JConcepts have released the Silencer body for the Hot Bodies D812, a brand-new, ground up design which has new elements created for the highest speed circuits. A narrowed, Finnisher stance cockpit allows more fuel tank access a smoother high-speed transition and increased flow around the engine heat-sink. A deep recess around the heat-sink area with dual channeling out the rear provides air escape along with rear-end stability, while the Silencer side-pods have a clipped rear-end, narrowing the rear by angling just in front of the rear tires. The extended runner features are placed on the rear-end of the body enhancing the force placed on the rear pods during high-speed acceleration. The main pods are heavily chamfered and a more heat-shrink design over the pipe, fuel tank and electrical / linkage make up the main pods. The end result has the body looking extremely low-profile with heavy JConcepts edginess and appeal. The Silencer is capped off with a cock-pit “shark fin” for more high-speed tracking stability and increased roof stiffness.

Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

The first round of the Swedish Cup 1/8 took place at Staffanstorp in the south of the country. The final was a close affair between Marcus Lindner and Mikael Fransson both quickly increasing the gap to the rest of the field after the first laps. Fransson was a little bit faster but Lindner was always close, waiting for a chance to take over the lead. As the tyre wear was quite high Lindner decided to do a tyre stop at the 25min mark but the fresh tyres made the car hard to drive and he lost some time in the following laps. Before the last pitstop Fransson had built up a small lead over Lindner but he flamed out at the last pitstop handing over the lead to Lindner who cruised to the victory at his first outing with Shepherd. Fransson recovered and finished on second place followed by Patrik Johansson in third.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

Last weekend the “Freedom Cup” took place at Teverola R/C track in Italy. It was a fantastic race with over 80 entries in both 1/10 and 1/8 categories and a temperature of up to 35°. In qualifying Alessio Forte got the pole position with Mario Spiniello in second place and Deneroso Mazza in third. In the main final, Spiniello had a great start and immediately overtook Alessio to take the lead. The Xray driver would extend his lead, producing a new track record along the way. With no mistakes and no trouble Mario crossed the finish line in first place ahead of Mazza in 2nd and Francesco Maddaloni in 3rd.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Last weekend the 4th race of the Portuguese On-road Nationals for 1/8 and 1/10 took place at the Vila Real track at the north of Portugal, one of the most fantastic on-road permanent circuits. The track has a huge layout and the best conditions to archive the best on-road races possible so the whole Xray team worked since Saturday practice to get the best possible out of their cars, fortunately the expected rain didn’t come so we raced in dry conditions. This time Xray had a new member Mario Miranda who drove the NT1 2013 Spec for first time and for him it was a new and positive experience for sure.

With 18 drivers in the 1/8 scale and 12 in the 1/10 scale the qualification started on Sunday morning. In both classes Bruno Coelho finished with TQ with Mario Miranda in 2nd also in both classes. At the start of the finals in the 1/10 category, Bruno unfortunately experienced engine failure. They replaced the engine and Bruno was able to get back on track in 7th place. He pushed really hard and after and excellent run, one tire change and no mistake he was able to finish third just behind another Xray driver Rogerio Araujo in second and first time Xray driver Mario Miranda in first place.

In 1/8 category Bruno made some mistakes and fell back a few places and had to work his way back to the front finishing second very close behind the winner Jose Felix.

1/10 final results
1. Mario Miranda – Xray NT1’13
2. Rogerio Araujo – Xray NT1’13
3. Bruno Coelho TQ – Xray NT1’13
4. Carlos Manuel
5. Andre Goncalves
6. Hugo Mendes
7. Francisco Vilarinho
8. Pedro Dinis – Xray NT1’13
9. Jorge Pina
10.Rui Completo

1/8 final results
1. Jose Felix
2. Bruno Coelho TQ – Xray RX8’13
3. Mario Miranda
4. Tiago Monteiro
5. Jorge Azinheira
6. Paulo Mota – Xray RX8’13
7. Raul Prata
8. Antonio Guedes
9. Claudio Souto – Xray RX8’13
10.Pedro Silva

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

For the 977 and 966, Serpent now offers front and rear CVD driveshafts in hard anodized 7075-T6 aluminium. Laser engraved with the length and Serpent logo these are around 50% lighter than the same durable units in spring-steel meaning an important reduction of rotational masses to improve acceleration and braking. The pair of front shafts are 7.15 grams, while the rear are 7.8 grams.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

I was fortunate to spend a day last week at another sporting event in the UK.  One which was interrupted throughout the day by rain showers.  During one of the numerous showers, during which the event was stopped, I thought about how the rain also affects our sport. Racing outdoors, which forms the majority of the important races in almost every R/C class, always has the potential to be affected by the weather.  Obviously, some classes, such as the offroad classes, can be less affected, but generally a change in weather means a change in set-up, a change in attitudes and often, a change in results.  Of course, we’d all love to have facilities like this weekend’s ETS venue in Austria, or the ROAR Nationals track in Texas – an “outdoor” track with a roof!

It seems every class, country and event has a different way of dealing with weather interruptions. Some will continue on regardless, some will switch to different rules to take account of rain affected heats, and some will stop completely until the circuit has dried.  From my point of view as a racer, I hate racing in the rain.  There’s a chance of destroying electronics, bearings and other parts of the car, not to mention my colourful hi-top trainers.  As an event organiser, I also hate racing in the rain.  The rain will of course never fall at the end of a completed round, it will dry mid-way through a round and people may get a ‘better’ track through the luck of being in a different heat to their competitor.  We saw at the 2012 Electric Touring Car Worlds how unclear the rules can be sometimes.

But then again, if you’ve gone to an event to race, many people want to just get on and race, regardless of the conditions.  Some of my own best results have come from meetings affected by rain…..

I was at the ETS race in Apeldoorn last month, one of the meetings affected by rain showers.  I will admit, I was skeptical at first at the decision made by the organising team to compact the schedule in order to complete an almost-full schedule but only racing in the dry.  However, as the event went on, I realised this was absolutely the right decision for that meeting.  We got a sensible number of practice, qualifying and final rounds in, always on a dry track.  It was fair for everyone – I know I was beaten (by many, many people!) not by them being lucky enough to be on the track at the right time, but by them getting the same track conditions as me and just being, well, better than me.

Of course, that approach may not work for every event – and in many off-road events the weather has little impact on the speed of the track in the first place – but I’d think it should be something race organisers should seriously consider.  Racing is expensive and yes, whilst I’m sure everyone would like to race as much as possible, I’m also sure people would rather have 1 or 2 less races in a meeting and know they will go home with their electronics intact, and not have to worry about spending another night at home drying themselves off, just to manage a 45th place score.  But we also need clear and consistent rules, so everyone knows where they stand before the rain starts!

I think I ought to probably end this with the same sentence as my previous column…. you can’t please all the people all the time.

Have an opinion on the topics discussed? Leave them in the comments below.

Oli Meggitt is a race organiser, announcer, RC racer and has also been known to stand and talk in front of a camera. Now a columnist for Red RC you can read his thoughts, insights and ramblings fortnightly.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author.

Last weekend the third Belgian national took place at the new MRG track in Genk and with a sunny forecast the race was well attended. The track lay-out is fast and with the 5 minute qualification system, fuel management was crucial for a good result. After 3 rounds of qualification the 4 direct finalist where John Lenaers (Mugen) on pole followed by Daan Haling (Motonica). 3rd place went to Yarmishyan Alexy (Capricorn) and 4th place to Dewynants Cédric (Capricorn). With only a few seconds between the 4 drivers, it would promise to be a very interesting race. After the Lunch break, two semi finals where driven. Victory in Semi final B was for Poesen Bert, who drove a steady final and was very closely followed by Vandonck Erwin. Only a gap of half a second was between these drivers after a 15 minute race. Third place went to Van Calster Danny. Semi final A was won by Dutchmen Frank Baggen, who cruised to an easy victory, followed by Pollet Michel and Machon Gert.

At the start of the final, Pole-man John Lenaers took the lead, followed closely by young Daan Haling and Yarmishyan Alexy. Lap by lap John increased the gap between him and Daan by a few tenths of a second. At the 15 minute marker, the gap was almost one Lap. Frank Baggen was coming on strong as he is known to be a very steady driver, taking the 4rd place from Cédric and on his way to Alexy for the 3rd place. At the 20 minute marker, Daan Haaling sufford engine problems and dropped back into the field to 5th place. In the final minutes of the race, Frank Baggen overtook Alexy for the second place as he hit some problems with overtaking. In the Meantime, Pole-man John Lenaers cruised to the victory, leading by 4 laps.

Final results:
1. John Lenaers (Mugen) – 108 Laps
2. Frank Baggen (Serpent) – 104 Laps
3. Alexy Yarmishyan (Capricorn) – 103 Laps
4. Cédric Dewynants (Capricorn) – 102 Laps
5. Daan Haling (Motonica) – 99 Laps
6. Van Calster Danny (Mugen) – 95 Laps
7. Vandonck Erwin (Mugen) – 92 Laps
8. Machon Gert (Serpent) – 85 Laps
9. Poesen Bert (Mugen) – 66 Laps
10.Pollet Michel (Mugen) – 50 Laps

Thanks to John Lenaers for the report.

Tekno RC continues to expand its line of option parts for their 1/8 vehicles.  They recently released a new rear hinge brace that gives you another 1.5 degrees of rear toe to help you with increasing traction in your Tekno ride.  Along with that they have released an optional black composite spur gear, some M4 countersunk washers, 6x8x.2mm shims, and replacement M2x5mm cap head screws that are included with their aluminum hexes.  The folks over at RC4WD have partnered with Rock Krawler Suspension to release officially licensed extended length aluminum links for the Axial Wraith.  These links are designed for extending the rear axle on the Axial Wraith and have a smooth anodized coating with a laser etched logo on each link.  Team Associated has released a Factory Team centered ESC mount for B4.x, T4.x, and SC10.x owners.  Since the TLR 22 platform was released AE pliots have been experimenting with this mid electronic setup and with this upgrade you can easily mount your receiver under this mount when using a shorty LiPo pack.  This setup will make you car change directions better, especially when on high grip surfaces.  Serpent has released a RTR nitro 1/8 buggy for entusiasts looking to jump into the nitro scene.  This buggy was designed by former World Champion Billy Easton and is fully upgradable with Serpent’s race spec line of option parts.  But the best feature is that it includes a Novarossi 3-port XS pull start engine with a nice laser etched Serpent orange cooling head.  Finally, some good news out of the RPM camp for Traxxas Slash 4×4 owners.  They have released caster and steering blocks that look like they will hold up to most front end collisions.  These are sold together in pairs and they are also compatable with the Traxxas Stampede 4×4 and Rally vehicles.

Click the links to see and read more in the Hot News & New Stuff forum.

RC Car Action –

Racers gathered at the RaceWorks Offroad Arena last weekend to compete in Round 4 of the NOOB Singapore Open Buggy Series. As a result of the recent hot and dry spell, the 2WD and 4WD buggies found themselves contending with a very hard and dry track. In the 4WD class, Mark “BC” Lim had a convincing win after taking TQ honors and winning the first two finals. With BC sitting out the third final it was a battle between Youyi and Png who were both tied on points after 2 legs. The final battle for second place concluded with Youyi winning the final leg to claim second spot and Png having to settle for third.

4WD A-Main Podium
1. Mark “BC” Lim (Durango)
2. Youyi (Hot Bodies)
3. Png Eng Huat (Durango)

In the 2WD class, BC was looking to complete the double and close out the series with a fourth win in this best 4-of-6 series. He looked well on track to do so during qualifying being the only driver to clock 11-laps in each of his 3 qualifiers. In the finals however, Joakim was determined to deny BC the win. In Leg 1, BC started off strong and built a commanding lead, looking poised to take the win until the closing laps where a series of incidents with back-markers erased that lead and allowed a charging Joakim to pass and cross the finish line first with BC in second place and Adi in third. BC then took Leg 2 with a clean run with Adi in second and Joakim in third – which meant that all the podium positions would be determined by Leg 3. As Leg 3 kicked off, BC tried to consolidate his position and pulled away from the grid early on. Halfway through the run however, a bad incident with a back marker left him sidelined with no marshal nearby and allowed Joakim and Stephano to pass him. Up by almost half a lap, Joakim drove hard to hold his lead which was slowly eroded to a single corner as the clock ran down to its final seconds. The race was his for the winning but Joakim clipped a corner on his final lap which gave BC the break he was looking for to take the win in Leg 3 and emerge as overall champion for the round and also the series in the 2WD class. Joakim finished second with Adi in third.

2WD A-Main Podium
1. Mark “BC” Lim (TLR)
2. Joakim (Kyosho)
3. Adi (X-Factory)

Source: Raceworks [raceworks.sg]

Last weekend round 3 of the Swiss championship headed to the wonderful Lostallo track in the south of Switzerland. The weather forecast was perfect with about 30 degrees on the whole weekend and because of this most of the 80 competitors already arrived on Thursday to avail of the perfect conditions. Once again the track was driven in the opposite direction from the Worlds in 2009. Qualification was run under extremely hot conditions and so the last round when it was colder would be crucial for deciding the TQ. Simon Kurzbuch had a really perfect round and had an gap from more than 4 seconds.

1. Kurzbuch Simon – 15L 5:13.139
2. Hächler Silvio – 15L 5:17.341
3. Nydegger Jürg – 14L 5:01.587
4. Martinelli Luca – 14L 5:02.268
5. Pasquin Claudio – 14L 5:03.444

On Sunday every driver had to go through the semi-finals which were really hard with failures from Mattia Pesenti and Luca Martinelli to name two of the fastest drivers. Simon drove to the Pole-Position in front of Silvio and Jürg. After the start Silvio made huge pressure to Simon and took the lead with a spectacular overtake just in front of the very long straight. After that it was a close race with a gap from 2 till 7 second for Silvio against Simon who had another gap to Jürg. During the tyre change Silvio lost some seconds which gave Simon the possibility to come directly behind Silvio back on the track, unfortunately however the second gear in his Shepherd had an error after 30 minutes of racing which he changed during a fast pit-stop. At the end the advantage for Silvio was about two laps and took home the win. After the third win in the third race Silvio is the clear leader of the championship.

Here the top 10 after the Final.

1. Hächler Silvio – 124L 45:00.732 – Mugen, Novarossi, J-Tech
2. Kurzbuch Simon – 123L 45:11.308 – Shepherd, Max, Contact
3. Nydegger Jürg – 123L 45:14.160 – Shepherd, Max, UFRA
4. Henzi Thomas – 121L 45:13.386 – Mugen, Novarossi, UFRA
5. Lechner Sabrina – 120L 44:21.799 – Serpent, Novarossi, Hot Tyres
6. Aegerter Andreas – 114L 45:05.247 – Mugen, Novarossi, UFRA
7. Sehirtoy Erol – 110L 42:28.876 – Mugen, Novarssi, J-Tech
8. Kurzbuch Pascal – 106L 45:07.690 – Shepherd, Novarossi, Contact
9. Hasler Remy – 102L 38:20.297 – Mugen, Novarossi, UFRA
10.Albanese Roland – 91L 41:01.714 – Mugen, Novarossi, J-Tech

In the Amateur category most of the favorites struggled so it was Martin Wirz who was able to take a perfect win.

1. Wirz Martin – 78 30:15.109 – Mugen, Novarossi, J-Tech
2. Pittet Benoit – 77 30:11.150 – Motonica, Vox
3. Eberdorfer Oliver – 76 30:08.389 – Serpent, Picco
4. Rizzo Marco – 76 30:09.864 – Xray, Picco
5. Geisser Andy – 74 30:14.281 – Shepherd, Novarossi, J-Tech
6. Scherer Rudi – 70 30:05.618 – Serpent, Novarossi
7. Seiler Christian – 50 19:09.899 – Capricorn, OS
8. Asendorf Noah – 50 19:19.060 – Motonica, Novarossi
9. Suter Rolf – 42 17:02.903 – Capricorn, OS
10.Köhl Stefan – 0 3:44.379 – Mugen, Novarossi, J-Tech

Thanks to Silvio Hächler for the report

Italian brand Futura 2012 have released their latest product line, Futura Tires. In cooperation with a premium Italian manufacturer they have created this new line of on-road foam tires. Offering excellent grip combined with low tire wear the 1/8 scale tires fit on Shepherd, Mugen, Capricorn, Kyosho and Serpent OS2 adapters, while the 1/10 scale rims have 0mm off-set. The complete range will be available with two types of rims, light yellow and carbon. Available now.

Source: Futura [tyreadditive.com]

The weekend before last was Round 2 of the oOple Series, held at RobinHood Raceway. The weather was looking good and it was clear the track crew had put in a lot of effort, with the track looking very good. The Schumacher Team were once again in attendance to offer support and help to their customer’s trackside. The racing was very close all weekend, with the format seeing 4 rounds of qualifying on Saturday, then a final round Sunday morning before heading into finals. It was James Heliwell and Tom Cockerill who came out on top in qualifying in 2wd and 4wd respectively. James was closely followed by Greg Williams in 2wd, and James wasn’t far behind in 4wd, setting up some exciting finals.

2wd saw some great racing, with very little between the top two. A mistake from James saw Greg come through to take leg 1, and an epic battle in leg 2 saw them cross the line so closely no one was sure who had taken the win. The computer was in Greg’s favour, giving him the leg, and overall win by just 0.01s! Greg was backed up in the A final by Tom Cockerill & Steve Pierce both driving the SV2.

4wd was much of the same, with the battle now between Tom and James. James came out the gate fighting in leg 1, managing to take the win, but Tom came back to take the second leg, setting up a deciding 3rd leg. The pair of them raced very closely for the first 2 minutes of the race, until a small mistake from James gave Tom the gap he needed to pull away and take the win, his second meeting victory in the series.

It was another great meeting put on by the oOple crew. The series next rolls into Southport 6/7 July, and again the Schumacher team will be in attendance.

Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]

The second round of the Swedish Northen Cup took place recently in Älvsbyn. 41 racers attended and were greeted with mostly clear skies and a newly built driver stand. The track was in quite bumpy condition after a wet and rainy race taking place the day before. Junior driver Emil Lundgren from Piteå had a fast enough race pace to make it into the semi-final, but unfortunately had to retire in the 1/4-final due to his engine coming loose. Instead Viktor Westerlund took first place in the junior-class followed by Viktor Öhrvall and Alexander Sundh.  In the A-main final Patrik Bodén took an early lead but ran into issues with his engine flaming out loosing a lot of laps. “Veteran driver” Ulf Stenvall then took a commanding lead in the final piloting his Mugen to a safe victory. The most unexpected result this Sunday was Fredrik Kling finishing second with his Xray, taking his first ever podium finish. Martin Slagbrand managed to secure the third place even though a shock came loose on his Xray near the end of the final.

Top 12 results
1. Ulf Stenvall – Mugen
2. Fredrik Kling – Xray
3. Martin Slagbrand – Xray
4. Roger Bergman – Serpent
5. Björn Engman – Durango
6. Richard Bagger – Durango
7. Fredrik Bodén – Durango
8. Tommy Boström – Xray
9. Nils Lindbäck – JQ Products
10. Patrik Bodén – Durango
11. Kent Larsson – Mugen
12. Johan Henriksson – Mugen

Thanks to Fredrik Kling for the report / Images: Elias Blind

The Nordic championship is a yearly race with drivers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland attending. This year Denmark was supposed to arrange the meeting, but after a while Norway got the event, with the Oslo Modellbilklubb hosting it. The event was supposed to be a 2 day event with qualifying on Saturday and finals on Sunday. But with the weather that was showing, and the usual Norwegian weather, everybody agreed to make it a 1 day event. After practice Thomas Holmesland was fastest and set the pace for the event. In the first qualifying heat both Oskar Fjeld and Joakim Nicolaisen was driving incredible fast, and with no errors being done Joakim set a good qualification round. This was his TQ run.

Qualifying results:
1. Joakim Nicolaisen – Associated – Vampire
2. Oskar Fjeld – Xray – Muchmore
3. Helge Johannessen – Serpent – Speedpassion
4. Gøran Langsholt – Xray
5. Thomas Holmesland – Xray – ORCA
6. Torbjørn Jørgensen – Serpent – Speedpassion
7. Rune Svestøl – Xray
8. Lars A. Andersen – 3Racing – Speedpassion
9. Arild Andersen – ARC – Viper
10.Jon-Åge Olsen – Xray

In the first final Joakim got a good start with Helge Johannessen right behind him. They had a few close fights and Thomas eventually caught up with them battling for the first and second position. Joakim took the win, with Helge coming in second with only a margin of .05 seconds.

In the second final Helge and Oskar had a coming together which put Thomas Holmesland right behind Joakim. He followed Joakim for a long time, and everyone could see that Thomas had greater speed on the long straight and could push a little more. After 3 minutes Thomas took his chance with Joakim taking the turn a little bit off the apex. Thomas then secured the leg 2 win. With Joakim in second place 3 seconds behind.

In the last final it was set, Helge, Joakim and Thomas were battling for the title of Nordic Champion. The tension was high at the start, with Helge having a really bad start. Oskar was in second and Thomas in third after the first round. Thomas then overtook Oskar and started hunting Joakim down. Thomas soon caught up to him and tried to get past in almost every turn. Joakim was driving fantastic and closing every gap. Helge was catching up with the pace not being too fast. Helge actually took the Track record. On the last lap Joakim drove a little too close to the apex, and Thomas tried on the outside but Joakim realised he had to close the gap and Thomas was taken out of the race. Joakim finished first only .15 seconds behind Helge in second place.

Final standings:
1. Joakim Nicolaisen – Associated – Vampire
2. Thomas Holmesland – Xray – ORCA
3. Helge Johannessen – Serpent – Speedpassion
4. Rune Svestøl – Xray
5. Arild Andersen – ARC – Viper
6. Oskar Fjeld – Xray – Muchmore
7. Lars A. Andersen – 3Racing – Speedpassion
8. Gøran Langsholt – Xray
9. Jon-Åge Olsen – Xray
10.Torbjørn Jørgensen – Serpent – Speedpassion

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks to Thomas Holmesland for the report.

Team Grid have released what they claim is the most sensitive wheel balancer for touring cars. Touring car wheels are much lighter than off-road wheels and can benefit from even more precise balancing and the BalancePro Zero is the tool that can deliver the extra racing edge needed for modern touring cars. It uses a true parallel twin blade knife-edge balancing system to provide Zero friction balancing on its continuous contact area, that no other ball bearing based system can offer. Even balanced wheels from a bearing based balancer may still appear unbalanced on the BalancePro Zero. Ultra sensitive it can level perfectly on any surface on its three adjustable legs with the aid of a bubble level. Its balance rod is precision ground with an ultra light weight Delrin hub adapter and a finger guard to ensure total safety.

Source: Team Grid [gridrc.com]

Capricorn have announced the signing of 2008 1/10th World Champion Daniele Ielasi. The deal is effective immediately and the former Shepherd driver will compete in the 1/8th and 1/10th European Championships as a Capricorn driver. The Italian had this to say about the deal:

I would like to thank the complete Shepherd family for our excellent cooperation and for the good job they made in the past years. We always had and will have a good relation and it was really a pleasure to be part of this great team. I know that this kind of change in the middle of the season is not easy to manage but after a long and careful consideration I have to take this hard decision. From now on I will be part of the Capricorn team as a driver for the 1/10 and the 1/8 car. I’m sure that my experience will give a new improvement and I’m very happy to be part of the best Italian drivers in the same Capricorn team with an Italian car and Italian engine.

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]

Nitro off-road racers wait all year to race in the Nationals. They spent five days at the track for less than an hour of practice, fewer than 30 minutes of qualifying, and just an hour and 45 minutes are all it takes to crown two National Champions. With the expanding prestige of a nitro off-road title at an all-time high it’s only fitting that this year, a qualifer for next year’s IFMAR Worlds in Italy, would conclude with a wild ending.

Hot Bodies’ team driver Ty Tessman became just the second driver to repeat as National Champion in the Truck division, lapping the field on his way to the first back-to-back titles since Ryan Maifield won his second (of three) in 2009. Ryan Lutz, the Silver State class champion, was the best of the rest as he squeaked by the line for a comfortable gap on final podium finisher Mike Truhe after catching him and making the pass late in the race.

Truck Final
1. Ty Tessman (Hot Bodies/O.S./Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 101/45:19.8
2. Ryan Lutz (Team Durango/Alpha/AKA/Byron) – 100/45:21.3
3. Mike Truhe (Team Losi Racing/TOP/Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 99/45:02.6
4. Cody King (Kyosho/REDS/Pro-Line/Byron) – 98/45:01.5
5. Billy Easton (Serpent/Novarossi/Pro-Line/Byron) – 09/45:18.5
6. Austin Blair (Kyosho/RB/AKA/Byron) – 97/45:23.4
7. Dakotah Phend (Team Losi Racing/Team Orion/Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 97/45:26.6
8. Adam Drake (Team Losi Racing/Novarossi/Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 96/45:17.3
9. Matt Schreffler (Serpent/Novarossi/AKA/Nitrotane) – 95/45:09.2
10. Steven Hartson (Team Associated/LRP/JConcepts/Sidewinder) – 75/34:53.7
11. Jared Tebo (Kyosho/Team Orion/AKA/Sidewinder) – 49/22:21.0
12. Josh Wheeler (XRAY/O.S./AKA/Powermaster) – 21/10:12.6

The Buggy class semifinals were full of drama, with mechanical issues claiming both two-time National Champion Ryan Cavalieri and dominant event TQ Dakotah Phend. The last two transfer races of the weekend set a 13-car grid that included first-time finalists Drew Moller, Carson Wernimont, and Jake Dellinger. Defending champion Ty Tessman, by virtue of his semifinal win, earned the right to start up front and all cards were in line for him to complete a second consecutive sweep – which would’ve been a first in ROAR competition.

A different record was set, however. After winning his first-ever ROAR National Championship in 2007, the first for the Team Losi Racing 8IGHT platform, Adam Drake was the first driver to win a second class title when he repeated just two years later. After following Tessman for over half of the race Drake assumed the lead when Tessman suffered irreparable drivetrain issues. Former National Champion Mike Truhe beat former World Champion Cody King to the line by five seconds to complete the podium.

Buggy Final
1. Adam Drake (Team Losi Racing/Novarossi/Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 132/60:16.6
2. Mike Truhe (Team Losi Racing/TOP/Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 131/60:05.0
3. Cody King (Kyosho/REDS/Pro-Line/Byron) – 131/60:10.8
4. Ryan Maifield (Team Associated/LRP/JConcepts/Sidewinder) – 130/60:32.0
5. Drew Moller (Kyosho/Team Orion/Pro-Line/Byron) – 129/60:04.0
6. Mark Pavidis (Team Losi Racing/O.S./AKA/Powermaster) – 128/60:11.4
7. Billy Fischer (Team Losi Racing/Novarossi/Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 127/60:31.7
8. Tyler Vik (Hot Bodies/RB/AKA/Sidewinder) – 127/60:00.2
9. Jake Dellinger (Team Associated/O.S./Pro-Line/Powermaster) – 126/60:20.4
10. Josh Wheeler (XRAY/O.S./AKA/Powermaster) – 111/51:32.2
11. Carson Wernimont (Team Durango/O.S./AKA/Byron) – 81/37:28.4
12. Ty Tessman (Hot Bodies/O.S./Pro-Line/Nitrotane) – 78/35:20.8
13. Ryan Lutz (Team Durango/Alpha/AKA/Byron) – 43/20:13.5

Photos courtesy of LiveRC.com

RC Car Action –

It’s been much longer between build sessions than I hoped for, but I’m finally back in the shop and twirling the ol’ number-two Phillips screwdriver on the way to turning a bunch of parts into a  TXT-2 Agrios. After completing the transmission in the first build session, it’s time for bumper assembly, which is dispatched with just four screws.

Here are the bumpers (I know, exciting). The bumper with the long supports is the rear, which means I will put it on the front and not notice until after I’ve installed many more screws.

To free the bumper parts from their sprues (or “trees” as they are also known),  I unleashed the plastic-severing fury of my new Tamiya side-cutters. Don’t confuse these with diagonal cutters, which pinch off parts leaving a nub of plastic left behind. Side cutters have jaws that are ground flush (see the inset), so when you snip the parts from the sprues, there’s no nub to trim off.

You deserve a nice set of side cutters.

Next, side-frame assembly, which calls for a whole bunch of screws, threadlock, and serrated nuts. Just gotta power through. Apply thread lock. Insert screw. Thread nut. Tighten. Repeat 20 times.

The manual shows the screws’ actual size in the upper left corner of each step. Double check, or hate yourself later when you’re left with one too-long screw because you stuck a short one someplace else.

The side frames appear to be all plastic, but they are not–the plastic is actually molded over solid aluminum rails (highlighted in orange). Pretty trick.

Know who’s great a Photoshop? Somebody else!

Here’s a completed side frame, with the shock towers attached. I’ve got eight shocks to look forward to at Step 26.

Four 6mm ball nuts are installed on each side frame. The suspension links will snap onto these later in the build.

That’s it for this session! Up next: the transmission gets sandwiched between the side frames, and then it’s time to dig into the axles.

RC Car Action –

Marc Rheinard has won the penultimate round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series ahead of Ronald Volker meaning that the two great rivals will battle it out for the overall title at the season finale at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia next month. After the chaos of Leg 2, the closing race in Traiskirchen was a much calmer affair with Top Qualifier Rheinard seeing off the close attention of Yokomo drivers Yannic Prumper and Volker to take the leg and the overall win which he needed to keep his title hopes alive.

View our complete event coverage here.

Marc Rheinard has won the penultimate round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series ahead of Ronald Volker meaning that the two great rivals will battle it out for the overall title at the season finale at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia next month. After the chaos of Leg 2, the closing race in Traiskirchen was a much calmer affair with Top Qualifier Rheinard seeing off the close attention of Yokomo drivers Yannic Prumper and Volker to take the leg and the overall win which he needed to keep his title hopes alive.

View our complete event coverage here.