FEMCA got in touch with us to let everyone know of the Warmup race that is taking place for the IFMAR 1/8th scale gas on road World Championships in Japan. The event will be held from the 20th to the 26th of May at the Kei Tune Racing Speedway in Tuchiu Ichihara Chiba, host of the main event in October. For foreign entrants, the deadline for entry is the 30th of April and you can find more information here.
Picco are reporting that Mike Swauger dominated the 2013 Airtronics race in Southern California in both 1/8th and 1/10th scale with Picco EMX Power engines. The talent that came to the Airtronics race is a show case of what the Nationals is going to be like with some of the best drivers in the USA coming to do battle. Mike TQ’d the 1/8th class and won by 2 laps over Paolo Morganti and won the sedan class ahead of DJ Apolaro. Robert Morris took the win the Sportsman class also using Picco engines.
Source: Picco [teampicco.com]
The organisers of the Euro Touring Series, the world famous championship for electric touring cars, are pleased to announce, following ongoing requests from a number of leading, onroad nitro manufacturers and drivers the establishment of a two round Euro Nitro Series Pilot Series for 2013 as preparations for a full five round championship in 2014. Catering for both 1:10 & 1:8 Onroad, the first of the 3-day events in the ENS Pilot Series will take place at Hockenhiem in Germany from May 31-June 2 with race two to be held in Austria at Stöhr-Ring on the weekend of June 28-30.
Continue reading the announcement here
Xray have announced that top US off-road & truggy driver Josh Wheeler will continue to race with the Xray team in 2013. Josh will race the XB9, XT8 and also in the 1/10 class with the new XB4. The multiple Worlds and US National finalist had this to say about the extension:
It has been great working with a top notch company like Xray for many years. I look forward to many more years of great racing and good times with Xray and the Hudy family. Xray’s commitment to perfection and making the best parts possible has allowed me to chase my dreams and compete with the top drivers in the world. Xray and the Hudy family works nonstop to provide the best parts and constantly push the RC industry. It is through this dedication that we will hopefully soon get the World Championship we are looking for. I want to say Thank You for all the support and the friendships that have been made. 2013 is going to be the best year yet.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
‘Well Psycho Nitro Blast is over, and boy was it psycho and a blast’, 2010 World Champion Cody King reports on the action. ‘The crazy hours of practice and racing really takes a toll on your body. I was already tired from Cactus the week before, and it seemed like I didn’t get to bed till 5am everyday. The good news, I was fast from the beginning, and the cars just got better as we made some adjustments. In Truggy, Lutz would grab the TQ, but the main was little different. I would get the lead early and battle the entire 45 minutes with Adam Drake and Barry Pettit. When I say the entire 45, I really mean the whole thing from tone to tone. Those guys really made me work for it, and it wasn’t until the last few laps that I finally started stretching out. I’m really pleased to have a win in truggy. It’s been awhile since I won a truggy event, and the truck is really good right now. We softened the shock oil and moved some weight up front, and it’s really good.
Continue reading the report here
The Psycho Nitro Blast was held last weekend in Unadilla, Georgia and Durango/AKA driver Ryan Lutz filed this report. This has always been one of my favorite races on my schedule and I always look forward to going back. I missed out last year as I visited the Alpha factory in Taiwan but this year I pushed that trip back to be sure I could attend the PNB. This race is just a one of a kind type event that you just have to try. What makes it so great I feel is the atmosphere and just the huge, intimidating, super rough track. The layouts generally start pretty mundane but give it a few hours of run-time on the track and the holes that develop swallow cars whole and some don’t come out. My favorite is generally the A-mains at the end of the weekend when the track is at it’s utmost extreme and it just takes a bit of creativity a patience to find lines that can keep you on 4 wheels and going fast. Here is how my roller coaster unfolded.
Continue reading the report here
Last weekend saw the opening round of the new International GP series take place in Fiorano. The race was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday but due to the bad weather forecast all the action was moved to Saturday only. Unfortunately some of the finals, including the GP1 (1/8th expert) had to be cancelled due to the rain. The organizers based the results on the qualifying times and so Alberto Picco took the win, as one of the few to run 5 minutes without a stop. Dario Balestri took 2nd and Capricorn team mate and 9-time World Champion Lamberto Collari was 3rd.
Source: Picco [teampicco.com]
The RC Pro National Series South division kicked off its season this past weekend at the all new facility of 439 Raceway in Belton, TX, just north of Austin and Jason Branham sent this report. ‘439 Raceway has put in a ton of work to get its facilities into top notch condition with features such as an enlarged track, new dirt, covered pitting area, cleaning station, on site hobby shop, on site shower, and RV hook ups for anyone choosing to bring their motor mansion. In attendance from the Xray/RCAmerica crew was I (Jason Branham), Josh Glancy, Cade Whitenton, Nick and Ethan Lefebvre, and Andrew Clark.
Continue reading the report here
