November 19, 2023

Florida Carpet C/ship wins for Orlowski & Coelho

The JConcepts Florida Carpet Championship at Beachline Raceway in Orlando saw wins for Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski and Xray’s Bruno Coelho with Orlowski the back to back overall Champion of the event.  Attracting a strong international overseas entry, in 2WD Buggy it was Orlowski who dominated qualifying topping all four rounds to secure the overall TQ.  Behind him, Coelho would end qualifying in second with a pair of P2 runs followed by Orlowski’s Schumacher team-mate Broc Champlin.  TLR’s Dakotah Phend, Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin and Sworks’ Joern Neumann completed the Top 6.  In the finals, Orlowski continued his form with A1 & 2 wins to retain his 2022 title.  With the win in A3, Coelho would finish second with Champlin completing the 2WD podium.  In 4WD, former World Champion Coelho would secure the TQ ahead of Champlin after taking 3 of the rounds with Champlin posting a TQ run in Q2.  Orlowski rounded out the Top 3 ahead of Phend and new Xray signing David Ronnefalk.  Again the overall win would be decided in A2 as Coelho made it 2 from 2 ahead of Orlowski, the Polish driver securing the overall runner-up spot with victory in A3 promoting Champlin to the final 4WD podium step ahead of Ronnefalk.

Image: JConcepts [Facebook]


November 19, 2023

2024 Provisional EFRA European Championship Calendar

EFRA, the governing body for RC racing in Europe, has released a provisional 2024 race calendar of which the European Championships are the highlights.  Having hosted its AGM over the weekend, one of the big changes to come from the meeting in Sweden was that the European Championships for 1:10 IC Track, 1:8 IC Track, GT8 and GT8E are now shortened to 4 days running from Wednesday to Saturday.  First of the main 2024 European Championships to be decided will be 1:12 which takes place in Italy in April.  It is going to be a busy year for the Italian Federation as they host European Championships for four different categories.  At the end of May GT8 drivers will battle it out in Sicily, 1:8 Nitro Offroad travels to Sacile at the end of July with 1:8 Onroad crowning its Champion at Locorotondo in late September.  France will be the destination for 1:8 Electric Buggy in Montpellier in early June while later the same month 1:10 Nitro Touring Car heads to Thionville.  In July France will host Large Scale Offroad in Hanvec.  Large Scale Touring & F1 will be decided in Lostallo, Switzerland in early August.  Belgium hosts the 1:10 Electric Touring Car at the end of August.  The season will conclude with 1:10 Offroad as drivers head to Malmo in Sweden in late September.

View European Championship dates here


November 17, 2023

Xtreme Aerodynamics Aria 1:8 Buggy Bodyshell

Like it’s sister brand Matrix Racing Tires’ move into the 1:8 Offroad market, Italian company Xtreme Aerodynamics has announced its first 1:8 Buggy body shell with the release of the Aria.  Announcing the body shell on social media, they said, ‘After several months of hard work with our R&D department we are able to show a new 1:8 Offroad Bodyshell who moves up the standard of performance in terms of Aero details and Model Balancing’.  The body is available in light and ultra light lexan options and is available pre-cut for the Associated RC8B4, HB Racing D8 WORLD, Mugen Seiki MBX8R, Serpent SRX8PRO, Sworkz S35-4EVO and Xray XB823.

View more images here


November 16, 2023

2024 Silver State Indoor Championship – Announcement

The team at The Dirt Racing has announced the 2024 Silver State Indoor Championship will take place from May 1st to 5th at the South Point Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.  With the annual event having attracted a massive 1100 entires in 2023, Marco Barufollo taking the big win, legendary track builder Joey Christensen has announced that the 2024 edition will be capped at 900 entires.  The Dirt will be offering a limited number of early entries at a $40 discount starting today (Nov 16th) with entries available via www.THEDIRT.us .

Source: The Dirt [thedirt.us]


November 16, 2023

RadioMaster MT12 Radio

A brand well known in drone racing/FPV circles, RadioMaster has announced the upcoming release of its MT12 surface radio.  The RadioMaster MT12 is a pioneering open-source surface radio, and the first surface radio officially supported by EdgeTX, ExpressLRS, and the Multi-module project.  Boasting 10 physical inputs and the capability to handle either 16 or 32 channels*, the MT12 is primed for a wide array of surface models, from cars and trucks to boats and beyond.  Featuring extensive customisability and a versatile operating system, the MT12 stands out as a highly configurable surface radio, prepared to excel in virtually any scenario.

View Features, Specs and more images here


November 15, 2023

KeyFulcrum X-Maxx, XRT & Maxx Steering Servo

KeyFulcrum has released a new high-pressure brushless digital magnetic waterproof steering servo with an all-metal casing specifically designed for use in the Traxxas X-Maxx, XRT & Maxx trucks.  An innovative imported waterproof, high-temperature resistant, high-torque sensible brushless controllable drive motor is used.  Under the same working structure, it can generate powerful high torque and control current with autonomous programs to achieve excellent matching efficiency.  The magnetic potentiometer is water-resistant and has no internal contact and no wear during operation. Accordingly the starting and stopping positioning accuracy and return accuracy of the steering gear are accurate during left and right moving, which can work together with the autonomous procedures, and highlight the optimal efficiency.  Pioneering high-strength integrated steel teeth and laser-welded steel teeth.  The teeth do not come loose, durable, smooth, and can improve the meshing accuracy of the gear set system.  This makes the empty position controllable.  Innovative 4-bearing design is adopted, so that the entire gear set has only 1 pin and is made of high-strength 3.2mm alloy steel to improve its yield strength.  The pin hole in the shell is inlaid with a steel sleeve to enhance wear resistance and prolong the service cycle.

View more images here


November 14, 2023

10th Korean National Buggy title for Choi

Well known international Korean 1:8 Buggy racer Dani Choi hit a landmark result over the weekend when he clinched the Korean National 1:8 Nitro Buggy Championship for a 10th time.  Held at ‘The Track’ indoor dirt track in Gimpo, the Kyosho driver dominated qualifying to take the overall TQ after topping all 5 rounds with the Mugen of Tony Jeon second and young talent HyunKyu Jung third.  In the hour long final, Choi would set the fastest lap as he built up a 4-lap lead to take the title ahead of Jung, this being his final race with Xray, with Jeon completing the podium.

Source: Dani Choi [Facebook]


November 13, 2023

FlySky announce Maifield signing

In its latest high profile driver signing, Chinese radio manufacturer FlySky has announced it is to be officially represented by American offroad star Ryan Maifield.  The former 1:10 Offroad World Champion joins multiple Electric Onroad World Champion Marc Rheinard in using their Noble Pro radio.  Maifield will be working closely with FlySky to refine their current products and to develop new transmitters and receivers.  Having been seen using the radio at the recent 1:10 Offroad World Championships in Arizona, commenting the official announcement of the new sponsorship, Maifield said, ‘The Noble Pro is extremely responsive, tunable and easy to use, it feels sturdy and precise to drive with, I’m very impressed with its speed and ergonomic adjustability.’

Source: FlySky [instagram]