January 18, 2016

Kyle Johnson teams up with Bittydesign

Kyle Johnson teams up with Bittydesign

Italian company Bittydesign has announced the signing of Kyle Johnson to their off-road team. The Las Vegas native is the company’s first US Pro driver and he will represent the brand at all relevant races across the US. Kyle will be using Bittydesign’s off-road bodies and wings as well as the company’s paint service and he has the following to say about the deal:

The designs that you create that are unique to the RC world and the professionalism that Bittydesign brings to the industry … truly one of a kind.

Source: Bittydesign [bittydesign.net]


January 18, 2016

HB/HPI Racing split with Renaud Savoya

HB/HPI Racing split up with Renaud Savoya

Following ongoing rumours, French frontrunner Renaud Savoya today announced the split with chassis sponsors HB/HPI Racing. The contract was terminated by HB/HPI Racing after only 13 month and, from what is understood, is because of Renaud’s recent move from Team Orion to French electronics and engine suppliers RC Concept. Renaud has the following to say about the situation:

As rumors are going wild, I need to clear the situation…Indeed as of Monday, January 11th, HB / HPI Racing has decided to terminate my contract prematurely without notice and for reasons unfounded in my opinion. For the last 13 months now I had more fun than ever in my work, being part of a team that I appreciated greatly. The people, the products, the services, everything was perfect and I always spoke good about the company, my smile on the racetracks could attest it every day. I find myself today without employer with personnal projects and a family that will soon expand.

I decided to leave Team Orion because the performances and service no longer reached my expectations. My present breach of contract might be a collateral damage to my engine change…

I want to thank everyone at HB / HPI Racing who welcomed me and helped me during these 13 months: Torrance Deguzman, Hiroyuki Kasuya, Ty and Gord Tessman, David and Pierre Ronnefalk…

I hope to see you soon on the tracks, because my passion is the same as you: R/C car racing.


January 18, 2016

Morganti & Desoto Jr. win at Pan Am GT8 Grand Prix

Morganti & Desoto Jr. win at Pan Am GT8 Grand Prix

The Pan Am GT8 Grand Prix 2016 was held at the Homestead RC Raceway in Florida over the weekend in the three classes of GT Pro, GT Sportsman and GT Electric. The GT Pro class had Paolo Morganti taking the win in the 45 minute main final some two laps in front of Joaquin Desoto Jr., who took the TQ after the qualifiers. Fabrizio Martello completed the podium result in third while Uriah Murnan and Loran Whiting rounded out the top 5 result.

Continue reading here


January 18, 2016

2016 The Dirt Nitro Challenge – Announcement

2016 The Dirt Nitro Challenge – Announcement

The 17th Annual The Dirt Nitro Challenge will be held from the 17th to 21st of February at the Fear Farm R/C Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. After last year’s record breaking attendance the organiser has decided to limit the entries, allowing to keep everything to a schedule and to also provide time to enjoy the other activities that make the race such a fun place to be. To limit the entries it is not allowed to sign-up for multiple skill leves. This means experts must only sigh up in the Expert class, sportsman must only sign up in Sportsman and so on. This will limit the number of entries, allowing the organiser to finish at a scheduled time. Beside the usual array of 1/8th and 1/10th classes the event will again see 1/5th scale racing in several 2WD and 4WD classes with the 2016 event awaiting the biggest large scale field so far. More information about the Nitro Challenge and the DNC5 as well as sign-up can be found here.


January 15, 2016

Ryan Maifield confirmed at Reds Racing

Ryan Maifield confirmed at Reds Racing

TLR’s Ryan Maifield has been confirmed as part of the Reds Racing driver line-up for 2016/2017. The former Orion Nitro team driver, will debut his Reds Racing powered Horizon Hobbies JConcepts TLR at The Dirt Nitro Challenge next month. Mario Rossi had the following to say about signing the multiple National Champion:

The legacy Ryan is building is very impressive, and we are very proud to be a part of it. Off-road is incredibly competitive and Ryan is certainly one of the top 3 or 4 to beat at any event. At REDS we are very fortunate to have several top level drivers like Elliott, Cody and Cole. All of them have the skill to win Worlds this year.

Source: Reds Racing [reds-racing-usa.com]


January 14, 2016

Mark Green joins F.T. Line

Mark Green joins F.T. Line

F.T. Line have announced the signing of Mark Green to their team. The former Novarossi driver will use the whole line of F.T. Line on-road engines at the biggest events World wide and he also will be a key support and development figure for the Italian manufacturer. Mark had the following to say about his move:

I would like to thank F.T. Engines for this opportunity to race with their great racing engines and with support from DB Engine technology I am sure great results can be achieved for the 2016 racing season and onwards . Also a thank you to Gino Voghera for making it possible to join F.T. Line. I am looking forward to the start of the racing season with the F.T. Line of race engines and products and will be trackside to help any F.T. Line customers with tuning tips.

Source: F.T. Line Engine [facebook.com]


January 14, 2016

Luca Redaelli teams up with Capricorn

Luca Redaelli teams up with Capricorn

Capricorn have bolstered up their 1/10th scale nitro on-road team with the addition of Italian driver Luca Redaelli. Luca will pilot the LAB C03 20omm nitro car in the coming season with a special focus on the World Championships in Gubbio and he has the following to say:

I would like to thanks Patrizio for this oppurtunity and he is very exciting for the incoming season. After a long experience, results and hard work with my previous team Blacktarmac R/C now I decide to start a new season with Capricorn R/C team . I would like to thank Blacktarmac R/C, and SprintRC for the support they gave me in the past, with a special thank to Mr. Alessandro Borsani.

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]


January 14, 2016

Serpent GT Cup Rd1 – Report

Serpent GT Cup Rd1 – Report

The opening round of the 2016 Serpent GT Cup was held at the TRC race track in Hong Kong with over 70 drivers in attendance. New to the 2016 season is the addition of a Modified class where the drivers are free in terms of engine and tyre chose although the chassis has to remain the standard Cobra GT. The new class attracted a total of 12 drivers with 60 entries for the Stock category. The race schedule of the 1-day event saw three 10 minute qualifiers for the Stock class and a single 15 minute qualifier for the Modified class with the fastest lap counting towards the qualifying results. The A-mains would then be run as a single 40 minute main for the Stock class and two electric-style mains for the Modified category.

Continue reading the report here