The 2014 MRCC Challenge was held at the MRCC Track, Medan, North Sumatera. The annual event attracted a total of 35 participants from Jakarta, Surabaya, Pekanbaru and Medan. In the 50 minutes final Patrix (JQ Products) took the win from Wie Wen (SWorkz) and Jason Nugroho (Xray). John Agus and Andre Irawan completed the top 5 result.
Click here to view the final result
The Pan-American GT Race was held this past weekend at Homestead R/C Raceway which is one of the biggest GT events in the US with racers from Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Peru, and more. Qualifiers were a battle between Paolo Morganti and Scotty Gray having Scotty taking round 2 and 3 and having electrical issues on round 4 while on a new TQ pace. At the end Paolo took the final round and the overall TQ honours. In the finals it was a close battle for the first 35 minutes of the race being both racers 1 second apart the entire time. Scotty was able to gain the lead and make some ground from second place, thanks to a very clean run and a very good pit strategy. Finally Scotty with took the win with his Capamerica developed and XRD-powered prototype car by 8 laps followed by Andy Baez from Puerto Rico and Joel Abreu from the Dominican Republic.
Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]
Shepherd announce that they recently signed RC-talent Alessandro Balboni for the 2014 season. The young Italian driver already had his first race at the US World Nitro Cup in Kissimmee at the end of 2013 showing a very competitive pace clocking some of the fastest laps of the race. Alessandro had the following to say:
Thanks to Team Shepherd and especially Giovanni Bianchi from B-Racing for this great opportunity. I’m really happy to join the strong Team Shepherd for the 2014 season and I’m looking forward to attending the upcoming races with my Velox V10 Pro which has exceeded my expectations already.
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
Huge RC in Bangkok, Thailand, the track owned and run by 2002 ISTC World Champion Surikarn Chaidajsuriya, has been confirmed as the new host for the 2014 IFMAR 1/10th 200mm World Championships. IFMAR were left looking for a new host for the event after deciding in Japan last November not to travel to Argentina for the race. The event is scheduled to be run from the 7th to the 15th of November and will mean back to back 200mm World Championships in the country following the 2012 Worlds being held at RC Addict in another part of Bangkok.
Source: IFMAR [ifmar.org]
The French Nemo Racing team has expanded to include two new young drivers Felix Koegler (left) and Alexandre Violeau. Felix, who at only 14 years old has already shown a lot of dexterity in driving an rc car is situated in the East of France and will represent all the Nemo Racing brands in the league 6 area. Alexandre runs in league 17 and will join Damien Dénecheau in order to promote the brands. Following his great results last year he was very impressed with the Nemo Racing package and continues through 2014.
Source: Nemo Racing [nemoracing.com]
Shepherd have re-signed reigning European 1/8 Champion Jilles Groskamp. The Thailand based Dutch driver and current ISTC World Champion will be attending both 1/8th and 1/10th Euros as well as the 1/10th Worlds which are rumored to be held near his current residence in Bangkok. ‘With his professional behaviour and uncompromising attention to detail Jilles is one of our most important drivers. His feedback and ideas help us improving our products even more and also at the track he is a great help for the team’ says team boss Patrick Schäfer. Jilles has the following to say.
I would like to thank Patrick and the rest of the Shepherd crew to give this opportunity for already my fourth year with Shepherd. Last year we had some great results by winning the 1/8 Euros, TQ at the 1/10 Euros and of course some great show at the 1/8 Worlds! In the meantime some further developments are in progress and I can’t wait to test and drive both 1/10 and 1/8 for upcoming season. See you soon on the track!
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
Xray have announced that multiple US champion Paul Lemieux has re-signed to stay in the team for 2014. In 2014 Paul will race regional, national and international races with the Xray T4, NT1, X12, RX8 and XB4. The busy calendar will include all the US electric and nitro on-road nationals, Snowbirds and some major off-road races as well. Paul says:
I am excited about the continued partnership between myself and the Team Xray. I am especially excited to continue on with all of individuals that make up the Xray family as I know it. To me the “work hard but have fun” atmosphere which we have achieved at events around the globe has been the driving force in what keeps me racing. 2013 was a little bit slow in terms of races attended, but I am hoping to attend more events in 2014 and continue to assist the already very successful team develop even further.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
Shepherd have added Euro “B” and German national finalist Bernd Rausch to their team. Already testing the Velox V10 Pro at the German Open Indoor Masters and qualifying third behind Dominic Greiner and Patrick Schäfer he is eager to run the full 2014 season with the German car powered by Sonic engines. Bernd is going to attend the Euros in Valencia, the German Championship and various race of the ENS series as well as regional events like the Nitro West Masters and the West German Championship. He had the following to say:
First of all I would like to thank Kenny from KM and Adrien from Orion for the good times we had. I’m really looking forward to joining Shepherd and being a part of a team with some of the best racers in the world. Especially after their innovations on the V10 Pro it will be a pleasure to attend some big international races in 2014.
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
