Red RC - RC Car News

Jon Hazlewood wins at SRS Rd1

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 12:22 PM PDT

The opening round of the SRS was held this weekend with the series visiting South Coast. A great astro turf track and some fantastic weather meant there was some awesome and close racing in the 1/8th rally cross class. Ultimately it was Jon Hazlewood (Agama) the win by the narrowest of margins, some 0.03 seconds, over Kevin Brunsden (SWorkz) in 2nd and Mike Daniel (TLR) in 3rd.

Source: BRCA [brca.org]

Harrold & Lewis win at NitroXCross opener

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 08:58 AM PDT

This past weekend was the start of the NitroXCross Summer Series with the series’ opening two rounds being held at Ledbury Model Car Club. The schedule saw two days, one round on each day and Saturday’s round one had James Harrold (Team Associated/LRP) taking the win from Michael Lewis (Team Associated/Alpha) and Jon Howells (Team Associated/Rex). Over on Sunday’s round two it was Michael with the win, Jon 2nd and Matt Lewis (Team Associated/Alpha) 3rd.

Source: BRCA [brca.org]

VRP MBX8 carbon fibre rear shock tower spacer

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 08:49 AM PDT

Vision Racing Products have released their new carbon fibre rear shock tower spacer for the Mugen MBX8. This spacer goes between the rear bulkhead and tower to space the whole tower back by 3mm. The spacer re-positions weight reward to accommodate the advancement in light weight wings and wing mounts, in addition to moving the upper shock mounts back to reduce shock bind. All this results in more rear grip that the new MBX8 can benefit. The spacer includes the camber mounts so there is no shimming necessary to keep them in the correct location. The item is made from 3mm carbon fibre and it is available now.

Source: Vision Racing Products [visionracingproducts.com]

Protoform Nitro Grand Prix – Report

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 08:21 AM PDT

The highly-anticipated first race at the brand-new Steel City RC Speedway went down this weekend, and it did not disappoint. The inaugural PROTOform Nitro Grand Prix attracted nearly 150 entries in six classes from all-across the United States, including factory drivers JJ Wang, Joaquin De Soto Jr. and Mike Swauger. Built on the grounds of Auto Club Speedway, home of NASCAR, Indycar, drag racing, autocross and karting tracks, the ra​​cing atmosphere at the new facility is second-to-none. The Goodwine family has created a world-class track that provided close racing all weekend long under the California sunshine.

In the premiere 1/8th Open class, it was a spirited 3-way battle for TQ over the 5 rounds between Swauger, De Soto and Scott Kimbrow. Each round the lead traded back and forth through the qualifiers but it was Kimbrow who came out with the TQ by just a few tenths of a second. When the 30 main main started, Robbie Cerrato jumped out the lead from P4 on the grid and controlled the race for nearly 20 minutes until some unfortunate contact with a lapped car ended his day early. This gave the top spot to De Soto, a lead he would not relinquish while cruising to the first ever PFGP 1:8 victory over Kimbrow and Chris Verano. Special shoutout to David “Ironman” Blakeney who bumped all the way from the C-main to finish 4th overall.

1/8th Open top 5 results:
1. Joaquin De Soto Jr – Serpent
2. Scott Kimbrow – Capricorn
3. Chris Verano – WRC
4. David Blakeney – Serpent
5. Brandon Cho – ARC

1/10th Sedan featured the JJ Wang Show all week long. The former world-finalist showed superior pace in every round of racing, sweeping five rounds of qualifying and leading every lap of the 30-minute final to win by 1 lap over teammates Brian Thomas and Scott Barnes.

1/10th 200mm Sedan top 5 results:
1. JJ Wang – Mugen
2. Brian Thomas – Mugen
3. Scott Barnes – Mugen
4. Jose Casas – Mugen
5. Eric Epp – Mugen

1/8th Masters proved to be one of the most competitive classes of the event, with three different drivers taking turns on TQ through the five qualifiers. In the end it was Dana Smeltzer who started on pole and paced the field for the first half of the final. After Dana ran into trouble, Chuck Moon took over the lead and with smooth driving and solid pit strategy, stretched his lead to three laps and took the win.

1/8th Masters top 3 results:
1. Chuck Moon – Serpent
2. Ricardo Gonzalez – Serpent
3. Tracy Grieger – Serpent

In the most entertaining main event of the day, 1/8th Sportsman saw a great battle between Paul Smith and William Yip. They would trade the lead back and forth 11 times in 30 minutes before Smith finally pulled away to take the win over Yip and Bill Jianis.

1/8th Sportsman top 3 results:
1. Paul Smith – Mugen
2. William Yip – Xray
3. Bill Jianis – Mugen

1/8th GT saw Walter Diaz take TQ spot and jump out to an early lead in the main .After some mechanical troubles set him back to 6th, Scott Barnes would take over the lead and cruise to the win. A spirited drive from Diaz would see him make it all the way back to 2nd, ahead of Biboy Angeles.

1/8th GT top 3 results:
1. Scott Barnes – Mugen
2. Walter Diaz – Serpent
3. Biboy Angeles – Xray

Victor Garcia was the man to beat in 1/5th scale, showing great pace in qualifying and jumping out to a big lead in the main event. It was not to be however, as Craig Kaplan took over the lead 2/3rd of the way into the main, driving his Martini-themed Alfa Romeo to the win.

1/5th scale top 3 results:
1. Craig Kaplan
2. Frank Pena
3. James Stuard

Source: Protoform [racepf.com]

Eliot Marcon wins at French Elite Buggy Nats warm-up

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 07:44 AM PDT

The Boisset St. Priest track in France held their nationals warm-up race this past weekend. Most of the national front-runners opted to attend in order to prepare for next month’s third round of the Elite class nationals. Eliot Marcon (Mugen) would bring home the win in the Nitro Buggy class from Xray’s Yannick Aigoin 2nd and TLR’s Vincent Meertens 3rd.

Image: Aigoin Racing [aigoinracing.com]

HSH Sundayrace Cup Rd1 – Report

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 06:51 AM PDT

The opening round of this year’s HSH Sundayrace Cup was held at the HSH race track in Dintikon, central Switzerland. 35 drivers signed in for the four categories and beautiful weather made them all smile right from the start. In the premier Touring Modified class it was a clear win for local hero and TQ holder Michele Manzo in front of Boris Siladi 2nd and Jan Hässig 3rd.

In 13.5T Race Truck, the category with the most entries, it was young Giuliano Marra taking the win in front of Luigi Manzo and Patrick Bernagozzi.

The Formula class suffered from a somewhat low entry and in the end it was Lukas Milanovich taking the win in front of Giordano Marra and Samuel Waser.

Last but not least came the Yokomo Racing Academy, a rookie class for young drivers. The workshop started off with the build of Yokomo SD9 kits and first-time racers were also awarded a special price after completing their maiden race. In the end it was Alessio Manupella who could win after an unbelievable race in front of Lucas Stiasny and Liam Feiss.

Source: Hobby Shop Hässig [hobbyshop.ch]

Malopolska Grand Prix finale – Report

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 05:52 AM PDT

The final round of the Malopolska Grand Prix was held in Cracow recently. The event was held on ETS black carpet and over the season the series attracted driver from Poland, the Czech Republic and even France to compete in the several electric on-road classes such as Pro Stock 13.5T, Spec 17.5T, Formula 21.5T, 1/12th Pan Car 6.5T, GT 17.5T Boost, Kadet/Rookie 21.5T and E-14 Rally. In the Pro Stock 13.5T class it was Arkadiusz Smyk (Tamiya) with the TQ and win from Jakub Kłapacz (Team Magic) 2nd and Marek Cisek (Team Associated) 3rd. Maciej Gałecki, Zbigniew Chełmiński and Piotr Szałapak would round out the top 6 results. Overall wit was Jakub Kłapacz with the title from Marek Cisek 2nd and Maciej Gałecki (Tamiya) 3rd.

In 17.5T Spec, the class that attracted the most entries, to was Adrian Lippich (Xray9 with the TQ and win from Jakub Stupnicki and Yokomo driver Łukasz Piecyk.

Spec 17.5T final results:
1. Adrian Lippich – Xray
2. Jakub Stupnicki – n/a
3. Łukasz Piecyk – Yokomo
4. Maciej Gałecki – Tamiya TRF
5. Michał Bugajski – Team Associated
6. Waldemar Borek – Xray
7. Dawid Reizer – Team Associated
8. Piotr Bigaj – ARC
9. Jerzy Krawczyk – n/a
10.Paweł Grześkowiak – Xray

Overall in the championship Adrian Lippich came out on top from Łukasz Piecyk 2nd and Maciej Gałecki 3rd.

Over in the Formula class Serpent driver Krystian Kopacki came out on top after the qualifiers and he would also bring home the win after the A-mains from Michał Wójcik (Xray) on the runner-up spot and Patryk Jeż (Roche) in 3rd.

Formula final results:
1. Krystian Kopacki – Serpent
2. Michał Wójcik – Xray
3. Patryk Jeż – Roche
4. Tomasz Szymański – n/a
5. Dominik Szymański – n/a
6. Marcin Nowak – n/a
7. Michał Bugajski – Xray
8. Anna Szymańska – n/a
9. Piotr Małopolski – n/a
10.Tomasz Kursa – n/a

The overall title went to Michał Wójcik from Patryk Jeż and Michał Bugajski.

In E-12 1/12th Pan Car Arkadiusz Smyk TQ’d and won from Wojciech Bukryj and Marek Janusz.

E-12 final results:
1. Arkadiusz Smyk
2. Wojciech Bukryj
3. Marek Janusz
4. Marcin Czachor
5. Tomasz Kursa
6. Jakub Kłapacz

The overall title went to Marek Janusz from 2nd placed Marcin Czachor and 3rd placed Arkadiusz Smyk.

In GT-10 Tomasz Szymański was another driver to TQ and win in dominating fashion. Marek Janusz would come in 2nd from Michał Abramowicz 3rd and Wojciech Bukryj 4th.

In the overall ranking it was Marek Janusz with the title from Michał Abramowicz and Wojciech Bukryj.

The Kadet class, run with 21.5T brushless or 23T brushed motors is a rookie class for U14 drivers and it saw Mieszko Czachor, Wiktor Buczkowski and Samuel Borek making up the top 3.

Kadet final results:
1. Mieszko Czachor – Xray
2. Wiktor Buczkowski – Yokomo
3. Samuel Borek – Xray
4. Michał Zagórowski – n/a
5. Filip Scienski – Team Associated
6. Adrian Kopiec – n/a
7. Alan Kopiec – n/a
8. Sebastian Gałecki – Tamiya
9. Antonii Kursa – n/a
10.Dominik Rybarz – Xray

In the overall ranking Mieszko, Wiktor and Samuel finished in the same order as they did at the final round.

Finally in the E-14 Rally class Paweł Grześkowiak TQ’d and won from Michał Wójcik, Mateusz Tutaj and Jakub Stolarski. As for the overall championship it was Paweł Grześkowiak with the win from Michał Wójcik and Mateusz Tutaj.

Thanks to Arkadiusz Smyk, Jakub Kłapacz, Krystian Kopacki, and Adrian Lippich for the report. Images: KS Wanda Sekcja Modelarska RC Kraków, Piotr Jędrzejko, RC Fever

Belgian Electric On-road Nationals Rd2 – Report

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 04:41 AM PDT

The second round of the Belgian FBA Electric On-road Nationals took place over the weekend at the MRCG club in Genk. The fast and flowing track is located in a motorsport heaven with a karting and a motocross track in the near neighbourhood. Practice was held on Saturday with the warm and sunny weather making for lots of action on the track. Unfortunately some drivers opted to not start due to not liking the grip provided by the new Voltante spec tyres. In the premier Touring Modified class speeds of over 110km/h were achieved, whoever the traction available was ideal for the swift cars and so some drivers opted to use different motor windings for the race in order to cope with the conditions. No one was in doubt that Olivier Bultynck (Awesomatix) would claim the pole position, however former European EFRA Stock champion, Rémi Callens (Team Magic), came quite close during his second run. In the end, he had to settle for 2nd in front of Mitchell Van Es (Awesomatix), Thomas Stockman (Xray) and Florian Joos (Xray). Q3 was not run by most drivers because of a torrential rain that flooded the track. Before the finals, the track was dry, but the grip levels were a bit lower than before.

In these difficult conditions, Ollie Bultynck was in a class of his own, claiming an easy victory. Mitchell took profit of a mistake made by Rémi Callens to claim the 2nd position. Despite setting the single fastest lap time of the race, Rémi had to settle for P3, just in front of Florian Joos, who was hot on Rémi’s heels during the last couple of laps. Rico Claeys (Schumacher) rounded off the top 5. In A2 Ollie yet again exploited his pole position to the max to win the second A-main and the overall event. Mitchell Van Es finished on a fine 2nd position, after having disposed off Rémi Callens. Thomas Stockman (Xray) finished in 3rd, just in front of Florian Joos and Rémi Callens. For A3 and just at the end of A2, the heavens opened again, and it looked like the race day was over. Rémi Callens decided not to wait for a drying track and went home. With Ollie Bultynck sitting out A3, the grid looked a bit deserted. Just before the start, Athan De Wittes car developed a problem and a 10-minute delay was requested. Unfortunately, the youngster had to start from the back of the grid according to the rules but this ended the youngster’s hope for a good result. With so many drivers absent, the battle for the remaining podium spots would be decided in this final. Mitchell was running very strong in P1, with Florian some three seconds behind. Rico Claeys was however challenging for P2. Before the race, Florian did his maths. He knew he had to claim a P3 and stay in front of Thomas Stockman to get a P3 overall. When Rico challenged Florian for the position, the youngster let Rico through but stayed in front of Thomas and Steve Lambrechts (Xray). In the end it would work out for Florian who would take the final podium spot behind winner Olivier and runner-up, Mitchell.

The Stock class would yet again see a battle between the two Xray drivers Giovanni Moguez and Vincent Van Gansen. The MRCG track was the first race where Giovanni claimed his maiden victory in an A-main leg in 2017, so he was to keen to claim his first victory here. The qualifiers were run in a hot and sunny weather and were super tense. Giovanni claimed pole by only two tenths of a second over the reigning champion Vincent Van Gansen. Xavier Debroye (Awesomatix) led a freight train of another six drivers within three seconds. P4 went to new-to-the-class Steve Deblaere (Serpent) while Tom Adams claimed an excellent 5th with his Schumacher).

The first main was held under slightly damp conditions, so many drivers made last minute setup changes to cope with the new track conditions. Giovanni Moguez exploited his pole to the fullest and shot off, punching constant 19 seconds laps. Because of the weather conditions, Vincent opted to run a bit more toe in in the back, but he was unfortunately heavily penalised, as he couldn’t follow Giovanni’s pace. While everyone was watching the battle for P3 between Xavier, Steve and Peter Degrande (Infinity), Giovanni made a rookie mistake and rolled his car. This handed the lead to Vincent. Giovanni, who was mad with himself, punched some great laps out and came back within Vincent’s slipstream. Vince kept his cool and claimed victory by 0.2 tenths of a second. Steve Deblaere took a great P3, in front of Xavier Debroye and a fast charging Peter Degrande, who fought his way back from P8 on the grid. Giovanni probably thought that A1 wasn’t exciting enough, so he decided to write another scenario for A2. While taking yet another perfect start, he under-steered out of the corner at the end of the straight and had to let Vincent and Xavier through. He first disposed of Xavier and then made a great pass on Vincent, when Vincent ran a bit wide in the corner proceeding the main straight. Vincent kept the door open, and both continued till the finish in the same order. Steve claimed P3 again, in front of Xavier and Peter Degrande. Everyone wanted to witness a thriller of an A3, but it was cut short when a backmarker hit Vincent on lap 1 and ended his victory aspirations. Giovanni claimed A3 in style to win his first Belgian national in the Stock class. He was followed by an excellent Xavier Debroye, Steve Deblaere and Vincent, who recovered from a body tuck that cost him six seconds. Niels Meurs claimed P5 with his Destiny. The overall result was Giovanni Moguez (Xray), Vincent Van Gansen (Xray), Steve Deblaere (Serpent), Xavier Debroye (Awesomatix) and Peter Degrande (Infinity).

In Formula and fresh from claiming his second ETS victory in Madrid, Ollie Bultynck was keen to repeat his performance in the Belgian Nationals as well. It was however Serpent’s Steve Deblaere who got the most out of his car and claimed pole position by five seconds over Ollie. Patrick Jongenelis (Xray) claimed P3 and was followed by Nicolas Delisé (Roche) and Kris Vanbleu (Xray).

Things were to change before the finals however. Just before the 3rd and last Modified qualifier, the heavens opened and it started to pour rain. Thanks to the warm and sunny conditions, the track dried up and the first race could be run on a slightly damp track. Unfortunately, Steve ran a bit wide on the first corner and couldn’t exploit his pole position. Ollie took the lead and held it until the end, despite a bumper to bumper race with Steve. Patrick Jongenelis claimed an excellent 3rd, not too far off the leading duo. The Xray duo of Eppo Cleiren and Kris Vanbleu took 4th and 5th respectively. In A2, Steve took the hole shot and already had a 1-second advantage over Ollie after two laps. When he ran a bit wide in lap 3, he collected dust on his tyres and spun out while accelerating. This promoted Ollie into the lead, which he was able to hold onto till the end. Nicolas Delisé (Roche) won a hard-fought battle against Patrick, with Steve not too far behind in 4th. Kris Vanbleu finished in a fine 5th position. Before A3, the heavens opened again, and the track was now mostly damp when the cars set off for their A3. The pace during the opening laps was pedestrian. If a driver only accelerated a bit, the cars simply spun out. There were some nice duels, but they were taking place at 5km/h. When the track gradually dried up during the 8-minute final, the lap times dropped from one minute to around 30 seconds. The last final was won by Nicolas, followed by Steve, Kris Vanbleu, Patrick Jongenelis and Florian Joos, who had a nightmare of a race day as he was unable to get the slightest amount of traction out of the new spec Volante tyres. The overall ranking was Olivier Bultynck (Shepherd), Nicolas Delisé (Roche), Steve Deblaere (Serpent), Patrick Jongenelis (Xray) and Kris Vanbleu (Xray).

In the supporting Rookie class, run with 17.5T motors, it was Luc Wauters (Xray), followed by Stéphane Delisé (Destiny) and Marc Joosens (Yokomo).

Thanks to David Joos for the report.

Fran Miño wins at Galician Electric On-road Champs Rd1

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 04:09 AM PDT

The opening round of the Galician Electric Track Championship was held at the challenging track in Orense this past weekend. Dirt and bumps took the best of the drivers and in Touring Modified it was ARC driver Fran Miño who made the best out of the conditions to snatch the TQ from David Fagil (Serpent) and Andres Gonzalez (Infinity). In the opening A-main it was Andres with the win following as Fran ran into issues while in turn it was Fran with the win in A2 as Andres had a mishap. In the decisive A3 it was again Fran with the win as Andres had more issues and ultimately had to settle for 2nd behind Fran. David Coten (Infinity) would round out the top 3 result. Over in Formula it was Fran Miño (Xray) with the TQ and win.

Thanks to Andres Gonzalez for the report.