O.S. Engines have announced the addition of Italy’s Riccardo Berton to their factory team for the 2018 season. The former EFRA “B” European and National Champion will be using O.S. Speed engines in his Kyosho 1/8th nitro buggy rides while attending all major national and international races.
Source: O.S. Engines [os-engines.co.jp]
Kyosho Europe have announced the signing of Carlos Fonseca to their team. The Portuguese 1/8th off-road front-runner will campaign Kyosho’s 1/8th off-road platforms this coming season and this is what he has to say about the deal:
I’m very excited to announce that I officially joined Team Kyosho Europe for this coming season. I want to say thanks to Kyosho Europe for giving me this great opportunity to be part of the team that already knows the success worldwide.
Source: Kyosho [kyoshoeurope.com]
The 2018 Southern Indoor Championships were held in Autaugaville, Alabama this past weekend. The 1/8th off-road event offered the usual array of Pro, Open, and Sportsman classes along an Open SCT category and taking home the TQ and win in the Open Nitro Buggy class would be Kyosho driver Mikey Griffin (Kyosho). The race had over 500 entries and Mike’s Open Buggy class was the second biggest of the event with more than 50 drivers. Peter Husser (Agama) would end the A-main some 15 seconds down on Mikey with privateer Matt Mehring (Kyosho) rounding out the podium in 3rd, another 3.7 seconds down.
Source: Kyosho [kyoshoamerica.com]
Last Sunday saw the running of the first Round of the RCMC Singapore GP Nationals for 1/8th GP and GT classes. Having had to move the race from the previous week owing to a small monsoon, Sunday saw a complete change in the weather conditions. Blue sky, blazing sunshine and a very hot track which had been cleaned by the previous weeks rain, provided less grip than everyone was ready & prepared for. After three rounds of qualifying in the GP class, local RCMC Singapore Club Champion Chavit Saligupta from Thailand took the TQ, followed by Andy Moore from Great Britain, and Trin from Thailand, a first 3-grid lock-out by the Infinity team. Local pro Nelson Lee from Singapore took 4th with his ARC after a stunning 3rd round qualifying effort.
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The second round of the Spanish Levante Championship was hosted by the Automodelismo Sax club at the Circuito Municipal de Sax track near Alicante. Qualifying was won by newly signed Kyosho driver Bryan Baldo in front of Oscar Baldo (Kyosho) while guest driver David Ronnefalk (HB Racing) rounded out the top 3 result. In the 45-minute A-main encounter it was Oscar who would prevail as he took the win a lap in front of Bryan as Manuel Iniesta (Mugen) completed the top 3 result. David Ronnefalk, who scored the fastest lap of the race, had to settle for 9th overall after engine issues in the closing stages of the race.
Image: Baldo RC
Serpent have officially announced the signing of former IFMAR 1/8th Buggy World Champion, Cody King to their factory team. The former HB Racing pilot only announced his retirement last Fall but he was still seen trackside and is now back to race Serpent’s Cobra series of 1/8th off-road buggies and trucks. In addition he will also campaign the Spyder 1/10th platforms at various 2WD and 4WD races. Cody’s calendar will include all major races in the US and abroad, including the Neo Race and the IFMAR Worlds and he had the following so say:
My first impression of the Serpent cars is awesome! The quality of the parts is the best I have ever worked with. I built my first kit last week and it went together amazingly. I have been running the cars for about 2 months and I feel very comfortable with them already. The cars are so easy to work on and every day I go practice things get better and better. […] I want to say thank you to everyone at Serpent. Especially Paul Ciccarello for all his help during this process. 2018 is going to be a great year! If anyone has any questions about the Serpent cars or brand they can contact me through email Codyking@serpentamerica.com or Facebook Messenger.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
VP Fuels USA have announced the signing of top Japanese pilot, Wataru Takashiro to their team for 2018. Wataru will use VP fuels throughout his campaign that will see appearances at all major races in Japan and overseas, such as the IFMAR World Championship in Australia, while he will also be offering trackside support.
Source: VP Fuels [vpracingfuels.com]
The third round of the HB Racing Winter Series was held at the PDMCC club in Nelson, UK. The event was rescheduled and it was HB Racing’s David Crompton who took the win from Ashley Owen (Xray) on the runner-up spot. JQ Racing’s Gavin Ottley ended the day on the final podium spot.
Image: PDMCC [facebook.com]
