March 13, 2007

Oscar Cabezas wins Rd1 of Spanish 1/8th Nationals

Oscar Cabezas

Last weekend saw the first round of the 2007 Spanish 1/8th scale National Championships held at the ARCA track in Madrid. The race effectively belonged to reigning Spanish National Champion Oscar Cabezas, who not only claimed pole position after qualifying, but also set the fastest lap in the heats and set a new track record in the final. On top of that the Serpent driver won the race ahead of Josue Artiles with Carlos Peracho in 3rd, getting the young SDD drivers title defense off to a perfect start.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


March 13, 2007

Matteo Dapporto joins Xray

Matteo Dapporto

The news that Matteo Dapporto had joined Xray first broke in mid February but only today has that announcement been made on the company website. Matteo, who is also sponsored by RB, is one of the best racers in Italy and has made multiple visits to the main final at both World and European Championships

I used to race for many RC companies and collaborate with many companies to develop new products and this is what I prefer to do most. I would like to be a part of a great team made up of people that like to help each other to grow constantly and help drivers to get the best performance
that they can.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


March 12, 2007

Mickaël Pontal wins Rd1 of French 200mm Nationals

Rd1 of French 200mm Nationals

Kyosho racer Mickaël Pontal has won the first round of the French 1/10th 200mm Nationals held last weekend at the Ampuis circuit, near Lyon. In Qualifying it was Picco powered Kyosho racer BA Arnaldi that took the top qualifying spot with team mate Sebastian Wartelle in 2nd and Xray racer Nicolas Bougnoteau in 3rd. In the final everything started well for Arnaldi who pulled out a strong lead but Mickaël Pontal only making pit stops every 6 minutes managed to catch Arnaldi whos tires were starting to wear. Soon Pontal could take the lead and with it the win, leaving Arnaldi to come home in 2nd with Wartelle in 3rd.

As we mentioned last week, the new EFRA engine regulations were causing some conflicts with whether they should be adopted this year or not, but it was finally decided that for an engine to be legal for racing this year it must conform to the 2006 EFRA rules. This ruling, which calls for a crankshaft with a 7mm inner diameter and with maximum chamfer of 0.5mm, would cause problems for the new GRP made .12 motors, which were only made to the 2007 EFRA regualtions. Despite that ruling there were Ninja engines present at the event, so they must have been able to manufacture a different crankshaft for the motors or found some other solution.

Source: RB Products [rbproducts.com] Image: Kyosho [kyoshofrance.com]


March 12, 2007

David Crompton wins BRCA Nats warm up

David Crompton

Last weekend saw the Sandy Nitro Model Club host the warm up race for the upcoming BRCA Nationals and a lot of top drivers were present at the event. David Crompton TQ’d the race with his Team Magic M1B while 2nd position went to HoBao racer Graham Alsop with another M1B in 3rd in the hands of Dave Bailey. In the final it was a close race in the beginning until the first pit stops after which David could extend his lead from which he never looked back and took the win by 17 seconds ahead of Jamie Booth driving the Hong Nor in 2nd with 3rd going to 2nd placed qualifier Graham Alsop.

Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk]


March 12, 2007

AWJ Civil Nitro Challenge 2007

AWJ Civil Nitro Challenge 2007

Our mates down under at RubeDude RC have got a full report on last weekends AWJ Civil Nitro Challenge that took place on the Liverpool track with racers battling for serious prize money, always a great motivator. The racing was spread over 4 classes and in the Buggy class it was Steve Drygalla driving his Novarossi powered Kyosho that took the win and with it the $1000 prize money. Runner up spot went to Joe Porfida in 2nd with OCM racer Steve Haley getting the final step of the podium in 3rd. In the truggy class, CEN racer Ari Balkla absolutely dominated the event with TQ, lap record and the win, and with it he took home the $750 prize money while 2nd spot went to Craig Lewis with Allan Boyer claiming 3rd.

You can read the full race report here.

Source: Rube Dude [rubeduderc.com]


March 9, 2007

Patrick Feschtschenko joins LRP Nitro team

Patrick Feschtschenko

Top German off road racer Patrick Feschtschenko has joined the LRP Nitro team for 2007 and will exclusively use LRP Nitro products in this years racing campaign. A World finalist, Feschtschenko was also chosen by LRP to help develop the range of LRP Nitro products using his extensive knowledge and experience that has seen him win many International events.

Source: LRP [lrp-electronic.de]


March 9, 2007

Stuart Wilcox signs for GRP

Stuart Wilcox signs for GRP

Recently we reported that long time Mugen racer Stuart Wilcox had signed to race for Team Losi for the 2007 season to race with their 8ight buggy. Well it seems that it will be all change for Stuart this year with the announcement by Mirage R/C Enterprises that he has now signed to use GRP tires as well.

Stuart is excited about using the GRP tyre line up for the up and coming season. Stuart will be in close relationship with GRP to develop new tread patterns and compounds throughout the season! Models in Motion drivers Darren Cole and Steven Childerhouse are also joining the Mirage/GRP team for 2007! Models in Motion will be supporting GRP trackside at all events so you don’t have to look far for mega traction!

Source: Mirage [mirageracing.com]


March 9, 2007

Clement wins the RC Pro Arizona Series

Trevor Clement

Trevor Clement has won the RC Pro Arizona Series, claiming more podium finishes than any other driver on his way to the crown. Racing in the Arena truck class, Clement used a Kyosho ST-R truggy to drive his way to his successes in a series which enjoyed some serious competition from top factory drivers leading up to the running of The Dirt Nitro Challenge that was held 2 weeks ago. In the sportsman buggy class it was Paul Yaun, piloting a 777 SP2, that took the overall title and in doing so won a 777 ST-R donated by Kyosho America.

Source: Kyosho America [kyoshoamerica.com]