March 13, 2014

New in the Pits – AKA

AKA have their new Deja Vu rear buggy and SC tire pattern here in Scottsdale. Based on a familiar discontinued tire pattern they are suited for blue groove indoor and outdoor tracks and will be available in clay, soft and super soft compounds. Up front to work with the Deja Vu tires in the same conditions there is the new Pinstripe 2wd and 4wd front tires. The buggy tires will be available on the companies Evo wheel.

Also for Short Course there is the new Gridiron II which is a good all round tire which the drivers here are using on the front of their 2wd SC trucks to take away steering while for 4wd trucks they would work when used front and rear on hard packed dusty tracks.  All tires should be available next month.

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March 13, 2014

New in the Pits – Pro-Line

Title sponsors of this year’s Cactus Classic Pro-Line are showing off a number of new items here including their updated rear Suburb VTR tire. As the name suggest the new Suburb has now been modified to fit their VTR wheel, a small change Pro-Line also took the opportunity to increase the size of the tires pins which are now more durable. Up front there is the all new Transistor VTR tire, which fits in their range between the Ion and Scrub and again feature a bigger pin for better wear. On the inside and outside edge of the tire there is a rib running the entire circumference which helps reduce the aggressiveness of the tire. The Transistor is available as a 4wd and 2wd front tire.

Other new items from Pro-Line include their all new high downforce Trifecta rear wing which is also high strength thanks to the included ribbing along the back edge of the wing. In terms of bodies they also have their Phantom shell for the B5M, following up on the release of the Phantom for the B5 earlier. All products on display are available from next month.

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February 24, 2014

Chassis Focus – Dakotah Phend

Chassis: TLR 8ight 3.0
Engine: Orion RS
Tires: Pro-Line
Radio/Servo: Spektum
Remarks – Dakotah is running the basic 8ight 3.0 buggy with his standard dirt setup having only needed to change to a thicker oil to deal with the temperature change. One of a number of drivers to be running the new RS engine from Team Orion, for the A-main practice which is run just after the completion of the Pro B-Main he will try M3 Blockades in place of the usual Holeshot with a view the main event which will be run in the dark.

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February 23, 2014

Chassis Focus – Ryan Lutz

Chassis: Team Durango
Engine: Alpha Plus
Tires: AKA
Radio/Servo: Futaba
Remarks – Team Durango factory driver Ryan Lutz is running a highly modified prototype version of the company’s DNX408 buggy. Happy with the handling and overall performance, the American ace told us he has been using pretty much the same chassis configuration since the Neo Race back in August. Heading into the finals his plans are to observe the track conditions to help choose the right tires for the main, where he will be starting from twelfth on the grid.

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February 23, 2014

Chassis Focus – Dakotah Phend

Chassis: TLR 8ight-T 3.0
Engine: Orion CRF 722 Truggy
Tires: Pro-Line
Radio/Servos: Spektrum
Remarks – Team Losi Racing’s 17-years old talent declared himself pretty satisfied with the performance of his 8ight T 3.0 truck. Sticking with Drake’s standard setup, he said he has mostly been focusing on his driving since the beginning of practice. Performing well during qualifying on Holeshots in M3 compound, he will give the Blockades a try for the main event in which  he will line up third.

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February 22, 2014

Chassis Focus – Drew Moller

Chassis: Mugen MBX7 Eco
Tires: Pro-Line
Motor/ESC: LRP
Batteries: Protek RC
Radio/Servo: KO Propo
Remarks – TQ’ing the Pro E-Buggy class the Mugen USA driver showed notable speed and consistency throughout qualifying, driving a completely stock MBX7 Eco with his standard setup. Without needing to dial-in the car for the track he instead focussed on his driving, refining his lines. Planning to stick with the same setup for the A-main, the tire of choice remains his trusty Blockade M3, he will start from pole position in the eight minute long final.

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