July 20, 2019

Kurzbuch takes Q2 in Austria

Simon Kurzbuch has taken the second round of qualifying at ENS Austria this morning on what is going to a be busy day for drivers.  With rain forecast for tomorrow the schedule has been revised to include the running of all finals tonight following the conclusion of the four rounds of qualifying.  Having just missed out on the TQ in yesterday evening’s opening qualifier to Dario Balestri, Kurzbuch would take Q2 by over a second from Carmine Raiola with Balestri just 3/100ths further off in third as the only drivers to 17-lap runs of the Aigen track.  New to the Shepherd team for the 2019 season, Toni Gruber posted the 4th fastest time ahead of Silvio Hächler with Merlin Depta the top Serpent after ENS Italy winner Dominic Greiner had an off while running on a Top 3 pace.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.


July 19, 2019

Reigning Champions TQ first qualifier at ENS Austria

The Euro Nitro Series three reigning Champions got their weekends off to the best possible start in Austria this evening as they each TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at Aigen-Schlägl.  Having topped 1:10 seeding, Teemu Leino would start a dominant evening for the Infinity team as he TQ’d the first of the four scheduled qualifiers from team-mate Jilles Groskamp with Jakub Rozycki third.  Next it was the turn of the 1:8 40+ class to run their opening qualifier with 4th seed Arie Manten taking the TQ with one & a half seconds in hand over top seed Klaus Köwenig.  It was however 1:8 that delivered the closest finish, as Dario Balestri just held off Simon Kurzbuch for the TQ by 0.024 of a second!  Having been in the mix for the TQ before an error, a recovering Carmine Raiola completed the Top 3 followed by Oliver Krähemann, Toni Gruber and Dominic Greiner, the latter lacking the pace he had shown in the final practice.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.


July 19, 2019

Kurzbuch & Leino top seeding at ENS

Simon Kurzbuch and Teemu Leino are the top seeds at ENS Austria in Aigen.  Second fastest to Carmine Raiola in free practice, Kurzbuch produced a new fastest 3-consecutive laps in the first of the two controlled practices to secure the top seeding ahead of Dario Balestri, the World Champions split by 9/100ths of a second.  Topping CP2 ahead of Kurzbuch, this time would leave Dominic Greiner 3rd overall ahead of Riola who also was unable to improve on the time he set in CP1.  Last year’s race runner-up Toni Gruber will be seeded 5th ahead of Silvio Hächler with Jeffrey Rietveld being the only other driver in the Top 10 to improve his time in CP2 ending up 7th fastest.  In 1:10 Leino was able to remain at the top as he had done in free practice.  Topping both his runs, the Finn’s closest challenger was again team-mate Jilles Groskamp with Shepherd’s Melvin Diekmann stepping into the Top 3.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.


July 19, 2019

Raiola sets free practice pace at ENS Aigen

Carmine Raiola has set the pace in free practice for the third round of the Infinity Euro Nitro Series in Aigen, Austria.  The Infinity driver would conclude the 12 rounds of free practice run over the past two days with a best 3-consecutive laps that was 1/10th of a second faster than the unique track’s winner of the last four years Simon Kurzbuch.  Completing the Top 3 would be Serpent’s Dominic Greiner who like those ahead of him ended free practice with his fastest run.  Unable to improve on his time from the 10th round, the second run of today, reigning champion Dario Balestri found himself 4th fastest.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.


July 19, 2019

XRS Poland ProCircuit Race – Report

The 2019 XRS Poland ProCircuit Race was held at the RC Wlodawa track last weekend. The event was held in several nitro and electric 1/8th off-road classes as well as an Open category on a high-grip US-style track and using a control tyre system, making for competitive yet cost efficient racing. Ever changing track conditions kept the drivers on their toes as did the 10-minute qualifiers with mandatory fuel stop. Ultimately and in the Nitro Buggy class it was Bartosz Zalewski with the win from Rafal Ilendo in 2nd and Lukasz Dyrek in 3rd.

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July 17, 2019

Xray Racing Series Alpe Adria Rd2 – Report

The second round of Xray Racing Series Alpe Adria was held in Zagreb, Croatia recently. The weekend started with practice on Saturday followed by a round of times practice and the triple qualifiers on Sunday. In Touring Stock it was Zeljko Selman with the overall TQ, in 1/8th GT Fabio Callegari came out fastest after the qualifiers, in 1/8th IC Track it was Nejc Mihelic with the overall TQ and in 1/5th TC Marko Grigic put himself on top of the timing sheets.

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July 16, 2019

Atsushi Hara appointed Neidhart Asian sales manager

Neidhart has announced the signing of 2-times IFMAR World Champion, Atsushi Hara as their Asian sales manager. Hara, who won the 2008 1/8th scale Off-Road IFMAR World Championship title with the Neidhart brand HB Racing, will now take over the position as sales manager for Asia. As such, he will be responsible for the sale of all Neidhart brands in the Asian market. Interested dealers and distributors can reach Hara at atsushi@neidhart.com. Besides his job as sales manager Asia, he will also be involved in the development of new vehicles and electronics for the HB Racing, Team Orion and Performa Racing brands while also attending select local and international events. Atsushi has the following to say about the deal:

I would like to say thanks so much to Mr. Philippe Neidhart, Oscar Jansen and Adrien Bertin for giving me this great opportunity. Also, I am very happy to come back to HB Racing as my “Home.” When I left HB Racing in 2013, I didn’t think I could come back. But now I am back with the Neidhart SA family so I have big motivation, and I’m looking forward to the future of our RC industry.

Source: Neidhart [neidhart.com]


July 16, 2019

BRCA 1/8th Circuit Nationals Rd6 – Report

Round 6 of the BRCA 1/8th Circuit Nationals was held at Mendip RC Raceway this weekend. 32 drivers were in attendance in nitro and 7 had booked in electric. The track was nicely prepared and sprayed to ensure grip would be good and consistent. The track was still dusty for practice on Saturday morning but the grip quickly came up under the Somerset sun. It was all about getting good lines and watching tyre wear, which would prove to be a bit of an issue on race day. Sunday started as usual with the drivers’ briefing, during which a minute silence was observed in memory of Dave Waters, former BRCA Chairman, who recently passed away.

Continue reading the report here