March 16, 2010

Adrien Bertin wins French 10th Nats Rd1

Adrien Bertin wins French 10th Nats Rd1

The opening round of the French 1/10th 200mm Nationals took place last weekend in Neuville de Poitou in the west of the country. Qualifying on Saturday, with the introduction of 7 minute heats, saw Nicolas Bougnoteau take the pole position in the Elite class with the new Capricorn LAB-C01, while in the National series it was Quentin Leroux at the head of the field. In the Elite main final it was a to be down to who changed tires or not and it was former World Champion Adrien Bertin who made the correct call to not change and he took the win 2 laps in front of Bougnoteau who did change, with Thomas Desmarie taking 3rd. In the National class, pole man Leroux led from start to finish, to win by 2 laps with Michaël Fouin in 2nd and Théry Persyn in 3rd.

Click here for the National podium


March 16, 2010

Shepherd reports on Worlds Warm up race

Shepherd reports on Worlds Warm up race

The warm-up for this years IFMAR World Championship 1/10 Nitro Touring Car was held in Houston, Texas at the beginning of March. For Team Shepherd it was quite an important event as it was the real first test with the team under race conditions with our latest development, the Velox V10, against other international top drivers. As announced before, Shepherd’s team drivers Jilles Groskamp, Daniele Ielasi and Josh Cyrul joined the factory staff around Patrick Schäfer to prepare for this years major event in July.

Continue reading the report here


March 16, 2010

Victor Pelaez joins Serpent Spain

Victor Pelaez joins Serpent Spain

Serpent Spain have announced that they have signed front running Spanish touring car driver Victor Pelaez to race the 733 in 2010. The double Spanish National Champion and 4th place finisher at the European ‘B’ Championships in Ampuis, France in 2008 will be not only driving for the team but helping promote the new car in Spain. Víctor had the following to say about the deal:

I would like to thank Modelcar / Serpent for the opportunity they have given me to run the new 733. I will do my best to win the Championship title this year. Since the first day of testing the 733, I felt very confident, the car is amazing and I’m really happy with it.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


March 15, 2010

Abisset wins opening French 1/8th National

Abisset wins opening French 1/8th National

The opening round of the French 1/8th scale on road nationals took place last weekend in Beaumont Monteux in the south east of the country. Qualifying in the Elite class went the way of Shepherd driver Richard Volta, who after 7 minutes was 3 seconds in front of Serpent/RB driver Anthony Abisset, with team mate Stéphane Riccobono and Motonica driver Arnaud Mathieu completing the top 4. In the National class, Serpent racer Damien Thirion took the top qualifying spot in front of Mugen driver Eric Loge in 2nd, with Maxime Tenet and Jérémy Cassagne in 3rd and 4th. The elite final saw Volta lead away with Abisset in close pursuit, this order remained the same until Volta hit mechanical trouble and dropped out of contention allowing Anthony to take over at the front, who close to the end of the race had a close battle with team mate Riccobono, but a small mistake by Stéphane gave Anthony the breathing room to take the win, with Riccobono 2nd and Gérald Colinet in 3rd, giving Serpent and RB the complete podium. In the National class saw an early race battle between Loge and Thirion with the latter taking the lead and able to build up a gap before stopping just before the pits and allowing Loge back into the lead with Antoine Gaschet climbing up to 2nd, while Thirion recovered to take 3rd.

Click here to see the national podium


March 15, 2010

Trofeo Motonica 2010 report

Trofeo Motonica 2010 report

Last weekend saw the Trofeo Motonica take place at the Riccione track in Italy and attracted drivers across three categories 1/8th, 1/10th 200mm and 1/8th Classic. In the 1/8th scale 4wd class it was Maunel Tordi that took the win by over a lap from Paolo Maggioli in 2nd and Stefano Sammarini in 3rd, a lap further back. Pole man Sando Sammarini, easily the quickest man in the race, had to retire after only 6 minutes. In the 1/10th scale class Alex Rinati took the victory, 3 laps clear of Manuel Antinori in 2nd, with pole man Alessandro Bracci a lap back in 3rd spot. In the Classic class, Paolo Gaggiola was able to convert with pole position to a 5 lap victory in front of Simone Giordano and Kevin Pignotti in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Click here to see the other podiums


March 12, 2010

Carlos Peracho wins Spanish Nationals opener

Carlos Peracho wins Spanish Nationals opener

Last weekend the first national race of the Spanish 1/8th On-Road Championship took place in Cerdanyola, close to Barcelona. The weather forecast was not very promising but only a little rain shower on Friday morning delayed the start of the free practice. Qualifying saw Oscar Cabezas, driving a Motonica, take the pole position ahead of Serpent driver Nacho Lopez in 2nd, with Shepherd drivers Carlos Peracho and Joaquin Villegas having a good run to take 3rd and 4th.

Continue reading the report here


March 12, 2010

Oberhausen 3-hour race for 1/10 nitro

Oberhausen 3-hour race for 1/10 nitro

A 3-hour race for 1/10 nitro touring cars will be held as a season opener on Saturday, 27th of March, at Oberhausen in Western Germany. Up to eleven teams with three drivers each and with one to three cars per team can compete in the long-distance race on the well-known 234 meter track. Following the practise from 10 to 15 the race will be started at 16 o’clock. Because it is the evening before the clock change to summer time, the race might end in twilight and under flood light. This would mean a special atmosphere like in November when the season ran out with a 3h-race for 1/8 scale at Oberhausen under flood light as well. Even though the temperatures are still quite low in Europe, for the first time the meteorologists have forecasted the temperatures to raise into the double-digit area in the next days – perfect for the kick-off of the outdoor season. The first teams have already signed for this race and of course entries from outside Germany are highly appreciated. The online entry and further information are available here.

Source: Nitro West [nitro-west.de]


March 12, 2010

Capricorn RC report from IFMAR Pre Worlds

Capricorn RC report from IFMAR Pre Worlds

We already covered last week’s IFMAR Pre Worlds, but TQ Hobbies and Capricorn RC were in touch and sent us their report from the event. At the start of the week, Capricorn RC and Chris Tosolini prepared his LAB-C01 chassis with some newly engineered parts, designed and engineered by company owner Patrizio Rossi, in conjunction with Tosolini. The new parts consisted of a new motor mount made of barillium, which adds 60 grams of extra weight directly under the motor. Ralph Burch also used Capricorn parts on his Xray NT1 later in the week to help him drop his lap times into the 16’s. Ralph used the Capricorn Hard Light tires, the 60g barillium engine mount, composite diff gears, Capricorn clutch, Xceed Chevy body and also the Capricorn brake disc. The Capricorn clutch was also proving popular throughout the week, with 28 of the race entrants using it in their cars.

Continue reading the report here