have the opportunity to drive for such a fantastic team, the car is something special and ground braking, I am looking forward to working with the guys on and off the track to develop this amazing chassis and get a few titles under its belt. I must say a special thank you to Oleg for believing in me after my break from racing and giving me this chance. Thanks Oleg. See you all trackside real soon

Source: Awesomatix [awesomatix.com]

July 28, 2012

Groskamp is World Champion

Winning a World title is a special moment but to win your first World Championship at the very place where 20-years earlier your interest in a sport began is the stuff dreams are made of but this evening in the Netherlands just down the road from where he grew up Jilles Groskamp took a very emotional win at the 7th Electric Touring Car World Championships from Top Qualifier Atsushi Hara with Ronald Volker completing the podium at the MACH.

View our complete event coverage here.

July 28, 2012

Torsten Müller wins South Germany Champs

The last round of the South German 1/8th on-road championships took place at the Bamberg track. The 21 drivers started with practice on Saturday morning and the first round of qualifiers began just after the lunch break. The challenging track with fast corners called for a special tyre strategy in the 30 minutes long final with the better end for Oliver Lambeck after Maximilian Günther suffered engine damage. Second place went to Torsten Müller with Armin Baier in third. The runner up spot gave Torsten the South German championship title and after a successful season he also is one of the hot candidates for the German Champs that will take place in Dormagen later this summer.

Source: Power-Save-Racing [power-save-racing.de]

July 28, 2012

Error brings Rheinard’s quest to an end

Marc Rheinard’s quest for a third consecutive World title is over after the German, who sat out the opening A-Main to save tyres, rolled his Tamiya on the first run through the chicane dropping him to the tail of the field from where he could only recover to finish 6th. With Rheinard, the clear favourite to take the win for the Leg due to having fresh tyres, out of contention it was Ronald Volker who took the win ahead of Yokomo team-mate Naoto Matsukura with Viktor Wilck again finishing 3rd.

View our complete event coverage here.

July 28, 2012

Groskamp wins thrilling first A-Main

Jilles Groskamp took one of the biggest gambles of his life to win the opening A-Main at the Electric Touring Car World Championships to deny Top Qualifier Atsushi Hara by 14/100ths of a second as he threw his Tamiya across the finish line as Hara slowed his car to make the hairpin, thinking the race would go one more lap. Viktor Wilck, who challenged Hara for the lead in the middle of the race finished 3rd ahead of Ronald Volker.

View our complete event coverage here.

July 28, 2012

Michael Guzman wins @ HRH Shootout

Team C Racing’s Michael Guzman has won the 2WD Stock SCT class at the recent Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout. The TQ went to MIP’s Matt Olson (Team Associated) who ultimately finished on the third place. The runner up spot was taken by Matt Gilbert (Kyosho).

Source: MIP [miponline.com]