U.S. World Nitro Cup – Announcement

The crew at Full Throttle RC Raceway in Kissimmee, Florida have been in touch to let everyone know about the U.S. World Nitro Cup race that they are organising from the 5th to the 8th of December this year. Located close to all the major Florida attractions such as Disney, Epcot, MGM, Universal Studios etc, the race will be held on their newly resurfaced track and is open to 3 classes, Sedan, 1/8th Masters and 1/8th Open. The event has already attracted entries from a number of top US drivers as well as some major European and Japanese names. Full details on the event can be downloaded here (PDF).

Nicholas Lee wins 2013 Futaba Cup

The annual Futaba Cup took place last weekend in the city of Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia and Nicholas Lee gave this report. ‘The track was resurfaced two weeks before the event but the layout remains the same as to the one I attended last year with the surface sugar watered for increased traction on Saturday. This year’s event attracted drivers from 8 different countries, but most notably, 1 Reigning World champion from Thailand (Meen.V) and 2 Worlds finalists (Alexander Hagberg and Chavit). As I had a good result finishing 2nd last year for the 10th and the 8th scale, I was hoping for a strong result. My dad and I arrived on Wednesday and we headed to the track right away. There were some new rules for this year as addictive is allowed and 4 rounds of 5 minutes qualifiers were to be run. My initial plan was to break-in engines and choose the best engine for the race. However, I had a stressful week because none of my engines would finish 5 minutes. I wasted the time stressing on my engines rather than finding a competitive car setup and tyre combination.

Continue reading the report here

Morganti double at Byron Fuels On Road Challenge

Nitro racers from all over the USA and from as far away as Shanghai, China descended on Leisure Hours RC Raceway in Joliet, IL for the 2013 Byron Fuels On Road Challenge. Qualifying would JJ Wang take the top spot in 1/10th 200mm, Joaquin DeSoto Jr the top spot in Nitro GT and Paolo Morganti the top spot in 1/8th scale. First on the schedule was the 1/10th scale class which following an early exit by Wang after 4 minutes, say Morganti go to the front of the field and take the win only 3 seconds in front of DJ Apolaro in 2nd, with Vincent Jackson in 3rd, 4 laps further back. The GT class turnout was very large this year and this resulted in some intense racing. Taking the TQ honors and finishing first in the 60 minute A main was Joaquin DeSoto Jr. Bill Sydor finished in second place followed by Andy Liu in third to complete an all Serpent podium. Although the first 20 minutes of racing during the 1/8th 60 minute A main was exciting and intense, lightning and rain forced the end of racing for the day. As a result, the top qualifiers were awarded the podium positions. Paolo Morganti, TQing took the first place followed by Mike Pulfer (Xray) and Jason Conley (Xray). Byron fuels took the win in all three classes.

View the other podiums here