Chassis Focus – Drew Moller

Chassis: Mugen MBX7 Eco
Tires: Pro-Line
Motor/ESC: LRP
Batteries: Protek RC
Radio/Servo: KO Propo
Remarks – TQ’ing the Pro E-Buggy class the Mugen USA driver showed notable speed and consistency throughout qualifying, driving a completely stock MBX7 Eco with his standard setup. Without needing to dial-in the car for the track he instead focussed on his driving, refining his lines. Planning to stick with the same setup for the A-main, the tire of choice remains his trusty Blockade M3, he will start from pole position in the eight minute long final.

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Chassis Focus – Carson Wernimont

Chassis: Mugen MBX7
Engine: OS Speed
Tires: AKA
Radio/Servos: Futaba
Remarks – The newly signed American driver is having a great start to the 2014 nitro season with his MBX7, sitting second after two rounds of qualifying on his racing debut with the car. Having paid a lot of attention to the aerodynamics, Carson chose to use a Bittydesign Force body with the addition of his own spoilers on both the front upper arms and the body sides to increase the overall downforce. His first race with his new ride he is playing around quite a bit with the set-up but in terms of tires he has chosen AKA Grid Irons in soft compound as he believes the Supersoft compound doesn’t behave that well on the bumps, preferring consistency over a possible quicker choice.

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Chassis Focus – Renaud Savoya

Chassis: Xray XB8
Engine: Orion RS
Tires: Sweep
Radio/Servos: Futaba
Remarks – The Xray factory driver is running the newly released XB8 buggy, using a variation of his standard setup. To deal with the track conditions he has played a bit with the diff oils going 7k-7k-3k, and switched to a 2.5mm front sway bar. He is also using brass weights (15g) on both the front and rear hubs to help settle the car over the bumps. Having raced silver Hexagons, his plan is to try some different tires for the third and final round of qualifying.

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Chassis Focus – David Ronnefalk

Chassis: Kyosho MP9 TKI III
Engine: Orion RS
Tires: AKA
Radio/Servos: KO Propo
Remarks – The reigning European Champion kicked off qualifying here at the DNC with a very convincing third using his stock setup. The only changes he has done to his buggy since arriving at the Fear Farm have been to use thicker shock oil to deal with the different temperatures and 1.3mm front piston holes instead of the usual 1.2mm. For Q2 he will try a softer clutch that is intended to help smoothen the engine powerband in the slippery conditions.

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New in the Pits

Made by Pro-Line and designed by Ty Tessmann, the new HB D8’12 1/8th scale body is similar to that made by the US company for the HB D4’13. A scaled up version of the Type-R, it has been adjusted to take into consideration elements like the cooling head and the throw of the larger 1/8th tires, which have changed the cab position as well as the distinctive side under tuck of the body which has had to be reduced. In terms of the performance the shell offers more rear downforce compared to the Bulldog that Ty ran previously thanks to the cab not being so far forward and the scoops towards the rear of the body which generate downforce by themselves but also direct more air to the rear wing.

AKA are debuting their new Catapult tire designed for hard packed blue groove surfaces that have a coating of dust. Used by David Ronnefalk among others they are considered a longer wear pattern and fit in the line between the enduro and the impact. Featuring a more open thread pattern they sport a C design which helps it get through the dust and when available in a few weeks will come in soft and super soft compound.

Agama are running new parts on their A8 Evo for 2014 which includes new higher aluminum towers, which make the car easier to setup for every conditions, as well as these new wishbones. The same geometry but with a better fit for shocks and pins, they are able to be mounted with inserts. These will be available in carbon fibre and aluminium which both help to improve the stiffness of the part in high grip and warm conditions with the carbon plate the stiffer of the pair.

Associated are making their US debut of their soon to be released RC8 follow up. An all new platform, the prototype is currently under wraps but having been shown the car I can tell you that it sports some nice features in terms of transmission and ease of maintenance. With the engine mounted close to the centre line and a compact radio and electronics layout, it can have a very narrow chassis. With the car still using a lot of proto parts here, and with only 3 cars currently in existence, look, fit and finish will change as the car gets closer to release which we understand should be around May.

Team Orion are running their new 3-port RS engine, with Jared Tebo, Ryan Cavlieri and David Ronnefalk, among others, using the newly released power plant. The new motor sports a revised piston and liner with wider exhaust and side ports for more linear power delivery. Internally you can get the engine with a choice of two crankshafts with Ronnefalk using the CRF high revolution crankshaft while Tebo is running the standard CRF version. There is also a new larger diameter cooling head, which when purchased from teamorionshop.com as part of a team pack comes personalised with your name.

Also new from Team Orion, and being used by their team drivers in the eBuggy class is the latest Vortex R8 speed control and motor. The new speedo can handle up to 6 cells, up from 4 cells of its predecessor while the 690 motors, which will come available in 1900, 2100 and 2500kv, are based on the smaller 540 size World Championship winning VST2. Available in April.

View our event image gallery here.

Chassis Focus – Darren Bloomfield

Chassis: Agama A8 Evo FR (with 2014 parts)
Engine: Bullitt B219
Tires: Beta
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Spektrum
Remarks – The latest addition to the Nemo team, 2012 European Champion Darren Bloomfield is running an updated version of the Agama A8 buggy that features some new for 2014 parts, such as higher shock towers (and new longer shocks) and new wishbones, that can incorporate stiffeners that will be available in graphite or aluminium. The aim of the update is to make the car easier to use on any surface and allow the use of similar settings in every condition. In terms of setup, after the first rounds of practice Darren decided to follow the American part of the team working mostly on shocks, putting them more upright.

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