Red RC - RC Car News

Shepherd have announced the signing of Germany’s Thilo Tödtmann to their team. The former Capricorn factory driver has inked a long term contract to represent the Shepherd brand. A regular ENS and Euros A-finalist and former EFRA Euro-B champion, Thilo will campaign the Velox V10 “WC” 200mm platform while also running the Velox F1 at selected events. Thilo says:

First of all I want to thank Patrizio Rossi from Capricorn for his support and help during the last 2 1/2 years on and off the racetrack. He is a well known character and I improved my racing and my knowledge during that time. Nevertheless I felt it was time for a change and now I am very excited to rejoin Team Shepherd. Racing and learning in such a strong team with a great history of inventing, development and design is a opportunity which I take gratefully.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

Capricorn have introduced the new ONE 2.1cc nitro touring car engine. Making use of the latest nitro engine technology the powerplant features a double balanced, silicone-filled crankshaft that received a special DLC treatment in order to improve its durability. Furthermore the engine is equipped with front and rear ceramic ball bearings, it is assembled using thoroughly selected parts and its crankshaft, crankcase and sleeve are hand tuned. Offered in very limited quantities, the 3-port ONE engine is only sold in a pre-run version to assure the customer that the breaking-in process has been carried out in the best possible way.

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]

HB Racing have finally officially revealed all details of the D817 1/8th scale nitro buggy. The pre-production D817 buggy snatched the 2016 IFMAR World Championship title in the hands of Sweden’s David Ronnefalk and it is up for grabs for everyone else now. The buggy comes with a long wheelbase chassis with the chassis’s outer shape has been revised compared to the 815 as it is now symmetrical left-to-right. The steel rear skid plate has been removed for lighter weight and a revised D-Mount works in conjunction with the new chassis, and has added material at the bottom for longer wear. 3.0 degree toe-in is the standard D-mount in the kit, and optional D-mounts now come in finer 0.25 degree increments with 2.75, 3.00, 3.25, and 3.50 variants available. The rear hub geometry has evolved to allow a lower axle height and the camber link location hole pattern to be shifted higher and allows for a longer rear link. The settings that worked on the D815 car can still be replicated but HB Racing removed the unused settings and added new ones. This rear hub is the same standard hub that comes on the E817. The buggy is also equipped with universal drive shafts for improved bumpy track performance and for ease of maintenance but the CVA shafts from the D815 are still compatible with the D817. New body mounts that are made of tougher material are included and virtually all of the tuning parts available for the D815 are still compatible with the D817.

Features:
• Long wheelbase 7075 aluminium chassis
• Fine adjustment aluminium D-Mount
• Revised rear upright geometry
• Universal drive shafts
• Universal & CVA compatibility
• 43/13 diff gear ratio with lightweight gears
• HB monocoque suspension arms
• Sintered brake pads & metal rotors
• Enclosed radio tray
• Updated rear upright design
• Carbon graphite rear hub carrier arms
• Aluminium servo saver arm
• One-piece lightweight wing mount
• Aluminium caster blocks
• Aluminium steering blocks
• Carbon graphite steering arms
• Stand-up servo mounting
• Steel turnbuckles
• Big bore threaded coilover shocks
• Hard anodised aluminium shock towers
• Aluminium arm blocks
• Hinge pin inserts
• Protective boots on central drivetrain
• Threaded outer hinge pins
• Sway bars front and rear
• Split centre bulkhead
• Lightweight spur gear
• Lightweight diff outdrives and centre inputs
• Lightweight front aluminium axles
• Racing fuel tank with stone filter clunk
• Pro-Line Trifecta Lexan rear wing
• Pro-Line Predator clear buggy body

Source: HB Racing [hbracing.com]

Modelix Racing have welcomed French frontrunner, Yannick Aigoin to their world-wide team. The Xray factory driver is backed by multiple national and international titles and he already used Ultimate Racing engines in the past, but the former Pro-Line driver will now also roll on Procircuit tyres while also helping with research and development of upcoming products.

Source: Modelix Racing [modelixracing.com]

German brand VIP Performance has released first images of their forthcoming VTE 235mm Pro10 kit. Based off of the championship-winning Vorlon, the VTE will feature a new thinner main chassis plate with side rails, it will utilise a 4mm lower V-link geometry and 2mm lower side links. To this add a new upper damper plate, a floating servo mount, a redesigned top deck for less tweak as well as new side wings. The car is meant to be lighter, it offers improved cornerspeed due to the optimised chassis stiffness and it will generate more traction for low grip conditions. The wider pod kit and HD bumper will also be part of the kit that is set for a release this Spring.

Source: VIP Performance [vip-rc.com]

Italian Alpha distributor Planet Racing has announced the signing of Italian off-road frontrunner, Walter Floris to the Alpha Power racing team for the 2017 season. Walter and his mechanics will take part at all major national events while also giving support to Alpha customers and to the growing Italian team.

Source: Planet Racing [alpha-rc.it]

RPM have introduced an ESC cage for the Traxxas XL-5 and XL-10 speed controllers. The design eliminates the use of the two undersized mounting tabs on the ESC in favour of a complete cage system that solidly locks the speedo in place. By completely surrounding and capturing the controller’s case, damage from broken tabs and ejection from the vehicle has been completely eliminated. The works even if one or both mounting tabs have already been broken or cut off and the cage is made of black or blue colour engineering grade nylons.

Source: RPM [rpmrcproducts.com]

The recent 2017 Snowbird Nationals once again attracted some of the World’s fastest on-road racers to compete in several electric on-road classes. In World GT-R and after taking a second in 2016, Brian Wynn came out swinging at this year’s Snowbirds. He would have his hands full as defending Champ, Japan driver Kosuke Suzuki, was in the house ready to hang on to the title. Ultimately Brian would hold the upper hand by taking the TQ and A-main win from team mate Jeff Dayger in second and Cory Parsons in third while Kosuke had to settle for fourth overall.

The old 235mm wide Pro10 cars are making a minor comeback racing outdoors at many tracks in Europe and Western USA and the 2017 Snowbirds also saw them raced indoors and in the A-main a small issue with the TQ machine allowed 2nd qualifier Hayato Ishioka to take the win from Dave Vera in second while Hayato’s teammate Takeshi Shinomiya took 3rd.

Source: CRC [teamcrc.com]

To celebrate the inaugural GT12 Worlds being held this weekend at the Centre:MK, Milton Keynes, UK, X-Factory UK in conjunction with RCS Graphic Worx have released a series of limited edition chassis skin sets for three of the most popular GT12 chassis on the market. Available for the Mardave Venom, Schumacher Atom and Zen Racing RXGT12, the skins come pre-cut, including chassis screw holes and each package contains two skins.

Source: X-Factory UK [xfactoryrc.co.uk]

Arena have introduced a set of lightweight carbon fibre droop blocks. The 10mm supports weigh in at 6.7g per set and they are used as chassis supports during droop measuring and adjustment. White Arena logos make for easy identification and the blocks are available now.

Source: Arena [facebook.com]