Red RC

February 7, 2007

Kyosho and Sirio partnership close to an end?

Kyosho and Sirio

We have been hearing this rumour for a while now and from a number of sources, the fact that the partnership between Kyosho and Star Motor Engineering, makers of Sirio, was strained and may even be coming to an end. Things started to be mentioned when World Champion Lamberto Collari didnt renew his contract with the Italian engine manufacturer and jumped ship to Novarossi, followed relatively closely by fellow World Champion Adrien Bertin who left his job at Sirio and moved to Team Orion in Switzerland. Rumour has it that Francesco Tironi, a Collari protegÃ©, has also left his position in the company but this hasnt been confirmed as yet. All the previously mentioned racers are heavily backed by Japanese manufacturer Kyosho and seems like too much of a coincidence to be not related to their engine and car sponsors relationship going sour.

Now i dont pretend to know why this could be happening but the shift could see Team Orion and their range of CRF Wasp motors taking over the supply of motors to the Japanese teams drivers with Bertin and fellow Kyosho team driver Josh Cyrul already running these motors and the unannounced news that another top European Kyosho racer, that we havent mentioned, will also jump from Sirio to Team Orion in the coming weeks. We will watch and see how this unfolds and update you when we hear more.

February 7, 2007

Ray Woods Worlds coverage from Indonesia now available

Ray Woods Worlds DVD

So Ray Woods dropped us a mail last night telling us that his new DVD covering the 1/8th Buggy World Championships from Jakarta Indonesia was now available. Ray does extensive coverage of this race including background news, interviews with the top drivers and of course multi camera race action.

The Official DVD of the 2006 GP Off Road World’s from Jakarta is OUT NOW. (Part# RWP038) Many racers there said this was THE BEST World’s ever run, wait to see the professional marshals, talk about dedicated! Oh, the racing? What an incredible battle with drama aplenty. You’ve heard about it, now see what really happened with 6 cameras to catch all the dirt kicking action.

You can check out a preview here and buy the DVD here.

February 7, 2007

Masao Tanaka signs to Motonica for 2007

Masao Tanaka signs to Motonica

Top Japanese racer and multiple World championship podium finisher, Masao Tanaka has been confirmed to race for Motonica for the 2007 season. Tanaka had previously tested the Motonica prior to last years 1/8th Nationals, but decided for the Mugen as he didn’t have time to learn the car, but obviously he liked the car enough to decide to race with it for the 2007 season. Tanaka has been out of a sponsored drive since Ninja motors were pushed upon Mugen team drivers last year which forced Tanaka to make a decision between staying with Mugen or with Kawahara where he works, who just happen to be the Novarossi importers for Japan, he chose to stay in employment. Whats also interesting is the close relationship now between Motonica and Novarossi, with suggestions that they are both pushing to build an all Italian dream team which could possibly include 7 time World Champion Lamberto Collari.

Image: Eco Model [ecomodel.it]

February 7, 2007

Chris Tosolini signs for Team Br00d

Chris Tosolini signs for Team Brood

Multiple US National Champion Chris Tosolini has signed to Team Br00d and will use their batteries and motors from this weeks Snowbird Nationals onwards. Chris up until this move used Checkpoint cells and motors and made the decision to move over to his new sponsor after giving its products a trial run at the Novak US touring car champs event last month.

Source: RC Tech [rctech.net]

February 6, 2007

GRP/Ninja Fast Link System update

GRP/Ninja Fast Link System

We showed this fast link system from GRP back in December and then you saw it again at Nurnberg, well now we have gotten the official word, this time from Ninja, with regards what types and versions of this springless system will be available. According to the word on the MID site, the new FL system will be made available for 2.1cc and 3.5cc circuit motors as well as for 3.5cc and 4.6cc motors for off road. The circuit pipes will be available with a choice of 3 different length manifolds whilst the off road pipe systems will have a choice of 2 lengths of manifold.

Source: MID [mid-mugen.de]

February 6, 2007

Andy Moore wins Carpet Wars World Cup

Andy Moore wins Vega Cup

World Champion Andy Moore has won this years Carpet Wars 2 Day World Cup, formerly known as the Vega Cup, held at the Black Lion Leisure complex in Gillingham. Andy managed to put his HB Cyclone on the pole position after qualifying, followed closely by Yokomo racer Chris Grainger who had struggled on this track previously, but managed to pull it together for the big event. In the main event Andy Moore won the first two finals with Chris taking two 3rd places heading into the last final.

Final three saw a train of cars behind Andy Moore as everyone circulated in grid order, the racing was close and then got a little to close for Chris as he tapped the back of Andy, the race director had no option but to give Chris a stop and go penalty, by the time Chris was back on track he was down the order and his result left him third over the three legs.

You can read the full race report here. You can also get the full report from round 4 of the Carpet Wars that took place the weekend previous here.

Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk]

February 6, 2007

Hirosaka & Kimushin win Extreme Off road Champs

Extreme Off road Champs

Mirage Japan have a nice picture report on last weekends Extreme Off road Champs that were held at the top Japanese racing facility, the Yatabe Arena. In 4wd Masami Hirosaka raced his Yokomo to the win in the 4wd class, 4 seconds ahead of Hot Bodies racer Matsuhaya who drove the prototype Cyclone D4 to the 2nd position. Third position in the event went to young Yokomo racer and Hirosaka protegÃ©, Naoto Matsukura, who finished a further 5 seconds behind Matsuhaya. In the 2wd class Associated/Yokomo racer Kimushin, who finished in 4th in 4wd, took the win only 2 seconds ahead of Hot Bodies racer Matsuhaya who ended the race in 2nd place once again.

Click more to see more images… content

February 6, 2007

New Ninja .12 and .28 motors

Ninja Motors

MID Mugen in Germany have announced the release of these 2 updated motors from Ninja, the .12 touring car motor (MR12 T01A) and the .28 truggy motor (MR28 M01A), in time for the 2007 race season. The new motors are similar to the .21 buggy and circuit motors that were released near the end of last year in that these new motors also now have been upgraded and sport the ‘A’ suffix at the end of their product number which mostly equates to better tolerances amongst the parts that will improve performance and reliability.

Source: MID [mid-mugen.de]