Red RC - RC Car News

Bruno Coelho is the top seed for tomorrow’s qualifying at the TITC at Infinity Addict Circuit, the reigning champion making the most of the cooler conditions of the second & final timed practice to head an Xray 1-2.  Improving on his opening time by over 6/10ths of a second, Coelho would end the session 2/10ths up on team-mate Alexander Hagberg who had set the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the first session.  Behind the champions of the passed two years, Nicholas Lee would complete the Top 3 for Yokomo ahead of team-mate Ronald Volker.  Setting the fifth fastest time, Marc Rheinard would end his first official day as an Infinity driver as the Japanese manufacturer’s quickest driver with P5 ahead of team-mates Jilles Groskamp and Aki Sobue.

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

Marc Rheinard has announced that he has signed to race for electric touring car newcomers Infinity with the 4-time World Champion ‘excited by the new challenge’ of a 2-year contract with the Japanese manufacturer. Electric touring car’s most successful driver, winning its top prize three times, the German established himself as one of the sport’s all time greats through a driver/manufacturer relationship that spanned an impressive 22-years. Cutting his teeth in racing at the controls of a Tamiya, Rheinard and the iconic R/C brand became a formidable force starting out with a first World title together in 2004 and two further back to back titles in 2008 and 2010. This golden era however was to come to an unexpected end in December when Tamiya shocked the racing world with the news they were calling time on their TRF race team. Through his admirable loyalty to Tamiya, he had never been available before to rival Touring Car manufacturers so one positive of the news was that it presented the opportunity to other manufacturers to try and secure the services of the 30-year-old. Receiving a number of offers, and taking his time to carefully consider each of them, it was to be the ambitious plans of Infinity that would secure Rheinard’s signature marking the beginning of a brand new chapter in his career. The deal also comes as a major boost to Infinity as they embark on their first foray in EP touring car with them also announcing the signing two of Rheinard’s former TRF team-mates, 2014 World Champion Naoto Matsukura and Akio Sobue, will all three making their Infinity debut at the TITC in Bangkok this weekend.

On officially announcing he has joined Infinity, the news somewhat diluted by him having been spotted earlier in the week wearing an Infinity shirt during open testing ahead of the TITC, Rheinard said, ‘I’m excited by the new challenge. All my professional career I have been a Tamiya driver and while I have raced for other manufacturers in other classes, at the start of every season my number 1 priority was to represent Tamiya in Touring Car. It was a strange feeling when I got confirmation the TRF team was to stop and to find myself in a position I had never been before but as one door closed others opened and Infinity is my choice for the next chapter in my career. After doing the final round of the ENS with Infinity last year I got a good insight into the team and the company’s future ambitions. Am I nervous about the change? Sure I am. Infinity is completely new to electric touring car and has only been around for one full season of nitro racing. When I turned professional with Tamiya they where already the best known model car company in the world. In contrast Infinity is the new kid on the block but they have big goals and I’m excited about working with them on building Infinity into a respected brand.’ Another influence for Rheinard signing was Infinity team principal Kenji Taira’s own passion for Tamiya, the Indonesian businessman an avid collector of Tamiya cars. ‘Kenji is an RC enthusiast, he loves to go racing himself, and like me he started with a Tamiya. Even now that he is a manufacturer of cars himself he still continues to collect Tamiyas and this shared passion we have for the blue & red stars logo also influenced my decision to go with Infinity.’

Commenting on the announcement, Taira is thrilled that Rheinard had chosen to sign for the burgeoning manufacturer. A keen racer himself, he said, ‘I am a huge Tamiya fan and with Marc the face of this great company for many years I have followed his career with extra interest. After it was confirmed that the TRF team was to be discontinued it presented the opportunity to involve Marc in our own EP touring car project. We had already worked with Marc through our nitro programme but to have him choose Infinity for the class he is most respected for is a great privilege for Infinity. The whole team is excited about working with Marc. The last time he worked together with Jilles (Groskamp) they went on to claim 3-consecutive World titles and to have kind of experience is a huge asset to our company in its infancy.

While Rheinard’s key focus with Infinity will be electric touring car, 2017 seen very much as a development year ahead of the 2018 World Championships, he will also run a 1:10 Nitro programme. A former 200mm Nitro Onroad World Championship podium finisher, he will form part of the driver line-up that will set out to defend the Euro Nitro Series title won with Teemu Leino last year.

Xray have announced the signing of reigning Italian 200mm vice-champion, David Loppini to their factory team. Already an Xray privateer David will now receive the full factory support at races such as the Italian national championship, the ENS and select international events. The multiple ENS finalist had the following to say:

Since I was a child my dream was to be part of Xray team. Attention to details and the chase for perfection are exclusive Xray features. I have raced as a private driver the Xray cars and the reliability and especially the performance helped me to reach all my achievements and to improve myself as a driver. Now with focus for international level races I am very happy to be part of the team and family, which is a dream come true for me. I am more excited than ever and I am looking forward to hit the track.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

German brand 3DRC have introduced their new 5+5 front A-arms for the Team Associated RC10. Designed to offer a 10mm of additional track width and a 5mm longer wheelbase the arms also optimise the shock and suspension geometry. The parts are available in white and black colour through 3DRC’s Shapeways store now.

Source: Shapeways [shapeways.com]

Bruno Coelho is the top seed for tomorrow’s qualifying at the TITC at Infinity Addict Circuit, the reigning champion making the most of the cooler conditions of the second & final timed practice to head an Xray 1-2.  Improving on his opening time by over 6/10ths of a second, Coelho would end the session 2/10ths up on team-mate Alexander Hagberg who had set the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the first session.  Behind the champions of the passed two years, Nicholas Lee would complete the Top 3 for Yokomo ahead of team-mate Ronald Volker.  Setting the fifth fastest time, Marc Rheinard would end his first official day as an Infinity driver as the Japanese manufacturer’s quickest driver with P5 ahead of team-mates Jilles Groskamp and Aki Sobue.

‘So so’ was the reaction of a somewhat underwhelmed Coelho who continued, ‘OK I was fastest but my cars were pushing a lot at the end’. Top Qualifier last year he added, ‘the race is not 3-laps but 5-minutes so we need to work on that for tomorrow’ when 3 of the 6-scheduled qualifiers will take place. Again running 2-cars, he said his Hobbywing powered T4 was ‘super stable and had huge steering which was the opposite to how it was a lunch time’ adding ‘the track are like a lottery and we have to find a way to adapt the car for each part of the day’.

Hagberg said, ‘the track was a lot different but my car still pretty good’.  Running two cars, the 2015 Champion added, ‘the car that was not so good when the track was hot was now good and I think based on the two set-ups of both cars I have a good idea where I need to be with my set-up over the day’.  Looking to the first qualifier, the Swede said, ‘Its going to be really close I guess but I’m pretty confident we’ll be there’.

‘It was really good, we found a god set-up for the night time’, said a rather pleased looking Lee.  Feeling they now have ‘a pretty good set-up for all times of the day’, something highlighted by his P4 in the opening practice, the World Champion finalist added, ‘running two cars I still haven’t run 5-minutes and over 3-laps you can’t really tell how it will go’.  One thing the Singapore driver pointed out was the handout tyres saying, ‘the Sweep tyres has a lot of drop off making the car push more’ and that is something ‘you need to adjust your driving for’.

Summing up the final practice, Volker said, ‘I was happy with the session, both cars were very good’.  He added, ‘even though I am not in the Top 3 for 3-laps I felt I was fastest over longer runs compared to the drivers ahead of me’. Saying he is ‘pretty confident in the colder conditions’, the 2014 TITC Champion continued, ‘we need to rethink set-up for the hotter day time conditions’.

‘Overall not a bad start with the new team’ was Rheinard’s reaction at the end of the time practice day.  With a misunderstanding in the first practice meaning he ran just one car, with clarification that seeding was based on 3-laps and not 5-minutes he used the second session to run one of his prototype SMJ chassis’ on new tyres with the other on used.   Having ‘messed up the start with both cars’ he said, ‘I was not on point for the first lap each time’.  Expecting tyres to be key to qualifying depending on how severe the drop off in performance is with each set, he highlighted Groskamp was the only one to run a single car over the 5-minutes and so no one knows how much it will effect the 5-minute pace.

The only driver in the Top 23 to not produce better time in the cooler conditions of the final practice. Groskamp said, ‘I knew on super high bite, happy hour, track my car was too edgy so I was not crazy fast at the start as I didn’t want to risk smashing into the wall’.  He continued, ‘While the time before was faster my 5-minutes was not so bad even though these conditions don’t suit my set-up’.  He added, ‘it was on the limit in the last one and a big cause of that is the carbon chassis has more flex’.   With only one of the six qualifiers to run in the late evening, the 2012 World Champion said, ‘I’m confident the car will be ok in the day time’.

View the event image gallery here.

Alexander Hagberg has topped the first round of seeding practice at the TITC in Bangkok, the Xray driver setting the fastest 3-consecutive laps just ahead of Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp and reigning champion Bruno Coelho. With the majority of the international drivers having already spent almost a week testing at the Infinity Addict Circuit, the first of the two scheduled seeding rounds finally gave the first official opportunity to gauge where everyone is at with Hagberg and Groskamp running almost identical times, the separation just 5/1000ths of a second. Aside from the times, the first seeding practice would be of extra interest as it marked the debut of Marc Rheinard as an Infinity driver, the Japanese manufacturer finally confirming the signing of the former Tamiya star this afternoon at Asia’s most famous touring car event. As an opening run Rheinard would post the 8th fastest time behind Atsushi Hara, who after concluding a deal with the local distributor is ironically racing the TITC for Tamiya.

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

The Austrian WMW Fehring club, host of past EFRA 1/10th, 1/8th and 1/6th scale European Championships, has announced a 24h race for 1/8th scale buggies. A maximum of 16 teams, with a single car and up to six drivers, can enter the event that will be held on the 9th and 10th of September. Full details and sign up can be found on the club’s website and social media page.

The recent RC Oeste indoor race saw Fabio Ramos taking the day’s win in the 4WD Buggy class from Hugo Miguel in second and Pedro Gomes third. Marco Timoteo and Miguel Santos rounded out the top 5 result. Elsewhere in the 2WD class it was young Pedro Gomes who walked away with the TQ and overall win after taking three of the four qualifiers and sweeping the finals. Rodolfo Maia and Filipe Miranda came in second and third from Jose Fernandes and Rui Crespo in fourth and fifth respectively.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Alexander Hagberg has topped the first round of seeding practice at the TITC in Bangkok, the Xray driver setting the fastest 3-consecutive laps just ahead of Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp and reigning champion Bruno Coelho.  With the majority of the international drivers having already spent almost a week testing at the Infinity Addict Circuit, the first of the two scheduled seeding rounds finally gave the first official opportunity to gauge where everyone is at with Hagberg and Groskamp running almost identical times, the separation just 5/1000ths of a second.  Aside from the times, the first seeding practice would be of extra interest as it marked the debut of Marc Rheinard as an Infinity driver, the Japanese manufacturer finally confirming the signing of the former Tamiya star this afternoon at Asia’s most famous touring car event. As an opening run Rheinard would post the 8th fastest time behind Atsushi Hara, who after concluding a deal with the local distributor is ironically racing the TITC for Tamiya.

‘Not too bad’ was Hagberg’s reaction to topping the times the Swede adding ‘over 3-laps it was really fast’. Running two cars over the 5-minute run, he continued ‘we’ll have to wait to see how it works over a full 5-minute run but the set-up for now feels very good’. Top Qualifier and winner of the TITC 2-years ago,  he said, ‘the challenge is going to be to try to keep up with the changing track’ with the local weather meaning the track changes significantly from the morning to the afternoon and again to late afternoon.

Groskamp was pleased with his pace despite not knowing he could have run both his cars.  He said, ‘I ran the whole race without changing car because I thought the seeding was over 5-minutes and not 3-laps, that is how it was before’.  The former World Champion continued, ‘all week we’ve been able to try everything with the car which was really helpful and we have arrived with a set-up that feels really nice and is really consistent.  The car has good steering and good traction so its not a bad start’.

Coelho was not too happy with his P3 pace, the ETS Champion feeling he had more speed but didn’t get to show it.  With the first car he ran, the Xray driver would flip on his 3rd lap and then changing to his second car he struggled with a lack of steering something he said was most likely due to him pushing it too much.  Once he settled into the run with his second car he said it felt ‘super good’. Describing the set-up of the two cars he ran as ‘similar (with) only small differences’, he plans to run both again for the final seeding round which will run in much cooler conditions just before the sun sets in Bangkok.

Heading the Yokomo challenge would be Nicolas Lee, the Singapore driver out pacing his team-mates Meen Vejrak and Ronald Volker who completed the Top 6 times. Running two BD8’s, one fitted with a copy of Vejrak’s set-up, he said he preferred the first car which ran his own set-up and it was with this car he posted his best 3-laps. Describing the car as ‘pretty good for these conditions’ he said it was ‘just up to the driver to drive it’ but added for the end of day run they needed to work on set-up.  In open practice yesterday when the conditions where cooler the car suffered from traction roll.

Almost 2/10ths off Lee, Vejrak said he started off safe to get 3-laps reporting his car had a ‘little understeer’. With the car coming to a halt on the track the Bangkok driver, who lifted his 200mm Nitro Touring Car World title at this track, he said he initially thought he had stripped a spur gear which on further inspection it turned out to be a motor issue.  Hoping for a trouble free final practice, he said hopefully he can adapt the car set-up to match the cooler track conditions.

Reigning World Champion Volker said ‘we are struggling for a day time set-up’. Aiming for a good average 5-minutes rather than setting the top seeding time, the German said the issue when the track is hot is that he has too much understeer. Running two cars he said both cars suffered from the same issue.  Expecting the car to be better in the second seeding round he said only one of the qualifiers will run at this time of the day so their focus is on getting a set-up for the day time heat.

View the event image gallery here.

The organisers of the Jimmy Babcock Racing League have announced the dates and details of this year’s Electric and Nitro Series. Now in its 14th season the SoCal based series will again have eight rounds each while also going out of state twice with the nitro events. The electric series will kick off at the 11th of March at Coyote Hobbies raceway in Victorville while the opening round of the nitro series will take place on the 22nd of April at the Pro-Line track in Banning. All details and dates can be found on series’ official website here.

HRC Racing have introduced the TSW Pro Racing series 4mm and 5mm dual bullet-type connectors and 5mm to 4mm reducer tubes. Starting with the connectors, they offer both a 5mm and 4mm end as well as a centre section bore for easy soldering. The connectors are ideal to create charge harnesses that allow to be uses with the old-style 4mm and the new 5mm hardcase battery connectors and they are gold-plated and come as pair or 10-piece set. Also new are gold-plated 5mm to 4mm reducer tubes for hardcase battery packs with 5mm connectors. Using them allows to utilise both 5mm and 4mm packs without having to swap the standard 4mm connector on charge harnesses or speed controllers.

Source: HRC Distribution [hrcdistribution.com]

Hobbywing have introduced the QuicRun 3650 SD G2 brushless stock motor. Using a sturdy 1-piece can with cooling openings and a fixed timing endbell, the motor is ideal for sanctioned racing classes. Pre-soldered 3.5mm bullet-type connectors make for plug & play ease and a high-precision balanced rotor guarantees smooth and linear power output. The sensored motor is available in a range of windings including 6.5T and 8.5T modified as well as 10.5T to 25.5T stock variants.

 

Source: Hobbywing [hobbywing.com]
http://www.hobbywing.com/goods.php?id=547&filter_attr=

Track Name – Infinity Addict Circuit
Owner – Pumin Songpaiboon
Country – Thailand
Location – Bangkok
Direction – Clockwise
Surface – Asphalt

Infinity Addict Circuit, formerly RC Addict, is one of a number of international tracks in the Thai capital of Bangkok but it is the best known thanks mainly to it having become the home of the TITC, Asia’s biggest electric touring event.  Built in 2009 by RC Addict shop owner Pumin Songpaiboon, the track hosted its first Thailand International Touring Car Championship the following year and while the event would be hosted by two of the city’s other tracks in 2011 and 2014, 2017 marks Addict’s sixth time to host the world’s best drivers as they battle it out for the title of the 15th running of the TITC.  In addition to the TITC, the track has been a World Championship venue hosting the 2012 200mm Nitro Worlds which was won by former TITC Champion & Bangkok resident Meen Vejrak.  Winner of the first TITC to be held at Addicit, winning it again in 2013, Atsushi Hara has made the track his home.  The legendary racer has his own workshop at the track within the headquarters of well known tyre brand RIDE who also occupy one of the three permanent shops at the circuit.  The change of name from RC Addict to Infinity Addict Circuit since last year’s TITC is a reflection of the support industry newcomers Infinity offered when it was announced at the end of last year’s race that they aimed to improve the bumpy track by completely resurfacing it for the first time.  With Infinity team principal Kenji Taira offering financial support towards the new asphalt, as an appreciation of the gesture the track owner renamed the track Infinity Addict.

Built in an area 55m wide by 27m deep, the track resurface involved the input of Hara, fellow Bangkok racers Jilles Groskamp & Meen Vejrak and regular Bangkok visitor Andy Moore.  Hara said while the general positioning of the islands were maintained they where reduced in size to maximise track surface as a result while the track looks similar it is quite different to drive.  Using a much finer asphalt Hara said the track is now much better with 2015 Champion Alexander Hagberg agreeing the surface is a big improvement.  Reigning Champion Bruno Coelho, who is making his third TITC outing, was slightly less impressed by the resurfacing saying, ‘to be honest if you don’t tell me they changed it I won’t have know but it did feel like they changed the layout of the bumps’.  Describing the layout as ‘pretty easy’, he added it was a pity they didn’t try to make it ‘more technical & more challenging’.

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