October 22, 2018

Track Focus – Homestead R/C Raceway

Track Name – Homestead R/C Raceway
Hosts – Franco Desiderio and Jose Sanchez Jr
Country – United States
Location – Homestead, Florida
Direction – Clockwise
Surface – Asphalt

Seven years on from it hosting the 1:8 Onroad World Championship, IFMAR has returned to the Homestead R/C Raceway in Florida to for the 8th running of the the 1:10 200mm Onroad Worlds.  Situated at the back of NASCAR hosting Homestead-Miami Speedway’s main grandstand, the track is the typical US style parking lot set-up with boards determining the layout and the infield highlighted by green paint.  Featuring a 100m long straight the track has changed ownership since the 2011 Worlds with Franco Desiderio & Jose Sanchez Jr now in charge having taken over 3-years ago.  Both competitors in the event, the final entry expected to be around 120 drivers, in addition to being partners in running the track, Desiderio & Sanchez Jr are the Picco distributor for the US and dealers for Infinity through RC1 Racing.

Here to defend the title he won in Italy 2-years ago at the World class Gubbio circuit, Dominic Greiner described the HRCR track as more challenging than it looks saying, ‘It seems not so difficult but it is difficult’.  Liking the layout, the Serpent driver added it has a ‘good flow but the traction is low and we are also running a hard (handout) tyre’.  With any traction built up in the International practice days and the first official practice day washed away by overnight rain, the German also added that ‘very high wind’ was adding further to the challenge making it ‘not easy to be consistent’.  Asked the key features of the clockwise track’s layout he replied, ‘You must drive it tight but with this you risk hitting the rubber (boards).  There are dots in the chicane and you have to ride them to save some metres but they unsettle the car’.

Winner of the 1:8 World title here and featuring strongly in 1:10 practice having topped the first day of official practice  yesterday (Sunday), Robert Pietsch believes the track is better to drive with a 1:10 car.  The Mugen driver said, ‘The track suits better 1:10 than 1:8’.  He added, ‘the layout is good but grip is low and these low levels (of grip) means the car is not so easy to handle. The balance is not always perfect and so you are fighting this all the time.  Like Greiner, he also agreed that the chicane was a key place to making up time on a lap if the car ride the dots cleanly but it was also a place to very easily unsettle the car depending on how the car hit the dots.

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March 18, 2018

Ryan Lutz clean sweep at 2018 SIGP

Ryan Lutz has taken an expected win in the 1/8th nitro buggy class in Xiamen China, but he didn’t have it all his own way. Looking at the results one would think the race was a procession but at various stages of the 1 hour main there was plenty of excitement at the front of the field. Yusuke Suguira looked to have the faster car throughout the race, especially in the early part, but too many mistakes meant he couldn’t capitalise, while in their own league, behind the leading pair Kaja Novotny took home 3rd after a long and exciting battle with Wataru Takashiro who ended up just off the podium in 4th.

While Yusuke would crash early and drop to 4th, such was his pace that he got back up to 2nd and after a quicker pit stop was right on the tail of Lutz, the American when asked about it saying ‘I was worried before the first stop, but then I saw that Yusuke had to make an extra stop’. Knowing he had more pace he didn’t want to push, commenting that ‘slow and steady till the last lap’, the Tekno driver pushing hard to put a lap on Sugiura in the closing stages. Feeling his car was again too soft, despite this he made very little mistakes which brought him the win and with it the cash prize of RMB20,000 (US$3,160).

Starting with a blistering pace and pushing hard to not let Lutz dominate completely, Yusuke kept him honest in the first 10 minutes, repeatedly catching up only to lose time in a crash or spin each time. Feeling his car was a little nervous, without the crashes he believes he could have brought the battle to Ryan, this the Japanese driver’s only 2nd one hour final and his first time racing 1/8th outside of Japan, ending by saying it was ‘good experience for me for the Worlds’.

In what was to be a race long battle, in the second half of the main final Kaja Novotny and Wataru Takashiro really started going at it, trading positions in the pits and on the track. It wasn’t until the 46th minute that the Czech driver finally made the position stick as Wataru started to struggle badly with his car. ‘I’m happy I finished my first one hour final’ the Xray driver continuing ‘after 1st practice I didn’t even think I would make the main’. Wanting to thank his pit man Gavin Kwok for all his work this weekend, the Xray driver said that his JConcepts tires came good in the 2nd half of the race which made his car less edgy, this allowed him to move up to 3rd, having been quite a bit back on Wataru at the 40 minute mark.

Feeling he had a diff problem as well as an issue with his shocks overheating, Takashiro noted that traction was higher than yesterday and so made his diffs stiffer but it turned out to be the wrong decision, the Kyosho driver struggling to keep the car on track by the end. Saying ‘this race was not good for me but I know what to do to make it better’, ultimately it was a series of crashes in the S section that let Kaja past and pull out close to a 2 lap advantage at the finish.

Completing the top 5 was young Jonathan Yeung from Hong Kong, the Tekno driver putting in a steady and mature drive, despite flaming out due to being on his roof too long just before a scheduled stop. Recomposing himself he got his head down and put in the laps in what was a mostly solitary race. Two laps back, Taiwanese National Champion Chen Guanxian took 6th with Jade Lim from Malaysia a further 2 laps back in 7th. Zhan Wei, Scott Yang and Jeon Hanyoung from Korea completed the order.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

March 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Ryan Lutz GP

Chassis – Tekno NB48.4
Engine – Blok 21aM
Tyres – AKA
Fuel – Byron
Radio/Servos – Futaba 7PX / Futaba S9373 SV
Body – Tekno
Remarks – Top qualifier in nitro, Ryan was able to use his 10 minute TQ practice before the A-main to test a number of minor changes. Seeing that the track is getting slick and dusty, he is inching more towards what he normally runs in the US.

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March 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Yusuke Sugiura

Chassis – Kyosho MP9 TKI4
Engine – OS Speed B2102
Tyres – AKA
Fuel – Klotz
Radio/Servos – Sanwa M12S / Sanwa BGS-XB
Body – Kyosho TKI4 Light weight
Remarks – Suffering a flame out in his semis due to running out of fuel, Sugiura will further fine tune his engine to get a better mileage. Very happy with how his Kyosho performs and still coming on top with the flame-out, the Japan Ace will use his EP final to test some minor changes, however he is convince that may not be necessary.

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March 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Kaja Novotny

Chassis – Xray XB8 ’18
Engine – FX Engines
Tyres – JConcepts Detox
Fuel – Nitrolux Fuel 25%
Radio/Servos – Sanwa M12S / MKS
Body – Xray Lightweight
Remarks – With the track now well and truly broken up, for the final Kaja will run a softer set-up on his car’s rear diff. Happy with his shock package, he is still considering his selection on his tire’s hardness. Very happy with his run time on the FX engines, to play safe for the finals he will consider having a shorter window and not pushing too much on the fuel mileage.

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March 18, 2018

Nitro Main-Final grid decided

The final grid for the 1 hour SIGP Nitro A-main has been decided following both Semi Finals in Xiamen this afternoon. The first semi to get underway would see a fairly straight forward race for the top two on the grid, Takashiro Wataru and Chen Guanxian, the former taking the win by 5 seconds in what was the slower of the two semis meaning the Japanese Kyosho driver will line up 4th on the grid with Agama driver Chen on 5th. S-Workz boss Scotty Yang would be the biggest mover in the race, quickly moving up to 3rd, where he would stay to book his place in the main show with the final bump up spot from the first semi and 10th on the grid going to Zhan Wei.

In the second and quicker of the two semi finals, Yusuke Suguira was the clear winner, crossing the line almost 27 seconds clear of second placed Kaja Novotny and will start the main final in 2nd behind pole sitter and direct qualifier Ryan Lutz. Hong Kong Tekno driver Jonathan Yeung put in a steady final to claim 3rd and will take his place on the grid in 6th. The final guaranteed bump up was set to go to Jade Lim, but an official protest against him from the Korean team for cutting the track meant he had 10 seconds added to his time, and so while he still qualified due to his faster time it was Jeon Hanyoung from Korea that took 4th.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.