Red RC » Gas

November 8, 2010

Practice gets underway in Pattaya

Formula 1 commentators always say that TV does not reflect the true elevation and spectacle of the famous Eau Rouge corner at Spa-Francorchamps and nothing could be more true about the beautifully presented track here in Pattaya, Thailand. The 13th running of the IFMAR 1:8 Off Road World Championships this is the most competitive world title fight yet for a class that is enjoying huge popularity around the world. Ask any of the international off road paddock regulars who they see as being the winning come Sunday and they all struggle to pick a shortlist let alone who the one person they see as being crowned champion.

View our full event coverage here.

November 7, 2010

EFRA releases 2011 race calendar

EFRA 2008 Approved Muffler list

Following this weekend’s EFRA AGM in Brussels, the European governing body have finalised the dates for next year’s European Championships. Also confirmed at the meeting was the host of the 2012 1/12th scale and ISTC World Championships, which will be the MACH, Heemstede in the Netherlands.

February 24-27 – 1/10th EP TC Indoor Euros – Prague, Czech Republic
March 3-6 – 1/12th scale Euros – Montbrison, France
April 9-17 – 1/8th on road Worlds – Miami, Florida
May 7-8 – 1/10th on road ‘B’ Euros – Heemstede, Holland
May 28-29 – 1/8th on road ‘B’ Euros – Hildesheim, Germany
June 11-12 – 1/8th off road ‘B’ Euros – Lyon, France
July 2-3 – 1/8th & 1/10th on road 40+ Euros – Wiesbaden, Germany
July 16-24 – 1/10th EP off road Worlds – Vaasa, Finland
July 30-31 – 1/8th on road ‘A’ Euros – Luxembourg
August 6-7 – 1/8th off road ‘A’ Euros – Sand, Germany
August 13-14 – 1/10th EP TC Euros – Traiskirchen, Austria
August 20-21 – 1/10th on road ‘A’ Euros – Ettlingen, Germany
August 27-28 – 1/10th off road Euros – Pau, France

View the full calendar here (PDF).

November 7, 2010

WC Pattaya – New in the pits

Continuing on with finding new stuff in the bits, we sat down with World Champion Atsushi Hara, who showed us his new self developed cab forward body shell. He has test this new body extensively and found it to have lots of downforce, thanks to not only the front cab, but the ridges going up the side of the cab as well as the rear winglets. This space behind the cab allows cleaner air to reach the wing for better balance, which he has found using one from another manufacturer. The body is expected to be released next month.

View our full event coverage here.

November 6, 2010

Drivers start to arrive at RCP

Saturday has come and gone here at RCP in Pattaya, Thailand with little or no activity apart from a few racers dropping by to check out the track. People’s first impressions is one of awe, with all those visiting for the first time expecting it to be a very difficult track to conquer. With race registration beginning tomorrow we expect all competitors and manufacturers to be trackside so expect more in the line of updates then.

View our full event coverage here.

November 4, 2010

Wayne Joelson retains SA title with Rd4 win

The 4th and final round of the 2010 South African On Road Gas Nationals took place at the TRAP facility just outside the city of Pretoria recently. Taking TQ in the 1/8th scale class, the only driver to run 18 laps in the qualifiers, was current SA Champion Wayne Joelson driving his Novarossi powered Mugen Seiki MRX4X. The final, which had to be shortened to 40 minutes due to threatening weather, saw Wayne take victory by 5 laps ahead of team mate Faizel Salie in 2nd and Serpent driver Dave Wiseman in 3rd, a lap further back. This results sees Wayne retained his drivers’ title, with Steve Munslow taking 2nd spot in the Championship.

Thanks to Wayne Joelson for the update.

November 4, 2010

Losi 8ight of Mike Truhe

Having shown you photos of Adam Drakes Losi 8ight yesterday, team mate and top qualifier at the 2008 Worlds Mike Truhe has posted photos of his WC ride on Facebook. We can’t see but presume he is running the new chassis with the steel tips, but more interestingly is the car’s rear chassis brace that has been replaced by a shock absorber from one of their 1/10th scale cars. Its travel has been limited as you would expect and is an interesting option giving a mid way point between a stiff chassis with brace installed and a flexy chassis without the brace.

View more images here

November 3, 2010

Losi 8ight of Adam Drake

With the Losi team finished all their pre event testing for next week’s World Championships in Thailand, Adam Drake sent us these photos of his race ready 8ight chassis. An interesting feature of the car is the strengthened chassis plate which sports steel tips set flush into the front and rear ends of the chassis to protect it from the highly abrasive and damaging Pattaya track. By only replacing the extremities of the chassis plate, the additional weight is kept to a minimum, but durability is increased dramatically.

View more images of Adam’s car here

November 3, 2010

US Open Championship – Announcement

Kissimmee Raceway have been in touch to tell us about the 5th running of their annual US Open Championship that takes place at their facility from the 19th to 21st of November. Open to 1/8th on road nitro and 1/10th scale 200mm the format consists of 4 rounds of qualifying with triple A-mains for all classes. Entry is now open and you can find more information, including entry form, at the track site here.