December 1, 2012

Subdued start to 1:8 Offroad Worlds

Day 1 of the 1:8 Offroad World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, can be best described as a rather subdued affair with the timetable consisting of just one 15-minute round of practice. Lacking the air of excitement that is normally associated with the opening day of a Worlds, most drivers treated their single run as a systems check and to learn the track layout which has been reversed since teams attended the Warm-up race held at the end of September. For the first group of drivers to take to the track, HB’s Tyler Vik being one of them, it was nothing more than a cleaning exercise with the dust causing a rapid evacuation of the grandstand situated next to the drivers stand. The heavy dust was due to recent flooding of the track after a nearby river burst its banks and further rain yesterday which led organisers to spread wood shavings on a number sections to help dry the surface as much as possible in time for the 14:00 start time.

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December 1, 2012

Reedy & Associated sweep Indoor Champs

The U.S. Indoor Championships is one of the longest-running and most prestigious events on the on-road racing circuit. Traditionally held over Thanksgiving weekend in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, the 2012 running was shortened to three days, which allowed participants to spend Thanksgiving Day with their families. Practice was scheduled for Friday with three rounds of qualifying on Saturday, followed by the final round of qualifying and the main events on Sunday. In 1/12 Modified Reedy factory driver Keven Hébert has been the man to beat lately and he continued his domination of the class with a qualifying run 14 seconds faster than the second place driver. The main event saw Keven drive his 12R5.2 away from the field early and cross the finish line first with a two-lap advantage over second place. A Reedy 6800mAh LiPo battery powered Keven to victory in a class which relies heavily on battery performance.

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November 30, 2012

Ari Bakla wins at Australian EP Onroad Nationals

The usually sunny Queensland saw a rain affected Australian electric on-road nationals weekend that started with a perfectly blue sky but come the qualifiers the weather turned to the worst. Race day Saturday started late due to heavy overnight rain and similar weather on Sunday meant the race director decided to use Monday to run the finals. In the open modified class its was local young gun Corey Broadstock and Chris Sturdy who showed a fast pace in practice but it was Xray’s Ari Bakla who took TQ honors after some close racing in the qualifiers. With Monday being used as the rain day and conditions went back to hot weather. A main 1 saw Ari pull out a gap instantly, and was never threatened. The second final was a different story, Simon Nicholson took the advantage of new tyres and passed Ari on the inside of turn one, winning the final by two seconds. A main number three was a little like the first one, Ari was on new tyres now giving him more grip so he easily pulled away from the field handing him the win and national title.

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November 30, 2012

Alex Hagberg wins at Asian ORCA Cup final

The final race of the Asian ORCA Cup series was held in the small village of Kota Raja, just outside Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The race saw some 100 entries split on two classes: 13.5T turbo timing and 17.5T blinky classes. In the 13.5T class it was Alexander Hagberg who was considered as the pre-event favorite. The best Malaysian drivers, Azri Amri, and Jacky Siow were also both very fast on this track with their extensive track knowledge and stock class experience. As traction was very low, also in combination with the hard Ride R36 controlled tire, car set-up was very difficult. The difference between new and old tires was also very big, as always on asphalt. Using a clever tyre strategy, only three sets of tyre were allowed, Alex Hagberg won all five qualifying rounds and used his TQ position and two sets of new tyres to win the first and second A final. The second place went to Jacky Siow with Wong Kok Wai, who was able to win the third final, taking the remaining spot on the podium.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


November 30, 2012

Craig Collinson doubles at Chadderton

The Batley Buggy Club hosted the second round of their Chadderton winter series, held at Radclyffe Athletics Centre. With over 120 entrants, a full days’ racing was ahead of the drivers. The multi-surface track looked fantastic with a good mix of jumps, bumps, carpet and the usual cork flooring. The track was also laid out to run anti-clockwise just to mix things up a bit. As qualifying got under way it was clear to see the fast guys were all running dBoots Terrabytes tyres (A compound), as these proved to provide the most grip on the cork flooring and looked super consistent between surfaces. Just like in the first round both 2WD and 4WD classes were run on the same day, so it was all systems go for those competing in both classes. There was some great and close racing throughout the four rounds, but it was Team Durango driver Craig Collinson who was on form again, taking three out of four qualifying rounds with both his DEX410v3 and DEX210, to give him the overall TQ spot with both cars. Steve Lawson qualified second in 2WD and Conor Cocker took the second qualifier spot in 4WD, also driving a Team Durango DEX410v3.

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November 30, 2012

Darren Lord wins GCRC Raceway Series

GCRC Raceway, a purpose built indoor clay 1/10th race track in Australia would host a 13 round race series. Panther team driver Darren Lord took the series by storm in the 4WD Pro SC division. Eleven TQs and twelve 1st place finishes secured Darren the hard fought title.

Source: Panther [panthertires.com]


November 30, 2012

Chris Cristo wins Mod Truck at Gobbler Classic

Chris Cristo and John Cravotta dominated the modified truck class at the eighth running of the Gobbler Classic held by R/C Excitement in Fitchburg, MA with a total number of nearly 150 entries. Cristo drove the soon-to-be-released X Factory X–60CF to wins in both qualifiers and the A main, followed closely by John Cravotta with an original X–60.

Source: X Factory [xfactoryrc.com]


November 30, 2012

CRC sweep U.S Indoor Championships

The annual U.S. Indoor Championships in Cleveland is a premier road racing event for 1/12th and 1/10th pan cars and touring cars. For over 30 years, the ‘Champs’ has created many exciting finishes and fond memories. For 2012, there were big changes to the schedule and a new venue. For the first time in 25 years, racers would no longer travel to the Holiday Inn in Independence, OH, instead the new location for the race was the Holiday Inn in Strongsville, Ohio. Also new this year, no car would hit the track on Thanksgiving day, making it a shorter more affordable race.

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