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Semi Final Line-up complete at Steel City RC Speedway

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 12:07 PM PDT

After a morning of some intense racing the line up for the Semi Finals at the 22nd running of the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championships are set at Steel City RC Speedway. In the first of the 20-minute Quarter finals, two former Champions battled for the win with 9-times Champion Lamberto Collari getting by pole sitter and long time race leader Robert Pietsch in the final stint of the race. Bumping up from the 1/8 Final, Patrick Schaefer would work his way through the field surviving a moment in the pitlane and benefiting from some key retirements including former finalists Teemu Leino and Robin D’Hondt. Finishing 4th, the race was the end of road for 1:10 Worlds podium finisher Alessio Mazzeo. In the second of the Quarter Finals, there was heartbreak for Steven Jovanovic who was comfortably leading but with just 3-laps to go ran out of fuel. This meant Jonathan Gandin, a driver who had his own run time issues in qualifying, would take the win to go to the Semis along with former Champion Tadahiko Sahashi and American Bryce Butterfield.

22nd after qualifying putting him 3rd on the Quarter Final grid, on progressing to the Semi, his 2017 Worlds ending with a plug failure while leading the 1/8 Final, Collari said, ‘Now the car is much better. Yesterday I couldn’t push without flipping but today we found a good set-up that the car doesn’t want to flip’. Looking to make his first final since 2009 when he won his last World title, asked about the 30-minute Semi the Infinity driver said, ‘The car is fast. I hope I can push without problems’.

One Italian driver starting the rise of what looks like a promising career here at Steel City RC Speedway, 16-year-old Gandin was very happy to make his first Semi final, this only his second 1:8 World Championship. Getting as far as the 1/64th Final in France, here in California he quickly established himself as a front runner putting his ARC in the fastest heat for qualifying. Unfortunately run time issues hampered him from translating that speed into a good qualifying. Lining up 6th on the grid for his Quarter Final, making the bump up to the Semi he said, ‘the Semi was our goal and after practice went better than expected we kind of expected to be in the Semi but our fuel consumption caused us problems. In the Quarter Final we better understood how to manage it and now we are in the Semi so I am very happy. We will leave the car the same for the Semi and try our best to make the final’.

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Salven calls time on WC career

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 10:50 AM PDT

Michael Salven has called time on his World Championship racing career, one of nitro onroad racing’s best known figures made the announcement that having made his World Championship debut in California in 1987, that the 22nd running of the IFMAR 1:8 Worlds here in Fontana, California was the right time to take a step back from racing. The 58 year-old German, who has enjoyed all of his professional career with Serpent, a company which was instrumental in the early development of the class, Salven bowed out of the Worlds competition here this morning at Steel City RC Speedway when he failed to finish the 1/16th finals. Asked about his decision, he said, ‘The Pro guys turn up with everything sorted. I turned up here with three engines that still needed to be run in and it turned out none of them are very good. I will still race, I probably have a few more Euros in me, but its important I race because as the designer of our cars I need to know what’s going on’.

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Chassis Focus – Simon Kurzbuch

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 10:45 AM PDT

Chassis – Shepherd Velox V8.2
Engine – Novarossi Mephisto
Fuel (handout) – VP Racing
Tires (handout) – Hotrace
Radio/Servos – Futaba T7PX/Futaba
Body – Xtreme Super Diablo

Remarks – Running Shepherd’s Velox V8.2, Simon’s car is fitted with their brand new advanced weight system which allows fast balance (front-rear) changes in the pits. The car also has a new optional narrow front shock tower, eccentric inserts in front uprights, Shepherd low friction belts. It also features a prototype test version of additional front weights made by Simon’s dad who has also ‘hand tuned’ the front bumper.

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Salven calls time on WC career

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 10:39 AM PDT

Michael Salven has called time on his World Championship racing career, one of nitro onroad racing’s best known figures made the announcement that having made his World Championship debut in California in 1987, that the 22nd running of the IFMAR 1:8 Worlds here in Fontana, California was the right time to take a step back from racing. The 58 year-old German, who has enjoyed all of his professional career with Serpent, a company which was instrumental in the early development of the class, Salven bowed out of the Worlds competition here this morning at Steel City RC Speedway when he failed to finish the 1/16th finals. Asked about his decision, he said, ‘The Pro guys turn up with everything sorted. I turned up here with three engines that still needed to be run in and it turned out none of them are very good. I will still race, I probably have a few more Euros in me, but its important I race because as the designer of our cars I need to know what’s going on’.

Reflecting on his career, he said, the first WC I did was 1987 at Ranch Pit Shop which was owned by Gil Losi, it’s gone now, but I am told it’s only about 30-minutes from here. It was actually a shitty event for me, and this one was even worse, but I had a few good ones in between’. Only missing one World Championship over the 32-years, Brazil in 2015, he said, ‘Phuket in Thailand (1995) was really good and the race in Mexico (1997) was amazing. I TQ’d both of those races but some stupid guy called Collari was there which meant I never won’ – joking about the 9-time World Champion. Joining Serpent as designer in 1991 it is there that Red RC’s own personal relationship with Salven began with our founder Eoghain O’Briain working alongside him and even having having the pleasure of being his pitman on the odd occasion. We wish Michael well as he steps back from World Championship competition but look forward to meeting him in the pits at future Worlds and who knows, maybe in the future his son’s name might appear on a future World Championships entry list.

Team Associated RC8B3.1 series alloy turnbuckle ball set

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 06:24 AM PDT

Team Associated have introduced the new Factory Team aluminium turnbuckle ball set for the RC8B3.1 series of kits. The set, made from durable hard-anodised 7075 aluminium, prevents rust, which minimises corrosion and promotes smooth action of the turnbuckles. The set also results in 5g weight savings over the stock steel turnbuckle balls and it fits the RC8B3.1, RC8B3.1e, RC8T3.1, and RC8T3.1e.

Source: Team Associated [teamassociated.com]

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Xpress GT Competition pre-glued wheel sets

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 06:14 AM PDT

Xpress have introduced their new GT Competition pre-glued wheel sets featuring 36X or 40X tyres and white multi-spoke rims. The wheels use standard 12mm wheel hexes and 0mm offset, making them suitable for nearly all 1/10th on-road touring car chassis with the multi-spoke rim design enhancing the overall looks especially in GT and FWD classes while the 36X and 40X rubber tyres ensure exceptional traction, making the pre-glued wheels a good hand-out or control tyre.

Source: Xpress [rc-xpress.com]

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Chassis Focus – Naoto Matsukura

Posted: 01 Nov 2019 06:01 PM PDT

Chassis – Infinity IF18
Engine – OS Speed R2104
Fuel (handout) – VP Pro
Tires (handout) – Hotrace
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M12S/Sanwa
Body – Xtreme Diablo

Remarks – Describing his IF18 as ‘a standard’ car, Super Pole winner Naoto said the only differences to the car as to how he would normally run it are a front brace on the radio tray, weights in the car and on the front bumper and the use of a brass battery holder to help balance the car on the high traction conditions.

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Chassis Focus – Mirko Salemi

Posted: 01 Nov 2019 05:07 PM PDT

Chassis – Capricorn C804
Engine – Max Power RP9S
Fuel (handout) – VP Racing
Tires (handout) – Hotrace
Radio/Servos – Sanwa Exzes ZZ/Sanwa
Body – Protoform R19

Remarks – Qualifying for the 1/4 Finals here at Steel City RC Speedway, Mirko is driving Capricorn’s new C804. Over its predecessor the car features lower arms that are 2mm longer with the chassis narrower to suit. The upper arms are also fixed differently now being mounted to the new radio tray making the car more rigid. The front bulkheads are also 2mm lower. At the rear of the car the bulkheads are narrower making the centre of gravity better. The car has a new radio tray and the radio box reduced in size sitting now in the middle of the car. Mirko is also running the optional hubs both front and rear.

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Video – Super Pole

Posted: 01 Nov 2019 04:17 PM PDT

Matsukura blitzes rivals in Super Pole

Posted: 01 Nov 2019 02:51 PM PDT

Naoto Matsukura effectively blitzed his rivals in Super Pole needing just three laps to set the fastest lap and book his direct starting position in the final alongside Infinity team-mate and Top Qualifier Dario Balestri. Only the second time Super Pole has been held at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships, the 2nd through 5th placed qualifiers had the opportunity to avoid racing in the Semi Finals with the process comprising of a 3-minute warm up following by 6-timed laps of which each drivers fastest was counted. With three of the drivers participants of Super Pole in France two years ago, first up was Jesse Davis with his best attempt a 14.640. Next to go was Dominic Greiner who was making his first 1:8 Super Pole. Timing issues however meant his run was restarted and after much deliberation between officials on how he could continue the run he was forced to start his timed run from the pit lane with just a single warm-up lap. Despite the disruption he improved on Davis’ time by 1/10th of second. Qualifying third overall, next up was Simon Kurzbuch who pushed Greiner off the top spot by 0.003 of a second. Last to go and knowing what he needed to do, Matsukura duly delivered a 14.449 lap to go quicker than Kurzbuch by 0.084.

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Matsukura blitzes rivals in Super Pole

Posted: 01 Nov 2019 02:45 PM PDT

Naoto Matsukura effectively blitzed his rivals in Super Pole needing just three laps to set the fastest lap and book his direct starting position in the final alongside Infinity team-mate and Top Qualifier Dario Balestri. Only the second time Super Pole has been held at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships, the 2nd through 5th placed qualifiers had the opportunity to avoid racing in the Semi Finals with the process comprising of a 3-minute warm up following by 6-timed laps of which each drivers fastest was counted. With three of the drivers participants of Super Pole in France two years ago, first up was Jesse Davis with his best attempt a 14.640. Next to go was Dominic Greiner who was making his first 1:8 Super Pole. Timing issues however meant his run was restarted and after much deliberation between officials on how he could continue the run he was forced to start his timed run from the pit lane with just a single warm-up lap. Despite the disruption he improved on Davis’ time by 1/10th of second. Qualifying third overall, next up was Simon Kurzbuch who pushed Greiner off the top spot by 0.003 of a second. Last to go and knowing what he needed to do, Matsukura duly delivered a 14.449 lap to go quicker than Kurzbuch by 0.084.

Reacting to his Super Pole win, Matsukura said, ‘In the last qualifying round my engine was rich but we kept that engine and made adjustments in the warm-up. After the first lap I knew I had the car & engine to do the lap I needed’. Happy at maintaining his 100% appearance in nitro onroad World finals, this being only his third attempt and his third time qualifying into the final, the reigning 1:10 World Champion said, ‘Everything looks good for the final but 1-hour is a long time so lets see. I remember the battery from 2-years ago. I will make sure to fully charge’. Leading the final in Monteux he would crash out after his receiver battery died.

Having also missed out on the Super Pole to Matsukura last time, Kurzbuch said, ‘the car was now pushing a bit but I tried my best and it was not enough so it was the same outcome as 2-years ago’. Looking to tomorrow’s Semi Finals for which he will start on pole, the Shepherd driver said, ‘for the finals the car is OK for the best lap now it was not enough but we know what we need to do in our Semi’.

‘I don’t know if this is fair. I had to come in 3 times and then the last time I come in I get just one lap before my timed laps’, was Greiner’s reaction after his Super Pole run. Not sure what the timing issue was that forced his run to be stopped, the Serpent driver continued, ‘The others had more time to get into a flow but my flow and concentration was broken because of the problem’. Now set to start on pole for the first of the Semi Finals, he added, ‘When I thought I was on my timed laps, I thought the first of them was my best one’.

Speaking about his 6-laps, Davis said, ‘the result was sort of what I expected’. The Infinity driver added, ‘we changed the engine and it was not better so we’ll take that back out and put in the other one for the Semi Finals. We should be alright again in the Semi’.

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