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February 25, 2016

Colin Herzig sweeps Expert classes at 2016 DNC

This past weekend, the 2016 Dirt Nitro Challenge was once again held at The Fear Farm in Goodyear, Arizona. Joey and The Dirt track crew did an amazing job on the track build for this years event and it was a big hit with all the drivers. Kenny Brosh and Jimmy Babcock did another great job keeping the race program moving silky smooth all weekend long and with the total 1/8th race entries being limited to 600 this year, the event went off without a hitch and was very well received by all the racers. On Saturday night, the 30-Minute Expert Nitro Truggy A-Main event would be run. Kyosho America’s Colin Herzig would start 3rd on the grid and as the dust settled after the 30-Minute A-main, it was Herzig taking the impressive win by just under 1 second ahead of TQ holder CJ Jelin (HB). Victor Guerrero (HB) would go onto finish 3rd on the podium.

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February 23, 2016

Aaron Dexter takes Australian Junior national title

The recent opening round of the Australian Off-road Nationals in Tasmania saw the running of a Junior race on Saturday. Aaron Dexter would take the win in the Buggy class, coming from 13th on the reversed grid. He had a tough start into the main as he got bumped off the track but with 10 minutes to go he found himself battling for the lead. Suddenly Mitchell Steer, who was in the lead at that time, had a flame out when he came in for fuel. That placed Aaron first until he clipped the rope and crashed. That put Mitchell back into the lead but Aaron was able to apply pressure on him. On the second last lap, Mitchell crashed twice and Aaron managed to get a good enough gap to win and to be crowned the Australian Junior National Champion.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

February 23, 2016

HB Europe signs Morgan Renzi

HB Europe have announced the signing of Morgan Renzi to their nitro on-road team. The Italian will campaign the company’s R8 1/8th nitro on-road car and he plans to attend at all major races in Italy while also providing technical support for HB racers with the help of Alessandro Sabbatini.

Source: HB Europe [hbeurope.com]

February 23, 2016

Elliott Boots wins at Trofeo PGRacing

The inaugural Trofeo PGRacing was held at the Le Pescine off-road track in Tuscany, Italy over the weekend. The event attracted both local talent and internationally experienced drivers such as Elliott Boots, Alex Zanchettin and others to race in several 1/8th off-road categories. The start of the Expert class A-main saw Davide Tortorici, Alex Zanchettin and Elliott Boots breaking away from the field early. Elliott tried to pass Alex which cost both a bit of time, allowing Davide to gap both. Once Elliott passed Alex he got his head down, beginning to chase Davide. Some 10 minutes into the race Boots finally found a way past the leader and he never looked back. Finding a good rhythm and not making any mistakes allowed Elliott to finally take the win despite some minor issues during the 45 minute A-main, such as not having track lights for around 5 minutes. Thankfully the track guys were able to light things up again and at the end Fabrizio Teghesi (Kyosho) and Alex Zanchettin (TLR) would complete the top 3 result behind winner Elliott Boots (Kyosho).

Source: Elliott Boots | Image: David Menichetti

February 22, 2016

Cavalieri denies Maifield in epic DNC final

Ryan Cavalieri denied long standing arch rival Ryan Maifield from retaining his Dirt Nitro Challenge buggy title reversing the outcome of last year’s final to win an epic 45-minute encounter at the Fear Farm. Starting 3rd on the grid, Cavalieri would take a late lead and see off a final corner lunge by Maifield to claim his first DNC title at the Fear Farm by 1.151-seconds, his last win coming in 2010 when the race was held at the Nitro Pit. With both Cavalieri and Maifield hitting trouble in Saturday’s Truggy Main when they ran out of fuel, in Buggy it was the new Truggy Champion Ty Tessmann who was to have the bad luck as he was robbed of the race lead just after the halfway mark when a stone got caught up in a rear wheel. The race’s most winning driver, Tessmann would drag his HB back to pits and while a repeat of his 2014 double was done the Canadian would still finish on the lead lap to complete the podium at the 17th running of the Joey Christensen event.

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

February 22, 2016

Andy North to run ARC

Zen Racing have announced that the 1/8th scale racer Andy North will join the team for the 2016 season. Andy, the current British Open Champion and veteran Mugen driver, will focus on local races this year but he will very likely return to national events soon. Andy had the following to say:

I am very privileged to be asked by Paul and especially David Spashett of Zen Racing to test the ARC 8.0 chassis of which I have accepted to race in the 2016 British racing season. I firstly have to thank Mugen Seiki Europe and especially Stefan for their direct supporting after the Ted Longshaw era of which I have been racing Mugen products for the last 14 years and since the MRX3 incarnation. I am however good friends with David Spashett and Pitman Richard Sheriff on a personal level away from racing which makes this deal even more special to me and a no brainer going forward. This year will also see me become a Dad for the first time in April so my racing will be limited to local races in the short term but I expect to complete the full championship come the end of the year since nitro racing is in my blood. I am very much looking forward to working with all the Zen Racing Team and producing good results.

Source: Zen Racing [zen-racing.co.uk]

February 22, 2016

Mattia Collavo wins at Gara delle Frittelle race

Mattia Collavo wins at Gara delle Fritelle race

The Pista Verde track in Fener, Italy played host to the Gara delle Frittelle race this past Sunday. Classes run were 1/8th on-road 1/8th 2WD and 1/10th Touring and in the premier class of 1/8th Nitro On-road it was Mattia Collavo who set the pace after the qualifiers by taking the top qualifier position and he would also come out fastest in the A-main, scoring not only the win but also the fastest lap of the event.

Source: Novarossi [novarossi.it]

February 22, 2016

Lutz, Truhe & Savoya books places main DNC event

Ryan Lutz together with Mike Truhe and Renaud Savoya complete the grid for the main event at the Dirt Nitro Challenge after filling the Top 3 places in the B-Main. Starting on pole, Lutz would initially drop to 2nd behind Adam Drake after a first lap bobble before going back to the front again on lap 2. Losing the lead to Truhe, the Tekno driver would retake the lead at the first round of stops as Truhe suffered a flame during refuelling. Once back in front, the Tekno driver would take control of the race to win by a very comfortable 25-seconds margin over Truhe’s Mugen. Also surviving a flame out on his second stop, Savoya would come out on top of a frantic battle for 3rd that involved early leader Adam Drake, Austin Blair, Steven Harris and Joseph Quagraine. Running in a Top 3 place early on, Xray’s Martin Bayer would be forced to retire just before the halfway distance due to a protruding chassis screw.

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