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Sobue wins TITC spectacularly by 3/1000ths of a second

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 04:12 AM PST

Akio Sobue has claimed the biggest win of his career with one of the smallest margins possible, the Infinity driver winning A3 by 0.003 of a second from Alexander Hagberg to be crowned champion of the 16th running of the TITC. With a win a piece, it was Sobue and Hagberg along with Marc Rheinard who went into the final race with a chance of the title after reigning champion Bruno Coelho crashed out of title contention in A2. Hagberg needed the win, Sobue having the advantage of the faster winning time. Starting second behind his Xray team-mate Coelho, the Top Qualifier quickly opened the door to put Hagberg where he needed to be. With Naoto Matsukura and Coelho clashing at the next corner, Sobue and Rheinard made up the Top 3, the stage set for the 3-way showdown. After an initial challenge on Hagberg, Sobue dropped back with Hagberg looking like Xray would retain the title but over the final 3-laps the race came alive again as the Japanese driver reeled in the leader. On the last run through the sweeper, Sobue went for a pass getting out of shape in the process before attempting a pass on the inside of the Swede and there was contact, both cars spinning out. With Hagberg resuming in the lead, with a bigger gap than before the contact, it looked as the race was decided with three turns to go but Sobue wasn’t conceding that easily and launching his car at the finish line he managed the perfect line to snatch a win that left everyone in amazement. Behind Meen Vejrak crossed the line third securing the Bangkok driver the final step on the podium ahead of Marc Rheinard.

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

Sobue wins TITC spectacularly by 3/1000ths of a second

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 04:10 AM PST

Akio Sobue has claimed the biggest win of his career with one of the smallest margins possible, the Infinity driver winning A3 by 0.003 of a second from Alexander Hagberg to be crowned champion of the 16th running of the TITC. With a win a piece, it was Sobue and Hagberg along with Marc Rheinard who went into the final race with a chance of the title after reigning champion Bruno Coelho crashed out of title contention in A2. Hagberg needed the win, Sobue having the advantage of the faster winning time. Starting second behind his Xray team-mate Coelho, the Top Qualifier quickly opened the door to put Hagberg where he needed to be. With Naoto Matsukura and Coelho clashing at the next corner, Sobue and Rheinard made up the Top 3, the stage set for the 3-way showdown. After an initial challenge on Hagberg, Sobue dropped back with Hagberg looking like Xray would retain the title but over the final 3-laps the race came alive again as the Japanese driver reeled in the leader. On the last run through the sweeper, Sobue went for a pass getting out of shape in the process before attempting a pass on the inside of the Swede and there was contact, both cars spinning out. With Hagberg resuming in the lead, with a bigger gap than before the contact, it looked as the race was decided with three turns to go but Sobue wasn’t conceding that easily and launching his car at the finish line he managed the perfect line to snatch a win that left everyone in amazement. Behind Meen Vejrak crossed the line third securing the Bangkok driver the final step on the podium ahead of Marc Rheinard.

‘I’m so happy for the team’, was Sobue’s reaction to winning Asia’s most famous race. The unassuming driver continued, ‘I joined the Infinity team last year at this race and to mark it with the biggest win of my career I’m so happy’. On the deciding A-Main he said, ‘As I expected Bruno opened for Alex. My car in the beginning was not so fast, Alex was a little faster. Then my car started to get better and I push the last minute and started to catch him’. On the contact in the sweeper he said, ‘It was too much of a push from me but I wait for him to take the back the lead’. Asked if he thought the incident cost him the win he replied, ‘I never give up and made full punch to the line. I never made podium here before’.

An understandably frustrated Hagberg said, ‘everything was going well until the last lap. Akio tried to pass me and crashed into me. Basically he won the race from me because of this which is definitely not fair’. Having started out the event looking untouchable with Coelho dominating all six qualifiers, TITC 2018 turned on its head today for the Slovakian manufacturer with Coelho finishing 8th. The result is one that even his rivals agree highlights the race organisers need to address the tyre situation for the future.

With the weekend proving tough for Yokomo, last year’s podium finishers Nicholas Lee and World Champion Ronald Volker both failing to make the A-Main, Vejrak was delighted to make the podium at his home race. Qualifying 6th on the grid, the former nitro touring car World Champion said, ‘I knew I needed to finish ahead of Marc and I almost traction rolled trying to keep up with him at the start. Then I could hear some sound coming from Marc’s car and I get by him’. He continued, ‘last year no A-Main, this year I’m on the podium, it is the best result I could have expected. I’m super happy for Yokomo and also to be the only Protoform driver on the podium’.

Explaining the noise that Vejrak heard and that forced him to retire from A3, Rheinard said, ‘I went wide slightly on the straight and hit the outside pipe. I wasn’t hard but it felt like the C-hub was broke but the tyre had come off completely. It was my fault I hit the pipe but the tyre should not come off like this’. He continued, ‘anyway the team took the win which is most important. I would like to have got a podium, the pace was there in the end’.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – Modified A-main Leg 3

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 03:18 AM PST

Sobue wins A2, new TITC Champion to be crowned

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 01:34 AM PST

In a dramatic turn of fortunes TITC 2018 is going to see the crowning of a new champion as Akio Sobue took the win in an action packed A2 at RC Addict. Having spun out on the opening lap of the opening encounter, defending champion Bruno Coelho looked to have returned to his qualifying form but with a comfortable lead the Xray driver flipped in the sweeper dropping down the order and out of contention for a third consecutive win at Asia’s most famous race. Coelho was initially followed by A1 winner Alexander Hagberg but was given a huge break when Naoto Matsukura ran into the back of the Swede with Sobue the benefactor moving up to second. Moments later however that became the lead as on the same lap Coelho touched the curbing and flew off the track. Also taking advantage of the two incidents, Marc Rheinard suddenly found himself in second which he would hold to the end after seeing off a valiant challenge from Hagberg. A similar battle went on behind with Meen Vejrak seeing off Coelho for 4th.

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

Sobue wins A2, new TITC Champion to be crowned

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 01:33 AM PST

In a dramatic turn of fortunes TITC 2018 is going to see the crowning of a new champion as Akio Sobue took the win in an action packed A2 at RC Addict. Having spun out on the opening lap of the opening encounter, defending champion Bruno Coelho looked to have returned to his qualifying form but with a comfortable lead the Xray driver flipped in the sweeper dropping down the order and out of contention for a third consecutive win at Asia’s most famous race. Coelho was initially followed by A1 winner Alexander Hagberg but was given a huge break when Naoto Matsukura ran into the back of the Swede with Sobue the benefactor moving up to second. Moments later however that became the lead as on the same lap Coelho touched the curbing and flew off the track. Also taking advantage of the two incidents, Marc Rheinard suddenly found himself in second which he would hold to the end after seeing off a valiant challenge from Hagberg. A similar battle went on behind with Meen Vejrak seeing off Coelho for 4th.

‘I’m happy’, was Sobue’s reaction after the race. The modest Japanese driver continued, ‘I made an ok start and was behind Naoto and Alex, they crashed and I was second and then Bruno crashed’. He continued, ‘when I moved to first I could drive safe because Marc and Alex were battling behind me’. Asked about A3, Sobue said, ‘Bruno is out (of contention for win) so I think he will open for Alex but I hope Naoto can pass him at the start’. With Sobue having the faster race winning time, Hagberg needs to win A3 to take the title. Commenting on his contact with Hagberg, Matsukura said, ‘It was my mistake with Alex. My car was very good and every corner I can catch him but there he maximum braked and I couldn’t get stopped. After that Bruno rolled me and my race was done’.

Summing up his race, Rheinard said, ‘Me and Naoto made a better start this time and the order stayed the same. I don’t know what happened between Naoto and Alex but I was second’, He continued, ‘My car was pushing to the left this time so I had to lift in the sweeper which allowed Alex to close but I knew I had to stay in front of him for Akio and now he has a 1 & a 2 and Alex has a 1 & a 3. For me a podium would be nice but everyone is struggling a lot now so we’ll see what the next race brings’.

Hagberg was frank in how his race went. He said, Naoto crashed me in the chicane and it cost me one position. I tried to pass Marc at the end but there was no space. That’s it’. With many people missing what caused Coelho’s costly error as they were watching the battle for second, the Portuguese driver explained, ‘I touched the curb in the sweeper flipped the car’.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Samix SCX10 II brass rear brake adapter set

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 01:31 AM PST

Coming from Samix and made for the Axial SCX10 II trail truck is a brass rear brake adapter set with mock-up brake discs and brake callipers. The adapters are designed for the use with he Samix rear lock outs and attach to the rear axle, adding 61g of weight per side for greater stability and improved climb performance. A black surface coating and gold-colour edge details round out the visual appearance. To up the scale looks the adapters can be equipped with the included fake brake discs and callipers.

Source: Samix [rcsamix.com]

Video – Modified A-main Leg 2

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 01:25 AM PST

Schelle B6.1 alloy rear hubs & low front wing mount

Posted: 04 Mar 2018 01:24 AM PST

Schelle Racing Innovations have introduced new option parts for the Team Associated B6.1 buggy in the form of alloy rear hubs and a low front wing mount. Starting with the rear hubs, the proven 2-piece design allows fine-adjustment and increases durability as the upper cap design can space away from the main hub with ballstud shims, allowing racers fine in-between adjustments for the rear upper link location. The upper caps are shared with the B6 and B64s design, with the same parts used both left and right. The upper cap design with a shorter washer stack reduces leverage on the outer ballstud, as well as increasing shock clearance for the turnbuckle. The hubs are available for the 67mm driveshaft setup in the B6.1 and B6.1D kits, they come in black or blue finish and they are also available as the B6.1 Carpet Hub Set, a black version which comes with -2mm upper caps and ballstuds specifically for carpet racing.

Also new is the low front wing mount, a 3-D-printed part to fit front wings for improved overall downforce. The unique design features a wide base and narrow mount platform for in-line screw mounting that allows for wing flex, increasing durability. The mount incorporates a 3 degrees forward rake, it fits B6.1 , B6.1D, and older B6 buggies and comes without a wing.

Source: Schelle Racing Innovations [schelleracing.com]

Hagberg wins exciting first A-Main

Posted: 03 Mar 2018 11:59 PM PST

Alexander Hagberg took the win in an exciting opening A-Main at the TITC, the Xray driver withstanding intense pressure from Infinity’s Akio Sobue to cross the line 17/100ths in front. Having had the perfect week leading up to the A1, reigning champion Bruno Coelho’s domination came to an end on the first lap. Starting from the TQ, he would lose his Xray approaching the front straight spinning in front of the pack with Naoto Matsukura unable to avoid him. This let second place qualifier Hagberg go to the front with Sobue in tow and closing. All over the back of the leader, fourth place starter couldn’t find a way by with an attempt at the end of the front straight resulting in contact. With Sobue waiting on Hagberg to retake the lead, this brought Meen Vejrak into the lead battle but after a couple of laps the Yokomo driver dropped off give Sobue breathing room for a second attempt to pass but Hagberg kept his composure to secure the win.

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

Hagberg wins exciting first A-Main

Posted: 03 Mar 2018 11:57 PM PST

Alexander Hagberg took the win in an exciting opening A-Main at the TITC, the Xray driver withstanding intense pressure from Infinity’s Akio Sobue to cross the line 17/100ths in front. Having had the perfect week leading up to the A1, reigning champion Bruno Coelho’s domination came to an end on the first lap. Starting from the TQ, he would lose his Xray approaching the front straight spinning in front of the pack with Naoto Matsukura unable to avoid him. This let second place qualifier Hagberg go to the front with Sobue in tow and closing. All over the back of the leader, fourth place starter couldn’t find a way by with an attempt at the end of the front straight resulting in contact. With Sobue waiting on Hagberg to retake the lead, this brought Meen Vejrak into the lead battle but after a couple of laps the Yokomo driver dropped off give Sobue breathing room for a second attempt to pass but Hagberg kept his composure to secure the win.

Punching the air with delight on the drivers stand, afterwards Hagberg said, ‘for some reason it felt like no traction. I can’t say it was the tyres or the track but I was sideways everywhere and I was lucky to keep it on the track’. Given the lack of traction reported by most drivers, he said, ‘now I don’t know what to do with the set-up’. On his battle with Sobue, the vocal crowd showing their appreciation throughout the race, the Swede said, ‘It was a good fair battle. He tagged me but then let me back in front. It was a good race’. Summing up his race team-mate Coelho, who would finish 7th, said, ‘I had zero traction as I had concerns about. I don’t know what happened. We had a perfect car all the week and the only thing we changed was the tyres and now it is like this. I have nothing more to say’.

‘There was no space, I couldn’t get by’, was Sobue’s reaction after the race. Posting the fastest lap of the race, the Japanese driver said, ‘My car was not too bad. The low traction suits my car and it was easy to drive’. A driver of few words, he concluded, ‘I go maximum attack in the next one’. Matsukura said his problems started with his grid position. With both himself and his 5th place qualifier team-mate Marc Rheinard starting on the inside of the grid both drivers struggled to get away due to being off the racing line. He said, ‘I couldn’t get full throttle, the wheels just spin. Then I have to be safe not to crash Akio.’ Hanging on to his third position he would then run head into a spinning Coelho dropping him down the field with him eventually recovering to 4th.

Finding himself in the battle for the lead following errors from an number of drivers in front of him, 6th place qualifier Vejrak said the race ended a lot better than it started. The Thai driver said, ‘I had a bad start because another driver crashed me onto the grass’. Working his way up the order and running in third he said, ‘When Alex and Akio crashed I tried to punch it but there was no space. I tried to keep with them but at the end my pace faded and I dropped back’. Asked about his car set-up, he replied, ‘overall it is a little better than before. My lap times are more close now’. Team-mate Naoki Akiyama would complete the Top 5.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – Modified A-main Leg 1

Posted: 03 Mar 2018 11:09 PM PST

Xray 1-2 for TITC A-Main

Posted: 03 Mar 2018 09:20 PM PST

It will be an Xray 1-2 on the grid for the TITC A-Mains later today at RC Addict In Thailand as a P2 in the final qualifier this morning bumped Alexander Hagberg up two spots to start second behind team-mate & Top Qualifier Bruno Coelho. Having wrapped up the overall TQ in the fourth round of qualifying yesterday, Coelho would complete a clean sweep of qualifying, again topping the times in the sixth & final round this morning. Behind the Xray duo, the attack is set to come from Infinity with Naoto Matsukura third ahead of team-mates Akio Sobue and Marc Rheinard with 2017 race contender Jilles Groskamp also making the grid for the team albeit in 10th spot. For last year’s podium finishers Nicholas Lee and Ronald Volker, its been a tough event with both finding themselves in the B-Main with Meen Vejrak Yokomo’s top hope staring 6th on the grid ahead of team-mate Naoki Akiyama.

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

Xray 1-2 for TITC A-Main

Posted: 03 Mar 2018 09:18 PM PST

It will be an Xray 1-2 on the grid for the TITC A-Mains later today at RC Addict In Thailand as a P2 in the final qualifier this morning bumped Alexander Hagberg up two spots to start second behind team-mate & Top Qualifier Bruno Coelho. Having wrapped up the overall TQ in the fourth round of qualifying yesterday, Coelho would complete a clean sweep of qualifying, again topping the times in the sixth & final round this morning. Behind the Xray duo, the attack is set to come from Infinity with Naoto Matsukura third ahead of team-mates Akio Sobue and Marc Rheinard with 2017 race contender Jilles Groskamp also making the grid for the team albeit in 10th spot. For last year’s podium finishers Nicholas Lee and Ronald Volker, its been a tough event with both finding themselves in the B-Main with Meen Vejrak Yokomo’s top hope staring 6th on the grid ahead of team-mate Naoki Akiyama.

Commenting firstly on his Q6 performance, Coelho said, ‘I had a mistake at the beginning. I was on 2-wheels in the front chicane but I was able to recover’. Looking to the finals, the drivers getting 2-new sets of the race’s controlled Ride tyre, he said, ‘now we glue new tyres for the finals which I hope are not a different batch to what they sell us before but I think they should be the same’. With the majority of drivers conceding that Coelho will successfully complete the hat-trick of TITC titles such has been his advantage from the opening practice, the Portuguese driver concluded that for the finals he will, ‘leave the car the same and continue what we are doing’.

‘My car was good, even better than yesterday’, was Hagberg’s reaction after Q6. The Swede continued, ‘It was fast from the middle to the end so I could finish 2nd and I’m happy with that’. Looking to the opening A-Main he said, ‘My car doesn’t start as well as the other but finishes good which could be an advantage because it doesn’t drop off as much as the others’. He concluded, ‘I will try my best to fight for a podium in the finals’.

With modified the first class to run on the track this morning, Matsukura said, ‘the track grip was low but after 2-minutes my car started to understeer and get loose so I could make consistent laps’. Despite spinning out on the last lap and knocking the rear shock off his car resulting in a 26-second lap he would still get a P5 but he needed to finish ahead of Hagberg. Dropping from the second position he held overnight in the provisional qualification ranking to third as a result, on the finals he said, ‘It will be super difficult to win but I will try. I need to get by Alex as quick as possible’. Asked about his car set-up for the final, he replied, ‘I think what we can do to the car but the track should be better than this morning’.

Sobue would also struggle with the lower traction of Q6. Ending up 3rd quickest in the final qualifier, the Japanese Champion said, ‘the pace of my car was not too good. At the start it felt pretty good but after 1-minute it had a big drop off.’ Agreeing the real battle was going to be against Hagberg he admitted, ‘Bruno is too fast’ adding, ‘but we never give up so I will push hard for a good result for the team’. In terms of his car set-up for A1 he said, ‘I will make just small changes for the first final because the track will be better’.

Completing the top half of the grid, Rheinard was lost as to how he could improve for the finals. Posting the fourth fastest time in the concluding qualifier, the multiple World Champion said, ‘I changed the diff, shock position and the rear toe but it was still the same. It was loose at the end. I really have no idea what else I can do’. He continued, ‘Now it is an Xray 1-2 and normally if Naoto was second he could maybe attack Bruno. We know Alex is not the best at the start so maybe Naoto can get by but for me I just have to wait and see what happens’. He concluded, ‘We have four in the Main which is still good’.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.