September 16, 2011

Record ‘Showdown’ for Short Course in Dallas

Track

It is fair to say that as a sport rc racing has not been great at finding ways to open itself up to new audiences but over in the US one class that is changing all that is Short Course.  As a full size motorsport this form of off road truck racing enjoys huge popularity and TV exposure in America and in a trend started by Traxxas the r/c industry has been able to create a partnership with full size teams that has benefited both the team’s big brand sponsors and more importantly hobby shops across the States who now have a product that the general public can instantly recognise.

Traxxas

With the creation of the Slash, Traxxas opened the door for fans of the full size trucks to emulate their favourite drivers with a radio controlled scaled replica that was durable and fun to drive and came ready to run at a price that was affordable to the masses.  Now title sponsors of the full size TORC Short Course Championship, Traxxas have created a hugely successful marketing program with a massive presence at each event which exposes the rc sport to a potentially huge new audience.  Two of the pioneers of rc offroad racing, Team Associated and Losi have also realised the benefits of being linked with the success of 1:1 scale Short Course racing and have developed their own marketing programs with various teams.

While the manufacturers are enjoying strong sales of Short Course trucks, the big winner is the club racing scene.  With the majority of Hobby Shops in the US housing their own tracks, attracting new blood into the sport is vital to their survival and many shop owners have hailed Short Course as one of the greatest things to ever hit the industry.

Scotty Ernst

Looking to raise the profile of the class, well known international race promoter Scotty Ernst this year created the ‘Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour’ and having heard plenty of hype about the racing Red RC have traveled to Dallas, Texas, for the fourth and final date.  Arriving at Mikes Hobby Shop we were immediately blown away by the huge facility. A legend of the sport, Team Associated’s Brian Kinwald summed up just how impressive the place is by saying ‘I could live here’. Making his first visit to the track Losi’s Dustin Evans said the place just blew every other venue in the country away.

Dustin Evans

Having previously stopped off in Maryland, Wisconsin and California, with Mike Truhe, Steven Hartson, Evans and Kinwald among the winners, the tour has gone from strength to strength with this weekend on target to have over 200 entries booked in. In the premiere 4WD Modified class the large entry is set to make this the biggest Short Course race ever run.  In addition to the top category there are also classes for Traxxas Slash, 2WD Novice, 2WD Stock and 2WD Modified.  Having today to learn the superb track which shop owner Mike Darnell prepared especially for the Short Course Showdown’s visit, the event gets fully underway tomorrow with the first of three rounds of qualifying.

Supported by Horizon Hobby, Losi and Spektrum, we will bring full coverage of the weekends proceedings starting in the morning with a full round up of the action from the opening qualifier.

View our event image gallery here.


August 6, 2011

Batlle fuels his way to European title

Batlle fuels his way to European title

The pre-event favourite to win this year’s 1:8 Offroad European Championships, many onlookers were not convinced that the Warm-up race winner could pull off victory following a below par performance in qualifying but when it counted most Robert Batlle was there to claim his second European title. Moving to Mugen for the 2011 season after the departure of Renaud Savoya, Batlle’s victory marks the fourth consecutive Euros title for Japanese manufacturer.

Batlle grid

Having won his first European title in 2007, Batlle said he was delighted to be back on top after three years of being in contention. In what started out as a difficult week for the Spaniard, who struggled to repeat his pace from the warm-up race, he said everything came together for him in the final.  Running a different fuel strategy to his rivals Batlle said with one less stop to do that advantage would play out in the final part of the race and it did. Working closely with Novarossi on his preparations for this year’s Euros he thanked the Italian engine manufacturer for making his winning strategy possible.

Pitlane Celebrations

Having come so close to successfully defending his first EC title in Greece in 2008 until he was hampered by a broken wishbone on his then Hobao buggy, Batlle said this played on his mind for the last five minutes of today’s race.  Having to repeatedly tell himself to stay calm over the last few laps he said the finish couldn’t come quick enough.  The race was not entirely without incident for Batlle as he earned a ‘Stop & Go’ penalty for cutting the track.  He also had a heart stopping moment with Jerome Sartel in the race.  Lapping the Agama driver on the run down the straight the two touched wheels with Batlle’s Mugen coming off worse and ending up on its roof at the pit wall.

Jerome Aigoin

Securing the honour of Top Qualifier and then winning his Semi to secure pole position for the final, Jerome Aigoin said he wanted to be the winner but so did eleven others and in the end he was ‘very, very happy’ with second having never made the podium at the European Championships before. Describing his Novarossi powered Kyosho as being very close to having the perfect set-up, he said it was a tough race with the aggressive track conditions making it very hard not to make any mistakes.

Top 3 Pits

A driver who knows what it is like to win Europe’s most important race, three time former champion Daniel Reckward said after such a close race he couldn’t be disappointed with third.  Switching to a harder set-up on his RB powered Mugen after the Semi, the German said his package was the best it had been all week in the final and he paid particular praise to RB on their new tyres of which he ran the harder compound.  The 1998 World Champion, Reckward said there was nothing between himself, Batlle and Aigoin in terms of pace and he was surprised by how little separated them at the end of the race.

Marcel Guske

Adding to Reckward’s joy was the performance of his Mugen/RB team-mate Marcel Guske who finished a very impressive 4th.  Surprising everyone by qualifying second overall, the 22-year-old recovered from a flame out at the start of his Semi to bump up in to the main for which he started 10th.  After a poor start to the main race which left him at the rear of the field the German Nationals podium finisher said once he settled in to a rhythm he was able to cut his way up towards the front and still finish on the lead lap. His first time to contest the European Championship he said at the start of the week the idea of making the final was unimaginable so he was delighted with fourth saying he ‘might have to go and do next year’s Euros’.

Martin Bayer

The top TLR in the race, finishing fifth one position ahead of team-mate Yannick Aigoin, Martin Bayer felt the speed was there for a better result but two clashes with David Ronnefalk were too costly.  The Czech driver said his 8ight felt good in the final but with the pace of the race so fast it was not possible to recover the lost time.

Ronnefalk

Ronnefalk, who retains his European Junior title, was clearly disappointed with his race finishing in 10th.  Surviving a number of engine flame outs, the 15-year-old Swede believes heavy contact with the wall on the main straight caused damage to his throttle linkage.  Causing his Orion powered MP9 to stop intermittently on the exit of corners, the factory Kyosho driver could on reflect on what could have been as he showed he had the speed, setting set the fastest lap of the race with Guske the only other driver to record a 28 second lap.

So the 31st running of the 1:8 Buggy EC is in the history books and the dust can now settle for another 12 months. Forced to watch his first final from the sidelines a year can not pass fast enough for Renaud Savoya who has already vowed to take back the title he has held for so long.  A unique track that produced an entertaining race we would like to congratulate the MSC Sand club on putting on a well organised event.  We would also like to thank our sponsors Team Durango, LRP and Mugen Seiki who made our coverage possible for this event.

Main final results

Full results of the event can be found here.

View our event image gallery here. Video of the main final to follow.


August 6, 2011

Batlle is Champion

Batlle is Champion

Mugen’s Robert Batlle is the 2011 European 1:8 Offroad Champion after a thrilling final that saw the Top 3 covered by little over 5-seconds after 45-minutes of intense racing at Sand-am-Main, Germany.  Starting from pole Kyosho’s Jerome Aigoin finished runner-up with Daniel Reckward completing the podium at the 31st running of the championships.

View our event image gallery here.