July 31, 2013

Carsten Keller wins EFRA GP in Bischofsheim

Carsten Keller wins EFRA GP in Bischofsheim

The well-known Rhein-Main-Circuit in Bischofsheim played host for the German EFRA 1/8th nitro buggy GP. The race was set as a pre-warm-up for the club and the German RC car association as the track will be the place of next year’s EFRA European Championship. Just before the meeting the track received some make-overs here and there in the form of a new pit exit and some updated curbs but overall the Rhein-Main-Circuit was well known for most of the driver that came from all over Europe including Finland, the UK, Switzerland, Austria and of course Germany. Friday was set a the practice day and most of the drivers made good use of the chance to adopt their cars, engines and tyres to the scorching hot temperatures. Saturday saw the qualifiers and at the end it was JQ Products’ own Joseph Quagraine who took TQ in front of Kyosho’s Martin Hansen who had Simon Esser (Xray) and Carsten Keller (Kyosho) in tow.

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July 31, 2013

Nitro-West-Masters mid-season report

Nitro-West-Masters mid-season report

The second half of the Nitro-West-Masters 2013 will start with round four held at the Velp track in the Netherlands this coming weekend. Located close to the German boarder the Velp track is of a challenging layout and 260 metres long. It is the fifth year of this popular championship mainly run in Western Germany and it is only the second time this nitro series is going abroad of Germany. With no official licence being needed the Nitro-West-Masters is a class for everybody and the tyres are open with additives strictly forbidden. The racing format is the same as in previous years with three seven minute heats and the three best consecutive laps to count for the qualifiers. The race format sees four direct qualifiers and the race is run in Sunday with the Saturday being the official practice day.

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July 30, 2013

Adam Drake doubles at Top Notch Tour Rd1

Adam Drake doubles at Top Notch Tour Rd1

The first stop of the Top Notch Tour took place at Thunder Alley Raceway. Sik Track Designs put in fresh layout for the event and TLR/Novarossi/Pro-Line driver Adam Drake TQ’ed both rounds of qualifying in the Pro Buggy class. Drake took the victory in the 30 minute final followed by Mark Pavidis and Colby Poh. In the Money Buggy class Drake didn’t run the qualifiers and start in the back for the 25 minute final, but quickly moved his way to the front and took the win followed by Jeremy Kortz and Colby Poh.

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July 29, 2013

Drake double at Bring the Heat race

Drake double at Bring the Heat race

The third annual Bring The Heat Race was held at Flowood R/C Indoor Park in Flowood, Mississippi July 19-21. TLR’s Adam Drake TQ’d and won both Buggy and Truggy. Adam’s tire of choice for qualifying was Pro-Line’s M3 Holeshot 2.0 in buggy and M3 Holeshot in truck. For the 45 minute finals Adam switched to Pro-Line’s M3 Blockades in both classes. Adam’s engine of choice was Novarossi’s Keep Off 4 in the buggy class and the Keep Off 7 in truck. Both engines provided great power, runtime and consistency for the 45 minute finals.

View the truggy podium here


July 29, 2013

Baird & Rennick win at Irish off-road nats Rd2

Baird & Rennick win at Irish off-road nats Rd2

Round two of the Irish 1/8th off-road nationals was held on a new track to the Irish calendar in Southern Ireland, Cork. The qualifying consisted of four seven minute heats and in the nitro buggy class Bradley Baird (JQ/nVision) TQ’d all four rounds and locked up qualifying. In the electric class JQ Products’ driver Andrew Rennick put in three consistent runs which put him third in the electric main. In the 45 minute nitro main, Bradley got off to a clean start and within the first 15 minutes he managed to pull a one lap lead over second place. As the final went on the tricky Cork surface began to rut up and become like a motocross track which made great racing and caught out the unprepared. Bradley kept it together to the end and claimed round two victory followed by Gary Baird (Kyosho/Bullett) and Alan Scroggie (Agama/Bullett). In the electric final it was a three battle for the lead with great racing right to the buzzer which saw Andrew Rennick take his JQ E car to the top step of the podium.

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July 28, 2013

Groskamp wins 2013 1/8th European Championships

Groskamp wins 2013 1/8th European Championships

Jilles Groskamp has become the 2013 1/8th Track European Champion here in Halifax after a thrilling final saw him take the win after a race long battle with Brit Kyle Branson, Dario Balestri completed the podium. The finals day in Halifax began with a dry track, something that hadn’t happened many times during the week. Hot temperatures began the day but by the time the semi finals were out on track, it had cooled slightly. In the first semi final, Dario Balestri took a dominating win ahead of his Capricorn team mate Daniele Ielasi and Simon Kurzbuch’s Shepherd. Balestri finished on 78 laps in 1208.48 seconds with Ielasi on 77 laps in 1205.55 seconds with Kurzbuch just .91 seconds behind. Adrian Bertin took the final definite place with the new KM prototype car but Patrick Schafer would have to wait and see if he had made the final.  The second semi final proved to be a much closer affair with Mark Green taking the win just .32 seconds ahead of the Shepherd of Groskamp. 3rd and 4th in the Semi A, to definitely book their place in the final, were Motonica’s Robin D’Hondt and Mugen’s Kyle Branson. A noticeable person missing from the final would be Robert Pietsch with the German taking his Novarossi powered Mugen to 8th position. Green’s run of 78 laps in 1201.95 seconds proved to be a whole 7 seconds faster than Dario’s winning time in the Semi B, putting Mark on pole for the 45 minute main final.

Continue reading the report here


July 26, 2013

Mark Green is 1/8th Euro A top qualifier

Mark Green is 1/8th Euro A top qualifier

Mark Green is the top qualifier at the 2013 1/8th European A Championships in Halifax.  The Serpent driver pulled everything he had out of the bag in the last round of qualifying to take the TQ by 0.14 seconds from Capricorn’s Dario Balestri who held the accolade after the first 4 rounds.  With Balestri fastest in the first qualifier, Jilles Groskamp topped the 2nd round with a run of 21 laps in 313.00 seconds ahead of Balestri and Green.  With the clock approaching 12:00 at the time of the run, the track proved to be too slow.  In the 3rd round, Mark Green took his serpent to the fastest time ahead of Capricorn’s Daniele Ielasi and Mugen’s Kyle Branson.  Posting a time of 21 laps in 314.18 seconds, Green again proved that the track was too slow.  After the lunch break Round 4 commenced and again Groskamp posted the fastest time to improve by around a second ahead of Dario Balestri and Mark Green hinting ever so slightly that the track was picking up pace as the sun started to go down.  With almost every heat prior to the top heat going faster in the final round, the stage was set for something special to come.  Dario Balestri would lead for the majority of the heat only for Mark Green to close him down and take the round on the last lap to the joy of the crowd.  The stage is set for an exciting set of finals tomorrow.

View the final qualifying results here


July 26, 2013

Hara, Kanai & Vejrak confirmed for FEMCA Champs

2013 FEMCA Championships - Announcement

The organisers of this year’s FEMCA Championships for 1/8th buggy and 1/10th ISTC in Beijing, China, which take place from the to the 18th to the 28th of August, have been in contact to tell us that they have confirmed entries from 3 World Champions. Firstly former World 1/8th Offroad World Champions Atsushi Hara along with Yuichi Kanai will be in attendance, while current 1/10th scale World Champion Meen Vejrak will also attend. The offroad event will be held on a new permanent facility and Red RC will be attending the offroad portion of the event to cover it live. Entries are still open and you can find out more information here.