Matrix Racing tires have announced that they have signed Shepherd driver Ronald Volker to use their tires for 2012. The deal which was finalised at last week’s Nuremberg toy fair will see the German electric ace run the Italian foam all season which will include the Winternats in Florida, European Championship in Italy, World Championships in Bangkok and other select races.
Source: Matrix Tires [matrixtires.it]
Capricorn have released their new 1/8 ‘reverse’ on road clutch. After various tests by Capricorn drivers, this new configuration that follows the current trend which sees a flat flywheel and tapered clutch shoe plate makes the clutch more progressive with good initial engagement. The weight of the flywheel is only 5.3grams which saves engine power and Capricorn has also decided to reduce the prices of all its 1/8 and 1/10 clutches.
Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]
Top international on road racer Jilles Groskamp has signed to race with Hot Race tyres for the 2012 season. The decision was made following extensive testing at the Pre Worlds in Bangkok, where Jilles was pleased with their performance. The Capricorn/Orion driver will participate with Hot Race tyres in this year’s European Championships in Cassino as well as the 1/10th 200mm World Championships in Bangkok.
Source: Hot Race Tyres [hotracerc.com]
ORCA have announced that they have signed factory Xray driver Alexander Hagberg. The Swedish driver, who previously drove for LRP, had the best possible start to his new relationship by taking his first big international win at the Snowbird Nationals last weekend in Florida. Alex had this to say:
After five years as a team driver for LRP Electronic in Germany, I would like to thank them for their support over the years. They helped to start off my international career. In 2012 I am changing to ORCA electronics in all my cars. I was immediately impressed with the on-track performance of these products, which provide a good feeling, power, efficiency and consistency for all conditions. I started out my cooperation with ORCA in the best possible way with a win in the Touring Car Modified class at the recent Snowbird Nationals in Florida. I hope that this is only the start of a long and successful relationship with ORCA.
Source: AME [team-ame.com]
Previously released for the RX8, Xray have now released these conical clutch washer springs for the NT1 clutch. These spring washers offer more consistent clutch operation for maximum punch. When using the standard spring, after the clutch is set for the first time the spring becomes deformed over time and needs retightening. This new conical clutch washer spring set allows the clutch to retain its setting for a very long time without needing readjustment.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
A brief report from the 1/12th 13.5 GTP class at last weekend’s Snowbird Nationals in Orlando, Florida. It was On Point Racing’s German team driver Markus Mobers that took the top spot in qualifying, doing so in the final round to start on pole ahead of Larry Fairtrace and World Champion Naoto Matsukura in 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the final Markus drove his Team Orion powered OP12C to the win by just 1.3 seconds ahead of Andrew Knapp in 2nd, with Mike Blackstock completing the podium in 3rd.
Source: On Point Racing [onpointracing.com]
The 2012 Snowbirds were held at the World Gate resort in Orlando Florida. The format of this race is special due to the racing of both On-road and oval. The racing goes on for almost 24hrs a day with a track change between on road and oval every day. This year the attendance and competition was large do in part to the international attendance, several EU countries were represented along with Japan and obviously North America. In Mod TC it was Alex Hagberg showing good early pace, Alex had just come from the ETS race where he showed good speed so he was rightfully on everyone’s radar. Not to anyones surprise also showing speed at the beginning was Naoto Matsukura and Kevin Hebert.
Continue reading the report here.
Image: Jill Dorp
This past weekend in Shenzhen, Southern China, the newly built KRC track hosted the annual China Fortune (Fa Cai) Nitro Championships for 1:10 sedan. The race saw drivers from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and is considered one of the major nitro races in China as well as the first race of the nitro season in China. 14 years-old Mugen driver JJ Wang driving his Novarossi powered MTX5 won the 45-minute “A” Main final by 2 laps over second place Xray driver Li Jia Wei from Guangzhou, and in third place was Taiwan’s Xray driver Howard Zhuo.
