Red RC - RC Car News

German company Shepherd have introduced their new Velox V10 WC2018 1/10th 200mm nitro on-road kit. Based on the successful Velox V10 WC platform the latest car kit has been developed in close cooperation with Shepherd’s team drivers as well as club level racers from all over the world. The kit includes all of the new parts that were already successfully used at the European Championship, the Euro Nitro Series and many other races around the world in order to create an easy to drive, reliable, efficient and easy to work on car.

Updated brake discs allow a better air-flow by reducing the contact surface between the differential and the brake discs resulting in a cooler and more efficient and constant brake feeling even under hot and high grip conditions. The front end comes with updated new front upper arm mounts that have undergone a redesign. Raised by one millimetre the upper arm eliminates any dynamic camber gain when mounted in the top position which increases the corner speed under very edgy track conditions. The front upper arms mounts now form a good unity with the radio plate while more space to work on the front differential and the anti-roll bar was realised.

The rear end comes with an updated anti-roll bar that is mounted more outside on the rear lower arm. Without the use of a pivot-ball the anti-roll bar now has almost no play resulting in a more direct operation. To take into account the new position as well as the different mounting system Shepherd also updated the thickness of all available variants. Included in the kit is a 2.1mm anti-roll bar while a 1.9mm and a 2.3mm wire are available optional. Nevertheless also the traditional pivot-ball style anti-roll bar can be used. New reinforced rear lower arms sport a new mounting hole for the updated anti-roll bar while the material has also been improved.

An updated carbon structure of the radioplate make the car more easy to drive under high grip condition while und low grip conditions the traction is improved. The one-way adapter has been reshaped to get rid of material, reducing the rotating mass of the drive-train for a better acceleration and additional O-rings now prevent the body mount plates from falling off. Rounding out the kit are the previously optional hard-coated aluminium diff pins to further reduce the rotating mass of the drivetrain. The standard blue edition kits as well as a small quantity of black edition cars will become available from the 8th of January.

New features:
– Light-weight vented brake discs
– Redesigned front upper arm mounts
– New rear anti-roll bar
– Updated rear lower wishbones
– New radio plate carbon material
– Redesigned 2-speed one-way adapter
– Additional O-rings for body mounts
– Aluminium diff pins

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

The second round of the Swiss Offroad Masters series was held at the Islikon track recently. Xray’s Adi Riederer was in control of things all day long, taking double TQs and wins in the 2WD Modified and 4WD Modified Buggy classes. Elias Ehrmann (Xray) would come in 2nd in the 2WD class from Xray teammate Silvio Pietroboni in 3rd. Over in 4WD the podium was completed by Michi Wüest (TLR) 2nd and Philippe Weber (Yokomo) 3rd.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

The Arena33 in Andernach recently hosted round three of the Xray Racing Series Germany. After lots of practice on Saturday, the racers were well prepared for race day at this permanent indoor track of Tonisport and the Rheinard family. For the qualification, the best of three heats were counted by laps and time, for the finals the points of the best two runs were added to the final ranking. Once again, Uwe Baldes race director and time keeper made it a smooth event.

The Touring Stock class with handout Xray 13.5T motors once again was the most popular class of the weekend. Beside the mandatory Hudy C1 tyres, the well-known Volante ETS tyres were also permitted. Melvin Diekmann, who missed the podium at the second round held in Adenau four weeks ago, surprisingly managed to capture the TQ position by only a tenth of a second ahead of Sven Soltau. Also, Tobias Hoefflin and Joerg Baldes completed 21 laps in their best heats.

In the first A-main Diekmann continued his performance and won with an advantage of half a second over Soltau with Baldes in 3rd. But in the second A-main things went wrong for Diekmann who had to retire from a nail-biting battle with Baldes. With the Xray driver at this tail for most of the time, Diekmann hit a barrier and had to stop with one minute on the clock. Baldes brought the victory home ahead of young Marc Stuebben and Hoefflin. So, the third final had to bring the decision. From pole position Diekmann stormed into the lead while Baldes coming from fourth had to make two passings first to fight his way back to the 4th of Diekmann’s Awesomatix. Finally, he ran a bit out of time but after an impressive performance he crossed the finish line just 0.186 seconds behind Diekmann with Hoefflin another half a second down in 3rd – the order of the podium. Baldes also received the trophy as the best 40-plus-racer, 17-year old Marc Stuebben was the best youth driver.

Touring Car Stock 13.5T final results:
1. Melvin Diekmann – Awesomatix
2. Joerg Baldes – Xray
3. Tobias Hoefflin – Xray
4. Marc Stuebben – Xray
5. Frank Hoeschler – Xray
6. Oliver Kaufmann – Mugen
7. Sven Soltau – Xray
8. Thomas Hallaschka – Awesomatix
9. Harald Schmittgen – VBC Racing
10.Daniel Toennessen – Mugen

In the 21.5T Formula class the fight for the overall win was on between 2017 XRS champion Daniel Schober and Jan Bohlen. But in the qualifiers as well as in the finals, it was Jan Bohlen driving his Xray onto first position giving Schober a hard time in his last race as a bachelor. Henri Mannes from Luxembourg in 3rd made it a 1-2-3 for Xray.

Formula 21.5T top 5 results:
1. Jan Bohlen – Xray
2. Daniel Schober – Xray
3. Henri Mannes – Xray
4. Jacky Mannes – Xray
5. Reinhard Mehl – Yokomo

Like at the second round, Bernd Wiesenberger showed a dominant performance in the 1/12th Stock class with 13.5T motors regarding to the new EFRA rules. Not only that he took the pole position with his CRC but he also won all three A-mains in style, the first and third main already with a one-lap advantage. David Ranft placed his Project Godspeed chassis on the 2nd spot in the grid after the qualification and also after the A-mains with some close fights against Michael Holla who ultimately entered the 3rd step of the podium. Wiesenberger was honoured as the best 40-plus racer.

1/12 Stock 13.5T top 5 results:
1. Bernd Wiesenberger – CRC
2. David Ranft, Project – Project Godspeed
3. Michael Holla – CRC
4. Alexander Seitter – Xray
5. Jacky Mannes – Xray

The promotion tour for the 1/12th GT Pan Cars with original looking GT bodies continued at the Arena33. Tobias Schuster with his Audi R8 took TQ and his second win. Bertram Kessler, at least a former 1/8 nitro European Champion, came in 2nd with his XRAY, changing from Audi to Ferrari and Porsche 911, the best-looking body as well as the one which offered he best handling of the car. His granddaughter Jody Scheckter made it to 3rd place with her deep-pink coloured Audi at her first ever electric on-road race.

1/12 GT 17.5T top 3 results:
1. Tobias Schuster – Team Associated
2. Bertram Kessler – Xray
3. Jody Scheckter – Xray

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Revolution Design Racing Products’ new Ultra tyre glue tips come in handy when glueing your favourite on-road or off-road tyres. Ultra flexible and of a universal design the tips fit a wide range of CA glue bottles, including RDRP’S own Ultra Tire Glue, and they make tyre glueing and sidewall prepping a breeze. The tips come in packs of 20 and some trimming of the bottle neck may be required to fit the nozzle.

Source: RDRP [revolution-rc.com]

The fourth and final round of the Victorian Drivers Series was held at the Keilor Track in Melbourne. Over 130 entries were received for the event, which was re-run two weeks later than planned due to unseasonal summer rain washing out the original date. The Keilor club had prepared a classic outdoor dirt track which grooved up through the weekend but still had a fine dust layer in the hot summer weather, making tyre choice and setup critical to get maximum traction. Racers had travelled from as far away as Broken Hill, Mildura and Adelaide to join in this successful series. The Keilor Cup this year had extra meaning due to the recent passing of life member and long time president Mark Polistena, and many racers carried memorial stickers on their vehicles to honour his memory.

In 2WD Modified Buggy Ray Munday took out all three qualifiers to TQ from Andrew Selvaggi and Simon Healy, Mark Rogers close behind. In the finals Selvaggi pressured Munday hard but Ray was able to take all three finals for the win, Selvaggi 2nd and 11-years old Lachlan Munday coming through to place 3rd. Munday took the win in the Drivers Series with wins in three out of four events from Selvaggi and Healy, Rogers 4th and Munday Jr 5th.

In 4WD Modified Buggy Munday again took TQ but this time after a big battle with Cameron Zammit, the result coming down to A3 with Healy 3rd. In the finals Ray took A1 and A2 for the event win, with “CamZam” pushing Ray hard but having some bad luck in A2 and A3. Selvaggi came through from 5th on the grid to take A3 for 2nd overall, with young gun 13yo Jordan Isergin taking 3rd overall. In the Series results, Munday took the overall win from Selvaggi and Healy again in 3rd.

Stadium Truck has had a resurgence lately. Cameron Zammit took TQ in the Modified Truck class after a close battle with Jordan Isergin, Andrew Adamic 3rd. A1 was an epic battle with Zammit narrowly taking the win from Adamic and Isergin, the gap from 1st to 3rd less than one second. Zammit had an easier win in A2 to take the win, and Isergin took out A3 for 2nd overall from Adamic and Tim Drust. Isergin took the Series win by 1 point from Adamic, a great result for the youngster in his first year of mod competition, with Drust in 3rd.

The 2WD SCT class has had a downturn recently but a field of entries was received for this event, led by Mildura racer Mark Rogers who was making his first return to racing since the recent birth of his daughter. Rogers took TQ in all three rounds from Brian Stewart and fresh out of retirement Anthony Zammit. In the finals Rogers took a dominant win in the first two finals for the overall win and Stewart took A3 for 2nd overall. Dave Edmunds from Adelaide took 3rd overall.

2WD 17.5, the biggest class of the day saw TQ taken by Simon “Sticks” McHugh from Ben Howard and Dave “Pringles” Engledow. In the finals McHugh took A1 but Ben Howard capitalised on a late error in A2 and also won A3 to take his first state series win. McHugh took 2nd, with local Scott Matthews rounding out the podium. Leigh Cheeseman, who couldn’t make the final round. took out the overall series win from Howard and McHugh.

In 4WD 17.5 McHugh took the double 17.5 TQ, followed by Rob Jones and Jason Milbourne. In the finals McHugh again had some bad luck, with Milbourne capitalising to take A1 and A3 from Jones with Scott Giles taking out A2 to finish 3rd overall on his return to offroad. Going into this final round the Series was a 3-way battle between Cheeseman, Howard and Milbourne. By taking the win, Milbourne sealed the Series crown on countback from Cheeseman, Howard close behind in 3rd.

The 2WD Junior 17.5 class is going from strength to strength in Victoria, with two heats of under-16 racers battling out. Nathan Facciol started racing less than a year ago but showed he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future, taking the TQ and winning all three finals. 2nd place was the impressive Jayden Edmunds, who travelled all the way from Adelaide for his first interstate trip with Brian Lawrence a close 3rd. Mitchell Isergin was a popular 4th and Shane Lawrence 5th. In the series, Mildura’s Tyrell McKenzie took 1st with 3 wins, Facciol 2nd and Josh Ryan 3rd.

The Junior racers received a special treat – signed goodies from factory drivers at the recent IFMAR Worlds including Ryan Maifield, Spencer Rivkin, Jared Tebo, Ty Tessman, Kyle McBride and Lee Martin.

2WD 21.5 is a popular low cost class in Victoria. Dale “Daisy” Brown from Sheparton took TQ from local stalwart Peter Crowe and Mark Caesy 3rd. In the finals Crowe won A1 before Brown took A2 and A3 for the overall win, Crowe 2nd and Mildura’s Matt Spencer in 3rd. In the Series however it was Matt Spencer taking a well deserved win from Brown, Casey placing 3rd.

Thanks to Ray Munday for the report. Images: Ben Howard and Frank Facciol

Coming from XTR Racing are new module 1 pinion gears especially for on-road applications. Available as 23T to 26T variants the gears come in handy especially for 1/8th GT cars as their larger tooth numbers help to extract more top speed.

Source: XTR [xtr-rc.com]

Xray have introduced a graphite chassis side guard brace in “soft” configuration. The set allows to adjust the front chassis stiffness, making the vehicle easier to drive and increasing corner speed in certain track conditions. In addition the parts make for more forgiving landings. The set is usable for the XB2C, XB2D and XT2.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

The RCManiacs Cup was held recently at the RCManiacs asphalt outdoor track with racers from Athens, Patra and Argos in attendance. Kiriazis Michalis took the TQ in the Touring Modified class while posting a new lap record in the process. In the A-mains, Kiriazis would score three wins to secure an undefeated win, however he was in a close battle with Fillipos Issakidis 2nd and Christos Vasilopoilos 3rd.

Touring Modified top 5 results:
1. Michalis Kiriazis
2. Fillipos Issakidis
3. Christos Vasilopoilos
4. Sotiris Diamantis
5. Nikos Nikolakopoulos

In the Touring Stock class local driver Giorgos Maricholas took the TQ and overall win after close battles with Oleg Stifatov and 3rd placed Kostas Mwros.

Touring Stock top 5 results:
1. Giorgos Maricholas
2. Oleg Stifatov
3. Kostas Mwros
4. Vasilis Tzamtzis
5. Sotiris Stekas

In the Formula class local drivers Chris Kidis and Sotiris Diamadis battled for the overall win. Ultimately Diamadis took the TQ but in the finals Michalis Kiriazis took three straight wings to secure the overall win, benefiting from the mishaps of the others.

Formula top 5 results:
1. Michalis Kiriazis
2. Chris Kidis
3. Sotiris Diamantis
4 Vaggelis Nikolopoulos
5 Dimitris Hlias

Finally in the Pan Car class it was Chris Kidis with the win from Sotiris Diamantis and Nikos Nikolakopoulus.

Pan Car final results:
1. Chris Kidis
2. Sotiris Diamantis
3. Nikos Nikolakopoulus
4. Vaggelis Papachristos
5. Aggelos Mpampas

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

AMain Hobbies have introduced two new Silicone Graphene LiHV battery packs as well as a lightweight LiPo receiver battery. Starting with the LiHV packs, first up is the 2S 7.6V 100C Silicone Graphene LCG pack with a capacity of 5600mAh. It measures 138.5×46.5×22.5mm, weighs in at 245g and comes in handy in all applications that require a medium capacity and lightweight battery. The hardcore battery utilises 5mm bullet-type power connectors and a standard 2mm balancer tube.

Next up is the 4S 15.2V 100C 5600mAh Silicone Graphene LCG pack for 1/8th applications. Built using the same high-quality LiHV cells as above’s 2S pack, the battery comes in handy in all 1/8th scale applications that allow the use of a brick-type battery. The low-profile design with a height of 38.5mm saves weight – the pack weighs in at 460g – while lowering the overall centre of gravity of the vehicle. Like the 2S pack the 4S battery can be charged to 4.2V or 4.35V per cell, the latter further increasing the battery’s performance in outlaw classes. The hardcore battery utilises 5mm bullet-type connectors and coming including a 4S balancer harness. Last but not least comes the new ProTek lightweight 7.4V 1600mAh receiver battery. Offering smaller dimensions than usual and being specially developed for Mugen, Team Associated and Xray battery boxes it is also usable with Serpent an SWorkz buggies and trucks and also with most Sanwa transmitters. The soft case pack weighs in at 58g and measures 88.5×25.2x13mm.

Source: AMain [amainhobbies.com]

IGT8 have introduced their new pinion remover tool for 1/8th nitro GT cars. Machined from aluminium and coming red anodised the part holds the clutch bell in place while fastening or undoing the 1st and 2nd gear pinions, ensuring easy handling while being gentle to the gears.

Source: IGT8 [rctarget.com]