October 12, 2013

1:8 Onroad to crown all new World Champion

1:8 Onroad to crown all new World Champion

The sport’s oldest and founding class is to crown an all new World Champion this evening in Japan as the only former World Champion Adrien Bertin exited from the event in the first of the Semi Finals.  Starting from 5th on the grid the KM Racing driver lasted just 2 and a half minutes of the half hour final when he was forced out with a broke steering servo saver.  Up front and booking his place in the race that will decide the 19th World Champion, Mugen/OS driver Takaaki Shimo controlled the race from start to finish only dropping from the top of the timing screens when he made a full tyre change.

Continue reading this story here or view our complete event coverage here.


October 11, 2013

Worlds Semi final line up complete

Worlds Semi final line up complete

The line up for tomorrow’s Semi-Finals at the 1:8 Onroad World Championship is complete as Day 6 in Japan ended with a dramatic 1/4A Final that saw Atsushi Hara claim the final bump up spot to progress to the big day at the misfortune of Serpent’s Michael Salven. A controlled race from the pole position starting HB of Teemu Leino saw the 200mm World Championship Top Qualifier take a very comfortable 12 second win over the Shepherd of former finalist Oliver Mack.

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October 11, 2013

Argentina loses 200mm World Championship

IFMAR Sign

Argentina will not be hosting next year’s 1:10 200mm Nitro Touring Car World Championship.  The decision was made this morning at the IFMAR AGM which is taking place at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in Japan.  With only a single application from a track not too far from venue of last year’s troubled 1:8 Offroad World Championship, the Pros & Cons of hosting the race near Buenos Aires were discussed with it decided that in the best interest of the class the race be relocated.  With no FAMAR representative traveling to Japan to attend the AGM it was voted that the WC would be awarded to FEMCA. Hosts of last year’s Worlds in Thailand, where Meen Vejrak claimed the title, FEMCA accepted and will now start to gather applications from the 15 countries which they represent.  1:10 Nitro Touring Car is at a critical point with numbers struggling and moving the race should be viewed positively by the small number of manufacturers still supporting the class.

Continue reading for more IFMAR AGM matters here


October 10, 2013

Tadahiko Sahashi is Worlds Top Qualifier

Tadahiko Sahashi is Worlds Top Qualifier

Team Serpent’s Tadahiko Sahashi is the Top Qualifier at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in Japan.  The 24-year-old claimed the honour thanks to his time set on the opening day of qualifying as yet again conditions for the sixth & final qualifier left the Keitune Racing Speedway slower than Tuesday evening’s Q2 rocket round.  With Mugen’s Takehiro Terauchi the only driver to run 36 laps in Q6, there was no improvement from the top 24 drivers with top US racer Paolo Morganti the biggest mover for the round with a time that moved him from 39th to 25th to book himself a place in the 1/4 finals.

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October 10, 2013

RB/Xray Cup – Report

RB/Xray Cup – Report

The RB/Xray Cup took place at the SAMC club in La Motte Servolex in France. 65 drivers attended in 1/8 Buggy Open and Promo as well as 1/8 E-buggy. Friday allowed for a lot of track time but come Saturday the heaven opened its gates ruining most of the day. Fortunately the club was well prepared offering good lighting to continue running in the evening. The qualifiers and finals were run on Sunday in an electric race format with 6 minute qualification runs and three 10 minute finals. The short runs made for lots of action on the track and especially the Open class saw hard battles between Miguel Matias, Marco Baruffolo and Lorenzo Crolla. At the end the three came in in the aforementioned order handing Matias the Open class win. In Promo Tanguy Vandre took the winning honours in front of David Restani and Joel Santos. The E-buggy class saw Yannick Brozzini taking the win with Corentin Precoma and Youssef Lesbir in tow.

Click here to view the other podiums


October 10, 2013

Adam Drake triples at Southern Nationals

Adam Drake triples at Southern Nationals

The 2013 Southern Nationals and R/C Expo took place at the Ike Hamilton Expo Center in West Monroe, LA. The event was a huge success with over 300 entries. Three rounds of qualifying were run on Saturday, followed by lower nitro mains and the first round of electric mains. The remaining two rounds of electric mains and upper nitro mains were run on Sunday.  Adam Drake had a mechanical issue in the first round of nitro buggy, but TQ’ed round two and three to take the top qualifying honours in 1/8th nitro buggy. At the start of the 45 minute nitro buggy final, Drake was hit and sent to the rear of the field but he was able to quickly move his way back to the front and had a good battle with Taylor Peterson and Ryan Lutz before taking control of the race and settling into a comfortable lead.  Drake took the victory followed by Lutz and Peterson.

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October 9, 2013

Tadahiko just one run away from being Top Qualifier

Tadahiko just one run away from being Top Qualifier

Tadahiko Sahashi is just one qualifier away from securing the honour of Top Qualifier at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships and based on today’s qualifying the Team Serpent driver can already get the glasses ready for the champagne to celebrate.  After yesterday evening’s rocket round, today’s hot conditions meant no one came near to challenging Sahashi with the Top 16 remaining unchanged from yesterday.  The highest placed driver to post their quickest time today was HB’s Hideo Kitazawa who holds 17th position.  With the top drivers using today’s three qualifiers as a test run for the finals, it was the Sahashi brothers who still locked out the top of the time sheets.  Having posted the fastest time in the days opening & third qualifier, when the only 36-lap runs were recorded, Tadahiko also ended the day with the fastest time of Q5 & the day albeit it over a full lap of his TQ pace. In Q4 his brother Yuya took his Serpent 977 to the fastest time again a full lap off the Q2 topping time.

Continue reading this story here or view our complete event coverage here.


October 9, 2013

The Dual – Announcement

The Dual – Announcement

Thunder Alley R/C Raceway and the Pro-Line Test Track play host for The Dual, a unique 2-day event on the weekend of the 27th of October. Run in 1/8th Nitro Sportsman, Intermediate and Expert, 1/8th Open E-buggy and invitational Buggy and Truggy classes the race schedule sees three races at Thunder Alley Raceway on Saturday and three on the Pro-Line track on Sunday, with one throw out at each venue counting the best four to award the winners on Sunday evening. Race director is none less than Jimmy Babcock. More information and the registration can be found here.