AKA have announced the addition of young Davide Ongaro to their team. The newly-signed Team Associated driver will use AKA rubber in in 1/8th and 1/10th scale campaign that will span through to 2018. Davide’s first race for his new sponsorship package will be at this weekend’s The Italian Job race in Padova, Italy.
Source: AKA Europe [racing-experience.fr]
Team Associated and Reedy have welcomed Mark and Ryan Pavidis to their team. Mark, 1995 IFMAR 4WD Buggy World Champion with Yokomo and Reedy, has a long winning history with AE and the Reedy brand and following many years with TLR he now comes back, together with his son Ryan, to what he calls his home. Both will campaign Team Associated and Reedy products and Mark has the following to say:
An opportunity presented itself to come back to my racing roots at Associated. The entire program for electric and nitro is very well balanced. So here we are, almost 13 years later, and I am happy to say that Ryan and I will be representing Team Associated and Reedy once again. The memories created racing with Team Associated and Reedy in the late 80’s through the 90’s are unforgettable. I am excited now to give Ryan the opportunity to create those same memories! Ryan and I are both looking forward to sharing this experience, and we want to thank AE for the opportunity to come back home.
Image: Mark Pavidis
Following their departure from tyre sponsors Pro-Line, Kyosho’s Jared Tebo and TLR’s Dakotah Phend have found a new home at AKA. Jared’s stint at PL was pretty short-lived, having joined the prestigious company at the beginning of 2016, while Phend’s relationship dates back to 2012. The two kick off their campaign with AKA at this weekend’s CRCRC race.
Multiple ROAR National Champion Adam Drake has announced that he will no longer be running Novarossi engines. Having joined the Italian manufacturer back in early 2009, the partnership was formidable with multiple US titles and countless other wins but as it seems with a lot of long standing sponsorship deals recently, all good things come to an end. Adam posted this message on Facebook:
As 2016 comes to an end, so does my time with Novarossi. It’s been an amazing run and I’m very grateful for the support and relationships I’ve built with everyone at Novarossi and Novarossi Direct. I wish the best for everyone at Novarossi. Looking forward to an exciting new path in 2017! A new year reveals new possibilities!
Mugen Seiki Europe have announced the signing of Spain’s Juan Carlos Canas to their international factory team. The 2016 1/8th Buggy Euro B winner and Euro A finalist already campaigned Mugen vehicles and he will now get full factory support for his national and international races and in the build-up to the 2018 World Championships in Australia.
Source: Mugen Seiki [mugen.eu]
Long-time Kyosho factory driver and 2010 1/8th Off-road World Champion, Cody King, has announced his departure from the Japanese manufacturer. The news comes only days after Cody issued a first, slightly cryptic, statement about his future at Kyosho on social media and now things have clarified, ending doubts whether a change is ahead or not. Cody has yet to announce a new chassis sponsor deal but in the meantime he has the following to say:
Wow, where do I begin? The decision is final now, I won’t return to Kyosho for the 2017 season after all. Our relationship was very long, 14 years to be exact. It was a great ride, and we went a long way. From begging John Stokes and Alex Kong at Great Planes for support back in the day, to watching the creation of Kyosho America near my house in Southern California, to meeting Joel Johnson and Steve Pond at that time, as well as all the Kyosho America staff. Then going all the way to the Worlds and winning the race. What great memories. Then having my car and paint scheme on the Inferno box for many years, that is something that I never could have dreamed would happen. I want to thank Aki Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Sasai, and Mitsuo Yoshimaru at Kyosho Japan. Mr. Sasai was very supportive and really believed in me. I’m very grateful for that. Also Futoshi Ishihara and Steve Pond at Kyosho America, thank you very much for all the years of support. It has been an absolute great ride and great experience. They say the only thing constant in the universe is change. Indeed it’s true. On to the next chapter…
Tekno RC have announced the addition of Italy’s Alex Zanchettin to their factory team. Alex’s experience and talent will be a great asset to Tekno’s expanding European team as well as Tekno RC racers in the EU region. His first race will be the Italian Job at IBR Padova, Italy this coming weekend and the former TLR driver had the following to say about the deal:
I would like to thank Daniel Lewis, Ilias Arkoudaris and all Team Tekno for giving me the opportunity to join the team. I’m very excited to get started with all of the new products, and I’m sure we will have many successful years together. I already feel very welcome in the team and I’m looking forward to working with everybody. See you all at the track!
Source: Tekno RC [teknorc.com]
Former IFMAR 1/8th Nitro Buggy World Champion and record National Champion, Robert Batlle has announced another new sponsor for this season with AKA being his official tyre supplier. The Spaniard’s first race for the US company will be this weekend’s The Italian Job Race in Padova, Italy and he has the following to say about the deal:
On the way to Padova for the first race of the year… is the moment to announce that AKA will be our tyres supplier for the next two seasons! I would like to thank Mark Pavidis, Joel Johnson and Bernard Duran to believe in me and my team, the season is going to start, stay tuned!
