Red RC » Serpent

July 1, 2024

Catanzani wins Italian National Constructor C/ship

Factory Serpent driver Andrea Catanzani took the win at the AMSCI Italian National Constructor Championship which took place in Gubbio over the weekend. Racing at the always immaculately presented multiple World Championship host Club Automodellistico 5 Colli track, qualifying would see the Xray of Luca Romagnoli secure the TQ on tiebreak with Catanzani, both drivers posting two TQ runs each over the four rounds. Capricorn’s Mirko Salemi would complete the Top 3. In the 45-minute final, the opening 10-minutes saw good battle as Romagnoli lead the way closely chased by Catanzani and Salemi. Having got to the front unfortunately Salemi would eventually have to retire from the race leaving Catanzani who set the fastest lap of the race to take the win by 2/3rd of a lap over Romagnoli. Having qualified P9, the Mugen Seiki of Massimo Aliprandi would come through to complete the podium ahead of the Serpent of Mattia Collavo. In the Sport Category young Mugen Seiki talent Luca Betti took both the TQ and the win.

Image: Club Automodellistico 5 Colli [Facebook]

May 21, 2024

Hamon is 2024 NSW State Champion

Jeff Hamon is the 2024 NSW State Champion, the factory Serpent driver defending his title with the perfect trio of the TQ, Fastest Lap and Win. Racing at the 2023 IFMAR 1:8 GT World Championship host track in Moorebank near Sydney, this year’s State titles attracted a huge field of entrants making for a great atmosphere. Unfortunately some delays meant qualifying had to be cut short and run under some questionable conditions. Running four rounds, Hamon’s Serpent X20 ‘24 would secure the TQ on tie break from the Infinity of Brayden Stanley, also with two TQ runs, with Yokomo’s Simon Nicholson qualifying P3. A mistake from Hamon in A1 would see Stanley with the win while a number of unfortunate incidents in A2 would see Hamon pull off and save tyres for A3 which he duly lead tone to tone for the overall win. Winner of A2, the Awesomatix of Jeffrey Mackie finished second with Stanley completing the podium ahead of Nicholson.

Image: Jeff Hamon [Facebook]

May 20, 2024

Butterfield doubles at ROAR Onroad Nitro Nationals

Serpent’s Bryce Butterfield completed a title double at the 2024 ROAR Onroad Nitro Nationals regaining his 1:10 title he lost last year and adding the 1:8 title to his CV. With rain reducing track time at the Tri-State Radio Controlled Auto Racers hosted event in Ohio, in qualifying for 1:10 200mm Butterfield would top 2 of the 3 rounds to secure the TQ from the Infinity of DJ Apolaro and the Serpent of defending champion Jose Almonte P3. In 1:8 again it was Butterfield with the TQ from the Mugen Seiki of Ralph Burch and Apolaro. In the 1:10 final, with Apolaro going out early Butterfield would take a convincing win from David Dunn. Also a 45-minute encounter, in 1:8 Apolaro would lead the first half of the race with Birch an early retirement. Posting the fastest lap of the race however Butterfield would hit the front in the second half to do the double taking the title with a 2-lap advantage over Apolaro with Joachim Bruneau completing the podium.

Image: Bryce Butterfield [Facebook]

May 10, 2024

B-Power SRX8 GT’23/TQ Gearbox Kit

Italian company Star RC under its B-Power brand, which specialises in options for Serpent cars, has released its own gearbox kit for Serpent’s SRX8 GT’23/TQ 1:8 GT Onroad chassis. The kit can be installed without the need to make any modifications and allows you to use the original Serpent 2-speed gears. B-Power claim that with their gearbox kit, you will always have a perfect gearbox operation, with changes that are always equal and precise.

Source: Star RC [starrc.it]

April 22, 2024

Serpent Mini Spider RTR 1:24 EP Buggy

New from Serpent is the Mini Spider RTR, a small 1:24 EP buggy. This fun buggy is made of super elastic plastic to absorb shocks well and equipped with high-grip offroad wheels and utilising the latest technology. The coreless motor accelerates the RC car up to 20km/h. If this is too fast for you in the living room or children’s room, you can also reduce the speed thanks to a rotary control nub. Throttle/brake and steering commands are sensitively implemented in full proportion by the 2.4GHz remote control. Due to the modern transmission system, several vehicles can of course be driven at the same time. So nothing stands in the way of the mini Grand Prix at home!

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March 23, 2024

Coelho & Hamon Top Qualifiers at SIGP

Xray’s Bruno Coelho and Serpent’s Jeff Hamon are the Top Qualifiers at the SIGP in China but the second day of qualifying saw very different fortunes for the two drivers. Having topped the opening qualifier yesterday, defending SIGP Electric Touring Car Champion Coelho continued that form going fastest in the remaining three rounds for a clean sweep In Xiamen. In Q2, it was Chinese National Champion Ma Haoran also driving an Xray who was his closest challenger. Driving a prototype of Yokomo’s upcoming MS1.0, Nicolas Lee repeated his Q1 performance with another P2 in Q3. Having missed Q1 yesterday due to a fever, while still under the weather it was a much better day for JJ Wang with him wrapping up qualifying with the second fastest time in Q4. Overall that puts him P3 on the grid for the A-Main behind Lee and ahead of Haoran. With qualifying in 1:8 Nitro Onroad based on each driver’s single fastest time from the four rounds, Hamon’s Q1 pace was to prove important for the World Championship Finalist. After a morning rain shower, Hamon would top Q2 but in a slower time and then in Q3 & 4 he suffered one-way bearing failures that resulted in two DNFs. Hong Kong’s Ray Poon would top Q3 from Italy’s Cristiano Sartor with Wang third and he was again fastest in Q4, this time from Matrix Tires’ Cristian Boni. Overall the Q1 times of Boni and Sartor gave them 2nd and 3rd overall with Poon set to line-up P4 on tomorrow Main final grid.

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March 22, 2024

Coelho & Hamon top Q1 at SIGP

Having established itself as one of China’s biggest annual international races prior to Covid, the SIGP International RC Car Grand Prix makes it return this weekend with Xray’s Bruno Coelho and Serpent’s Jeff Hamon topping the opening rounds of qualifying in Xiamen. Hosted at the huge double track facility next to the Sunpadow battery factory, in electric Touring Car qualifying it was World Champion Coelho who set the pace ahead of the Yokomo of Nicolas Lee and Hamon. Bringing together both electric and nitro racing at the 2017 1:10 Offroad World Championship venue, in 1:8 Onroad Nitro it was Hamon who was fastest. Behind the Australian, Matrix Tires owner Cristian Boni was second fastest with fellow Italian & Hasi Tuned engines co-owner Cristiano Sartor completing the Top 3 on the first day of action at the SIGP. Qualifying continues tomorrow Saturday with three more rounds.

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February 23, 2024

Senesi joins Team Serpent

Serpent has announced that 1:8 GT World Championship finalist Natanaele Senesi has joined its factory team. The Italian led the charge for Xray at the World Championships in October in Sydney TQ’ing a round of qualifying before going on to finish 4th in the 1-hour final. In December however he announced his departure from the Slovakian manufacturer after just one year. A 1:8 GT specialist, the Serpent deal will also see Senesi venture into 1:8 Nitro Onroad. Commenting on the announcement Senesi said, ‘First of all I’m super happy to be part of the team! I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be joining Serpent Factory Team for the 2024 season and on! I’ll be racing for the brand focusing on developing the current SRX8 GT ‘23 and SRX8 GTE ‘23, alongside with Michael and the team. Furthermore, I’ll start racing in the “queen class” too with the brand new Viper 990 EVO. This is a very big opportunity for both me and the brand because as a friend of mine told me “we walked down the same road for many years, and now maybe the time is right for us to work together”. Thank to Joaquin De Soto, Stef Helvensteijn and all team Serpent for making it happen!

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]