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Takahata crowned World Champion as Matsukura denied once again

Posted: 03 Nov 2019 05:12 AM PST

‘To finish first, first you must finish’ was a phrase that rang true at today’s 1:8 Onroad World Championships in California as a rather sedate Main was turned on it’s head with 12-minutes to go with Mugen’s Shoki Takahata eventually crowned the new World Champion. The 1-hour encounter started out with Top Qualifier Dario Balestri leading from Infinity team-mate Naoto Matsukura but during his second fuel stop defending Champion Balestri would collect a badly released Greiner, the impact braking the body on the Italian’s car and ending his quest for 2 in a row. This allowed Matsukura to take control of the race. Having shown the world the class of driver he is when he led in France on his nitro debut two years ago before a flat battery denied him the title, everything looked perfect for the reigning 1:10 Nitro World Champion to make history and hold both titles consecutively but it wasn’t to be. With just two fuel stops separating him from winning, a rear pulley stripped and once again there was heartbreak for the Japanese driver and his mechanic Masayuki Miura, his race was done. Graduating to the lead it was another 1:10 World Champion who looked on target to finally match Adrien Bertin’s record as the only double champion in nitro onroad. Having found himself almost a lap down at the start following contact at the on the first lap and then receiving a stop & go for his bad release in the pits, Dominic Greiner was out front. Counting down the minutes he then hit trouble with just a little over 5-minutes left on the clock – the watching crowd in disbelief at the unfolding drama. Always within sight of the lead, Takahata was now the fourth different race leader, well clear of now second placed Takaaki Shimo. The manufacturer’s sole representative in the final, to the chants of ‘Mugen’ the 25-year-old crossed the loop to take a very popular first World title, while Balestri salvaged the final step on the podium behind the bridesmaid of nitro racing, Shimo.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

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Xray Racing Series Germany Rd1 – Report

Posted: 03 Nov 2019 05:10 AM PST

The opening round of the Xray Racing Series Germany was held at the MAC Adenau club recently. Located near the legendary Nürburgring the track would host the event for the sixth time with the weekend having kicked off on Saturday. Sunday morning saw the so-called “Sunday drivers” practice for those joining the meeting only on race day, to make up for the alleged backlog of practice. After the drivers’ briefing, race director and timekeeper Uwe Baldes sent the participants into the three heats, with the best run to be counted by lap and time. The drivers were divided into the classes Touring Car FWD 17.5T, Touring Car Stock 13.5T and 1/12 GT 17.5T. In the Touring Car Stock class, the positions were hotly contested. With 27 laps in 5:02,042, the pole position went to Xray driver Joerg Baldes in front of his brand teammates Marc Stuebben and Tobias Hoefflin.

Hoefflin the won the opening final just ahead of Joerg Baldes and Mugen driver Daniel Toennessen. In the second leg Joerg Baldes countered successfully, Hoefflin was beaten only by two and a half tenths of a second with Toennessen third. Thus, in this class the third final had to decide. Marc Stuebben won the last run ahead of Toennessen, while Baldes and Hoefflin finished only on places three and four. Thanks to a razor-thin result in the second final, the day’s victory went to Joerg Baldes ahead of Tobias Hoefflin and Marc Stuebben. An amazing performance was shown by the only eight-year-old Thilo Baldes (Xray), who was able to keep up with the speed of the veterans and lost only a single tenth of a second to the record lap of the day.

Touring Stock top 3 results:
1. Jorg Baldes
2. Tobias Hofflin
3. Marc Stubben

The front-wheel-drive touring class is the youngest category, but also the class with the most starters. Not only the true-to-life bodies, but also the enormous power density give the FWD cars a remarkable participation. The pole position was obtained by FWD veteran Oliver Kaufmann, who completed 25 laps in 5:00,700 minutes with his Destiny. Second place went to Harald Schmittgen, who was significantly involved in the test program of the Xray T4F. He was short of Kaufmann for just under one and a half second, half a second behind came Frank Hoeschler (Xray) in third place. In the three finals, however, Kaufmann was left by his racing luck, once he stuck while lapping back markers and twice he made a mistake on his own, so that he finished in fourth place overall, but he accepted the disappointment calmly. The fight for the win was extremely exciting, as in the opening final Hoeschler won half a second ahead of Schmittgen, while Kaufmann came in third. In the second final, Schmittgen conquered the victory, prevailed with just under two and a half tenth of s second ahead of Hoeschler and Daniel Schober, who has switched from Formula to the FWD touring cars. Ultimately the third leg had to decide. Schmittgen and Hoeschler chased bumper to bumper around the Eifel-Ring, but in the end Schober was happy about his first race win, while Hoeschler finished second to Schmittgen. Tie on points, the better run decided in favor of Harald Schmittgen, who was very happy about his victory. Frank Hoeschler in second and Daniel Schober in third provided a complete Xray podium.

FWD top 3 results:
1. Harald Schmittgen
2. Frank Hoeschler
3. Daniel Schober

In the 1/12th GT class Harald Schobner was in full control things. With his Project Godspeeed chassis, he was the fastest in qualifying with 42 laps in 8: 02.838 ahead of Xray driver Alexander Seitter and PG driver Roland Streb. By winning the first two A-mains, Schobner also brought the overall victory with lap advantage ahead of junior Jody Mueller, who even left her grandfather Bertram Kessler behind.

1/12th GT top 3 results:
1. Harald Schobner
2. Alexander Seitter
3. Roland Streb

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

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2019 IFMAR 1/8th World Championship Winning Car

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 09:59 PM PDT

Shoki Takahata (Japan)

Mugen MRX6 Prototype – OS Speed R2014 – VP Racing Fuel – Xtreme Super Diablo Body – Sanwa Transmitter & Servos

MonacoRC Professional electric screwdriver

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 07:34 PM PDT

Coming from MonacoRC is their new Professional electric screwdriver for the use with standard 1/4” power tool tips. Offering a compact size the electric rotary tool fits most tool boxes while not taking much space in the pit area. A non-slip rubber-clad handle and an LED light make for effortless wrenching while the 1/4” quick release collet will accept any 1/4” tool tip. The tool, that is available in black or red colour, also features a built-in USB rechargeable Li-Ion battery that will deliver up to 40 minutes of constant operation, allowing for hours of building, setup and maintenance time.

Source: MonacoRC [monacorc.com]

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Takahata crowned World Champion as Matsukura denied once again

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 07:33 PM PDT

‘To finish first, first you must finish’ was a phrase that rang true at today’s 1:8 Onroad World Championships in California as a rather sedate Main was turned on it’s head with 12-minutes to go with Mugen’s Shoki Takahata eventually crowned the new World Champion. The 1-hour encounter started out with Top Qualifier Dario Balestri leading from Infinity team-mate Naoto Matsukura but during his second fuel stop defending Champion Balestri would collect a badly released Greiner, the impact braking the body on the Italian’s car and ending his quest for 2 in a row. This allowed Matsukura to take control of the race. Having shown the world the class of driver he is when he led in France on his nitro debut two years ago before a flat battery denied him the title, everything looked perfect for the reigning 1:10 Nitro World Champion to make history and hold both titles consecutively but it wasn’t to be. With just two fuel stops separating him from winning, a rear pulley stripped and once again there was heartbreak for the Japanese driver and his mechanic Masayuki Miura, his race was done. Graduating to the lead it was another 1:10 World Champion who looked on target to finally match Adrien Bertin’s record as the only double champion in nitro onroad. Having found himself almost a lap down at the start following contact at the on the first lap and then receiving a stop & go for his bad release in the pits, Dominic Greiner was out front. Counting down the minutes he then hit trouble with just a little over 5-minutes left on the clock – the watching crowd in disbelief at the unfolding drama. Always within sight of the lead, Takahata was now the fourth different race leader, well clear of now second placed Takaaki Shimo. The manufacturer’s sole representative in the final, to the chants of ‘Mugen’ the 25-year-old crossed the loop to take a very popular first World title, while Balestri salvaged the final step on the podium behind the bridesmaid of nitro racing, Shimo.

‘It is like a dream’, was Takahata’s reaction to his win, the Japanese driver having made his Worlds debut on American soil in the 200mm class in 2010. He added, ‘I always believed I could win it but it is still a surprise to do it’. Making the podium in France two years ago, he said that having seen everyone else have problems he drove the final minutes of the race ‘very safe’. Having missed out on making Super Pole after struggling in early qualifying, he said, ‘Today my car was perfect in both the Semi and the Final’. Changing tyres on the left side only after just 20-minutes, he said this strategy was key to putting him in the position to be in sight of the win. Takahata will get to defend his title on home soil in 2-years time with the announcement during the event here at Steel City RC Raceway that Infinity International RC Speedway has been award the 23rd running of the championships.

Matsukura said, ‘I was just driving safe, just watching where Dominic was. I wasn’t pushing and I knew I could have went quicker if I needed. I was controlling the race’. On target to win the World title of a fourth category, the 1:12 and Electric Touring Car World Champion said, ‘I don’t know why this happened to me again today, it’s the same bad luck I had two years ago’.

Asked what had cause his retirement a very despondent Greiner said, ‘Something broke’. Explaining his poor start to the race the Serpent driver said, ‘It was very tight at the start. There was no space and I crashed into Jeff (Hamon) and flipped over. The marshal was not looking so I lost almost a lap’. After getting collected by fellow Aussie Jesse Davis with 10-minutes to go in the race and needing a lengthy stop for repairs, team-mate Hamon would recover to cross the finish 4th on his Worlds debut as a Serpent driver, bettering his previous best of 5th in Miami last year in 1:10.

Commenting on his title loss, Balestri said, ‘The race was under control for the first 7-minutes but then on the second refuelling Greiner’s car was released in my path and I hit it which completely destroyed my race. The body was broken and because of the the hole for the pipe was moved the engine could not run properly’. The Italian continued, ‘I got the podium but only because others had problems in the race. It was bad day for me but that is racing’. After a stunning drive in the Semi Final to come from last to a bump up spot, rival Kurzbuch summed up his race similarly to Balestri saying, ‘In the first corner I collected Dominic and from there it was not my race’. In the end the Shepherd driver retired halfway into the race with engine issues.

Never in contention for the win over the 1-hour, Shimo said his rivals were ‘very fast’ and on this occasion he was ‘not so fast’. The driver with the greatest number of podium finishes without being crowned World Champion, he said while second place was a good result it was one he would prefer not to be in, having had to settle for the runner-up so many times in the past.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Contact introduce updated A foam 1/12th scale tyres

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 07:30 PM PDT

Contact’s popular “A” foam LMP12 tyres are now available on highest performance black wheels. The A foam is Contact’s most durable, affordable tyre. Perfect for racers that want to go many runs without taking the wheels off the car during weekly club racing. The wear rate of this foam is the lowest in the range, even lower than seen with “T” foam. It rarely offers the overall performance of the others, however in lower traction conditions; occasionally it is a match for the more expensive options. Suggested for use on Primafelt or CRC Black carpet, or when oily additive is in use. The front tyres are available in Double Pink 35 shore, Magenta 32 shore, and Pink 30 shore hardnesses while the rear range includes Magenta 32 shore, Pink 30 shore and Soft Pink 28 shore variants.

Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]

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Stunning drive puts Kurzbuch in final after start-line flameout

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 03:56 PM PDT

A stunning drive has put former Champion Simon Kurzbuch in the 1:8 Onroad World Championship Final in California. Suffering an engine flame out on the grid, the pole sitter for the second of the Semi Finals missed the start and had to be returned to the pits to be restarted as the rest of the field got underway and the general feeling of the stunned onlookers was the Swiss ace’s event was done. Kurzbuch however defied the odds, driving at 110% he started to put himself back in contention for a bump up spot as the crowd watch on in awe. Setting the fastest lap of the race he crossed the line in 3rd position to ensure he gets another chance to do battle with his great rival and reigning champion Dario Balestri. Up front in the Semi Odd, Jesse Davis made the race his own, leading home fellow Australian Jeff Hamon to secure both drivers their first 1:8 Worlds Final start. In the first of the Semi Finals, Dominic Greiner led from start to finish despite struggling with his engine with Shoki Takahata a close second and Toni Gruber third. Unfortunately for Lamberto Collari he fell just three minutes short of making the Main Final on the 10th Anniversary of his last World title after he suffered an engine flame out. With the second Semi the faster the finals, the two drivers to book their place in the main event at the 22nd running of IFMAR Worlds would be Takaaki Shimo and Carmine Raiola.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

The post Stunning drive puts Kurzbuch in final after start-line flameout appeared first on Red RC.

Stunning drive puts Kurzbuch in final after start-line flameout

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 03:22 PM PDT

A stunning drive has put former Champion Simon Kurzbuch in the 1:8 Onroad World Championship Final in California. Suffering an engine flame out on the grid, the pole sitter for the second of the Semi Finals missed the start and had to be returned to the pits to be restarted as the rest of the field got underway and the general feeling of the stunned onlookers was the Swiss ace’s event was done. Kurzbuch however defied the odds, driving at 110% he started to put himself back in contention for a bump up spot as the crowd watch on in awe. Setting the fastest lap of the race he crossed the line in 3rd position to ensure he gets another chance to do battle with his great rival and reigning champion Dario Balestri. Up front in the Semi Odd, Jesse Davis made the race his own, leading home fellow Australian Jeff Hamon to secure both drivers their first 1:8 Worlds Final start. In the first of the Semi Finals, Dominic Greiner led from start to finish despite struggling with his engine with Shoki Takahata a close second and Toni Gruber third. Unfortunately for Lamberto Collari he fell just three minutes short of making the Main Final on the 10th Anniversary of his last World title after he suffered an engine flame out. With the second Semi the faster the finals, the two drivers to book their place in the main event at the 22nd running of IFMAR Worlds would be Takaaki Shimo and Carmine Raiola.

Reacting to his dramatic Semi, Kurzbuch said, ‘my father went to the starting grid and the engine flamed out. The engine setting was good so I don’t know what happened but in the end we had a lucky outcome’. He continued, ‘We had to work hard for it and show everything we had. I’m sure my father was the fastest in the pits in the final’. Looking to the main final, the Shepherd drivers said, ‘everything from now on is a bonus. I will just enjoy the 60-minutes but the car in the Semi was amazing. We matched the set-up to the conditions. Apart from the flame out the package is perfect for the final. Lets see’.

Winning with a good buffer, Davis said, ‘This is my first IFMAR A-Main, I’ve made five Semis in a row but had bad luck but today we did it finally’. On his Semi Final, his fastest time securing him 3rd on the grid behind Infinity team-mates Dario Balestri and Naoto Matsukura, he said, ‘It was the perfect race. We stuck to our fuel stops and knew the tyres would do the distance. I just raced the clock’. Regarding his World final debut, he said, ‘I think the car is so good I just need to keep circulating for 1-hour and see what I can do’.

Having made his first final at the 1:10 Championships last year in Miami, Hamon said, ‘It went pretty good. It was a pretty solid and clean race. My pit crew was solid even if I was stressing a little over them fully fuelling the car so that if I had more up my sleeve if I needed it’. A new signing to the Serpent team this year, starting 4th on the grid he said his goal is to better his 5th place finish from Miami.

Despite winning his Semi from the pole, a very concerned Greiner said, ‘I had a problem with the engine. I had to make one more fuel stop than planned. Something is not right’. Having quickly pulled clear of the field at the start, the Serpent driver had just 3/10ths on Takahata at the end of the 30-minutes and looking to the final the German said, ‘For sure we will change the engine but maybe also the pipe and the tank. Something is not working with the power’.

Takahata said he made a ‘super safe drive’ to book his second consecutive Worlds Final start. Starting third on the grid, the Mugen driver had to use caution at the start to avoid crashing. Describing his pace as ‘quite good’ he said he will ‘try my best’ to better his 2017 podium finish. Asked about strategy, the Japanese factory Mugen driver said that based on the car’s performance both his run time and tyre wear are safe and these should be factors in the 1-hour final.

Securing his first World Champion Final appearance, Toni Gruber said, ‘This track is really difficult. It changes every time so I hoped the car would work for the conditions and it did’. The Shepherd driver did however suffer a gearbox issue in the second half of the race which causes him some difficulties. He explained, ‘Sometimes the car was getting stuck in second gear, one lap it would be fine, the next lap it would get stuck so we need to check this for the final’. Battling with Collari during the race, the German said, ‘I was having a close fight with Collari but I had some luck when he had a problem with his engine. Asked about the final, he said, ‘When you bump up from the Semi Final I think your only goal has to be to push, this is the World Final. One hour is a long time, a lot can happen but we will see what we can do’.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Chassis Focus – Dominic Greiner

Posted: 02 Nov 2019 02:20 PM PDT

Chassis – Serpent 989
Engine – OS Speed R2104
Fuel (handout) – VP Racing
Tires (handout) – Hotrace
Radio/Servos – Sanwa M17/Sanwa
Body – Xtreme Super Diablo

Remarks – Winning his Semi Final to book his spot in the main event here in California, Dominic is running Serpent’s new 989 with the car featuring just a few modifications for the high traction at Steel City RC Raceway. The car’s uprights have been modified to allow weights to be mounted to them, extra weight the order of the week. To stiffen up the car, a thicker 2.5mm radio tray has been fitted to the car. Another common feature throughout the pits, the car has a carbon brace across the front of the radio tray.

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