October 2, 2016

Chassis Focus – David Ronnefalk

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Chassis – HB Racing D815 V2
Engine – Orion
Tyres – AKA Grid Iron 2 Super Soft
Fuel – Runner Time
Radio/Servos – Sanwa / Highest
Body – JConcepts Silencer

Remarks – Former European Champion David Ronnefalk from Sweden is using the D815 V2 from HB Racing with some unspecified prototype parts. In terms of setup he is using his Euros base setup with softer oils in the diffs for the looser conditions. Having driven in California in the days leading up to the race he has has also prepared a setup for the track when it starts to roughen up later in the week.

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October 1, 2016

Chassis Focus – Ryan Cavalieri

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Chassis – Associated RC8B3
Engine – MX B2R
Tyres – AKA Grid Iron 2 Super Soft
Fuel – MX
Radio/Servos – Sanwa / Savox
Body – JConcepts Prototype

Remarks – 2014 World Championship runner up Ryan Cavalieri is running the Associated RC8B3 with a setup collected from multiple tests at the track in Vegas in the build up to this race. Confident before the first run that the setup should be good from the start, it differs from their standard 1/8th setup in that it features different wishbone angles as well as universals in the front to help free up the front end, the car normally feeling slower in the corners on this surface. Cavalieri is also running a prototype bodyshell from JConcepts, but more on that later.

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October 1, 2016

Track Focus – RC Tracks of Las Vegas

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Track Name – RC Tracks of Las Vegas
Host –  Chris Tocco
Country – United States
Location – Las Vegas
Direction – Clockwise
Surface – Dirt with paved section

Two years ago, during an IFMAR meeting at the 2014 1:8 Offroad World Championships in Italy, when Paul King confirmed that ROAR had from 3 applications selected Las Vegas to host the next World Championship, the father of 2010 World Champion Cody King backed up the announcement with ‘Chris will do a great job’.  Roll on 2-years and a great job is exactly what Chris Tocco has done presenting a facility that reflects that status of what is the sport’s most important race.  Situated directly across from the main runway of Las Vegas’ busy McCarran International Airport, RC Tracks of Las Vegas was only in the early stages of being built when it was announced as the host of the 16th running of the World Championships but former Motocrosser Tocco said this was part of the planning as it allowed him to put in place the right infrastructure for a Worlds from the start allowing the time closer to the event to be used to plan the finer details and make the race ‘a show’.

Originally from SoCal, Chris’ background is motocross.  Starting out on bikes at the age of 4, he would ride professionally in a career that lasted 19-years.  Eventually forced to retire from bikes through injuries, he would make the transition from riding to building training tracks for pro riders.  Away from that he would discover RC as a new way to get his racing fix and in that time developed a friendship with none other than Jared Tebo.   Losing touch a little with RC, a move to Las Vegas would re-ignite his interest initially as he raced some 1:10 Offroad Indoor, but because of his similarity to Motocross he really wanted to be racing 1:8 Nitro and as ‘a nitro guy’ this lead him to seek out a location on which to build a track.  Looking for a site, he was to come across a 2 & a half acre plot of land which he said at the time was disused and completely covered in trash.  Part of a 144 acre site that also houses an outdoor kart track and outdoor baseball batting cages, he took on a lease on the plot of land with the goal from Day 1 to bring his motocross knowledge to RC.  Having built AMA National Motocross tracks that could cater for 40,000 race fans, he said while RC budgets are a lot smaller he still wanted to bring the same kind of experience of a motocross track not just for racers but for those who come to watch the racing.  He said ‘racers are here focused on the serious business of trying to become World Champion but I want fans to come and go, this is awesome I have to get a car’.

In terms of the track build, Chris said he has taken elements from previous track builds but the rhythm five pack is something new which he as always wanted to try, with the paved section also a first for him as a track builder.  Built in an area 175 feet wide by 139 feet deep, the track has been described by many as ‘easy’,  a criticism he said he will take.   He said, ‘I could have made double jumps but then when the track roughs up no one will be able to make them.  I want drivers to race each other.  Good racing is better than just who can jump it the best’.  Spending $30,000 on bringing in the dirt for the track, he said initially they tried to glue the surface but he quickly went back to ROAR/IFMAR and said if thats what you want then give the event to someone else adding, ‘I’m a motocross guy, racing should be on dirt not a sealed flat surface’.  In order to help make the track last the 8-days of racing his track team will water the track between each and every heat, something they managed to achieve successfully in yesterday’s ‘Race In’ event when he said they had the track watering finished before the marshal’s got to their posts.  Chris said, ‘the track crew are doing an awesome job and want to thank anyone who picked up a hose, a brush, zip tie for that help’.

One driver with experience of the the track already is Mike Truhe.  Although he had qualified for a Team USA Worlds entry, an admin error meant he missed the closing date for receipt of the actual entry and so he had to book his place in the Worlds through the ‘Race In’ yesterday which was won by Lee Martin.  Describing the track as ‘simple’, he said ‘I think it will get better as it gets bumpier’.  The Mugen driver added, ‘If you’re late in one corner your going to be late in the next three’.  On the paving section he said ‘I expected more of difference but it didn’t grip or change how I needed to drive it’.  Feeling more bumps will give tyres more to grip off, tyre wear expected to be low, the former Vice-Champion added, the track is not finished being built up until Saturday so its going to get more character each day’.

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July 9, 2016

Boots retains Euro title as rivals crumble in the heat

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Elliott Boots has successfully defended his 1:8 Offroad European Championship title.  Racing under the beating Spanish sun, the 45-minute final would take a dramatic turn with just 7-minute to go as David Ronnefalk and Robert Batlle looked set to duel it out for the win.  Having just relinquished the lead to Ronnefalk, Battle would suddenly slow but before the gasping onlookers could get their breath back Ronnefalk would also come to a stop.  With both drivers suffering from overheating throttle servos, it was Top Qualifier Boots who was there to pick up the pieces, the British driver having made a somewhat slow start to the race.  With the demise of both Ronnefalk and Battle, the attention of the race was on who would make up the rest of the podium, former champion Yannick Aigoin as surprised as anyone to finish runner-up for Xray ahead of an equally happy Neil Cragg, the Associated driver describing it as the ‘best 45-minute final I’ve ever had’.

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Only the 7th driver to win back to back titles in the 36 years the championships has been running, Boots said, ‘It all just happened in a heart beat. I can’t really explain it’. Changing from Pro-Line’s Fugitive light tyre to the standard tyre for the final, the British ace said, ‘I was probably lacking pace to begin with but I knew the tyre would get better as the race went on’.Following behind Ronnefalk and making their first fuel stop together, Boots would be slow due to a problem with getting the fuel gun into the tank giving Ronnefalk some breathing space. With a mistake later on allowing Battle through, Boots said when the pair starting battling he ‘slowly started catching up’. Going to the front just before the final stop, mastermind of Boots success Mick Craddock would conduct an extra safe refuelling letting his driver rev out his Reds Racing engine before releasing it with Boots knowing he just had to bring it to the finish such was the gap over 2nd place. An important win to register in this World Championship year, the former Worlds Top Qualifier concluded, ‘hopefully we can win the next now’, the next one being the WC in Vegas in October.

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‘My goal coming here was to make the main for my sponsors but I couldn’t have expected this, I’m super happy’, was Aigoin’s reaction to finishing runner-up from 8th on the grid. One of the great ambassador’s of the sport, the French driver said, ‘The Top 3 were super fast but we were close all week to the pace of the others and I kept working on getting a set-up for my own speed’. For the Semi Final ‘we brought everything together that we learned over the week and the car was very good’. ‘I had maybe 1 mistake in the final and even if the others didn’t go out I should probably have been 4th or 5th which would have been a great result’.

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‘The race of my life really to be honest’, was a very happy looking Cragg’s reaction to completing the podium.  The long time Associated driver continued, ‘we loaded the gun for the final and changed a lot on the car. I knew in the warm-up this is good’. Running the RC8B, the former electric offroad World Champion said ‘I was having a good battle with Yannick and Darren (Bloomfield) and when the others started dropping out I thought, I could win this’. He concluded, ‘2nd would have been nice but I really enjoyed it’.

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Having just scrapped into the main with sixth in the Semi he started on pole, Darren Bloomfield would finish 4th. Starting the final from last on the 12-car grid, the Agama driver said, ‘I did what I should have done a few days ago’. Struggling in the semi as he ‘ran out of diff and tyre’, they ‘threw a curve ball’ going up in the diffs, shocks and switching to a hard compound Beta Freeride tyre. A big improvement to his A215 he said he ‘was too far back’ to battle for a podium but the former champion added ‘I’m really happy with fourth’.

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Looking like he had the race under control before a few errors appeared, Ronnefalk explained his retirement was caused after ‘the throttle servo overheated’. Asked about the race the 20-year-old factory HB Racing driver said, ‘I had a fast stop which gave me a gap but then made a few mistakes but I knew the speed was there and I just needed to put it together. After Robert got by I could see he was super slow out of the corners so I was just waiting for a mistake’. He continued ‘when I did (get passed) I was just driving to the end’. The Swede concluded, ‘when this shit happens it sucks’.

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Asked about his race Batlle said, ‘I felt super good. my car and tyres were good and I was just fighting with David. For sure it was me or him for the win’. The Mugen driver continued, ‘It’s a shame we both didn’t finish and to have the same problem on the same lap is crazy but there was nothing else we could do. With Batlle’s retirement Juan Carlos Canas would be the top home finisher in 5th. Having a great battle with the other under 17-year-old driver in the final Davide Ongaro, the reigning Euro B Champion was to add the Junior European crown to his CV with outgoing champion Ongaro completing the Top 6.

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July 9, 2016

Ronnefalk on pole for 36th Euros

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David Ronnefalk will start the final of the the 36th running of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships from pole position. In a repeat of last year’s opening Semi final, the Swede again took the win ahead of Top Qualifier Elliot Boots, the defending champion having a slight bobble on the opening lap which let the former back to back champion slip through to a lead he would hold for the rest of the 20-minute encounter.  Making it a three way train around the huge RC Redovan track Robert Battle would drop back a little after the first fuel stop as a wrong tyre compound choice saw his tyres go off.  The Spaniard would hold on for third as he managed a comfortable gap over the Xray of Martin Wollanka.  In the second Semi the result would also be a repeat of 12-months ago as Davide Ongaro took the win.  Starting second Ongaro got by Darren Bloomfield on the opening lap and like Ronnefalk took control of the rest of the race.  With Bloomfield falling to sixth to just make the cut, Bryan Baldo would take second followed by former champion Yannick Aigoin, Marco Baruffolo and Oscar Baldo, the locals ecstatic the Baldo brothers are into the final at their home track.

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‘Everything was really good, I wasn’t planning to pass Elliott, he made a mistake’, was Ronnefalk’s reaction after the Semi. The 20-year-old said, ‘my car is very easy to drive. I knew in qualifying we would have a good car for the 45-minutes and now myself and Elliott are very close now’. Commenting on his race, Boots described it as, ‘not bad. Just put it into the final was the key objective’. He continued, ‘I got grip roll which allowed David to slip through and then it got a bit windy again and I had a tumble which caused me to hit Robert (Batlle), it was a racing accident’. Finishing 16-seconds back, Battle said the race was ‘very good’ adding ‘we just had a problem with the tyre compound after 7-minutes so I just drove to bump up’. Despite using too soft a version of Procircuit’s new prototype tyre, the former champion said his Mugen is good and with a harder tyre they are ‘looking good for the final’.

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Winning his Semi by just 1.7-seconds, reigning Junior Champion Ongaro was lucky to hang on for the win.  Getting by Bloomfield when the Agama driver got out of shape over the jumps, the 15-year-old pulled clear but after his first stop started to experience brake problems.  With the link eventually coming undone, he would have to finish the race with no brakes at all.  The Mugen driver also struggled for tyres his front slicks by the end of the race.  Running Procircuits Road Runner tyre he will now switch for the final to the same prototype tyre as second placed Byran Baldo used in the Semi.  Big names to go out in the Semi included the TLRs of Renaud Savoya and 2015 podium finish Alex Zanchettin.

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