Round 8 of the Top Notch Tour was held at Thunder Alley Raceway in Beaumont, California this past Saturday and in the Expert Nitro Buggy A-main it was Kyosho’s Jared Tebo with the win. HB Racing’s Colin Herzog would take the runner-up spot while Mugen’s Anthony Westergaard rounded out the top 3 podium result. Over in Open E-Buggy it was again Jared with the win, leaving behind Andrew Trotter (Tekno) in 2nd and Miguel Perez (Mugen) in 3rd.
T-Works have introduced new aluminium option parts for the Yokomo BD8-2018 touring car in the form of front aluminium spool cups as well as anti-roll bar rods. The spool cups are designed for the use with C-shaped driveshafts pin protectors while the 13.8mm and 16.8mm swaybar rods lower the unsprung weight. All parts are machined from high-quality 7075-T6 aluminium and they come hard-anodised for wear.
ST Racing Concepts have introduced a range of new brass suspension option parts for the HPI Venture FJ truck. Featuring a front lower shock mount/panhard mount, rear lower shock mounts, front steering knuckles and C-hub carriers, the CNC machined brass components add significant weight in strategic location on the scale crawler providing more stability during steep climbs and also greatly improves the durability. A total combine weight increase of over 160g can be achieved with these brass option parts. They are available in black to keep the realistic looks for the scale rig.
Xray have announced the addition of Tanner Stees to their factory team. The Arizona state champion and A-main finisher at events such as the Dirt Nitro Challenge, Silver State, Desert Classic or ROAR 1/8th Electric National will campaign Xray’s 1/8th and 1/10th off-road platforms and he has the following to say about the deal:
After probably the most successful year of off-road racing for me I am happy to say that I am a member of Xray Factory Team for 2018. 2017 was an awesome year for me making some of the A-mains at the biggest races in the US and I hope to continue the streak in 2018. The Xray cars and product have been some of the highest quality and best handling cars I have ever had and the team is awesome as well. They are always wanting to improve the product and will do whatever it takes to be at the highest level. Personally, I am super excited to keep working with the team and improving the cars and doing the best possible at all races.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
Round 7 of the RCManiacs Racing Series was held at the Argos track in Greece and in the Touring Modified class it was Michalis Kiriazis (Xray) who dominated the proceedings by taking all qualifiers and finals. Runner-up after the A-mains was fast Chris Kidis (Xray) from Diamadis Sotiris (Xray) who had to overcome a couple of problems and ultimately ended on the final podium spot. Over in Formula, the class saw a record entry and amazing fights for the top 3. Sotiris Diamantis took a popular win with fast laps, leaving behind Michalis Kiriazis in 2nd and Chris Kidis in 3rd (all Xray), the latter had to pay for his bad qualifying performance.
View the Formula class podium here
Coming from Phat Bodies is the new GT-F body shell for GT12 cars such as the ones from Mardave, Schumacher or Zen Racing. The lid was designed with detailed scale looks of the full sized FIA GT3 race cars and aerodynamic performance to match Phat Bodies’ popular 2017 Worlds Championship winning GT-M body shell. The body is BRCA homologated for National and International GT12 competition and it comes made of high-quality Lexan polycarbonate and including quality vinyl window and light masks as well as a sticker sheet.
Xray have introduced the latest incarnation of their RX8 1/8th nitro on-road platform, the RX8 2018. Changes to the front, but mostly to the rear end allow for a better adaption to various track conditions, from low to very high grip, as well as to soft or hard, small or large tyres – something that is crucial in today’s control/hand-out tyre racing. To start, the car makes use of an all-new aluminium main chassis plate with the front part sporting a new, larger opening for improved flexibility while an alloy – or optional brass brace – allows to reduce the front flex when needed.
Coming from Yeah Racing and made for the Tamiya M07 M-chassis is the aluminium essential conversion kit. The set includes ball-raced C-hubs for a more precise and smooth front suspension and steering action, it utilises alloy front knuckles was well as 3 degree toe rear alloy uprights for improved precision especially on higher grip surfaces. Also included are lower A-arms that use O-rings to prevent the droop screws from getting loose over time and disturbing the suspension setting. The set is available for pre-order now and will ship from end of February.
Source: Yeah Racing [yeahracing.com]
