Chassis Focus – Teemu Leino

Chassis – HB D812
Engine – Novarossi Keep Off 214S
Tyres – HB Megabyte Pink
Fuel – Runner Time
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Body – Pro-Line
Remarks – Finnish racer Teemu Leino is running a pretty standard HB D812 here in Germany. Under the body there is little change from the stock car apart from the battery box has been removed from the radio plate which he says helps the flex at the rear and helps reduce weight. Using basically the same setup as when he ran here after the Warm up race the only change he has made has been to lengthen the rear camber link which he says helped smooth out the car.

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Chassis Focus – Riccardo Rabitti

Chassis – Radiosistemi RR8
Engine – OS Speed Spec II
Tyres – Procircuit Square Impact Green
Fuel – Nitrolux
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Body – Kit
Remarks – Former Italian National Champion Riccardo Rabitti is running the latest version of the self designed Radiosistemi RR8 buggy. Featuring a new front shock tower and plate it mounts the upper pivot pin higher which helps give more steering mid corner by reducing dynamic camber. The mounting arm on the steering knuckle has also been moved to the bottom of the mount which reduces bump steer on the car and to cater for the increased steering throw the top plate has been modified.

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New in the Pits – Pro-Line, Futaba, LRP & Sweep

Pro-Line have a completely new as yet unreleased tire here called the Fugitive. Developed some months ago and given to team driver Joern Neumann to try while in Sand am Main after the warm-up race, the German said they worked well and so the US company put them into production. Making the car very smooth to drive the tire is very durable and works well on hard pack surfaces with no dust as well as the paving slabs used here in Germany. Team drivers here have the option of X2 and X3 compound with a lot of them also going between these and the recently released LockDown tire.

LRP have shown off their completely new S8NXR buggy here in Sand with team driver Marcel Guske giving the car its big race debut. Carrying over no parts from its predecessor it returns to a more conventional design, the brake now in the centre of the car and the rear lower wishbones no longer sporting an angled inside pivot point. Well specced it comes with carbon parts throughout as well as aluminium front C-hub and steering knuckles as well as rear uprights and front chassis brace, the rear brace made of plastic as it helps to make it less aggressive on acceleration. Also on display is the company’s new ZZ.21C Spec2 motor which has different timing and a longer needle on the carb to make the power delivery less aggressive. The engine is now available and the car will become available in mid August.

Sweep Racing driver Renaud Savoya has a limited number of the all new Revolt tires here in Germany. Only being completed prior to the race its V-shape offers plenty of forward traction while the tapered pins are used to improve the tire’s durability with the thread designed to be used on clean hard packed conditions while it may also work on slightly dusty conditions thanks to the spaces between the pins. Finally the pins around the outside of the tire have also been tapered to make the tire less edgy.

Released only last week Futaba have one example of their all new 4PX pistol grip transmitter here on display. A very smart radio compared to the 4PKS-R the transmitter is 30 percent faster and around 15g lighter for ultimate response and comfort. A full-color TFT display with intuitive menus makes operation hassle-free and the synthesised voice for telemetry data option allows drivers to hear updates via the built-in speaker or headphones. An assignable button on the bottom lets users activate key features instantly by touching it with their body with it set to activate the transmitter’s built-in stopwatch by default.

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Chassis Focus – Joern Neumann

Chassis – Durango DNX8 Prototype
Engine – FX Engines 5K
Tyres – Pro-Line Suburbs X2
Fuel – Maxima
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Body – Kit
Remarks – Having just been discharged from Hospital, the German driver has had only 11 laps on the Sand am Main track with his Durango DNX8 but having driven here after the warmup back in May he knows the track and had a base setup for the car, needing to only change to a 13 shoe clutch bell and a stiffer front spring since arriving. Since running the car previously here, his mechanic Gerd Strenge has added a stiffener linkage to the front servo to remove the flex from the servo which has helped with the precision of the cars front end. While still a prototype with some 3d printed parts, the car is set to be released in its current form later in the year.

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Chassis Focus – Renaud Savoya

Chassis – Xray XB8
Engine – Orion 321
Tyres – Sweep Revolt soft
Fuel – Runner Time
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Body – Kit
Remarks – Three time European Champion Renaud Savoya is running the 2014 XB8 with a few prototype parts on the car including new higher shock towers and a new rear chassis brace. The parts just completed days before the event, the new towers help the shock to get more up-travel giving improvements over bumps on power while the new brace, which is now mounted to the rear bulkhead instead of the shock tower as in the standard configuration, makes the car more stable, so much so that he is still looking to find more steering. Also trying Sweep’s all new Revolt tire in soft compound, the tire only being completed in limited quantities just before the race, Reno is waiting for the track to come to him as he is running the setup basically the same as from the warm-up race.

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Chassis Focus – Joseph Quagraine

Chassis – JQ Racing The Car White edition
Engine – Reds R7
Tyres – AKA Impact Soft
Fuel – Nitrolux
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/Savox
Body – Kit
Remarks – JQ Racing head man Joseph Quagraine is running the latest White edition of his self designed The Car. Sporting some new soon to be released option parts, the most noticeable of which are the new white arms which are stiffer than the standard kit versions, there is also new shock towers that sport inserts for mounting the upper suspension links which offer a finer tuning of the position in increments as low as 1mm. Powering the car is the Reds R7 which sports a custom green head from the Italian company which could be a limited release item in the future.

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