Red RC » P On Road

July 30, 2010

Pietsch is Top Qualifier in Texas

Robert Pietsch has become only the second driver to TQ both nitro onroad World Championships after he was declared Top Qualifier for the IFMAR 1/10th 200mm World Championship at Gulf Coast Raceway in Houston, Texas, late tonight. Held under flood lights the fifth and final round of qualifying failed to see anyone better the time set in Q4 by the factory Mugen driver who last year was the Top Qualifier at the 1:8 Worlds in Switzerland.

View our full event coverage here.

July 30, 2010

Pietsch ends Japanese rule in Texas

He was the Top Qualifier at the 1:8 World Championship last year and now Robert Pietsch is on target to repeat that achievement in 1:10 having just set the fastest run in the penultimate round of qualifying here at Gulf Coast Raceway. The factory Mugen driver ran 35 laps in 10:14.072 to move into provisional pole from factory Kyosho driver Takaaki Shimo who also broke into the 35 laps for the first time. The German, who was on a TQ run in the third qualifier until he stripped second gear, said his MTX-4R was again really good but at the start of the run he didn’t feel the track conditions were good enough for a TQ run until he heard his lap times. Pietsch said while his car is not the fastest in terms of lap times it is very consistent and unlike many of his rivals, run time with his factory Novarossi is no problem.

View our full event coverage here.

July 29, 2010

Yokoyama ups the pace in Texas

Young Japanese sensation Shinnosuke Yokoyama has upped the pace at the World Championship this morning becoming the first and only driver to record 35 laps around the Gulf Coast Raceway here in Houston, Texas. The 17-year-old, who is making his Worlds debut, achieved a time of 35 laps in 10:17.208 despite getting hit from behind on laps 2 & 4 which cost him over 3 seconds and left him last on the timing screens. Describing the set-up on his OS powered Xray as ‘perfect’, the 2006 Japanese Sport Class National Champion was able to put in a spectacular recovery recording the fastest lap of the round enroute to the new TQ time.

View our full event coverage here.

July 29, 2010

SpeedMerchant Linear Tweak spring conversion

SpeedMerchant have announced the release of their Linear Tweak spring conversion. After months of testing, moving from the Rev.5 to the new Rev.6, they’ve found that the lighter & quicker Single Cell LiPo cars perform much better with Linear side springs compared to the standard ‘progressive’ side springs that have been run for years. These new springs tend to smooth the cars out, and generally just make it easier to drive, without a loss of steering or chassis response.

Source: Speed Merchant [teamspeedmerchant.com]

July 28, 2010

No change at the Top in Q2 – And the rain is back

The second round of qualifying here at Gulf Coast Raceway produced little change at the top of the time sheets with Shinnosuke Yokoyama’s time from this morning still the time to beat. The Xray driver was again fastest for Q2 but in a slow time of 34 laps in 10:03.868 due to the hatter track conditions. The biggest improvement in Q2 came from Italy’s Giuseppe D’Angelo who set the second fastest time. Having failed to finish Q1 due to radio problems, the factory Reds Racing driver took his Mugen around in a time of 34 laps in 10:06.991 which puts the Italian National Champion 8th fastest overall.

View our full event coverage here.

July 28, 2010

Yokoyama Top Qualifier after Round 1

Young Japanese driver Shinnosuke Yokoyama is the current early pace setter as the first full round of qualifying for the IFMAR 200mm World Championship has been completed here in Texas. The 17-year-old Xray driver was on target for the only 35 lap run of the round until his OS engine ran out of fuel on the last lap but he still managed to top the round with 34 laps in 9:58.355.

View our full event coverage here.

July 27, 2010

WC Qualifying postponed until morning

The opening day of qualifying for the 2010 IFMAR 1/10th 200mm World Championships is over early with race director Bob Ingersoll making the call to postpone the opening round of qualifying for the B Group of drivers until the morning. At a team-manager’s meeting Ingersoll said that while the rain has stopped and the track staff have cleared most of the water it would be another 3 hours before it would be suitable for racing and this would leave it too late to get the two rounds of qualifying completed under natural light.

View our full event coverage here.

July 27, 2010

Serpent 733 DLS system

As seen in our World Championship coverage, Serpent have released the full details on their new DLS system for the 733. The Direct Link system is activated during cornering mainly, whereby the outer suspension forces are transferred partially to the inner wheel too, with a pivot-link system. The results is more rubber on the track, more traction and more even tyre wear, resulting in significantly faster and easier cornering and possibly better laptimes. Set to be made available in 1 month.

View more images of the system here