November 6, 2010

Drivers start to arrive at RCP

Neil Cragg & Craig Drescher

Saturday has come and gone here at RCP in Pattaya, Thailand with little or no activity apart from a few racers dropping by to check out the track. People’s first impressions is one of awe, with all those visiting for the first time expecting it to be a very difficult track to conquer. With race registration beginning tomorrow we expect all competitors and manufacturers to be trackside so expect more in the line of updates then.

Live RC crew

Brandon and the Live RC crew have been here setting up since Friday morning and are finally getting on top of things. Trying to wire the entire track takes time, as does setting up the mobile studio that they have arrived with, expect it to be an awesome show. In the meantime the preparation by the organisers continues with the rest of the track getting its coating of oil and with some final welding going on here as night falls, everything should be ready in good time for the main event.

View the event photo gallery here.

November 5, 2010

Final preperations underway in Pattaya

Pattaya RC powerboat track

Red RC have arrived in Pattaya, Thailand ahead of the 2010 IFMAR 1/8th scale World Championships. With registration only beginning on Sunday, the Pattaya RC Power boat track is pretty empty with staff putting the final touches to the track surface as well as painting and hanging banners. First impressions of the track are amazing, the photos simply don’t do it justice, it is like something from a computer game with its off camber corners, huge banked ‘straight’, doubles and triples. It will be a true test of man and machine, with a lot of drivers who have been here for testing needing hundreds of laps to get a clean run and we can now see why.

Pattaya RC powerboat track

We have noticed that the organisers have chosen to spray the track with a mixture of oil and diesel to protect the surface, if not the local environment, and it has given the track a hard packed feel. This is a different surface to that run by the big US test some weeks ago, so we wonder if this will have a big impact on the set-up and tire choices by those drivers. Stay tuned for more pre event updates.

View the event photo gallery here.

August 8, 2010

Harper & Wilck complete podium in France

Elliot Harper has claimed the Runners-Up spot at the 2010 EFRA European Touring Car Championships after the young British teenager took victory in the third A-Main ahead of Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck who completes the podium in Aniche, France.  Having wrapped up the title with victories in the opening two legs of the final, Ronald Volker sat out the third leaving the way clear for a straight battle for the final podium placings.

Although Harper was never headed over the five minutes, the race was the most entertaining of the three.  Afterwards the World Championship podium finisher said that his team-mate was again faster but he knew if he stuck to his line it was going to be very hard for the Swede to find a way past. The 17-year-old felt he didn’t have as good a car today but he was more than satisfied with the end result.  Showing great maturity and professionalism, Harper’s performance here and in Germany has impressed many and one of the first drivers to congratulate him after his leg 3 victory was Volker.

Finishing third overall Wilck was clearly disappointed by not being able to challenge for the overall win today having been on a back foot to Volker from the start of the event. Unfortunately due to the timing of his flight home Wilck was unable to attend the podium presentation, Marc Rheinard having to rush his team-mate to Brussels airport shortly after the 3rd leg.

Andy Moore

Setting the fastest lap of the event on his way to third, Hot Bodies driver Andy Moore looked really strong but the new found pace came a little late in the event and the 2006 Champion ends up fourth overall matching his 2008 result having missed out on the final last year.  Back to back European Junior Champion Yannick Prumper also enjoyed his best run of the day finishing fourth ahead of Team Associated’s Juho Levanen but in the final order they finished in the opposite order.  Completing the Top 6 was out going champion Jilles Groskamp but the Dutch ace was understandably not fully focused on racing today after his father took ill last night and had to undergo surgery this morning.  We are glad to report things went well and on behalf of everyone in the paddock we want to wish Frank a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back trackside again very soon.

The Electric Touring Car Euros bring to an end what has been a very busy Summer tour for Red RC. Special thanks to Speed Passion and LRP for supporting our coverage here in France.

Top 10 finishers

A-main overall results
1. Ronald Volker (DE) – 2pts (Yokomo/LRP)
2. Elliott Harper (GB) – 3pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
3. Victor Wilck (SE) – 5pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
4. Andy Moore (GB) – 7pts (Hot Bodies/Nosram)
5. Juho Levanen (FIN) – 9pts (Associated/LRP)
6. Yannick Pruemper (DE) – 11pts (Yokomo/Speed Passion)
7. Jilles Groskamp (NL) – 11pts (Tamiya/Team Orion)
8. Loïc Jasmin (FR) – 13pts (Tamiya/Team Orion)
9. Marc Fischer (DE) – 14pts (Corally/GM)
10.Marc Rheinard (DE) – 18pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)

Full results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.