July 29, 2013

Baird & Rennick win at Irish off-road nats Rd2

Baird & Rennick win at Irish off-road nats Rd2

Round two of the Irish 1/8th off-road nationals was held on a new track to the Irish calendar in Southern Ireland, Cork. The qualifying consisted of four seven minute heats and in the nitro buggy class Bradley Baird (JQ/nVision) TQ’d all four rounds and locked up qualifying. In the electric class JQ Products’ driver Andrew Rennick put in three consistent runs which put him third in the electric main. In the 45 minute nitro main, Bradley got off to a clean start and within the first 15 minutes he managed to pull a one lap lead over second place. As the final went on the tricky Cork surface began to rut up and become like a motocross track which made great racing and caught out the unprepared. Bradley kept it together to the end and claimed round two victory followed by Gary Baird (Kyosho/Bullett) and Alan Scroggie (Agama/Bullett). In the electric final it was a three battle for the lead with great racing right to the buzzer which saw Andrew Rennick take his JQ E car to the top step of the podium.

Click here to view the eBuggy podium


July 28, 2013

Groskamp wins 2013 1/8th European Championships

Groskamp wins 2013 1/8th European Championships

Jilles Groskamp has become the 2013 1/8th Track European Champion here in Halifax after a thrilling final saw him take the win after a race long battle with Brit Kyle Branson, Dario Balestri completed the podium. The finals day in Halifax began with a dry track, something that hadn’t happened many times during the week. Hot temperatures began the day but by the time the semi finals were out on track, it had cooled slightly. In the first semi final, Dario Balestri took a dominating win ahead of his Capricorn team mate Daniele Ielasi and Simon Kurzbuch’s Shepherd. Balestri finished on 78 laps in 1208.48 seconds with Ielasi on 77 laps in 1205.55 seconds with Kurzbuch just .91 seconds behind. Adrian Bertin took the final definite place with the new KM prototype car but Patrick Schafer would have to wait and see if he had made the final.  The second semi final proved to be a much closer affair with Mark Green taking the win just .32 seconds ahead of the Shepherd of Groskamp. 3rd and 4th in the Semi A, to definitely book their place in the final, were Motonica’s Robin D’Hondt and Mugen’s Kyle Branson. A noticeable person missing from the final would be Robert Pietsch with the German taking his Novarossi powered Mugen to 8th position. Green’s run of 78 laps in 1201.95 seconds proved to be a whole 7 seconds faster than Dario’s winning time in the Semi B, putting Mark on pole for the 45 minute main final.

Continue reading the report here


July 27, 2013

Martin Bayer wins 2013 4wd Euros

Martin Bayer wins 2013 4wd Euros

The 1/10th EFRA European Electric Offroad Championships took place in Spain last week and Martin Bayer wrote this report. ‘Immediately following a successful week of 1/8 off-road racing, I traveled with my teammate Reno Savoya to Spain for the European Electric Off-road Championships. The race program started with the 2WD class. We were using a 2WD prototype buggy based on the XB4 1/10 4WD offroad buggy. The car felt very good, but the track proved difficult with many low traction areas. I worked diligently during my free time to continuously improve my set up. After qualifying was completed, I was sitting in 8th position. I was quite pleased with this result considering it was my first race using this prototype on clay.

Continue reading the report here


July 26, 2013

Mark Green is 1/8th Euro A top qualifier

Mark Green is 1/8th Euro A top qualifier

Mark Green is the top qualifier at the 2013 1/8th European A Championships in Halifax.  The Serpent driver pulled everything he had out of the bag in the last round of qualifying to take the TQ by 0.14 seconds from Capricorn’s Dario Balestri who held the accolade after the first 4 rounds.  With Balestri fastest in the first qualifier, Jilles Groskamp topped the 2nd round with a run of 21 laps in 313.00 seconds ahead of Balestri and Green.  With the clock approaching 12:00 at the time of the run, the track proved to be too slow.  In the 3rd round, Mark Green took his serpent to the fastest time ahead of Capricorn’s Daniele Ielasi and Mugen’s Kyle Branson.  Posting a time of 21 laps in 314.18 seconds, Green again proved that the track was too slow.  After the lunch break Round 4 commenced and again Groskamp posted the fastest time to improve by around a second ahead of Dario Balestri and Mark Green hinting ever so slightly that the track was picking up pace as the sun started to go down.  With almost every heat prior to the top heat going faster in the final round, the stage was set for something special to come.  Dario Balestri would lead for the majority of the heat only for Mark Green to close him down and take the round on the last lap to the joy of the crowd.  The stage is set for an exciting set of finals tomorrow.

View the final qualifying results here


July 26, 2013

Maifield wins big at Summer Indoor Nationals

Maifield wins big at Summer Indoor Nationals

For the 4th consecutive year, the summer racing scene turns to Chico, California, for one of the largest indoor races in California. The JConcepts Indoor National Series arrived for its 3rd stop on the one of a kind U.S. based National Series. Defending INS champion Steven Hartson was in attendance along with 2013 National points leader Ryan Maifield. The Team Associated duo was set to do battle against the likes of Kyosho’s Cody Turner and TLR’s Phillip Atondo. As a twist, Maifield entered an additional class bringing 4 vehicles to the event to shake things down for an upcoming busy summer schedule.

Click here to continue reading


July 26, 2013

Hara, Kanai & Vejrak confirmed for FEMCA Champs

2013 FEMCA Championships - Announcement

The organisers of this year’s FEMCA Championships for 1/8th buggy and 1/10th ISTC in Beijing, China, which take place from the to the 18th to the 28th of August, have been in contact to tell us that they have confirmed entries from 3 World Champions. Firstly former World 1/8th Offroad World Champions Atsushi Hara along with Yuichi Kanai will be in attendance, while current 1/10th scale World Champion Meen Vejrak will also attend. The offroad event will be held on a new permanent facility and Red RC will be attending the offroad portion of the event to cover it live. Entries are still open and you can find out more information here.


July 25, 2013

Wheeler & Lutz score at Futaba Nitro Challenge

Wheeler & Lutz score at Futaba Nitro Challenge

The Futaba Nitro Challenge was run at the Dirt Burners track in St Louis in most of the important 1/8th classes and saw Team Durango’s Ryan Lutz being the fastest in Pro Buggy qualifying. The double A mains saw Xray’s Josh Wheeler taking A1 with Carson Wernimont, Mark Pavidids, and Ryan Lutz taking the following position. Wheeler had another great run in the deciding second A main and wrapped up the overall championship. In the Pro Arena Truck class, more commonly known as Truggy, top qualifier was the always fast Ryan Lutz. AKA teammate Josh Wheeler was able to take the win in A1 but Lutz came back to take the win in A2 which gave him the championship for Arena Truck. Electric 1/8 Buggy saw Lutz being TQ, followed by Wernimont and upcoming driver Dylan Gerard starting 4th on the grid. Bad luck would plague Wernimont and Gerard, causing them to retire early but Lutz would prevail and go on to take the win in the 10-minute main.

Source: AKA [raceaka.com]


July 25, 2013

Cavalieri & Gahan win at 2013 HRH Off-Road Shootout

Cavalieri & Gahan win at 2013 HRH Off-Road Shootout

The 16th annual Hot Rod Hobbies Off-Road Shootout saw Team Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri taking the winning honours in the Modified 2WD Short Course class. Starting from the second position on the grid, Ryan made quick work by getting around Team Associated team mate and TQ Ryan Maifield in both A1 and A2, clinching the overall win and sitting out A3. TLR’s Dustin Evans came in second while Cavalieri’s Associated team mate Ryan Maifield completed the podium. In Super Stock Buggy TLR team manager, Kevin Gahan was looking good all week, taking the TQ of the class. Gahan would go on to win the first two of three mains, and watch the final main as the overall was already his.

Click here to view the Super Stock Buggy podium