January 27, 2017

Atsushi Hara teams up with Yokomo

Making his debut for new chassis & electronics sponsors Yokomo at last weekend’s Reedy Race, Atsushi Hara has chosen the Japanese company for his 2017 electric offroad campaign. One of the most versatile and successful racers in R/C, the 2-time World Champion will bring his vast experience to assist with their off-road program in preparation for the upcoming World Championships in Xiamen, China, as well as helping to develop their racing ESC and motor systems.

This year the IFMAR Offroad World’s will be held in China, which I am excited to attend as part of Team Yokomo. I would like to thank the owner of Yokomo, Mr. Yokobori and the entire team for the opportunity. Having some experience as a member of this team in the past, I am hoping to work well with all the drivers and factory staff. My focus this year will be to bring my form to 100% through the races and help the team bring home a World’s win. Being on a strong team is very motivating and I’m really looking forward to the challenge!

Source: Yokomo [teamyokomo.com]


January 27, 2017

HIT 129 Winter Racing Series Rd4 – Report

Round four of the Czech HIT 129 Winter Racing Series was held at the sports hall in Holesov. The weekend started off on Friday evening with free practice and resumed early on Saturday morning with more practice and the qualifiers. In the premier class of Touring Modified the race was on between top qualifier, Matej Sulc and Kuba Simurda who started from the 2 spot on the grid. In the opening final Matej was able to keep a tight racing line, leaving no room for Kuba to pass. In the second and third final though the pole sitter made smaller mistakes, allowing Kuba to go in front and to ultimately walk away with the win. Second place went to Matej while local driver, Ludvik Kurecka completed the podium result.

Continue reading the report here


January 27, 2017

Catchpole dominates British LMP12 nationals Rd4

Last weekend saw the fourth round of the BRCA LMP12 national series took place in South Shields, just south of Newcastle. The venue was filled with memories for some, having been used for the 1998 onroad IFMAR World Championships, in which David Spashett won all three classes. Returning for the 2017 event were not only David Spashett, but also a host of the UK’s leading drivers. With Alexander Hagberg away on Touring Car duty, the field was very even, meaning that a huge number of drivers went into the weekend looking for the win. Over the meeting three classes were contested, 13.5 on Saturday and on Sunday the field was split into Sports Modified (13.5) and Modified (6.5). The track laid out by the Barley Mow club was a large and open design, which required a car to flow well, whilst being very precise.

Continue reading the report here


January 26, 2017

Lee & Chiang successful at Urban Astro Buggy Champs

Singapore’s electric buggy racing season flagged off this past weekend at the first round of the 2017 Urban Astro Buggy Championships. Run at Urban PlaySpace in downtown Singapore, racers were greeted with a track layout sporting a new wall-ride as well as an elevated straight. In the 2WD class, Esmail Apandi (Xray) TQ’ed in front of Nicholas Lee (Yokomo) and Kamen Koh (Serpent). In the finals, Esmail took the leg 1 win after an early mistake by Nicholas. In leg 2, Nicholas bounced back with a win as Esmail tumbled in the tricky front-double section. With Kamen finishing second in both legs 1 and 2, there would be a 3-way showdown in the final leg. A3 then was a close affair with Esmail holding the early lead after mistakes by Nicholas dropped him to fourth. Never giving up, Nicholas put in a masterclass performance to close rapidly on Esmail. At 90 seconds remaining, Nicholas took advantage of a small opening as Esmail ran wide to take the lead. Nicholas held off the determined Esmail to win an exciting Leg, taking the overall win.

Continue reading the report here


January 25, 2017

Aaron Stringer doubles at Pine Hills race

The recent Pine Hills race saw Mugen’s Aaron Stringer walking away with a double win in the Nitro Buggy and Nitro Truggy classes. Aaron would grab the top qualifying honours in Buggy while Mitch McCallum (Kyosho) went fastest after the qualifiers in Truck. The Buggy final then saw Aaron bringing home the win from Mitch McCallum and Alex Bernadzik (Team Associated) in second and third respectively. In Truggy it was again Aaron who walked away with the hardware while Caleb Noble (Mugen) and Mitch McCallum (Mugen) had to settle for second and third.

View the Truggy podium here


January 25, 2017

Alex Zanchettin successful at Enjoy Drive race

This past weekend the Enjoy Drive race was held in Rome, Italy and it was newly signed Tekno driver Alex Zanchettin who took the winning honours in the Electric Buggy class with his TMG-powered buggy. Patrick Pistolesi (Mugen/TMG) would come in second.

Source: Tommygarage [tommygarage.eu]


January 24, 2017

Lutz, Bornhorst & Drake win at Southern Indoor Champs

The 2017 Southern Indoor Championships were held in Alabama. The weekend started off a bit crazy with a tornado hitting the area on Saturday which caused a 4-hour delay but with running the electric program with available sunlight and after the power was restored qualifying was finished up around 1am Sunday morning. The layout for this year’s SIC offered some big air and some fast air sections and the surface was a little on the looser side. In Nitro Buggy Tekno RC’s Ryan Lutz would take the TQ after a battle with Tekno teammate Joe Bornhorst who would start second into the main. Nitro Truggy also saw the Lutz-Bornhorst duo up front while E-Buggy was TQ’d by Mugen’s Adam Drake from Lutz and Bornhorst.

Continue reading the report here


January 24, 2017

Burak Kilic doubles at OWL Messe Cup

The OWL Messe Cup was held in Bad Salzuflen, Germany over the weekend. Organised by the MCC Silixen club and held as part of a hobby fair the event attracted some of the fastest drivers from Germany to compete in several electric off-road classes. In the premier 1/8th E-Buggy class it was Agama’s Burak Kilic that came out fastest after the triple 10-minute A-mains. Coming from the 2 spot on the grid the young man at first suffered from missing Friday’s practice sessions due to school duties but he made up for it in the mains, taking the overall win from Thunder Tiger driver and 2016 Messe Cup winner, Marvin Fritschler, and Burak’s brother Berkan Kilic (Agama).

Continue reading the report here