Roche have introduced their new heavy duty spool cups for the TRF417 & 416. The spool cups are made from spring steel for more durability, yet have been strategically machined to reduce weight and rotating mass. The cups mount directly to the original Tamiya aluminum front shaft.
Source: Roche RC [roche.hk]
The second round for Spanish 1/8th Onroad took place last weekend at Almussafes, Valencia. Oscar Cabezas with his Vox engine powered Motonica, fueled by Merlin Pro-Racing fuel, took all 4 qualifiers giving no option to his rivals. The main final saw Óscar Cabezas maintain his first position at the start followed closely by Nacho López who had a different fuel strategy. However right after the tire stop, Nacho had a mechanical trouble and could not fight for the victory. Oscar would take the win by 5 laps ahead of Victor González in 2nd and Sergio Montesinos 3rd.
Source: Merlin [merlinfuel.com]
The 2nd round of Malaysia National Championship series was hosted by RCAC at the Titiwangsa R/C track in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. As the track was a little bit wet in the morning the conditions were not easy for the contenders. The races started with the qualifying of the 1/8th scale category. At his 1/8th scale debut race Haikal immediately piloted his Shepherd V8 ‘11 to the provisional TQ spot in the first round of qualifying. The combo of his out of the box Shepherd car with default factory settings and Shepherd tires work flawlessly on the damp but drying track. Despite the best effort by the other drivers during the 2nd and 3rd rounds of qualifying the he kept his TQ position for the 45 minute final.
Continue reading the report here
With the growing popularity of the electric 1/8 GT class, it was obvious some changes were needed in the tires. Because of the extraordinary torque an electric motor creates, there is a lot of stress on the tires. The new improved Sweep EXP45 GT tires have been redesigned to provide more forward traction, come up to race temperature quicker and maintain optimum operating temperature. This results in greater acceleration out of the corner, fewer warm up laps and more consistent performance throughout the run.
Source: Sweep [sweepracing.com]
Last weekend was the third round of the Dutch 1/8 nationals held on the very small and tricky track of MBC de Sluis in Gouda. With a whole week of very good weather sadly enough Sunday started with rain. In the third round of qualifications the track was almost dry so the race director declared the last 2 heats dry which did not count. In the NK all drivers had a “wet” qualification time so everyone made it into the finals. On pole it was Rick V who decided to drive his old MRX-4X and was forced by rules to drive with it the whole day, he was followed by Arie Manten, John Ermen and Gunther v. Staey.
Continue reading the report here
Xray have released these new molded-composite steering blocks for the RX8. Featuring built-in -1° or +1° kingpin angle, they give you a wider range of adjustment to adapt your car to a specific track. Marked for easy identification, they are sold individually.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
Exotek have released their all new XR3’11 performance ultra narrow LiPo chassis. Made from 2.25mm thick precision cut carbon fiber the new design helps improve steering and rear traction making going into corners deeper and power-out stronger. Its only 88mm wide at the main chassis section to better utilize lower ride heights for more aggressive cornering. The battery location has also been moved in closer to the belt for better balancing of the new high power LiPos. Finally it features the standard North South servo mounting or East West servo mounting.
View more images of the chassis here
The Reedy Race of Champions was held last weekend at Nor-Cal hobbies in Union City, CA. Featuring a unique racing format with a grueling 8 rounds of heat races normally consisting of 4 rounds of racing per day., all races began with random starting position and ended with points associated to each driver for their finish position. The overall winner was determined by the lowest tally of the best out of 6 finishes as drivers were able to throw out their worst (highest) 2 scores. This year the weather did not cooperate with the four rounds of heats per day. On day one, the rain delayed a few heats and then washed out round 4 leaving day two for 5 rounds of competition instead of the normal four. Team Thunder Power RC’s newest signing Marc Rheinard, driving a Tamiya TRF417 battled his way to the Championship title, while his Thunder Power RC team mate Victor Wilck kept the pressure on to finish 2nd. Former World Champion Atsushi Hara, driving a Hot Bodies TCX took 3rd.
Source: Thunder Power RC [thunderpowerrc.com]
