Red RC » Xray

October 12, 2023

Senesi takes Q4 at GT Worlds

Natanaele Senesi became the third different driver to TQ a round of qualifying at the 1:8 GT World Championship, the Xray driver topping the fourth round on a hot morning in Sydney where the temperatures on Day 2 of qualifying are set to hit 33 degrees. It was to be dramatic top heat that started with an early mistake from Q3 winner Andrea Catanzani, costing him over 2-seconds. Next it was Jeff Hamon who was in trouble, the Serpent driver have brake issues for a third time of the event and he was out after 3-minutes. Setting the fastest lap of the run as the only driver to run a 17-second lap, soon Catanzani was back in the hunt but he had Toni Gruber all over him, the Hong Nor driver having to lift on the straight so as not to run in the back of the Serpent. With Catanzani opening to allow Gruber passed, shortly after the German would all on his own go off the track and across the grass losing over a second. Catanzani looked like making it two TQ runs in a row but on the last lap he would run out of fuel with Senesi crossing the line to take it by 1.9-seconds from Gruber with the Genius pairing of Bernard-Alain Arnaldi and Alex D’angelo third & fourth ahead of Lachlan Donnelly who was running in the second fastest heat.

Continue reading here

September 29, 2023

Xray X4 ’24

Xray has just presented its latest 1:10 Electric Touring Car, the X4’24. With factory drivers Bruno Coelho and Alexander Hagberg officially debuting the new car at the Monaco RC Race Of Champions at Luca in Italy this weekend, the kit features new suspension arms with relocated shock positions improve lower arm flex and reduce twist under load. Inner shock locations improve weight distribution with the shocks closer to the vehicle midline. Lower arms use under arm anti-roll bar mounting and reduce shock height by 4.5mm for ultra-low CG while the upper arms are shaped for clearance around the new shock position while maintaining proper suspension geometry and rigidity. The front and rear shock holders use shims to adjust shock positions in finer increments with 3 different shock holder mounting options provide chassis flex alternatives to tune responsiveness and grip while active or fixed rear shock holder configurations provide two dampening alternatives in one mount. A simplified shock absorber installation uses a fixed set screw to secure the threaded shock mount stud and prevent movement in the mount during maintenance. The car gets front steering plates with improved Ackermann positions integrate with the new arms and shock positions. Rear ARS plates move the link forward for improved rotation. An improved ECS drive shaft case uses a C-clip to secure a new aluminium sleeve that captures the coupler pins without the use of set screws for improved reliability and easy assembly. A narrower chassis design reduces cornering drag, while additional material in the central motor area improves durability and reduces chassis fatigue. Updated chassis layout matches the new lower arms, shock holders and motor mount attachment points, while also moving the battery holder mounting points closer to the centreline to reduce chassis width 3mm centering pins and an additional forward motor mount attachment point improve durability and expand flex adjustments to provide improved stability on high grip black carpet tracks. Additional motor mount clearance for ESC wiring allows cleaner electronics installation. Bulkhead anti-roll bar locations are moved lower, along with a new ARS link position on the rear bulkheads, to match the improved suspension geometry. Rear graphite body post holder improves durability and stability, and offers 8 adjustment steps for even more precise horizontal body mount positioning.

View the full X4’24 presentation here

September 15, 2023

Coelho tops first seeding round

Bruno Coelho has topped the opening round of seeding practice at the 2WD Offroad Worlds, the Xray driver fastest over 3-consecutive laps from Broc Champlin. The Portuguese driver improved on his free practice pace by over 1.5-seconds being the only one to run 56-seconds and having half a second on Champlin’s effort. TLR’s Brennan Schimmel put in a strong run to set the third fastest time just ahead of team-mate Cole Tollard. Defending Champion Spencer Rivkin led the Team Associated challenge, posting the 5th fastest time. Having set the pace in the four rounds of Free Practice, team-mate Davide Ongaro would have a problem with a broken rear tyre insert that meant he could only go 12th fastest and now finds himself down a set of tyres.

Continue reading here

September 9, 2023

‘It’s going to be super hard’ – Coelho

This time last year Bruno Coelho successfully defended his Electric Touring Car World Championship title with a dominant performance in Italy. His rivals were always battling for second place. Tomorrow he will begin the defence of another of his World Championships when he looks to retain the 4WD Offroad title he won for Xray at their home track in Slovakia in 2019. This time however one could say the Portuguese ace is the one on the back foot this time as the battle will take place at the home track of Spencer Rivkin on a surface that generally should favour US drivers over the Europeans. Coelho is fully aware of this admitting, ‘It’s going to be super hard’.

Continue reading here

August 24, 2023

Xray X4 Rear Anti-Roll Bars

Xray has introduced two new rear anti-roll bars for its X4 1:10 Electric Touring car. The new 1.6mm and 1.8mm options bring the range to 6 different rear anti-roll bars for the ball-bearing roll bar mounting system. Mounted to the rear bulkheads via bearings from outside for extra-smooth movement and for quick & easy changes and adjustment, the latest additions are designed to give the X4F improved rotation. Each anti-roll bar has laser-engraved stripes (corresponding to bar thickness) for easy identification.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

August 22, 2023

1985 handmade Hudy Special 4WD 1:8 Onroad chassis

With IFMAR’s original & longest running World Championship taking place later this year in Japan, photos shared by Juraj Hudy of one of his early 1:8 Onroad creations grabbed our attention. Being raced at the recent veteran’s race at the Czech Nationals, the handmade Hudy Special 4WD car is from 1985, the year Rody Roem was crowned World Champion in Japan. With our own introduction to RC racing being through the category in the late 80s, it is interesting to see how chassis design has evolved over the last four decades when compared to the latest cars. Having had the pleasure of getting into an in-depth conversation with Juraj about all things engineering and what goes into the production of a chassis kit while waiting in airport lounge in Buenos Aires for our return flight from covering the 2012 1:8 Offroad World Championships, one year later we got to visit the lock up that was Juraj’s very first workshop. There he shared his story of the journey to the impressive high tech factory of Hudy & Xray and Hudy Racing Arena that is now just a few hundred metres away. Red RC will be travelling to Infinity International RC Speedway in Japan at the end of October as part of our 2023 Worlds coverage to tell the story of how the 23rd 1:8 Onroad World Championships unfolds.

View more Hudy Special 4WD images here

August 5, 2023

3 in a row as Coelho takes 2023 European Championship

Bruno Coelho is the 2023 1:10 Electric Touring Car European Champion, the Xray driver making it three in a row with his latest victory in Germany today. Securing the overall TQ in the finale round of qualifying after a battle with Mugen’s Ronald Volker and Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski, the Portuguese ace opened final’s day at Türkheim with a 0.25 second win from a closing Volker, the race finishing order remaining unchanged from how all 10-drivers line-up on the grid. A dramatic start to A2 would see Volker spin out in front of the field and get collected, leaving Orlowski to mount the challenge on Coelho and while the Polish driver would set the fastest lap the gap at the end was 1-second. The win secured the title for Coelho with A3 the battle for runner-up spot. Volker would get the win ahead of Orlowski who would complete the overall podium followed by Awesomatix’s Marc Rheinard and Mugen’s Eric Dankel. In Pro Stock it was also a win for the Top Qualifier with Awesomatix’s Simon Lauter securing the title in A3 after runner-up Jan Ratheisky won A2. Outgoing champion Olivier Bultynck completed the podium.

Image: Bruno Coelho [Facebook]

August 4, 2023

Xray X1‘24

Xray has presented its latest 1:10 Formula car, the X1’24. The kit features a revised chassis layout with new side braces for additional flex control as well as forward servo mounting position that increases space for electronics and improves weight balance. It also gets a new front bulkhead that raises the graphite arm mount plate and provides more clearance for steering links and a larger range of bump steer adjustments. Updated rear pod plate improves durability with additional material around the aluminium pod plate pivot holder mount. Graphite rear pod plate integrates with new bulkheads and improves tweak resistance in hard crashes. Stronger graphite rear brace with strengthened wing mounts improves durability in serious crashes. Lightweight and lower CG bulkheads feature 2 centering pins instead of one for more consistent alignment and tweak resistance.

View the full X1’24 presentation here