As we noted earlier this month, 2011 IFMAR 1/8th onroad World Champion Robert Pietsch has signed a 2-year contract with Italian World Champion engine maker Picco. Robert will join present WC Tadahiko Sahashi and US champion Mike Swauger while assisting with engine development and among other events he is set to race at the IFMAR Worlds, EFRA races as well as the first full season of the newly established Euro Nitro Series.
Source: Picco [teampicco.com]
Tekno RC have new 1/8th shock springs as well as optional sway bars for the ET48 and NT48 truck available. Starting with the silver colour springs, they come as separate 80mm front and 90mm rear parts, are made from 1.6mm spring steel and are available as 7.5T to 9.0T front and 9.0T to 10.5T rear variant in four colour-coded hardnesses each. Also new and made for the ET48 and NT48 1/8th truggies are several sway bar wires. Coming as 2.3mm to 3.0mm variant the sway bars help to adjust the chassis roll to your liking and they are laser-etched for easy identification.
Click here to view the swaybars
Florida racing veteran and TLR driver JR Mitch has agreed to a new contract with JConcepts. The current Region 4 Champion in the 2wd modified class has been on the JConcepts racing team since 2008 and has maintained a winning record on the regional and national scene throughout. JR’s versatility allows him to be a threat in 7 different classes of off-road racing where on any given day he can dominate the competition. JR will continue to use all the JConcepts, bodies, tires, wheels and accessories on his TLR line of vehicles as he chases victory at events throughout Florida and national events across the United States. JR had this to say:
It’s been a great honor to race and work with the JConcepts crew over the past five years. I’ve achieved team results and experienced events that have surpassed my expectations. I look forward to new adventures, traveling to the JConcepts indoor series races and other events with JConcepts.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]
ST Racing Concepts have new option parts for the Axial SCX10 and Wraith crawler kits available. Starting with the SCX10 part, available now is a short wheelbase chassis conversion kit that builds on solid 4mm CNC machined chassis rails which box-in the centre skid plate with a pair of 4mm CNC machined side plates. Included are also a full set of aluminium suspension link to shorten the wheelbase to approximately 250mm. Hardware and aluminium accessories are included to redistribute the weight as well with the battery now up front over the front axles. The shorter wheelbase is perfect for highly detailed CC-01 Tamiya bodies such as the Mercedes Unimog, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Land Cruiser or the upcoming Toyota FJ Cruiser. The conversion is available in black, gun metal and silver anodising. Also available are optional anodised colour chassis rails and side plates in red and green as well as a pair of replacement 74mm suspension links.
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VBC Racing have announced the signing of Korean National Champion E.C. Kim to their Factory Team for 2014. Kim will run the VBC WildFire D06 touring car and Lightning12 pan car in the coming season and be a key part of the VBC Racing development team working on new products developments.
Source: VBC Racing [vbcracing.com]
The Köngen Indoor Masters took place last weekend in Köngen, Germany counting around 120 entries in several electric off-road classes. Saturday started with 2 practice and 4 qualifying runs. Team Associated’s Patrick Hofer dominated the proceedings and took pole position in both the 2WD and 4WD buggy classes. Sunday began with the 5th qualification run which was either a warm-up and or the last change to get into the main finals. Later in the 4WD finals Hofer dominated the field by winning 3 out of the 3 A-mains easily. Benni Gröschl (Team Durango) finished in 2nd place and Markus Metsch (Schumacher) came in 3rd. In 2WD the fight between Benni Gröschl and Patrick Hofer was on but Patrick crashed and Benni took the win. Patrick finished in 2nd place and Luca Rau (Kyosho) took the final podium spot.
Click here to view the buggy top 3 results
The fourth round of the popular Essex Winter Series took place this weekend. With this being the first major Touring Car race of 2014 in the UK, a number of drivers had new teams, cars, or parts on their car, and everyone was hoping to get the new year off to a winning start. In the Muchmore-sponsored Modified Class, Elliott Harper returned to the series. Elliott dominated Round 1 of the Championship, but had missed the second and third rounds due to University commitments and a large testing session for Durango in Chicago.
Continue reading the report here
For the second year in succession Olly Jefferies took victory in the prestigious Autosport International race, last year the race was for GT10 cars running a Reedy Race format, this year the race was once again run in Reedy Race format but for touring cars, It was a dream start for Jefferies in what was his first touring car race for his new team Xray. The event takes place at the prestigious Autosport Show at the NEC near Birmingham, widely regarded as one the biggest motor sport shows in the world and the drivers race in front of large crowds over two days, the event is seen as shop window by the BRCA to promote RC racing to a knowledgeable crowd, as the theme of the show is the BTCC all drivers swapped their normal colour schemes for replicas of the full size 2012 BTCC grid
Continue reading the report here
