The KLIRCC International track in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia played host to the GP Challenge Cup recently. The event was held in several on-road classes and attracted local racers as well as guests from Singapore. In the 1/8th Nitro category it was Xray’s Jade Lim with the win in the main final from Shepherd’s Austin Wong and Xray driver Dixon Chen.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
The opening round of the Andalusian Championship was held at the Circuito RC José María García track in Lebrija this past weekend. Juan Carlos Canas was in control of things, taking the TQ after the qualifiers from Zacarias Villalba and also bringing home the win in the 45-minute main final. Agustin Illanes would better his qualifying performance, ending the race on the 2 spot, from runner-up after the qualifiers, Zacarias Villalba in 3rd, making it an all-Mugen top 3.
Source: Modelix Racing [modelixracing.com]
The Saint Brieuc Indoor GP was held this past weekend with the event being hosted by the Saint Brieuc Mini Bolides club. In the 1/8th Nitro On-road class it was Benjamin Brasset with the TQ from Damien Thirion and John Ermen in 2nd and 3rd after the qualifiers. Changing outside temperatures and humidity made things challenging for the drivers especially on Sunday and one of the victims was John Ermen who crashed into the barriers at the start of the 30-minute main final to being dead last already in lap 1. At the front end of the pack however it was Benjamin who controlled the pace and despite John recovering to 2nd and chasing down the leader in the final stages, Benjamin would bring home a 2-seconds win from John 2nd as Stephane Bouche ended the main some four laps down on the leading duo.
Image: John Ermen
The 2018 Florida Internationals were held at The Fort in Fort Myers, Florida this last week. In the premier 1/8th Open category it was Serpent’s Ralph Burch who took the TQ some seven seconds in front of teammate, Merlin Depta while Paolo Morganti rounded out the top 3 result. Over in 1/10th 200m Sedan it was as Serpent’s Dominic Greiner with the TQ from DJ Apolaro and Ralph Burch in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Onto the finals and in the 1/8th Open class it was Ralph Burch who was able to conserve his qualifying performance by taking the win in the 35-minute A-main final, some 13 seconds in front of Merlin Depta while Shepherd’s Vince Tate rounded out the podium some 13 laps down.
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Futaba have announced the addition of Adam and Ronda Drake to their US factory team. The Drakes have scored multiple championship wins in virtually every category. With over 50 years of RC experience between them, Adam and Ronda are no strangers to the sport of radio-control driving. Adam started out backyard bashing when he was eight. Six years later, he scored his first major sponsorship with Team Losi. Before long, Adam had five 1/8 ROAR Nitro Buggy Nationals titles under his belt. Ronda’s racing career started in 1990 – and she’s been leaving the competition in the dust ever since. Her extensive record includes a Top Three finish in the Nitro Challenge 1/10 Gas Truck class and a Number One placement at an Airtronics race. Both drivers count on the Futaba 7PX to take them to their next first-place finishes.
Source: Futaba [futabarc.com]
Serpent have announced the signing of German 1/8th nitro on-road frontrunner, Tobias Hepp. The multiple “B” European Championship finalist and 2008 European Junior Champion will be racing Serpent’s 988 1/8th platform at all major races in Germany, at select ENS events and he has the following to say about the deal:
First of all, I want to thank Team Serpent for this opportunity and Im proud to back in the Team after 8 years. Im looking forward to working with the Team and I can‘t wait to race with my new Viper 988 car. See you on the track soon.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
The opening round of the 1/8th off-road Victorian Drivers Series was held at the BADrc track in Bendigo, Australia. Ben Sterling would sweep both the Pro Nitro Buggy and E-Buggy classes by TQing the qualification rounds and then winning the A-main finals. On the nitro podium Ben was accompanied by Matt Griffin in 2nd and Max Ricca in 3rd while in E-Buggy Ashley Peeler and Liam Jones rounded out the podium results.
Source: Reds Racing [reds-racing.com]
The annual Montpellier GP, European season opener for the 1/8th off-road class, was held in France this past weekend. As usual the event attracted most of Europe’s 1/8th off-road aces and it was Italy’s Riccardo Berton (Kyosho) who would take the overall TQ courtesy of winning the opening three qualifiers. Spain’s Juan Carlos Canas (Mugen) would come in 2nd after the qualifiers. In the main final it was the duo of Davide Ongaro and Juan Carlos Canas who obtained the top spots, however from the depth of the field it was Mugen’s Robert Batlle who was after a fourth Montpellier win and so he would keep his head down and ultimately was able to get past the duo of Juan and Davide who weren’t able to challenge Robert. In the end Batlle would take the win from Juan Carlos 2nd and Davide 3rd as Riccardo Berton and David Ronnefalk (HB Racing) rounded out the top 3 podium result.
Image: Circus RC [circusrc.com]
