September 28, 2024

Kato goes top again in Q3 at Asian Buggy Championships

Having kicked off Day 1 of qualifying at the Asian Buggy Championships Finale in Indonesia with a TQ run, Kouki Kato repeated the feat at West Side Raceway as he opened the second day’s action at the top of the Q3 time sheets.  The Infinity driver would set the new fastest time of qualifying by a massive 6-seconds, overnight track maintenance and a better tyre choice by the Japan National Champion contributing factors.  With Q2 winner Naoto Matsukura setting the early pace in the 5-minute qualifier, until the first of two mistakes dropped him to P6 for the round, it was local racer Jason Nugroho who continued to be Kato’s closest rival.  Setting a new fastest lap and getting very close to being the first driver to go 39-seconds, the Sworkz driver finished 2.6-seconds back on the Pro driver with the similar car of Christian Wolhuter completing the Top 3.

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September 27, 2024

MCD Octox 1:8 GT-E – First Images

Having announced plans to enter the 1:8 GT Onroad market in June, MCD Racing has just released first images of their impressive looking new Octox 1:8 GT-E.  One of 1:5 scale racing’s most successful manufacturers, they accompanied the images with the statement, ‘After two years of development, we’re excited to reveal the pictures of the new OCTOX GT-E!  With new molds for composite molding, gears, transmissions, suspension, and body shells all produced in-house, and final tests underway by our team drivers, the OCTOX GT-E is set for release in the first quarter of 2025.’

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September 27, 2024

Matsukura ends Day 1 of ABC qualifying with TQ run

Day 1 of qualifying at the Asian Buggy Championships season finale in Indonesia closed with Naoto Matsukura hitting the top of the time sheets.  With Infinity team-mate Kouki Kato taking Q1 as Matsukura found himself P7 after a costly last lap mistake, the No.2 seed made amends in the second of the 5-planned qualifiers to post the fastest 5-minute run so far ahead of the Sworkz of Christian Wolhuter, the young Aussie another driver to benefit from eliminating  driver errors.  Despite improving his Q1 time by 1-second Kato found himself P3 with the Japanese Champion feeling he didn’t have the right tyres for the condition of the last run of the day.  A close 2nd to Kato in the opening qualifier, Jason Nugroho would run the fourth fastest time despite suspected radio problems.  Seeding fourth fastest but not having a good Q1 attempt, Kyosho’s Rama Tribudiman completed the Top 5 with his second effort.

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September 27, 2024

Yokomo Drift Car Double-Bearing Front Axle System

Designed for compatibility with their RD, SD, and MD series of 1:10 Drift cars’ front axles, Yokomo has introduced this double-bearing front axle system which significantly reduces friction by distributing load across the two bearings.  This minimises rotational resistance in the front tires, enhancing overall performance.  The axle shaft, made from high-quality steel but reduced to a Φ3mm diameter, is engineered to lower both weight and rotational moment.  This design enables smoother rolling during acceleration, providing an extra boost when exiting corners while also preventing wheel spin.  Additionally, tread width can be adjusted by simply replacing the included spacers, offering greater flexibility in tuning.

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September 27, 2024

Hobbywing XeRun XR10 PRO DR Drag Racing ESC

Hobbywing has released a new Drag Racing version of their very popular & successful XeRun XR10 PRO ESC.  Features a high-performance 32-bit M4 microprocessor, it uses software optimised and based on the world championship winning XeRun XR10 PRO G2S to provide the best control and performance for Drag Racing.  Compared to the XeRun XR10 PRO G2S ESC, the response time is reduced when the throttle acceleration is set to the maximum at 30.  The ESC comes standard with a 9900uF ultra-large capacitor. The capacitance is increased by nearly 9 times to ensure that the ESC voltage remains stable during extreme power output.  A frameless fan with patented technology is adopted to dissipate a large amount of air through the sides of the fan.  In addition, the internal power board is covered with a copper heat-conducting busbar to generate internal heat transfer to the integrated casing radiator.  The heat dissipation system ensures that the ESC is always reliable and in good heat dissipation condition at all times.

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September 27, 2024

Kato takes Q1 in Indonesia

Having set the pace in seeding practice, Kouki Kato carried that form into qualifying to TQ the opening round at the season finale of the Asian Buggy Championships in Indonesia, but only just.   While putting together a perfect error few 5-minute run, the Infinity driver didn’t have the same outright pace as the morning with local Sworkz driver Jason Nugroho coming to within 0.1 of a second of denying him the top spot.  With visiting drivers still finding their way in terms of how the track conditions change over the day, another local to open qualifying with a strong showing was track owner & builder Adrian Wicaksono who took his Team Associated to third ahead young Australian Christian Wolhunter.

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September 27, 2024

Takashima D-13 404SBS-E Wireless 2.4G Receiver

Hong Kong’s Takashima D-13 has launched its latest 2.4G Receiver this time to work with the Futaba 10PX.  After six months of testing, they have produced a 2.4G wireless four-channel receiver that supports the F-4G communication protocol and which can be perfectly paired with the 10PX and supports software upgrades.  They have reduced the size of the receiver to 27.5 x 18.5 x 20.5mm which weighs in a just 6.5 grams.  Supporting a working voltage of 3.7-8.4V, unlike their previous Takashima D-13 receivers, they have also redesigned the case making the product better compatible with Futaba’s original servo plugs without the need for modification or trimming.

Source: Takashima D-13


September 27, 2024

Kato Top Seed at Asian Buggy Championships Finale

Kouki Kato is the Top Seed at the season finale of the Asian Buggy Championships, the Japanese driver leading an Infinity 1-2 in Indonesia from fellow countryman Naoto Matsukura.  Racing on the completely natural dirt West Side Raceway track which is proving a big hit with the visiting drivers, Kato set the fastest two consecutive laps in the single seeding round.  The only driver to dip into the 40-second lap times, Kato ended up almost 1-second quicker than Matsukura over the 2-laps.  A regular in the Asian Buggy Championships finishing on the podium at the previous round in Brisbane, Sworkz driver Christian Wolhuter opened his third race of the current season with a Top 3 time.  Just 3/10th back on the Australian, Indonesia’s own Rama Tribudiman took his Kyosho to fourth fastest time, the local racer saying afterwards that the traction is completely different to what he used as a result of the large entry who have made the trip to Jakarta this weekend so bring a close to the second season of Scotty Ernst’s Asian Buggy Championships.

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