Red RC - RC Car News

After basking in the sunshine in free practice yesterday, drivers didn’t fair as well on the official opening day of ETS Round 5 in Slovakia as a number of rain showers effectively wrote off any meaningful running at the Hudy Arena. Waking to rain this morning in Trencin with further rain showers over the morning, a dry track finally appeared after lunch allowing a round of 3-minute practice to prepare the track for qualifying.  With further rain forecast for the morning, the schedule was brought forward to run two rounds of qualifying over the rest of the day but 9 heats in to the 27 heats the heavens opened again bringing a stop to proceedings.

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

After basking in the sunshine in free practice yesterday, drivers didn’t fair as well on the official opening day of ETS Round 5 in Slovakia as a number of rain showers effectively wrote off any meaningful running at the Hudy Arena. Waking to rain this morning in Trencin with further rain showers over the morning, a dry track finally appeared after lunch allowing a round of 3-minute practice to prepare the track for qualifying.  With further rain forecast for the morning, the schedule was brought forward to run two rounds of qualifying over the rest of the day but 9 heats in to the 27 heats the heavens opened again bringing a stop to proceedings.

Consulting with Martin Hudy on how the track dries and how late it would be possible to run, the track not having flood lights, it was felt the track could be made ready to complete the first round of Xray Pro Stock qualifying as well as Q1 for the Scorpion Formula class. Running another round of practice, Modified having had the call made that their day was done, the track conditions however wouldn’t come up as expected and so the ETS made the decision to call time on the a frustrating day. Unfortunately showers are been forecast again for the morning but from lunch it looks like the event might be able to get going with Sunday showing clear of any chance of rain.

View our event image gallery here.

Coming from Yokomo and made for the YD-2 series of drift cars are adjustable front steering blocks. The design allows to fine-tune the king pin angle using 0.5mm or 1.0mm spacers with the default setting being +1 degree and by adding the 0.5mm spacer an additional degree is accessible. Optional aluminium stopper pins ensure precise steering lock with the pins being available with 4mm or 5mm diameter to achieve different lock angle settings. The steering block set is made from high-quality aluminium, it includes the steering blocks and steering block adapters as well as a set of 0.5mm and 1.0mm shims. In additional to the optional stopper pins also a set of steering block weights is available to further fine-tune the steering characteristics.

Source: Yokomo [teamyokomo.com]

Name – Hudy Racing Arena
Country – Slovakia
Location – Trencin (120km NE from capital city of Bratislava)
Host – Hudy/Xray
Surface – Asphalt
Direction – Anti-clockwise
No. of ETS Races hosted – 4
Previous Winners –Bruno Coelho (2016 & 2015), Marc Rheinard (2014), Ronald Volker (2013)

The Hudy Racing Arena hosts the Euro Touring Series for a fifth time in 2017 but unlike the previous four visits this time it is not the season finale but instead round 5 of 6.  First opening its doors to international racing when it welcomed the ETS in 2013, the facility which is also home to the Xray/Hudy factory has been a bucket-list topper for racers around the world ever since.  With the ETS utilising the outdoor track, the EOS visiting earlier in the year & making use of the indoor track, there have been some tweaks to the 320 metre long asphalt circuit since the last visit.  In the centre section of the track all of the original curbing has been taken out and replaced with new lower profile curbing with World Champion Ronald Volker declaring it as ‘much better’.  Martin Hudy said while it was a lot of work to take out the old curbs, the new curbing has made the track ‘more fun’ to drive with it now possible to run on the curbing without the car flipping.  The track works have also seen the addition of new concrete barriers at locations where the racing lanes run parallel, this improvement sure to prevent some of the spectacular crashes witnessed in the past when cars crashed into the path of oncoming cars, in particular on the main straight.

While not effecting the track in terms of the driving experience, another more visual change this year is the almost complete indoor dirt offroad track that is being added to the 25,000 square feet facility which in a previous life was a soccer stadium.   Where previously a green area lay between the Arena and the factory, there is now an impressive new building.  A steel frame when the ETS was last here it is now a fully inclosed building with just some final roof work needed to complete the exterior before they can get on with building the two (1:8 and 1:10 dirt) tracks inside.  Its addition certainly adding to the status of the Hudy Arena being the worlds greatest RC facility.

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Xray have announced the soon release of the XB8E 2017 1/8th E-Buggy kit. No official details about features and specifications are available yet but the introduction is scheduled for the 19th of June with the kit being expected to hit stores shortly after.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

First introduced back in March, Yokomo have now announced the official release of the Racing Performer touring car shock springs. The specifications of the springs have been adjusted for even greater performance and thus the release was rescheduled with the parts being on sale now. Developed in cooperation with Yokomo’s Ronald Völker, the springs are available as linear 2.6 to 3.2 and progressive 2.6-2.8, 2.8-3.0 and 3.0-3.2 types and they allow to setup the car to pretty much every track condition from slippery to high-grip. The black-coated and laser-engraved spring are available separately and also as complete 7-pair set.

Source: Yokomo [teamyokomo.com]

The 2nd annual IYRCA International Youth Car Modelling Championship will take place in Prague, Czech Republic from the 9th to 13th of August. Run over four classes, Touring Modified, Touring Stock, Formula and 1/14th Stock, the IFMAR sanctioned event is open to all young drivers up to and including 19 years of age and it will be held under the patronage of IFMAR president Dallas Mathiesen, making it the unofficial “Youth World Championships”. With a large number of entries from Asia attending, the Stock classes will be held using low cost good quality hand-out RTR vehicles to ensure tight competition, while drivers of the Modified and Formula classes are allowed to bring their own gear. Full details along with sign-up are available on the event’s official website here.

Coming from Serpent and made for the Project 4X touring car are new linear upper arm connectors. The parts are designed to be used with shorter links with the new default link length being achieved by using the included balljoints and set screws. The ball joints are mounted touching each other so no measuring is needed. Using the new parts will result in a refined geometry that offers more linear action over the full suspension movement while the standard geometry has a degressive characteristic. With the set the suspension will be getting less soft under compression, resulting in improved car control especially in high grip conditions. The connectors are available as full set and also separately.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

Infinity have introduced an aluminium adjustable servo horn for their IF14 electric touring car. Adjustments can be set at four stages of 17mm, 18mm, 19mm and 20mm through the use of two differently coloured and flippable inserts that ensure the required leverage can be accurately fixed. Precision machined from high-intensity alloy aluminium, the servo horn is available to fit Sanwa or Futaba splines. While released for the IF14 this universal part can be used on other chassis.

Source: Creation Model [creationmodel.net]

Bezerk RC have introduced the slipper eliminator for the Team Associated B64 and B64D. Designed to reduce rotating mass and enable smaller spur gears to be fitted for stock racing, the carbon plate accepts any on-road style spur gear that has a three screw fitment. The kit includes two anodised 6061 T6 alloy housings and one carbon plate to screw the spur gear to. The holes in the carbon plate are sized to just screw your favourite screws straight in, no tap required. The slipper eliminator set is a limited edition and available now.

Source: Bezerk RC [bezerk.com.au]

Back in April HB Racing have released a first teaser image of their forthcoming D817T nitro truggy kit and now full information are available. The vehicle builds on the IFMAR World Championship winning D817 buggy and comes with a tough 7075 aircraft aluminium chassis. Its symmetrical design makes for better balance and more consistent jumping and cornering while strategically machined areas decrease weight and balance the flex characteristics. A one-piece CNC engine mount holds the engine in place on the 7075 alloy chassis. A complete competition 3-shoe clutch is included, along with sintered brake pads and double ground brake discs for fade free braking and consistent brake feel and a convenient, covered electronics box allows easy removal for cleaning and maintenance, and easy access to servos.

Like its D817 teammate, the D817T used a race-proven 4WD system with high strength steel centre drive shafts, tough sintered diff gears, precision machined steel input gears and spur gear, and machined aluminium wheel hubs. The D817T comes with high efficiency CVA drive shafts that are fully rebuildable. Big bore threaded coilover shock absorbers help soak up extreme tracks and the suspension package includes front and rear carbon graphite shock towers, adjustable turnbuckles, front and rear sway bars, hinge pin inserts for easy toe and anti-squat settings, machined aluminium caster blocks, aluminium steering blocks, and aluminium rear uprights with improved geometry. The updated suspension now also uses a harder material for consistent handling, and they eliminate the need for external stiffeners. The trucks’s steering system is built for durability and easy adjustment. It features an aluminium servo saver arm and clamping servo saver adjustment nut, steel turnbuckles, aluminium drag link, highly adjustable Ackerman geometry using steering knuckle plates, and CNC machined aluminium steering blocks that are fitted with carbon fibre steering arms, which can be swapped for a range of option arms to adjust the Ackerman for pinpoint steering. The kit is rounded out by a clear Pro-Line Enforcer truggy body and Pro-Line Trifecta Lexan wing. HB Racing’s one-piece High Wing Mount is standard equipment, which raises the wing 10mm higher than the low wing mount, putting the wing in less turbulent air flow which helps produce more downforce.

Features:
– Long wheelbase 7075 aluminium chassis
– Fine adjustment aluminium D-mount
– Revised rear upright geometry
– CVA drive shafts included
– Universal & CVA compatibility
– 43/10 diff gear ratio with lightweight gears
– Harder suspension arm material
– Sintered brake pads & metal rotors
– Enclosed radio tray
– 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
– Carbon graphite front and rear 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 Enforcer clear buggy body

Source: HB Racing [hbracing.com]

Made for the Ambush 4×4 or other 1/24 scale mini crawlers is Pro-Line’s new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon body shell with interior set. The officially licensed body will transform mini trucks into ultra scale rigs with the details from the full-size Jeep have been faithfully recreated in miniature size. The body comes with a separate interior piece that features fully detailed seats, dashboard and driver body and doubles as the rear body mount. Window masks, paint-then-peel overspray film and fully licensed detailed stickers are included to finish off the look.

Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]