July 27, 2007

Cuypers heads European 1/8th qualifying

Cuypers heads European 1/8th qualifying

This week sees the fastest RC racers in Europe gather at the incredible Lostallo track, high in the mountains of Switzerland, for the 2007 European 1/8th scale Championships. The drivers have been busy practicing all week, fine tuning their setups and trying to make their engines run the 5 minutes, with today seeing the competitors get their first qualifying session, with 3 more left to be run tomorrow. After that 1 round the overnight pole position is in the hands of Serpent 960 racer Steven Cuypers, the current Belgian National Champion has been setting the pace throughout the week was able to carry that form through to today when it mattered. In 2nd place is Italian Mugen racer Stefano Solaroli only 2 tenths of a second behind Cuypers, while newly crowned Italian Champion Alberto Picco is 3 tenths further back currently lying in 3rd, the top 10 covered by only 3 seconds. Qualifying will continue tomorrow and with temperatures expecting to be high in the afternoon, look out a rocket round in the mornings first qualifying round which take place in the days coolest conditions.

Click here to see the current top 10… content


July 27, 2007

Saarinen wins German West 1/10th Rd5

Saarinen wins German West 1/10th Rd5

Last weekend at the MRC Alstaden track in the west of Germany was the 5th round of the German 1/10th scale National qualifiers run for the Western series. Qualifying saw Finnish racer Teemu Saarinen, racing his Mugen, take the pole position from Xray driver Jorge Baldes in 2nd, Andreas Weyhoven in 3rd and Markus Mobers in 4th. At the start of the main final a lead group including Saarinen, Baldes, Mobers and Karsten Lokau set of at the front leaving behind the following pack which included Weyhoven who had technical problems and dropped back. When Mobers retired, this left a fast charging Heinz Jürgen Kalinowski up into 3rd where he finished behind Baldes in 2nd and Teemu Saarinen in 1st.

Source: MID [mid-mugen.de]


July 27, 2007

Cavalieri wins Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout

Cavalieri wins Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout

Team Orion are reporting on last weekends Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout in Saugus, California, which was being held for the 10th year in its history. This race, for most US drivers, is the last big off-road race before Septemers IFMAR off-road electric world championships in Japan, and due to this there was a large presence of top drivers and factory teams. At the end of qualifying, it was Associated driver Ryan Cavalieri who was sitting on the pole position in all 3 modified classes with his Team Orion powered rides and he duly went on to win the first two A mains in the modified truck class to give him his first title of the weekend, the other two classes going down to the 3rd final. In the 4wd Modified A3 Main, Ryan pulled away from the field at the start and never looked back winning by a considerable margin giving Ryan his second championship of the weekend. The last title up for grabs was in the 2wd Modified class in which Ryan drove a very smart race, finishing 2nd and giving him the overall win and his 3rd championship of the weekend.

Source: Team Orion [teamorion.com]


July 26, 2007

Jörn Neumann quickest at 4wd Euros

Jörn Neumann quickest at 4wd Euros

We received a quick update from the Durango team, who are present at this weeks European Championships in Finland, on todays 4wd practice. Durango team driver Jörn Neumann, who finished 8th in the 2wd class event, set the fastest lap time after 7 rounds of practice just in front of newly crowned 2wd European Champion Neil Cragg, driving the Yokomo BX, while Tamiya driver Hupo Hönigl ended the day with the 3rd quickest lap time. Friday sees final practice and the beginning of qualifying with the final qualfiying rounds and the finals taking place on Saturday.


July 25, 2007

Neil Cragg wins 2wd European Champs

Neil Cragg wins 2wd European Champs

The 2007 European Championships for electric powered buggies are being run in Vaasa, Finland this week and already the 2wd event is history. Qualifying saw a dominant display by current World Champion Neil Cragg, the Associated driver winning all 5 heats to stamp his authority on the event and claim the pole position. The 2nd place went to Hupo Honigl racing a Losi buggy while in 3rd was another Associated, that of Lee Martin. In the finals it was again all about Cragg who won the first 2 finals and with it the crown, but he didnt have it all his own way having been heavily hounded by Lee Martin in final 2, a roll by Martin saw his chance for the win over and the crown go to Cragg. Neil sat out the 3rd final and this allowed Martin to take the win and with it the 2nd place overall, while the last step of the podium went to Honigl in 3rd.

Click here for the final standings… content


July 23, 2007

Darren Johnson wins BRCA 200mm Rd6

Darren Johnson wins BRCA 200mm Rd6

Last weekend saw the 6th round of the 1/10th 200mm National Championship run at the fast Halifax track in the North of England. The weather on Saturday was wet and so practice was limited, but on Sunday the track started damp but dried quickly and stayed dry for the rest of the day and this allowed Kyosho racer, and winner of round 5, Steve Brown to take the pole position ahead of Xray driver Mark Gilliland in 2nd. In the final however it was to be Team Magic racer Darren Johnson that was on form and he could take the lead, and with it the win, 1 lap ahead of pole man Steve Brown with 3rd spot going to Serpent SDD driver Kyle Branson who was 1 lap further back and only 1 second ahead of 4th placed Gilliland.

Click here for the final results… content


July 22, 2007

Joosens & Collen win at Belgian Nationals

Joosens & Collen win at Belgian Nationals

This weekend saw the latest round of the Belgian 1/10th Electric Touring car Nationals take place on the brand new MRCC track in Charleroi. The weather for the event was a mixture of sun and rain and in the Modified class it was a win for pole man Koen Joosens racing a Schumacher, while his brother Nick Joosens, also driving a Schumacher, was in 2nd ahead of Corally driver Olivier Bultynck in 3rd. The 19T class was won by Bernard Collen, in front of 2nd placed David Broze with 3rd spot going to Michel Mahieu.

View a full gallery of the event here.

Source: Alain Sergeys [nondidju.e-bulles.be]


July 21, 2007

Robert Batlle is 2007 European Champion

Robert Batlle is 2007 European Champion

Robert Batlle from Spain has won the 2007 European Championship today in Auxerre, France. Having qualified in pole position, the HoBao Hyper 8.5 driver also won his semi final to line up first for the main final ahead of Spanish Mugen racer Borja Hernandez in 2nd, while Portugese Kyosho driver Miguel Matias lined up 3rd. A big upset ws that reigning European Champion Yannick Aigoin didnt make the final, after a problem in his semi put him out while leading, this meant that no Xrays would be present in the final. The final started badly for Batlle with the Spanish driver down the order as the race commenced, meaning he had to push hard to get on terms, this left Matias and Hernandez battle is out front with French driver Savoya joining in on the mix later on. All the while Batlle’s recovery was relentless, picking off racers throughout the race finally coming up behind leader Savoya and taking the lead in the last minutes. Robert Batlle crossed the line to take the title followed closely by French Mugen racer Renaud Savoya, with another Mugen driver, Borja Hernandez completing the podium in 3rd.

Click here to see the final results… content