Dario Balestri wins 1/8th Rd1 in Italy

The first round of the Italian 1/8th on road Nationals was held last weekend at the Cassino track in the centre of the country. Qualifying went the way of Worlds podium finisher Dario Balestri, driving his Novarossi power Capricorn, ahead of Michele Romagnoli with his Shepherd in 2nd with team mate Andrea Pirani in 3rd and Serpent driver Andrea Cristiani in 4th. With no direct qualifiers as per the new EFRA rules it was semis for the top drivers and it was Lamberto Collari that would take the pole position to line up ahead of Balestri, both drivers winning their respective semi finals. In the 30 minute final it was Dario Balestri that would come out on top, with the qualifying result being reflected in the final standings as Michel Romagnoli was 2nd, 1 lap down, and Andrea Pirani in 3rd a further 3 laps back.

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]

Sean Lue claims Florida State Series 1/8th title

Sean Lue has taken the coveted title of Florida State Series 1/8th On Road Champion.  This year was especially competitive due to the 2011 World Championship held in Florida. Manufacturers sent some of their top drivers from around the world for testing to some of the Florida series races, which made the level of competition extremely high at some of the series races. Sean Lue had this to say about his Championship.

This was a good season with a lot of competition. There were a lot of top level drivers from around the world competing in some of the series races this year. It was not an easy victory. I would like to thank my sponsors. Murnan Modified Motors first and foremost, my engines performed brilliantly all season long. I would also like to thank Powermaster fuel. The fuel is giving me more power, and longer runtimes than any other fuel I have ever tested.

Source: Murnan Modified [murnanmodified.com]

Second win for Belgian Steven Cuypers in Western Germany

Second race, second win: Belgian Steven Cuypers has dominated round two of the Western German Championship 1/8 nitro on-road at Oberhausen like he did three weeks ago at the season opener at Dormagen. Again the Mugen team driver achieved pole position, fastest lap and victory. Second spot on the podium went to Tobias Hepp (Xray) ahead of René Puepke (Serpent). 40 entries were registered for this race weekend at the mecca of rc racing in Western Germany. Finally 16 racers competed in class 1 and 22 in class 2. Practice day was interrupted at lunch time by a rain shower and on race day both finals were delayed as a result of a short shower.

Continue reading the report here

Mattia Pesenti wins Swiss Rd2 in Lostallo

During last weekend about 22 drivers in V10-200mm, 31 Amateurs and 20 Experts in V8 took part in the 2nd round of the Swiss Nationals in Lostallo. The weather forecast was not so good but it turned out to be nice, with the sun strong enough to give drivers mostly dry conditions. The team from MRCU once again made a good job and organized the race very well. Thanks to the team.

Continue reading the report here

Michael Palazzola wins Las Vegas Grand Prix

This year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix was held at Silver Bowl Raceway in Las Vegas Nevada recently and it was Michael Palazzola was looking for his first win with his Mugen Seiki MRX5. Despite cold temperatures and high winds, the car was fast and steady for the entire weekend. On Saturday Michael was top qualifier in the 1st and 3rd round and again showed consistency on Sunday, taking top qualifier spot in the 4th round to wrap up the overall TQ spot. Race day was filled with excitement and anticipation as 10 racers took their positions in the A-Main. Michael starting in 1st position never gave up the top spot during the 45-minute race. By the 1st pit stop, he started to pull away going on to take the win by a full 12 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher Ron Gustin, with Steven Jackson in 3rd.

Source: Mugen USA [mugenracing.com]