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Team Losi Racing have introduced their new 22SCT 1/10th 2WD mid motor short course truck kit. Building on the proven 22 platform the latest incarnation offers a revised mid motor mounting location with the motor being 12mm closer to the diff gear, resulting in an increased rear weight bias and thus improved rear traction on corner exit. The 3-gear transmission also makes for quicker acceleration and better handling with a 4-gear gearbox being available separately. Also new to the 3.0 is a revised rear suspension geometry that further adds rear end grip without loosing corner speed. The rear arms and shock towers have revised shock mounting locations. The jumping, landing, and chassis roll dynamics of the rear end have been optimised for a higher rear weight bias percentage. Rounding out the drivetrain is the new HDS slipper with heavy-duty spring that allows for a wider range of adjustments while being more consistent at the same time.

Moving to the front, the 3.0 features all-new front caster blocks and suspension arms that allow for variable length arm adjustment. This, together with the bellcrank steering system, provides loads of steering, but with a more consistent feel between different surfaces. It all adds up to a truck with neutral balance that requires less tuning from track to track to maximise performance. Holding everything together is the new, wider 2.5mm aluminium chassis with moulded mud guards that create a battery mounting pocket which allows shorty- and saddle-style LiPo packs to be mounted transversely across the chassis. Shorty packs can also be mounted in line with the chassis. This allows racers to fine tune the weight bias of the truck for just about every racing condition. The kit, that will become available by mid-December, is rounded out by a pre-cut bodyshell.

Features:
– Based on the championship-winning 22 3.0 buggy
– Revised mid-motor mounting location
– Revised front and rear suspension geometry
– 3-Gear transmission for better acceleration and grip
– Aluminium-plate rear hub
– HDS Slipper with HD Spring
– Lightweight 7075-T6 aluminium chassis
– Gen II 12mm big-bore shocks
– Transverse battery mounting option
– TLR pre-cut body
– Many popular option parts included as standard

Source: TLR [tlracing.com]

Round two of the Czech Open Challenge was recently held on a nicely prepared track with pretty big jumps and some super-fast sections. In the 2WD qualifiers it was Michal Blahovsky who took the overall TQ from Kaja Novotny and Jiri Benes. The 4WD class was TQ’d by Kaja who suffered a DNF in the opening qualifier but he would come back in Q2 and Q3 to take the pole position for the A-mains.

For the 2WD finals Kaja made some adjustments to his buggy’s setup which would work out perfectly as he was able to leave TQ Michal Blahovsky behind in second place. Behind the two Felix Uhyrek would end the day on the 3 spot.

2WD top 5 result:
1. Kaja Novotny – Xray
2. Michal Blahovsky – SWorkz
3. Felix Uhyrek – Xray
4. Jiri Benes – Xray
5. Martin Koncel – Xray

In the 4WD finals Kaja laid down some very swift runs in A1 and A2 to take the overall win with one leg to spare. Young Frantisek Kalenda came in second from Michal Blahovsky.

4WD top 5 result:
1. Kaja Novotny (TQ) – Xray
2. Frantisek Kalenda – Xray
3. Michal Blahovsky – SWorkz
4. Jiri Benes – Xray
5. Martin Koncel – Xray

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Coming from Japanese company Modify is the Electrical Grid power distributor. Measuring a compact 60x65x30mm the distributor features four 4mm tube-type outputs, two switches and two 5V/2A USB charge outputs to power up to six different devices from a single power source. Included with the box comes a suitable connection cable.

Source: Modify [modifyrc.com]

Round four of the Greek Electric Off-road Nationals was held at the new astro turf off-road track of the FRT facility in Athens. The 4WD Buggy class saw Tasos Paparegkas walking away with the win, his second in this year’s championship, and he now also leads the standings with one round to go at the end of November.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

After a successful season opener at the Nurburgring in Germany in September, this weekend (18-20 Nov) Euro Offroad Series competitors will again race in high octane surroundings as Round 2 takes place as part of Warsaw Moto Show in the Polish capital city.  A country that hosted the championship opener for three seasons in the city of Poznan as part of a Hobby & Gaming Show, there is much excitement about returning to Poland after a year off the EOS calendar in particular for title contender Michal Orlowski for whom the city of Warsaw is home.  Opening Season #6 with a double podium finish, the Schumacher driver will be striving to better that this weekend with victory in particular in 2WD as he looks to clinch the title, having been the runner-up on his last two attempts.

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After a successful season opener at the Nurburgring in Germany in September, this weekend (18-20 Nov) Euro Offroad Series competitors will again race in high octane surroundings as Round 2 takes place as part of Warsaw Moto Show in the Polish capital city.  A country that hosted the championship opener for three seasons in the city of Poznan as part of a Hobby & Gaming Show, there is much excitement about returning to Poland after a year off the EOS calendar in particular for title contender Michal Orlowski for whom the city of Warsaw is home.  Opening Season #6 with a double podium finish, the Schumacher driver will be striving to better that this weekend with victory in particular in 2WD as he looks to clinch the title, having been the runner-up on his last two attempts.

Having claimed his second ever EOS victory, continuing Yokomo’s run of winning the season opener for the last three seasons, Round 1 winner Marc Rheinard leads the championship having also claimed the bonus point for being Top Quaifier in Germany.  His first time to lead the EOS standings, the former ETS Champion will be determined to go into the 2017 part of the season in the same position and put himself in pole position to challenge for Yokomo’s fourth consecutive title in 2WD. For team-mate & reigning champion Lee Martin, the British driver’s title defence would open with third behind Rheinard and Orlowski.  While this season’s calendar has been expanded to 5 races giving drivers more room for a bad weekend, the back to back champion will want to lay claim to his No.1 status in the team by registering his first win since last season’s second round.

The big surprise of the new season was to be the speed of Martin Wollanka. Qualifying 2nd at the Nurburgring, the Xray driver was right in the mix although on a track on which all leading drivers make errors in the final he would just miss out on the podium to finish fourth.  Xray have made big inroads with their latest XB2 getting four cars in the A-Main at Round 1 and after that confident start they can be expected to be even stronger this time out.

In contrast to Wollanka, the big disappointment of the first race was the performance of Neil Cragg.  Marking Team Associated’s first full factory assault on the EOS, the former World Champion struggled to find his rhythm qualifying 5th and finishing 6th.  With much higher hopes for the season opener, Team Associated team-manager Craig Drescher will have analysed why they lacked competitiveness and will be looking to have both Cragg and young star Joona Hataanen fighting for the win.

In 4WD, the season started out as a very one sided affair as Bruno Coelho made his win look like a formality rather than a race against some of the world’s top drivers.  The World Champion started his EOS title defence with the perfect result securing both the TQ and an early win that allowed him to watch his rivals battle it out for best of the rest in A3.  Martin eventually winning it to claim second ahead of Orlowski. Securing 6 of the 10 spots on the grid, Xray are certainly still the bench mark but with their rivals having had two months to prepare for Round 2, hopefully we will see a stronger challenge in Warsaw.

Revolution Design Racing Products have introduced their new titanium battery tray shoulder screws for the Team Associated B6 and B6D. They are designed to replace the standard steel parts with the lightweight titanium material greatly reducing the overall weight as a single screw only weighs in at 0.71g. The special design and silver-finish material also adds visual impact compared to the standard black parts. The screws come in sets of two and they are a direct replacement.

Source: RDRP [revolution-rc.com]

Coming from Italian brand Tesla is the new GT5 Black Edition 5-port 3.5cc engine. The latest version of the GT engine offers improved top speed and mid-range power while maintaining a low fuel consumption thanks to optimised internal mixture flow. The engine also sports a redesigned, black anodised cooling head for improved temperature management and it is available now.

Specifications:
– Displacement: 3.49cc
– Max power/RPM: 41,700 RPM
– RPM range: 6,000-42,500 RPM
– Bore x stroke: 16.26 x 16.80mm
– Liner: 5-ports
– Main bearing: steel
– Front bearing: steel
– Crankshaft: 1400 mm – tuned – turbo
– Carburettor: Ergal – 7.00 mm – slide
– Output: rear
– Weight: 295g
– Fuel: Tesla 16% – Tesla 25%

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]

The 2016/17 BRCA GT circuit championship Continued last weekend at another new addition to the calendar, the event was hosted by the Eastbourne club in Robertsbridge. The club laid a great track for the weekends action, based on the track that they used for the LMP national. At first some of the drivers thought it may be too tight and technical for the Saturday classes, however after the drivers had been on track it turned out to be a fun layout to drive and provided some very good racing.

Saturday started with the GT10 class. It was Andy Murray who set the pace, like he did at round 1. Adam Catchpole was his closest rival, having sat out round 1 of the championship he was keen to get his season off to a good start. Adam would find his pace to top the time sheets for the remaining qualifying rounds. Andy had to settle for second however he was always very close in the qualifiers. Craig Nutting would line up 3rd, followed by Jonny Aird, completing the top 5 was Kieren Manders.

Onto the final, Adam lead the pack away after the buzzer, the first couple of corners everybody getting away clean in grid order. Adam and Andy broke away from the chasing pack as a bit of carnage broke out, Jonny Aird taking the brunt dropping from 4th to 9th and retiring on lap 3. As the race settled Adam put a small gap between himself and Andy that he stretch out over the 6 minutes  to cross the line 4 seconds in front. Craig Nutting completed the podium in 3rd, Kieren Manders in 4th and Mark Christopher completing the top 5.

In the Formula class it was James Greener who set the pace in round 1, Niall Cochran would be 2nd followed by Daniel Blake. The ETS carpet providing very consistent grip for the control GRP tyres, qualifying would be very close. Luke Lee jumped to the top in round 2, followed by James and Niall. None of the top 3 would improve their times in round 3, so it came down to round 4. James greener topping the sheet with Niall only 1.3 seconds behind, both drivers breaking into the 21 laps. Luke’s round 2 time would keep him in 3rd, Stephen Lander made his way into 4th and Jonathan Simblet completing the top 5.

The final had a relatively clean start, with pack staying mostly in grid order. The top 3 of James, Niall and Luke would break away from chasing pack after lap 1, Gaps opened up between the 3 as the race progressed until and error on lap 7 from Niall would see him upside down needing marshalled, dropping him to 4th. Niall was able to pass James right as he got a little out of shape in the sweeper a few laps later to retake 3rd. A mistake from Luke on lap 11 would see Niall back into 2nd, but by this time James had disappeared into the distance. Luke chased Niall hard for the remaining 2 minutes, a small mistake allowed to the gap to be reduced even more, on the last lap Niall got a little out of shape allowing Luke down the inside, which he made stick to take 2nd. James Wright finished 4th and Stephen Lander completed the top 5.

Onto Sunday the GT12 part of the championship would start with an improved entry of 79 drivers coming from all over the UK. Adam Catchpole would put his disappointing start to the season behind him to top the time sheets, followed by Andy Murray again showing better pace, Niall Cochran would be 3rd after the first round of qualifying. Adam would better his time in round 2 as would Andy. Aidan Ripley also improved to make his way into 3rd. The track stayed very consistent and didn’t dramatically improve during qualifying. Round 3 would only see small improvements for David Gale but it did not change his 4th position. Again in round 4, round 2 times would still be fastest for the top 3, Jonny Aird got a solid run in to put him 4th as did Niall to complete the top 5.

The final got off to a clean start with Adam leading the pack away, the top 3 of Adam, Andy and Aidan broke away from the chasing pack being lead by Niall, After about 1 minute, a very small tap to the barrier by Andy would be enough to let Aidan into 2nd, by now Adam had a large enough  lead and could control the race. He would cross to line to win the final by a lap, Aidan kept 2nd with Andy Completing the podium, Niall Cochran would finish 4th and Jonny Aird completing the top 5. The top juniors in GT12 were 1st Sam Exton, 2nd Ben Moorey 3rd Matthew Gammons. The Championship now heads to Chesterfield when it continues on the 7th and 8th of January.

Source: BRCA [brca.org]

T-Works have introduced two body support foam sets for touring car bodyshells. Made from thinner 2mm or thicker 5mm foam, each set consists of a total of eight pads that help to brace the body’s front part against the inner foam bumper for improved aerodynamics and better crash resistance. Foam sizes included are 10x100mm and 10x50mm all of which come clad with a self-adhesive tape for easy mounting.

Source: T-Works [rc-tworks.com]

Following numerous teasers, HB Racing have finally revealed all information on their forthcoming E817 1/8th scale electric buggy kit. Based off of the World Championship winning D815 the electric variant, that won the 2016 EFRA 1/8th E-Buggy Euros, utilises a range of purpose-designed features such as a low-centre of gravity battery mount that allows the use of brick-type 4S, 2S standard and 2S shorty LiPo packs with the drivetrain utilising an optimised 43T/10T gearbox. The motor mount is of a unique clamp-type design and the updated hinge pins offer easier front and rear differential access. The covered receiver box and the electronics mounts are removable for easy of cleaning and the buggy is usable without a special “E”-body as most nitro bodies fit – included with the kit will come a Pro-Line Predator and a genuine Pro-Line lightweight wing. Other features included are updated rear hubs that are now compatible with universals and CVA-type drive shafts while optional D arm mounts allow the fine-tuning of the rear toe adjustments. On top of this the E817 will be compatible with almost all of the available D815 tuning items.

Features:
– Proven D815 style drivetrain with 43/10 gearbox ratio optimized for electric power
– Accepts 4s ‘brick’ packs, 2 x 2s ‘long’ batteries, and 2 x 2s ‘shorty’ batteries
– When using shorty batteries the fore/aft position can be adjusted for weight bias adjustment
– The batteries sit directly on the chassis for the lowest possible CG
– Dual clamp motor mount allows the motor to be replaced with no change to the gear mesh
– Compatible with most nitro bodies – no need for special bulky/tall e-buggy bodies
– Pro-Line Predator body and Pro-Line wing included
– Covered receiver box, and the electronics mounts are removable for ease of cleaning the car
– D815 steering components which include aluminum servo saver arm and clamping servo saver adjustment nut
– HB monocoque suspension arms for stiffness, adjustability, and less dirt build-up
– Updated rear hubs are now compatible with universals and CVA type drive shafts. (reverse compatible to D815)
– Updated hinge pins for easier access to front and rear diffs. (reverse compatible to D815)
– High efficiency universal joint shafts. (reverse compatible to D815)
– Optional ‘D’ arm mounts with fine rear toe adjustment: 2.75°, 3.00°, 3.25°, & 3.50°. (3.00° is standard in kit)
– Carbon graphite rear hub carrier arms
– Protective boots on central drivetrain
– One-piece lightweight wing mount with Pro-Line wing
– Aluminum steering blocks with carbon graphite steering arms
– Stand-up servo mounting and heavy duty servo saver
– Steel turnbuckles for easy adjustability of suspension geometry
– Big bore threaded coilover shocks
– Lightweight aluminum shock towers
– Threaded outer hinge pins
– Adjustable sway bars front and rear

More images can be found on HB Racing’s official product page by clicking the link below.

Source: HB Racing [hbracing.com]