Red RC - RC Car News

JQRacing have introduced their factory-built Black Edition Spec-Q nitro buggy. The vehicle has the same specifications and features as the Black Edition kit, but instead of packaging the parts in the familiar bags for assembly by the customer, JQRacing build the car at the factory, to the proven August 2017 stock setup. The only thing left for the racer to do is to install an engine and pipe, and the electronics, and paint the pre-cut body. Even the throttle and brake linkages are built and ready to go. The Spec-Q car is intended to be ready to race, so thread lock has been applied, and camber, toe, and droop have been set correctly. The diffs and shocks are pre-built with the correct oils, getting racers on the track quickly.

Source: JQRacing [jqracing.com]

Ryan Maifield became the third different driver to post a TQ on the opening day of qualifying at the 2WD Offroad World Championship, the American leading a Yokomo 1-2 in China in the third round of qualifying. Having not featured in the opening two qualifiers, with a best run of P9 in Q2, Maifield took set-up direction from team mate Lee Martin for the final action of the day to top the third of the five qualifiers by 0.375 of a second from the British driver who also managed a P2 in the previous round. Behind the Yokomo duo, the round would see another of US Offroad racing’s big name drivers turn around a challenging day as Jared Tebo took his Kyosho to the third fastest time even with an error on his final lap. Having taken Q2, Ryan Cavalieri would conclude a long day, due to morning rain delays, with a P4 ahead of Q1 pace setter Michal Orlowski while TLR’s Dakotah Phend rounded out the Top 6 with his best run of the day.

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

The famous Mini Autodromo Jody Scheckter in Fiorano, Italy played host for fourth round of CRNS Championship, one of the last races in Italy before the winter break. In the Open 1/8th Nitro category it was Alberto Tedeschi who took home the win after a error-free drive. Following him on the podium was Emanuele Comoglio with Claudio Codazzi completing the podium another lap down.

In the 1/10th Nitro Touring category teammates Riccardo Coassini and Gianfranco Ciccolella had to settle for 2nd and 3rd with Michele Scaglioni taking the win.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

The recent GP of Pierrefeu in France saw Xray’s Yannick Aigoin walking away with the win in the 1/8th Nitro Buggy class. HB Racing’s Thomas Musso ended the day on the 2 spot from Julien Lattanzio (Xray) 3rd.

1/8 Nitro Buggy final results:
1. Aigoin Yannick – Xray
2. Musso Thomas – HB Racing
3. Lattanzio Julien – Xray
4. Meertens Vincent – TLR
5. Lacheze J.Marc – HB Racing
6. Maignien Carl – TLR

In the 1/8th E-Buggy class it was Armand Lantheaume (Xray) with the win from Carl Maignien (TLR) 2nd and Benjamin Porte (Xray) 3rd.

1/8 E-Buggy final results:
1. Lantheaume Armand – Xray
2. Maignien Carl – TLR
3. Porte Benjamin – Xray
4. Labbez Lionel – Mugen
5. Medjoubi Zakarie – HB Racing
6. Marchand Léo – Mugen

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Coming from Tekno RC and made for the EB410 1/10th 4WD buggy are new aluminium shock caps and blank pistons. Starting with the shock caps, the parts are CNC-machined from high-quality 7075 aluminium and black anodised for a stealth look. They provide the utmost durability and consistency for the EB410 shocks, ensuring that the vehicle will withstand all the abuse. The caps come in pairs but do not include bleed screws or seals.

Also new are flat 13mm pistons that make it easier to create custom suspension setups based on the driver’s needs. Made from a self-lubricating derlin material, these CNC pistons have eight dimples for easy drilling and are machined to very high precision. The blank pistons fit the EB410 4WD buggy as well as other vehicles using 13mm bore shocks.

Source: Tekno [teknorc.com]

Xray have introduced new, lowered front suspension mounts for the T4 touring car. Machined from high-quality 7075 aluminium and coming orange anodised the mounts lower the hinge pins by 0.5mm compared to the kit parts for a higher roll centre setting and thus increased steering and traction in low to medium traction conditions. The 1-piece suspension hangers use the original composite suspension pin inserts and they are available separately.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Ryan Maifield became the third different driver to post a TQ on the opening day of qualifying at the 2WD Offroad World Championship, the American leading a Yokomo 1-2 in China in the third round of qualifying.  Having not featured in the opening two qualifiers, with a best run of P9 in Q2, Maifield took set-up direction from team mate Lee Martin for the final action of the day to top the third of the five qualifiers by 0.375 of a second from the British driver who also managed a P2 in the previous round.  Behind the Yokomo duo, the round would see another of US Offroad racing’s big name drivers turn around a challenging day as Jared Tebo took his Kyosho to the third fastest time even with an error on his final lap.  Having taken Q2, Ryan Cavalieri would conclude a long day, due to morning rain delays, with a P4 ahead of Q1 pace setter Michal Orlowski while TLR’s Dakotah Phend rounded out the Top 6 with his best run of the day.

Commenting on his turn around in performance Maifield said, ‘We made a couple of changes and they were good. Lee was going good and we have been working well together so I did a few things he did and the car felt better’.  He continued, ‘It was still sketchy to drive so I tried to drive more calm but it was still not calm enough.  For tomorrow I need to make sure I don’t drink any Redbull because you have to be so calm out there’.  With 3 of the 5 rounds to count, the result is a huge boost going into the final two qualifiers tomorrow with the former runner-up saying, ‘we have a good plan for tomorrow and have a good idea what direction to go with our set-up’.

Summing up his run, Martin said, ‘ Overall it was a good run but I got held up a lot by traffic.  I’m not blaming the drivers as it was too dark to see who is around you but there are four guys on the drivers stand and big numbers on the cars but still nothing was called so can we not take these big ugly numbers off the cars’.  On his YZ-2 performance he said, ‘we made a small tweak to get more rear bite on power. It was quicker in the turns but didn’t solve the issue’.  With the Q3 result booking the European Champion’s place on the A-Main grid he conclude, ‘I’m excited for tomorrow’.

‘Awesome’ was Tebo’s reaction to P3 time, the former Champion only managing a best run of P13 in the opening two qualifiers.  He continued, ‘my car felt good and I finally got my confidence back.  I made a mistake myself when I messed up on my last lap which cost me the TQ but still this one kept me in with a chance’.  Having got his car set-up back to where the car is comfortable to drive he said, ‘I ‘m positive about tomorrow because now that I have confidence in the car I know there is room for improvement’.

Cavalieri said his run ‘started off good’ but then he had a ‘really bad one’ at the table top on the right side which cost him over 5-seconds.  While he ‘almost saved it’, the Associated driver admitted he was ‘lucky to salvage 4th out of something that could have been a lot worse’.  Feeling his car was too aggressive when he TQ’d Q2 due to the amount of wear on his front tyres he said ‘I really like the new front after the first 3 to 4 laps’.  Counting his P2 in the Q1, TQ in Q2 and P4 in the third, the multiple former champion holds the overnight provisional TQ in Xiamen.

‘It was difficult with the light. It was hard to see the pipes even with them painted white (in the corners)’, was Orlowski’s reaction to setting the fifth fastest time for the round.  The reigning Euro Offroad Series champion added, ‘I had two costly mistakes in the last double off the jumps section but the base is there and we don’t have to change anything on the car.  Tomorrow I will just try to drive around and make the best laps I can’.  Behind the Schumacher driver, while Phend’s 6th would be the first Top 10 for the TLR team it would also be the first time reigning champion Spencer Rivkin had a single digit result with him getting a P9 behind HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk and the privately entered Associated of Joern Neumann.

View our event image gallery here.

Having lost out in the opening round of qualifying with a mistake on his final lap that gave Michal Orlowski the TQ, Ryan Cavalieri got it done on his second attempt in China but it wasn’t without incident with the last lap again being a deciding factor. With Orlowski leading away the field again in Q2, the Schumacher driver would get it wrong at the first double and need marshalling allowing Cavalieri to lead the field from Bruno Coelho. With mistakes from almost every driver come the final lap it was Coelho who was on target for the TQ but running in close proximity to Cavalieri, a mistake by the American would balk the Xray driver and out of his rhythm lead the 4WD World Champion to having a larger mistake in the jumps section that left him with a 31.4-second lap handing Cavalieri the TQ and dropping him to third behind Lee Martin.

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

Arrowmax have introduced their new black and golden setup system for 1/10th off-road buggies. It sports the company’s signature honeycomb design and allows for easy and precise camber and toe adjustments thanks to ball-raced camber plates and the acrylic toe plate. Included with the set come thumb-screw wheel nuts that make strapping the vehicle into the setup system easy and effortless without the need for additional tools. The setup system is usable for most 2WD and 4WD buggies.

Source: Arrowmax [arrowmax-rc.com]

Chassis – TLR 22 4.0
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 6.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 3800mAh
Radio/Servos – Spektrum
Body – Kit Body
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout) / AKA Vektor
Remarks – Dakotah Phend is running the latest 4.0 version of the TLR22 with a number of new parts, one of which is a new steering system. Featuring a new Ackermann plate as well as new arms on the steering knuckles, the new parts help make the car smoother in the corners and allow it to carry more speed. Working to get a good balance between smooth and fast, the US driver has also switched to stiffer arms to help the car land better. Another new part on the car is the fan mount which is mounted directly to the updated left side skid plate and allows the fan to be placed to the rear side of the motor with a single screw.

Image gallery

Coming from Samix is their new 500ml nitro fuel bottle. The bottle itself is made from soft plastics and it utilises a CNC-machined aluminium screw-on cover for a perfect fit. The curved bottle neck is available in black or gun metal anodising and a air-tight rubber cap prevents spillage.

Source: Samix [rcsamix.com]

Having lost out in the opening round of qualifying with a mistake on his final lap that gave Michal Orlowski the TQ, Ryan Cavalieri got it done on his second attempt in China but it wasn’t without incident with the last lap again being a deciding factor. With Orlowski leading away the field again in Q2, the Schumacher driver would get it wrong at the first double and need marshalling allowing Cavalieri to lead the field from Bruno Coelho. With mistakes from almost every driver come the final lap it was Coelho who was on target for the TQ but running in close proximity to Cavalieri, a mistake by the American would balk the Xray driver and out of his rhythm lead the 4WD World Champion to having a larger mistake in the jumps section that left him with a 31.4-second lap handing Cavalieri the TQ and dropping him to third behind Lee Martin.

With Coelho expressing his frustration with both Cavalieri and race control on the drivers stand over the incident, afterwards Cavalieri said, ‘I had a spin into the corner and he got into the back of me but I think the result was more a reflection of his error in the jump section. I said sorry to him. I was planning to give him room to pass at the next corner’. Commenting on his own performance the former Champion said, ‘the track was a lot dustier that time and there were a lot more mistakes from everyone. The left side was even more challenging’. Running his front tyres for a 3rd time in the qualifier he said is B6 was ‘too aggressive’ because of the wear and for Q3, the final qualifier of the day, he will ‘fit a new set to try smooth it back out’.

‘I was making a clean round and then on the last lap I touched with Cavalieri and thats it. It was his fault’, was Coelho’s view of things. The Portuguese driver sarcastically added, ‘he is not so experienced and he don’t know what to do when he has a faster driver behind him’. Asked how changes to his XB2 had worked, he replied, ‘It was still difficult to get around. The track changed a lot and that time it was very loose on the rear on power. We will make more changes but I think conditions will be different again but the lighting will make it even more challenging’. Having experienced running in darkness under flood lights for the second controlled practice last night he said, ‘with the shadows you can’t get close to the pipe because you can’t tell the difference between the shadow and the pipe. You also can’t see the car well so you can’t see what it is really doing’.

Having taken a ‘try not to crash route rather than the be fast route’ in Q1 to get a P5, Martin said he ‘drove a little harder to get around faster this time’. Running in the second fastest heat, the Yokomo driver had ‘one bad lap’ which he said ‘was a shame in hindsight’ given his closeness to the TQ pace and the fact he ‘hit a corner rather than crash in the hard bit’. Looking to Q3, the European Champion is not a fan of racing under spot lights.

Having struggled in practice leading to him finding himself carry the No.9 in the third fastest heat, Australia’s Kyle McBride would get a P4 for the second round of qualifying. The Associated driver said, ‘I got 10th in the first and now 4th so we are going in the right direction’. The Australian continued, ‘we have been making small changes to the car to get more grip and make it more easy to drive and for the next one I’m going to adjust the camber link and anti squat. you don’t have to be fast, you have to keep it smooth and you’ll be there. That run didn’t feel fast but I got fourth’.

View our event image gallery here.

The annual Battle of the Sikest race was held at Thornhill Racing Circuit in Hutto, Texas this past weekend. Tekno RC’s Ryan Lutz would make a clean sweep, taking the TQ and win in Pro Nitro Buggy, Open Nitro Truck and Open E-Buggy while his teammate, Joe Bornhorst would come 2nd in all three categories despite winning the opening E-Buggy A-main. Brandon Rose (Team Associated) would come in 3rd in the Nitro Buggy class while Dillon Caldwell (Xray) completed the Nitro Truggy podium. Finally in E-Buggy it was Jake Dellinger (Team Associated) who rounded out the top 3 results.

Image: Ryan Lutz

Chassis – Xray XB2 2018
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 6.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 5000mAh 110C
Radio/Servos – Sanwa / MKS
Body – Kit Body
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout) / Pro-Line Scrubs
Remarks – Starting out with a mixture of a sugar track setup and what they left the Hudy Arena with, having spent 3 weeks in Slovakia prior to attending the event in Xiamen, Ty Tessmann has focussed on the rear of his Xray XB2. Happy with the front of the car, the Canadian focussed on getting more stability in the rear, opting for thicker shock oil and changing the roll centres while also using heavier rear springs. Having also tried a gear diff, they switched back to the ball diff following first practice.

Image gallery

Top seed Michal Orlowski has taken the opening round of qualifying at the 2WD Offroad World Championships in China. After rain delayed the start of Day 2’s action, the first of the five qualifiers got underway with Orlowski making a cautious start as from the back 10th seed Ryan Cavalieri showed Team Associated had finally found their way on the challenging Xiamen track. Going to the top of the timing screens, Cavalieri looked to have bagged the first TQ with a big enough gap over the recovering Orlowski but contrasting last laps threw up a surprise. With Cavalieri touching the pipe on his final lap, Orlowski would post his fastest lap on his last lap with Cavalieri’s advantage turning to a 1/10th of a second deficit, the duo the only drivers to make 12 laps. Behind, fastest man on the track Bruno Coelho would somehow salvage a 3rd despite a number of crashes, with David Ronnefalk, Lee Martin and Dustin Evans completing the Top 6. For defending champion Spencer Rivkin the first qualifier would net the American the 11th fastest time.

Surprised to get the TQ, Orlowski said, ‘On the last lap I didn’t know if I had finished or not so I drove the best lap I could. It was to be my fastest lap and it gave me the TQ’. The Schumacher driver continued, ’It was a bit sketchy at the start. The first laps were not the best as I was a bit nervous. I hit the pipe and spun and then David (Ronnefalk) was behind me so I pushed a bit harder and starting climbing up the order. When I was in second I just want to try to get to the finish but then I had a few small mistakes. I knew it was very close but to get the TQ is a big confidence boost for the next one’. Asked about track conditions following the rain, the Polish teenager said, ‘the car is always on the edge, you don’t feel when it is going to spin out so it is hard to keep it on the track. For the next one we will make some set-up changes for this.’

‘Overall it was pretty good’, was Cavalieri’s reaction after Q1, the American happy to finally be on the pace but at the same time a little frustrated to lose the TQ on the final lap. He added, ‘I was really surprised how good my car felt in the warm-up and it was a flawless run until the last lap. I knew it was really close with Orlowski and when I messed up in the middle of the last lap I tried to make back the time but got a little tight to the pipe’. Asked about his marked improvement in pace, he replied, ‘we made really good changes to the car today. They have made it really comfortable and in the jumps section its now really good. We also improved the corner speed which helps a lot’.

Commenting on his first qualifying attempt, Coelho said, ‘I am kind of surprised with the place I made. My pace was good but I crashed a lot’. The Xray driver continued, ‘the track is very difficult after the rain and there was cars everywhere so like I said before the guy who makes the least number of mistakes will come out on top. I had three mistakes and flipped twice but fortunately I got 3rd place even though I lost 5-seconds in mistakes’.

‘Considering I was marshalled 3 times I’m happy to get 4th’, was Ronnefalk’s reaction. With two mistakes in the jumps section, the HB Racing driver said, ‘I lowered the punch in the electronics for that one and went too low so I will go back up a bit for the next one so I feel more comfortable on the jumps’. On track conditions, the Swede said, ‘the grip is down a lot I think so I will make a few changes but mainly to the electrics’.

View our event image gallery here.

Chassis – Kyosho RB6.6
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 7.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 5000mAh 110C
Radio/Servos – Futaba/Futaba OS
Body – Kyosho Lightweight
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout)
Remarks – Japanese front runner Kohta Akimoto is running Kyosho’s latest 2wd offering, the RB6.6, powered by Orion electronics. Having started practice with his standard setup, following 3 rounds of practice in which he tried many things he reverted back to that setup but still continues to make changes. The biggest of which is to move from a 3 gear to a 4 gear laydown transmission in the search for an easier and more predictable car. To deal with the loose conditions and to prevent wheel spin he also lowered the turbo setting on his speedo.

Image gallery

Chassis – Yokomo YZ2 DTM
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 6.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 5000mAh 110C
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/MKS
Body – JConcepts F2
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout) / JConcepts
Remarks – Ryan Maifield is running the YZ2 DTM from Yokomo and having arrived in China with his base setup which has a number of changes made to it to help make the car less edgy. Looking for a balance between corner speed and being easy to drive, he has tried a number of different gear diffs and arm lengths but has reverted back to the standard length and stuck with the ball diff. In the end he went for a higher roll centre, reverted back to their standard spring and set the car with more droop on the front and rear.

Image gallery

Chassis – Schumacher Cougar KC
Motor – LRP X22 6.5T
ESC – LRP Flow X
Battery – LRP 3500 Shorty LCG
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Body – Aerox
Tyres – Sweep (Handout)
Remarks – Top seed after Controlled Practice, Polish ace and current EOS Champion Michal Orlowski is running the Cougar KC from Schumacher. Arriving in China with his standard dirt setup they made only minimal changes, going to a harder shock package due to the high grip, switching from a 7.5 to 6.5 turn LRP motor prior to hitting the track and switching to less boost. In terms of geometry he has just added 0.5 more rear camber to make the car slide less in the low grip sections of the track.

Image gallery

Man made rain has delayed the start to qualifying at the 2WD Offroad World Championships in Xiamen, China. With no rain in the area for almost a month, the Meteorological Authority conducted ‘cloud seeding’ which involved the launch of more than 30 missiles at clouds to induce rain.  Containing chemicals such as frozen carbon dioxide this helps bring on precipitation.  The process is common practice in China.  Unfortunately unaware that the Worlds best RC drivers are in town, the effects of the process took effect in the early hours of this morning with drivers waking to rain. Luckily however race organisers had covered the track overnight so the track was largely protected from the rain.  With the rain eventually stopping around 11:00 local time, the process of pumping the water off the tarpaulins began. The knock on effect is that the third round of controlled practice, which was only to determine the starting order of the heats which were already decided by the best time of CP 1 & 2, has been scrapped and replaced by a round of free practice. The delayed start also means that instead of 4 qualifiers today with the fifth tomorrow, there will now only be 3 rounds with Q4 moved to finals day.

View our event image gallery here.