March 6, 2007

French Engine regulation Row

French engine regulation row

There is a bit of a storm brewing in France with regards the new EFRA rulings that allow the previous Outlaw crankshafts be used in EFRA legal motors. The row stems from a long standing FVRC (French Federation) regulation that states that EFRA rules will only be adopted 1 year after they are decided upon. The new engine regulations according to the FVRC do not fall under this year delay and are to be implemented immediately, so far all is fine. But it starts to get tricky when a certain French engine manufacturer objects to the new engine regulations being implemented this year and thus causing the new .12 Ninja motor, that has only just been released and only supplied with the current EFRA legal crankshaft to be illegal, therefore stopping the use of this engine completely in France. Of course the engines importer is fighting back and the battle is continuing on, and you can check out some info about it here and here (french).


March 6, 2007

Mike Wiseman wins Rd1 of South African Nationals

South African Nationals

Mike Wiseman has proven himself the man to beat in the first round of the South African Nationals held last weekend at the East London track. In the 200mm class Mike TQ’d the event with his Serpent 720 and then went on to win the final by 4 laps and then managed to repeat the feat in 1/8th scale, with his Serpent 960, TQ’ing and winning the final by 5 seconds. In the 235mm class Mike White with his Serpent 835 TQ’d and won the event.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


March 6, 2007

New CRF Exhaust pipe – Spyshot

CRF .12 pipe - Spyshot

We obtained this spyshot of the latest, as yet to be released, CRF exhaust pipe which has been developed for use with Team Orion Wasp CRF .12 engine and it is one of the first fruits of the partnership between Adrien Bertin and his new employer Team Orion. This exhaust is supposed to give, whats already a very quick engine even more punch, especially in the bottom end, and we were also told that this pipe was used by Adrien in combination with the Wasp CRF .12 at the Melzo track in Italy to hit a top speed of 107 kmh, while his previous fastest speed, with Sirio, was only 103kmh, which is quite a big difference. We hope to bring you more information when this exhaust is released in the near future.


March 6, 2007

LRP announce Latest Additions to Factory Team

LRP Factory Team

LRP have announced some new additions to their 2007 Factory team that will run with their products in the coming season. All champions in varying classes, Martin Hudy is the first new addition, this years Snowbirds 19T rubber winner, Martin has been improving year on year and will be a good addition to the team. Other driver include Thomas Gunsel, who has been tearing up the tracks in the lower ranks, current French National Champion Cyril N’Diaye who recently signed to Xray as well as 1/12th scale specialist Alexander Stocker and 5th scale champ Markus Feldmann.

To read all the drivers full profiles go here.

Source: LRP [lrp.cc]


March 6, 2007

Takaaki Shimo leaves Sirio

Takaaki Shimo leaves Sirio

We have heard whisperings that former Japanese National Champion and World Championship Vice Champion Takaaki Shimo has left Sirio engines with immediate effect, although we have yet to receive confirmation of his new engine supplier. Shimo as we all know is a top Kyosho racer and very close to the factory and with this latest move further confirms a split between the Japanese car manufacturer and the Italian engine manufacturer, no matter how much Star Motor wants to deny it. Shimo joins fellow Kyosho racers Bertin, Collari, Cyrul who have all left Sirio with Collari choosing Novarossi and Cyrul and Bertin going for the Team Orion CRF engines to power their cars. We have talked a lot about this matter in the past and believe that there is definitely a shift within Kyosho to move away from Sirio but until we receive some official confirmation from either party we cant say for sure.


March 5, 2007

GM Racing Genius and programmer

GM Products Genius and programmer

More stuff from German company, GM Racing, with the release of new models to their range of Genius brushed / brushless speed controllers, namely the 50, 85 & 100. This new range features new software specially designed for model cars and boats, but also suitable for model aircraft and the Genius 85 and 100 sport a splashproof case, though only when used sensorless and as is the norm, the controller can automatically detect cell type, cell amount and motor type as well. Something to note is that Marc Fisher used a Genius 95 controller to win last months Snowbirds in 1/12th scale, so the pedigree is undeniable. Also available to compliment the GM Genius is this 2 line LCD screen programmer that allows you change the settings of the controller without the need for computer, something similar to what we saw from Quark.

More details can be found here (speedo) and here (programmer).

Source: Graupner [graupner.com]


March 5, 2007

GM Racing Evo3 and Dr. Speed Brushless motors

GM Racing Evo3 and Dr. Speed

GM have released two new ranges of brushless motors for both competition and sport applications. First up is the new Evo3 competition motor which is a highly efficient, reliable and top end performance motor which is sensored for smooth and reactive control and which features multiple, extra-thick, windings together with an extremely low-loss design and sintered neodymium magnets to ensure enormous power and high efficiency. With the ability to adjust the sensor timing and the motors use of large cooling slots, you can really get the maximum from this motor. The Dr. Speed sport motor is similar to the Evo3 but is intended for sport applications, with both motors are available in a large number of winds and wind types.

More details can be found here (Evo3) and here (Dr. Speed).

Source: Graupner [graupner.de]


March 5, 2007

Piktor Rush 2 clutch system

Piktor Rush 2 clutch system

Introducing the original clutch system from the Piktor Rush 2 1/8th scale buggy. Continuing in Piktors aspirational way of telling us about their products they start by informing us how the best clutch to have is the one you forget, without worrying about it and the need for too much maintenance. It must also engage early enough to make the car easy to control, but also give maximum punch to propel you forward yet it must also slip a little bit to make it possible for the engines to breathe. The new clutch system in the Rush 2 does all this and more…apparently.

Source: Piktor [piktor.fr]