August 9, 2014

Chassis Focus – Carlos Duraes

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Chassis – Serpent Cobra 2.1
Engine – RB BX-R
Tyres – AKA Impact Soft
Fuel – RB
Radio/Servos – Futaba/Power-HD
Body – Serpent Avenger
Remarks – Top Serpent driver in qualifying, Carlos is running the 2.1 version of the Cobra buggy, equipped with several option parts. Everything mounted on a hard chassis plate, the front end sports 14 degrees aluminium C-Hubs with “0 degrees” knuckles, while the rear hubs are taken from the Serpent Truggy.

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August 9, 2014

Chassis Focus – Ricardo Monteiro

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Chassis – TLR 8ight 3.0
Engine – RB BX-R
Tyres – AKA Catapult Soft
Fuel – RB
Radio/Servos – Spektrum
Body – TLR cab forward
Remarks – Portuguese TLR and RB team driver Ricardo Monteiro is running a pretty stock version of the American buggy here in Sand. His car features a few noticeable items, such as the recently released option forward cab bodyshell equipped with the rear fin, PSM fiber brake discs and some spring cups made by Kilic Racing.

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August 7, 2014

Chassis Focus – Teemu Leino

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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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August 7, 2014

Chassis Focus – Riccardo Rabitti

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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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August 6, 2014

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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August 6, 2014

Chassis Focus – Joern Neumann

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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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