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October 8, 2008

Gianni Giorgio wins Venezuela Nats Rd4

venezuela

The fourth round of the Venezuelan 1:10 200mm Nationals took place over the weekend where Serpent driver Gianni Giorgio was declared the winner. Driving his Max Power engined 720, Giorgio broke the track record in qualifying with a time of 17.048 and also set a new record for most laps completed over 5 minutes – a run that would secure him the TQ honours. Unfortunately bad weather forced the finals to be abandoned and so the result was declared on the heats. With this victory Giorgio takes the lead of the championship with two rounds remaining.

Thanks to Alan Lavín for the report.

October 7, 2008

Arie Manten wins wet Dutch 1:8 Finale

Last weekend a very wet MACH track played host to the final round of the 2008 Dutch 1:8 Onroad Championships. In the National Class it was a suprise TQ for Arie Manten who was obviously benefiting from the help of factory Mugen driver Rick V who decided not to race having already won of the Dutch National title. Behind him after qualifying it was John Ermen, Donny Blommers and Maurice vd. IJssel. In the final Manten drove a strong race and was the only driver setting lap times under 20 seconds. He was followed home by Rob Kuijper who suffered tire problems for some laps and 3rd place was taken by Rik Veenma. Daniel vd. Drift was disqualified for using tire additives. In the NOMAC Cup it was Jordy Blok who TQ’d followed by Richard Engbersen, Martin Zevenhoven and Roelof Tooms. In the final it was Zevenhoven who won thanks to a steady drive and little or no problems. Blok suffered some engine troubles and was running in 4th spot behind Emil Jansen and Roelof Tooms but the latter two were to retire handing 2nd place went to Blok and 3rd to Frank Baggen.

Thanks to Roelof Toems for the report.

October 5, 2008

Marcos Mayer wins São Paulo Open Rd2

Last weekend in São Paulo, on the AARC tack was the 2nd round of the Open class series for drivers using modified brushless motors. The cold and drizzly day made the dispute among Marcos Mayer, Felipe Franceschi and CrisCareca Carpinelli more interesting. Edu Dias, who was on 3rd place in Championship going into this round had some car problems and ended up only in 5th. Marcos Mayer did an excellent race with no mistakes and was the winner, while on an inspired day Felipe Franceshi took the 2nd spot from CrisCareca Carpinelli who ended up in 3rd. In the overall Championship Marcos Mayer is now all alone with two points ahead CrisCareca in 2nd.

Thanks to Adalberto Neri for the report.

October 3, 2008

Costa wins Final Portugese 1/8th National

Last weekend the final round of the Portuguese National Championship was run at the Sintra track in Lisbon. It was the first time a Shepherd Velox showed up at a track in Portugal and was also the debut 1/8th scale race for current 1/10th scale Champion Filipe Costa. He quickly got used to the car and was able to claim 2nd position after the qualifying. Because there are no direct qualifiers in Portugal all drivers had to pass the semi-finals to reach the main final and Filipe could win his semi final without any problems and secured himself pole position on the starting grid for the final. At the beginning of the final he lost the lead to Serpent racer Ricardo Nogueira but after 25 minutes he was able to take over the lead again and never lost it until the finishing line.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

October 2, 2008

Moore-speed 200R Nitro TC bodyshell

Moore-speed 200R Nitro TC body shell

New from the Moore-speed brand is the their first 200mm Nitro touring car body shell. With an ultra-high downforce front splitter you will get awesome front traction, while the windscreen and roof channels air directly over the high downforce rear wing. The wing features three vertical supports to eliminate flex and lost downforce, and the rear end features aerodynamic wing struts extending to the bumper. The front bumper features a dual-level splitter, plus extra aero lines around the headlights for extreme front traction. Along the sides, this 200R is nearly flat for minimal drag, except for a slight door sill recess exactly where the pipe stinger needs to exit the bodyshell. The cabin features the modern forward look with reduced bonnet line and increased boot lid space. Deep structural A-pillars and C-pillars channel air over the boot lid and rear wing and also reduce the frontal area, giving you increased stability and top speed.

Click here for more photos… content

October 1, 2008

Simon Kurzbuch wins Swiss Nats Rd6

The final round of the Swiss 1/8th scale Nationals was run last weekend in Langenthal in the North of the country. Qualifying for the Expert class saw Simon Kurzbuch take the pole position by 2 seconds from Thomas Henzi, while Christophe Pethoud and Mattia Pesenti rounding out the top 4. In the 45 minute final, Simon was unstoppable, the Serpent driver winning by 2 laps from Henzi in 2nd and Pethod 3rd, a further 3 laps behind. The Amateur class was won by Shepherd driver Stephan Eschler, 3 laps in front of Angelo Albani in 2nd with Claudio Pasquin 3rd.

Thanks to Mattia Pesenti for the report and pics.

October 1, 2008

Robert Pietsch rejoins Mugen Seiki

Robert Pietsch, the designer behind the successful Shepherd Velox as well as top international racer has made a shock return to the MID Mugen Team for the start of the 2009 season. The 2007 German Champion will compete with the MRX-4X and MTX-4 but he will not just represent Mugen as a driver but will bring with him his experience and design ideas and will work closely with the technical designers at Mugen’s Japanese Headquarters. This is big blow for Shepherd who not only lose a World class racer, but a product designer too.

Source: Mugen [mugen.eu]

October 1, 2008

Schaefer wins Rd3 in Central Germany

Schaefer wins Central German Rd3

Last weekend saw the 3rd round of the German Championship central regional qualifier was held at the beautiful Ettlingen track where the German Championship was hosted earlier this year. Under perfect weather conditions 34 drivers attended the race and on Saturday the track was open for free practice and nearly all participants were already at the track. On Sunday morning 4 rounds of qualifying were raced and although Patrick Schaefer made a safety run in the first round he could beat his record of the German Championship by one second and secure pole position. At the start of the final Patrick managed to defend his lead and pulled away while current Champion Stefan Hanauer and Philip Sting could pass Jörg Wäldle in the first lap and a tough battle for the second position started. Patrick constantly increased his lead and at the first pit stop after 5 minutes he was half a lap ahead of the rest of the field. Suddenly his Velox started to break out in right corners and the lap times got slower but he could manage to keep the lead for the remaining 25 minutes and won the race one lap ahead of Hanauer. Philip Sting decided not to change tires but he lost too much time with his small tires at the end and crossed the finishing line in 3rd position. After checking the car Patrick noticed that a pivot ball at the lower rear wishbone was completely off and the left upright was only held by the remaining pivot ball.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]