Red RC » Shepherd

April 17, 2025

Wood wins British 1:8 Circuit National opener

The opening round of the BRCA British 1:8 Circuit National Championship took place last weekend with former Champion Tim Wood taking a debut victory for the new Shepherd Velox V8.3. Racing at the Brooklands track, which hosts 2 of the championships 7 rounds in 2025, Wood secured the TQ ahead of the Mugen Seiki of reigning Champion Alex Thurston with Andrew Hastings’ Shepherd completing the Top 3. In the 30-minute final it was Thurston, winner of 5 races in a row last season, who took the early lead until a stripped 2nd gear ended his challenge. Setting the fastest lap race Wood would go onto to secure a healthy win over team-mate Hastings with Thurston completing the podium. Round 2 of the championship will take racer to the Cotswold track on May 3-4th.

Image: Shepherd Micro Racing [Facebook]

March 18, 2025

Shepherd Velox V8.3 1:8 Onroad Chassis

Shepherd Micro Racing has finally released its Velox V8.3 1:8 Onroad chassis, the first new kit release since Zen Racing took over the specialist onroad nitro manufacturer. An evolution of the world championship Velox V8 platform, the Velox V8.3 prototype was used by Lars Hoppe to win the Austrian round of ENS in 2024 and help him to podium in the overall ENS season standings. Featuring a new pocketed chassis offering various insert options for fine tuning and a lowered engine position for better CG. A new lightspeed gearbox for improved performance and reliability in all conditions. A totally newly designed front bulkhead giving the racer the opportunity to position the front one-way in one of 6 different configurations. This combined with an optional fixed front axle and a new lower positioned front roll bar completes the innovative design. The Velox V8.3 is then given a new radio plate / top deck to give to complete the package. The new Velox V8.3 is offered as a full kit or a conversion kit to update your existing Velox V8.2. The conversion kit is very much part of the company’s philosophy to give racers who have invested in the brand the ability to move to the latest platform without compromising the investment previously made in Shepherd.

View more images here

December 16, 2024

Shepherd Velox V8 Lightspeed 2-Speed Gearbox

Shepherd has announced the release of its Lightspeed 2-Speed Gearbox for their 1:8 Onroad Velox V8 cars. After testing by its team drivers around the world in various conditions this new Lightspeed 2 speed gearbox is now more consistent and lighter. Very simple to install and adjust, no need for set screws simply set and forget. This is unit is for all Velox V8 platforms. Also from the now British owned brand is a new Front Solid One Way Axle. This unit will help to improve mid corner rotation on both high and low grip tracks. The Drive Shaft Carriers are also narrower allowing the front end of the V8 to have more inboard adjustment. The Drive Shaft Carriers can also be used without the centre lock section as a traditional one way front axle.

View Front Solid One Way Axle here

November 29, 2024

Shepherd Velox V8.3 1:8 Onroad Chassis

In the first new kit release since taking over Shepherd Micro Racing, Zen Racing has announced the upcoming release of the Velox V8.3 1:8 Onroad Chassis. David Spashett’s Zen Racing took over the former German specialist nitro onroad manufacturer 18-months ago and the Velox V8.3 is build around a new pocketed chassis for fine tuning to track conditions. The result of what Zen Racing say was ‘a huge amount of development from the team’ to ‘deliver a car that can not only compete at the highest level but is also easy to set up, drive and maintain’, the car also gets new gearbox bulkheads and new “Lightspeed” 2-speed gearbox. In total Zen Racing outline 14 new parts on the car full details of which will be revealed shortly.

View new features list here

November 15, 2024

Team Shepherd | Zen-Racing Pit Mats

Nitro onroad manufacturer Shepherd and its new owner Zen Racing has introduced two new pit mat designs to show your allegiance to the respective brands. Measuring 600mm by 1200mm, they are made from hard wearing easy wipe material making it easy to keep your pit working area clean after a day at the track or after preparing your car at home ahead of testing or racing.

View Zen Racing pit mat here

July 15, 2024

Shepherd Velox V8.2 M0.8 18T/23T pinion options

Following requests from racers around the world Zen-Racing / Team Shepherd have introduced two new pinions to help compliment the current range on offer for its Velox V8.2 1:8 Onroad Chassis which enjoyed victory at the latest round of the Euro Nitro Series over the weekend in the hands of Lars Hoppe. Machined to the highest standard these two new 18T & 23T options will give racers greater flexibility when setting up the drive train to help maximise performance.

Source: Zen Racing [zen-racing.co.uk]

July 14, 2024

Hoppe wins ENS Round 2 in Austria

Shepherd Micro Racing’s Lars Hoppe took the win at the second round of the Euro Nitro Series, the German winning the final in Aigen, Austria, ahead of reigning Champion Toni Gruber. In qualifying it was the Mugen Seiki of 2024 Championship leader Simon Kurzbuck who took the TQ. Winner of the season opener in Ettlingen, Germany, the former World Champion topped 3 of the 4 qualifiers with Hoppe the only other driver to top a round with the fastest time in Q2 to secure P2 on the grid. In the 45-minute final, Kurzbuch looked to have the race under control leading from Hoppe and the Capricorn of third place qualifier Gruber however the Swiss driver’s engine would stop approaching the 20-minute mark. Taking over the lead, Kurzbuch losing over 4-minutes in the pits, Hoppe would see off the challenge of Gruber eventually winning by 3/4 of a lap from the Gruber with the Infinity of Teemu Leino completing the podium a further 8-seconds back. Kurzbuch would finish P8. In 1:10 it was the Infinity of Jilles Groskamp who took the win from the TQ spot ahead of the Capricorn of reigning Champion & Round 1 winner Melvin Diekmann. Infinity’s Milan Holthuis completed the podium.

Image: Lars Hoppe [Facebook]

April 23, 2024

Shepherd 2024 Teamwear

Just as the nitro onroad season gets underway in earnest, Zen-Racing / Team Shepherd have released an extensive line of 2024 Teamwear featuring the onroad nitro manufacturer’s new logo and branding. Made from high quality materials and in sizes from small to 4XL, the new range features the new new Shepherd Micro Racing logo front and back with the range including a T-shirt, Hoodie, Zoodie and Polo that should be available from your local Shepherd distributor.

View rest of range here