Red RC

November 3, 2023

Reunited after 15 years – Hara, Miura & the D8

15-years ago one of the icons of our sport claimed a race win that to this day he describes as the ‘highlight’ of his illustrious racing career. That driver was Atsushi Hara and the race in question was the 2008 IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. As anyone who races nitro well knows, it is very much a team sport. Today here in Japan, on the penultimate day of the 1:8 Onroad Worlds, that World title conquering combo of Hara, legendary race mechanic Masayuki Miura and the winning Hot Bodies D8 buggy were reunited for the first time in a decade and a half. As Red RC was in its infancy and didn’t cover its first 1:8 Offroad World Championship until 2-years later in Thailand, it was an opportunity to recreate the winning team photo of 2008 with our good friends Hara and Miura and do a ‘Retro Chassis Focus’ on the historic buggy.

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November 3, 2023

AGFRC Polarised Capacitor Box

AGFRC has released a new polarised capacitor box with fully CNC aluminium case designed for better safety and neat & easy installation. 16.0V HV capable so it can be used with high-voltage batteries, the 0.003Ω low internal resistance give it good filtering effect. With 3000uF high capacity, it is a strong durability capacitor box suitable for 1:8, 1:10, 1:12 such as monster truck, crawler, offroad and onroad. Due to its polarised feature, users should be cautious that the proper cord connection for positive and negative terminal. The power voltage of the ESC should be lower than the max voltage of the capacitor pack.

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November 3, 2023

Pro-Line SCX10 Twin I-Beam Pre-Runner Suspension Kit

Pro-Line has released a Twin I-Beam Pre-Runner Suspension kit to transform your SCX10 I/II into a 2WD Desert Truck. In the early days of offroad desert racing, I-Beam trucks became the standard suspension setup due to their uncompromised durability, easily attained long-travel, and overall simplicity. Now, you can capture that desert racing sprit using your SCX10 kit as a base to build a 1/10 scale pre-runner. The Twin I-Beam front suspension consists of two long “I-beam” arms that cross one another in an X-pattern. These arms control the lateral forces applied to the wheels, while radius arms reach backward toward the centre skid plate to stabilise each wheel in the fore-aft direction. This super scale conversion kit utilises the same geometry setup as 1:1 trucks with true swingset steering and centre-mount radius arms to optimise handling throughout the entire suspension travel. The kit includes everything you need to easily convert your rig and completely change the driving experience of your SCX10. Stainless steel links and steel pivot balls provide dependable endurance, while the new battery tray moves the battery to the rear of the vehicle for optimal weight bias and performance. The new front shock tower features holes for dual shock mounting, and the new rear trailing arms have 3 wheelbase options for added adjustability and versatility.

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November 3, 2023

Iris ONE Internal Shock Spring and Piston Set

Iris Racing has released an Internal Shock Spring and Piston Set for their range of 1:10 Electric Touring Car kits. Specially engineered for the Iris ONE, ONE0.5, and ONE.05 FWD, this kit enables a customisable spring setup to elevate your car’s performance and give enhanced control and adaptability. The set features a Spring stiffness curve allowing you to achieve a progressive effect thanks to four distinct springs available in two stiffness levels and two lengths of 3mm and 5mm, allowing for fine-tuned control. The springs are securely attached to the piston plate using a small screw, with the capacity to accommodate two springs on each piston plate. Ideal for high-grip tracks, the progressive spring rate is especially beneficial as the grip on the race track increases, ensuring a more stable and controlled ride. The kit includes all necessary components for both left and right shocks.

View full kit components here

November 3, 2023

STRC SCX10 Pro 4×4 option parts

In their final wave of Axial SCX10 Pro 4×4 competition crawler option parts, ST Racing Concepts has added two vital components to add more overall weight to the lower part of the vehicle. First is the front weight brass steering knuckles, with a combine weight of nearly 140 grams for the pair. Second is the rear axle tube, which adds nearly 70 grams of weight to the rear axle. These two option parts combine for almost 200 grams of weight at the lower part of the vehicle to help with steep incline and overall vehicle crawling capabilities.

Source: STRC [teamstrc.com]

November 2, 2023

Kurzbuch is Top Qualifier in Japan

Eight years on from TQ’ing in Brazil on en-route to becoming the 2015 World title, Mugen Seiki driver Simon Kurzbuch is again the Top Qualifier at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship. Four drivers, all World Champions, went into the sixth & final round of qualifying at the Infinity International RC Speedway in Japan with a chance of the overall TQ. Q1 winner Dario Balestri was the first driver to go by the wayside, his car coming to stop half way through the qualifier. Next it was Q2 pace setter Toni Gruber who came to a halt a minute later. That left just Kurzbuch and Shoki Takahata in the battle although the later wasn’t on a good run. All the while 17-year-old World Championship debutant Kouki Kato surprised them all snatching the TQ for the round ahead of Kurzbuch but with two TQ runs to go with his P2 it was the Swiss ace who goes into the history books as the Top Qualifier of the 23rd running of the sport’s original World Championship. With his TQ run, him being the fifth different driver to do so over the six rounds, Offroad racer Kato put his Infinity into the Super Pole. This was duly won by Dario Balestri who denied defending World Champion Takahata a direct spot in the final alongside Kurzbuch. First to go the Mugen driver ran a best lap of 13.633 which neither Kato or Toni Gruber could better but last to go Balestri needed just three laps to produce a 13.518 to win a feat he also achieved at the 1:10 World Championship in Thailand 12-months ago.

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November 2, 2023

VP Pro 1:8 Offroad Coloured Rims

VP-PRO has extended the range of colours in their 1:8 Buggy and Truggy rim range. Adding the option of pink, green and orange, the rims are made of high-quality plastic, lightweight, high rigidity which adds to better stability during turns and conforms to IFMAR standards.

Source: VP Pro [vp-racing.com]

November 2, 2023

Kurzbuch repeats in penultimate qualifier

Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch has become the first driver to repeat a TQ run at the 1:8 Onroad World Championship as he made it two in a row in the penultimate round of qualifying in Japan. The Swiss driver managed the run perfectly as Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura pushed him for the TQ but on the last lap the Japanese driver once again ran out of fuel. This handed Dario Balestri the second fastest time, the Infinity driver just 3/10ths off. More than a second back, a big margin at these World Championships, Toni Gruber would complete the Top 3 just ahead of defending Champion Shoki Takahata with everything still to play for in the sixth & final round of qualifying at the Infinity International RC Speedway.

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