November 5, 2006

Keisuke Fukuda is Japanese 1/8th National Champion

2006 Japanese Nationals Podium

1/10th scale World Champion Keisuke Fukuda has won the 2006 Japanese 1/8th Scale National Championships. Starting his Mugen/Ninja from 2nd on the grid Keisuke managed to take the win by a full lap ahead of Takaaki Shimo to claim his first 1/8th National title. Second placed Shimo for Kyosho had a 4 lap advantage over the third place racer 由留木一也 after the 45 minute final. Pole position man Tadahiko Sahashi had problems in the race, as did Tanaka who went out after 15 minutes.

You can view the final results here and you can view some more pictures here (day 1), here (day 2) and here (finals).

Image: Hokusei [www12.ocn.ne.jp/~hokusei]


November 4, 2006

Paolo Morganti wins the US Open Fuel Sedan Champs

Kissimmee factory Podium

Paolo Morganti (old pic once more), driving a Serpent 720, has won the US Open Fuel Sedan Championships held this weekend at the Kissimmee track in Florida. With the results taken from three 20 minute main finals of which the best 2 counted, consistency was the order of the day. Pole position man Paolo had trouble in his first round, after some mechanical problem, fought back in the second and third rounds to take 2 wins. Michael Salven who had won the 1st round managed a 2nd in the second round and another 2nd in the final round to take 2nd overall, whilst Chris Tosolini who also had problems in the 1st round fought back with a 3rd place finish in the second round and an unfortunate 3rd position in the third round, after flaming out whilst close to Paolo in 2nd position, to take third overall at the event.

Check out the final mains results here (PDF).

Results from Live RC [liverc.com] Image: Pdub [pdubracing.com]


November 4, 2006

HoBao Hyper ST Truggy

HoBao Hyper ST

HoBao have entered the Truggy market with this rather nice RTR, the Hyper ST. According to Philip over at Neo-Buggy – “The Hyper ST is a mix of the best of the Hyper 7 coupled with new parts from the Hyper 8”. So there you have it, head on over to Neo-Buggy for more images.

Source: Neo-Buggy [neo-buggy.net]


November 4, 2006

CRC dominate 1/12th at the Halloween Classic

Mike Blackstock and Todd Hodge

Something that seemed to slip our radar, mainly due to my lack of knowledge with regards 1/12th scale, is the fact that the all new CRC (Calandra Racing Concepts) Carpet Knife Generation X kicked ass at the Halloween Classic in Cleveland. While we only brought you the Touring modified results, it seemed that the real racing at this event was happening in the comeback class, 1/12th. Mark Smyka TQ’d and won in the 19T class, whilst in modified it was Mike Blackstock who took the TQ and the win.

Head on over to CRC for the full report.


November 4, 2006

HPI Battery Level Indicator

HPI Battery level indicator

Now this is a cool little gizmo, simple and easy to use and essential for all those non racers out there who just want to drive their car, in this case a HPI, and have fun. Its a battery meter that gives you an indication of the power left in the receiver battery when you turn your car on. Your transmitter has a meter to tell you when it needs charging so it seems pretty natural that your car should have one too and if it prevents a Savage tearing off into a crowd of girl guides, or other random targets, then that can only be a good thing. Good thinking from the guys at HPI.

Source: HPI [hpi-europe.com]


November 3, 2006

Tanaka heads qualifying at Japanese Nats

Masao Tanaka

After 2 rounds of qualifying for the 1/8th scale Japanese Nationals being held at the Hokusei Circuit in Japan, Masao Tanaka heads the leaderboard. The Kawahara driver, and Worlds finalist, is in 1st position just ahead of current Japanese national champion and Worlds finalist, Takaaki Shimo. In the next two spots are the Sahashi brothers with younger Tadahiko in 3rd, the Japanese 1/10th national champion just ahead of his brother Sukenari. World 1/10th scale champion Keisuke Fukuda is just outside the top 4 in fifth position with the top 6 racers doing 17 lap runs on this 340 meter long track.

Qualifying continues tomorrow and we will bring you the news as we get it.

Image: Kawahara [kawahara-racing.co.jp]


November 3, 2006

Xray bring the Micro Nitro RTR

Xray Micro Nitro RTR

Xray have just announced the RTR version of their popular little 1/18th scale Micro Nitro Monster and Stadium trucks. These are pretty wicked little cars and of course come with the usual Xray quality feel.

RTR Features
– There are two versions available: truck (#380740) and monster truck
(#380840)
– RTR is fully assembled by XRAY in Europe and is the most premium and luxury RTR in the market with a very affordable price
– RTR features all the premium equipment and electronics: 2x metal gear servo, receiver battery pack, XT1 Transmitter + XR1 Receiver, all cables and switch.
– RTR comes with nicely painted and trimmed body with all the stickers applied.
– There are 4 different colors available from every paint scheme.
– There is FREE Hudy Start-box for every RTR kit

Check out the brochure images here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com] 


November 3, 2006

3 Racing release Carrying Bag

3 Racing carry bag

Very similar to the bag of Team Magic, this new black and blue bag from optional parts makers 3 Racing seems to be a very nice product. Transporting your stuff to the track is made easy with the supplied wheels and a pull handle and all your racing parts will be safely contained within the 2 large and 2 small inner carrying boxes.

You can see more images and features here.