Red RC

September 27, 2023

Hara’s World Championship winning buggy almost home!

All World Championship winning RC cars have history and a story to tell but Atsushi Hara’s 2008 title winning Hot Bodies D8 has gone the extra mile, literally, by adding an interesting twist to the tale 15-years after its big win in Charlotte, USA. At the beginning of September, the legend of the sport shared on social media a post that he found his ‘most memorial car’ for sale on eBay. Days later the ad was listed as ‘Ended’ dashing hopes Hara might be able to be reunited with the buggy. Soon however contact was made with the seller who agreed to sell the car to Hara which is where Australian racer Zac Ryan stepped in. Creating a Gofundme page, such is the level of respect & admiration for Hara’s driving skills and the influence he had on so many racers the money was raised to complete the purchase. Now the interesting part of getting the car back to Hara in Japan, which in Hara’s own words goes a little something like this – ‘My 2008 worlds winning D8 get back project is one step closer to completion. Mark Pavidis pick it up from Eric Anderson in the US, Andrew Gillott and Josh Pain received it from Mark, they took it to Australia and Ben Panic received it, and Ben will take it from Australia to Japan and back to me in early October!! I have to biggest thank to the many people who helped make this happen!!’. Well done to everyone involved in helping to get this well travelled piece of history back to Hara. Hopefully we might get to see it ourselves in person with Hara when Red RC are in Japan in October for our coverage of the 1:8 Onroad World Championships at Infinity International RC Speedway.

View car exchanges on its trip home

September 27, 2023

2023 Tamiya Championship Series Finals – Report

The 2023 Tamiya Championship Series season concluded over the weekend with his year’s National Finals again hosted by Hobbytown-Hobbyplex in Omaha, Nebraska. After a short hiatus, due to the worldwide pandemic pause, the long running Tamiya radio control car racing event returned with the master of ceremonies none other than announcing legend, and the 1996 TCS GT National 4WD Champion, Scotty Ernst. The racing action was competitive and nerve racking with plenty of battles testing drivers nerves. With a total of eight classes run, the next stop for the three winners from GT-2, M-Chassis, and GT-Pro-Spec will Shizuoka, Japan where the Tamiya World Championships will be held in November. In GT-2 Daniel Ho took the victory ahead of ChrisTyler with John Brown third. The win in M-Chassis was taken by Charlie Lydon ahead of Al Sodano and Ken McKinney while in GT-Pro-Spec Vue Vang was the winner with Tim Ski and John Incantalupo joining him on the podium.

Source: Tamiya USA [tamiyausa.com]

September 27, 2023

Serpent SRX8GTE LWB ‘23 1:8 EP

Following the release of the SRX8GTE ‘23 in July, Serpent has now added a long wheel base version kit to its electric 1:8 GT chassis line-up. On the new SRX8GTE LWB ‘23 model, which shares all the developments seen on the SRX8GTE ‘23, they have extended the chassis an additional 29mm for use with all true to scale related RC Bodies. This places the wheel base at 259mm +/- 2.5mm.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

September 26, 2023

Woods heads Shepherd British Championship 1-2

Team Shepherd claimed a 1-2 in the 2023 British 1:8 Nitro Onroad National Championship headed by Tim Wood, the former champion taking a convincing win over team-mate Karl Dransfield at the season finale over the weekend. Racing at the Cotswold circuit, where the 6 round championship kicked off back in April, qualifying would see Wood secure his fifth TQ of the campaign before going on to take his fourth win of the season. Winner of the penultimate round in Adur last month, Dransfield’s second place would at Round 6 would see him finish runner-up in the overall championship. Having taken over Shepherd Micro Racing earlier this year through his company Zen Racing, David Spashett was on hand to share the championship success in what is now the new home of the long time onroad nitro manufacturer.

Image: Shepherd Micro Racing [Facebook]

September 26, 2023

Callens retains French TC title with Round 5 win

Mugen Seiki driver Rémi Callens retained his French Modified Touring Car title over the weekend when he took victory at the 5th & final round of the championship held at Circuit Emerainville Mesrc. Securing the overall TQ ahead of the Xray of French international touring car stalwart Cyril N’Diaye, Callens took his his LRP electronics equipped MTC2R to the win for back to back title success. The podium in Emerainville was completed by Ben Jebira. In an exciting Stock finals, the Round 5 win went to the Awesamtix of Top Qualifier Jeremy Delalondre. Winner of A2, the Capricorn of Kévin Rasquin claimed the runner-up spot with the Xray of A1 winner Benjamin Elbisser completing the podium.

Image: Rémi Callens [Facebook]

September 26, 2023

Element RC Knightwalker RTR Enduro Trail Truck

In its latest 1:10 Crawler release, Element RC has introduced the Knightwalker Red RTR to its line of Enduro Trail Trucks. The Enduro Trail Truck with Knightwalker body comes ready for adventure right out of the box, with performance-driven Reedy Power electronics. The ultra-smooth, and powerful 16-turn, 5-slot Reedy brushed crawler motor and Reedy Power metal-gear, water-resistant servo supply ample power to this tough rig. Controlling the truck on the trail is our Flysky 2-in-1 radio and ESC combination. At the heart of the Enduro range is the revolutionary Stealth X gearbox. Although the exterior appears to have a conventional 3-gear transmission look, the inside is far from conventional. The Stealth X features the ability to adjust the rear drive ratio independently of the front drive across three levels: stock overdrives the front end 5.7%, option 1 provides a one-to-one drive ratio front-to-rear, and option 2 overdrives the front end 11.83%.

View more images here

September 26, 2023

Moto-Obscura Carbon Fibre car stand

Specialists in parts for vintage RC racing, Moto-Obscura has released this carbon fibre car stand that looks just as at home in the pits as it does in a display case. This minimalist design is perfect for 1:10 vehicles, utilising rubber feet to protect the bottom of the chassis and to ensure that it does not slip. The dual carbon fibre plates are CNC milled to a gentle shape that is pleasing to look at while not drawing too much attention from the vehicle being displayed. Four 14mm holes add a subtle flair of style, and double as a shock rebuild stand. Designed with simplicity and practicality in mind, this display stand offers a perfect blend of functionality, aesthetics, and durability. Crafted to meet the unique needs of radio control enthusiasts of all types, this stand is a must-have for hobbyists, collectors, and racers alike. The overall height of the stand is 2.7” or 68mm.

View more images here

September 25, 2023

Matrix Neutron 1:8 Offroad tyre

Having officially entered the 1:8 Offroad tyre market in February of this year, Italian manufacturer Matrix Tires has released the latest addition to their range, the Neutron. The new tyre, the fifth model in the line-up, was given its first public introduced over the weekend at the ONG Trophy held at the track of World Champion & Matrix team driver Davide Ongaro. While Matrix don’t go into the specifics of the new tyre, it is available in their 7 compound options and both with or without their insert.

Source: Matrix [matrixtires.it]