Whats new in the Pits
This is a World Championships and because of this fact you can expect that all manufacturers will be trying their best to win this title and this means that drivers come equipped with the latest, and in some cases prototype, parts. Seen in some of the fastest cars here this week, including the car of Jilles Groskamp, is the new Sirio XXX .12 engine. Only in prototype phase now, it is a completely new motor with all new internals which boasts more power than the previous model but with the same consumption. It seems to be working and if all goes according to plan, the motor should be available in October.
While the Mugen racers here in Portugal are all running the standard MTX-4R, some of the racers including current World Champion Keisuke Fukuda and Dutch racer Rick V are using optional Kawahara parts for extra strength and preformance. Rick V’s car features a thicker machined chassis plate, while on the rear of the car there is a new thicker rear upper link mounting plate that features some additional mounting holes for extra adjustment. Both drivers are also running the pre production Ninja JX12 T01 engines, and while Fukuda has been running the OS based motor for some time now, Rick V only received his just before coming here and the first taste of the new powerplant came on the first practice day last week.
The Kyosho V-One RRR platform seems to be very popular here, however only a handful of drivers, including Takaaki Shimo, are using the Evo 2 version, the others using the previous version. Non sponsored racers such as Daniele Ielasi has upgraded his car by using Capricorn RC manufactured option parts such as this new radio plate that allows the racer to mount the Xray NT1 fuel tank in the car. Other new parts seen on the car of Ielasi include a new braking system, with lightweight brake disc, as well as a new wider rear body mount for more stable mounting of the body shell of which the Blitz Altis and the Protoform Stratus are the most popular choices.
There is still plenty more to discover here, so stay tuned for more product updates.
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