Red RC

February 16, 2007

2007 Winternats, Florida – Thursday Day 5

Paolo Morganti - Image by Mike Myers

Well the rain came and interrupted play today on the last day of qualifiers for this years Florida Winternats. With the 1/8th scale class not managing to complete a full round of qualifying without the rain stopping proceedings, the results from Wednesday will stand, which means Kyosho racer Josh Cyrul will start on pole position for Saturdays A-main race. In 2nd position is Chris Tosolini driving another Kyosho Evolva, with reigning champion Mike Swauger driving his MRT Ninja powered Mugen MRX4-R lining up just behind him. Vincent Jackson, also driving for Mugen, looks like the danger man in this race, the relative unknown lines up 4th and could produce the surprise of the day. In 5th sits former multiple winner, and highest qualifying Serpent, Michael Salven from Germany just ahead of team mate Paolo Morganti, both drivers with something to prove after showing top pace in the heats but just not being able to pull it together when it mattered.

In 1/10th scale its all change, with the organisers managing to get in one of the final 2 rounds of qualifying for this class run, in between the showers. Serpent 720 driver Paolo Morganti pulled out a stunning drive in cold conditions to go 9 seconds quicker than he previously managed, to take the pole position from top Xray driver and overnight pole man Ralph Burch. Jilles Groskamp who moved to using a Mega MF motor for his final qualifying runs, managed to get 3rd fastest qualifying time but was disqualified for his car being underweight after the lead weight in his car fell out, which meant that 3rd position went to Kyosho racer Josh Cyrul. In 4th position was Danny Horta, driving a Serpent 720 who managed to move himself up the order and finish ahead of hot shot Xray driver Paul LeMieux who ended qualifying a very respectable 5th for his first nitro race.

The lower finals take place today, Friday, and if there is no rain delay, the A, B and C-mains will take place on Saturday. The top 11 fastest qualify directly into the A-main in all classes with the winner of the B-main bumping up to make it 12 starting in the A-main.

Not so many pictures today but the ones we have you can see below along with the final top A-main standingsâ€¦ content

February 15, 2007

Hirosaka prototype Kyosho Stallion TF-5

We’ve written briefly about Masaaki Hirosaka, father of multiple World Champion Masami and top RC mechanic, before and the fact that he makes some pretty cool well thought out products. Well here is his take on the Kyosho Stallion TF-5 which takes a different approach to that used by Josh Cyrul who’s car we saw at the Snowbirds. As you can see from the pictures, the batteries have been set further back than normal and where the top deck connects with the front bulk head is pretty unique too, although i cant tell you exactly why. Also note that the rear body mount is bolted directly to the bulkhead which means the downforce generated by the body shell is pushed straight down onto the chassis, its mounting position also protecting it from crashes.

Masaaki has also created patent pending one touch total length adjustment shock absorbers. I cant tell how they work either but i have included pictures of them below.

Click more to check out more pictures of the car and shocks… content

February 15, 2007

Pro-Line Hole Shot for 1/8th buggy

Pro Line Hole Shot

Pro-Line have released some new 1/8th scale buggy tyres based on the Hole Shot MTR that debuted at last years US truck Nationals and took home the win. Available in Pro-Line’s competitive M2 and M3 compounds the new tyre sports oversized inner ribs for anti-tire ballooning under acceleration and features a small pin design for use on hard-packed tracks.

Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]

February 15, 2007

Adam Drake Interviewed

Our partners down under, RubeDude, have a real nice interview with Mr. gas off road ‘The Drake’. In the interview Adam answers all sorts of questions from how he begun racing, to what his routine is in the build up to his race, to his favourite type of track and class of racing.

I always try and watch the races leading up to my race. It gets me pumped up and it’s a great chance to see if the track has change or if another drive has found a better line around the track. I always like to walk the track in the morning and before a main event. It’s kind of my time to get away and get into race mode.

You can read the full interview here.

Source: Rube Dude [rubeduderc.com] Image: Greg Rojna [gregrojna.com]

February 15, 2007

Robitronic Scalpel full option

The Robitronic Scalpel has to be one of my favourite cars to have been released in the last year, not only does it look great but it goes like a rocket too. Now the good people over at Robitronic have released details on all the options you can get for the car to make it handle, perform and look even better. And it seems that apart from the actual carbon chassis, you can replace almost everything on the car with a new, and most of the time red anodized, optional part. Robitronic have also released information on the optionals available for the Avid and Protos.

You can find the options pages here (Scalpel), here (Avid) and here (Protos).

Source: Robitronic [robitronic-usa.com]

February 15, 2007

Novak SS Pro-Series racing brushless motors

Novak SS Pro-Series

Novak USA have released these new SS Pro Series racing brushless motors which are based on Novakâ€™s Velociti-Series Racing brushless motors but have received a number of performance enhancing upgrades. These upgrades include the use of a ROAR-approved, Nickel-plated Sintered Neodymium rotor that improves throttle feel, improves braking ability and better overall performance as well as the use of an aluminium ribbed end bell that not only reduces weight but also acts as a heatsink for the motor. These new motors are available now and in a number of different winds, suitable for different racing classes and conditions.

Source: Novak [teamnovak.com]

February 15, 2007

KO Propo Esprit III Universe

KO Propo Exprit III Vantage

Now i know this radio isn’t of interest to most of our readers as they feel sticks are for people who fly airplanes, but for us older and more non US based racers, sticks are still often the way to go. In fact this very radio won 2 World titles last year in the hands of David Spashett in 1/12th scale and of course Andy Moore in 1/10th touring, this is also the radio of choice for multiple World Champion Masami Hirosaka. So whats new with it? Well as you can see from the picture, they have done something very non KO like and rounded some corners on the casing and in addition to that the internal workings are also very different.

The new Custom Menu feature allows for the use of the functions that you are going to use. No more searching for functions that you want to use! Add, delete, prioritize the functions. The navigation of the menu is relatively easy with the use of the jog dial. The exquisiteness of the arrangement of the jog dial and the command key utilize the highest ease of use.

Source: KO Propo [kopropo.com] via Kimihiko Yano [kimihiko-yano.net]

February 15, 2007

Serpent release Central Lola body shell

Central Lola body shell

Serpent have announced that they have started selling the new 1/8th scale Central Lola body shell. This new body originated in Japan and is now tearing up the tracks across the World with some top racers currently using it in this weeks Winternats such as Mike Swauger, Paolo Morganti and Michael Salven. We previously mentioned this body when it was first introduced into the US by Serpent USA some months ago.

Providing a huge boost in performance over previous shells, this new EFRA approved body not only provides more steering but also is more stable than other current shells on the market. This improvement in handling converts to faster and more consistent lap times.

Serpent have also released Titanium Nitride coated shock shafts that allows a much smoother action of the shock absorbers as well as making the shafts stronger.

Check out pictures of the shafts here… content