Red RC » Gas

July 23, 2009

Defending Champion goes fastest in Italy

After being somewhat off the pace, defending champion Dario Balestri (15.950) has got it together topping the last controlled practice here in Gubbio. The Italian had struggled in the opening four sessions but reverting back to his set-up from yesterday he was able to take his Novarossi powered Team Magic around the track in a sub lap record time. Running 37 shore tyres all round, Balestri said the car was now very good and he can look forward to tomorrow’s qualifiers.

View our full event coverage here.

July 23, 2009

Spataro tops 3rd practice in Italy

He was tipped as one to watch when we arrived in Gubbio and so far Biagio Spataro is living up to the hype by setting some super fast times topping the third round of controlled practice with a 15.956. The 15-year-old was helped by running very soft 35 shore tyres which he said made his Xray very fast but he admitted tyre wear was high. Very happy with the consistency of the JP powered NT1 he plans to run the same set-up again in the fourth of today’s five controlled practice sessions.

View our full event coverage here.

July 22, 2009

Newcomers impress themselves in Gubbio

Drivers are continuing to clock up the laps here in Gubbio and walking through the pits this evening one can see a lot more happy faces. One guy with a big smile on his face is World Champion Daniele Ielasi who is carrying all the hopes of 1:10 newcomer Shepherd on his shoulders. Running the sole Velox V10, the Italian said coming to the event he had set himself the goal of making the main final which would be like a victory for the car but the performance of the chassis in free practice is giving him the feeling they can aim higher. Running the same pace as the race favourites, Ielasi said the base set-up of the car is very good and this has allowed them to concentrate on trying lots of different things to see how the car reacts including large tyres.

View our full event coverage here.

July 22, 2009

Drivers settle in at Gubbio

Its another extremely hot day here in Italy as free practice for the 2009 EFRA 1:10 200mm European Championships continues at the beautiful Gubbio track. Drivers will get another six 10 minute sessions today but with no official timing we will have to wait till tomorrow’s controlled practice before we can get a clearer picture of who is doing what but many of the leading drivers say its going to be a very close competition.

View our full event coverage here.

July 21, 2009

World’s best in Gubbio for Euros battle

This week the beautifully presented Gubbio track in the centre of Italy plays host to the 2009 EFRA 1:10 200mm European Championships. After a one year break due to EFRA’s hosting of the World Championship in Portugal last year, the sixth European title will be awarded on Sunday evening to one of the 120 drivers, from 16 nations, up on the Formula one style podium. Amoung the quality entry are 8 of the 10 World Finalists including World Champion Daniele Ielasi and the Top Qualifier Jilles Groskamp. The defending European Champion Dario Balestri is aiming for a European Championship hat trick on home soil having held the title since 2006 when he won in the Netherlands.

View our full event coverage here.

July 21, 2009

Ryan Maifield defends ROAR Truggy title

Utilizing his Factory Team RC8T and recently released Reedy 121 VR engine, Ryan Maifield dominated the competition at Leisure Hours Raceway in Joliet, IL at the ROAR 1/8 Truggy Nationals. In qualifying, Maifield lead the field each round by beating the best in the country time after time. Even after securing the top qualifying spot by round three, Maifield chose to run round four to test a chassis adjustment. Starting from the pole position for the main event, Maifield got off to a good clean start and never looked back. By going over nine minutes between pit stops his RC8T/Reedy 121 VR combination never missed a beat and lapped the field up to second place and set the single fastest lap time. By the conclusion of the 45-minute main event, Maifield had built a 13+ second lead over second place Jared Tebo, with Josh Wheeler in 3rd, and was the only driver to make 83 laps.

Source: Associated [rc10.com]

July 18, 2009

Michele Romagnoli takes Rd2 in Italy

The 2nd round of the Italian 1/8th scale Nationals was held last weekend in Gubbio and of course featured some of the fastest drivers in the World taking part. Qualifying went the way of Andrea Pirani, with Michele Romagnoli in 2nd, 8-time World Champion Lamberto Collari in 3rd and Fabio Domanin taking the last direct final spot in 4th. The start of the hour long final saw the lead change numerous times, but by half way distance, Collari has established himself in the lead, that was until his engine flamed out at the 45 minute mark, allowing Romagnoli who had had earlier problems, into the lead, only 7 seconds ahead of the World Champion. A further engine flame out gave Michele the breathing room to take home the vicotory, ahead of Fabio Domanin in 2nd and Collari eventually taking 3rd spot.

Thanks to Michele Romagnoli for the report.

July 17, 2009

Sebastián Recio wins Argentinian Nats Rd2

Last weekend saw the second round of the Campeonato Argentino de Touring in Rosario, Argentina. A difficult race for the leaders, Sebastián and Juan Pablo had a hard fight throughout the race with both drivers need to stop for tyres. At the end of the race it was Xray/Sirio driver Sebastián Recio that took the win from team mate Juan Pablo Golobic with Kyosho/Picco driver Hernan Lebenbau in third place.