October 25, 2025

MonTech New York Grand Prix Chassis Focus Index

Last weekend Red RC returned stateside for the 7th edition of the MonTech New York Grand Prix at the 360V2 indoor track in New Rochelle.  One of the highlights on the annual US onroad racing calendar and having attended the Donny Lia organised event for the first time in 2024, this year attracted a strong international entry but there was little they could do about top US driver Sam Isaacs.  The US Champion would complete the double, winning both Modified 1:12 and Modified Touring Car for Awesomatix.  While Isaacs was testing new parts on his 1:12, meaning we couldn’t photograph the car for a Chassis Focus, we did get to feature his winning A800RR Touring Car.  The NYGP would see the US debut of Xray’s all new X4’26 and with just two examples of the Slovakian manufacturer’s latest touring car in the country we got to photograph both of them, one being the Stock car of NYGP first timer Jan Ratheisky and the other being the Modified example of US Team Manager Drew Ellis.  In 1:12 we got to feature cars from three different manufacturers including 2024 Champion Kemp Anderson’s Awesomatix, the CRC of returning former NYGP Champion Ollie Payne who made the trip over from the United Kingdom, and the latest Excelerate Prodigy 12 from the car’s designer Josh Cyrul.  Additionally we got to include the 25.5 LMH winning Express of Charles Bruno and the FWD class Xray of Top Qualifier Andy Brooks to complete our latest Chassis Focus Index.

 

Touring Car

Sam Isaacs – Awesomatix A800RR (Modified Touring by Speedzone)

Lucas Urbain – Awesomatix A800RR (Modified Touring by Speedzone)

Drew Ellis – Xray X4’26 (Modified Touring by Speedzone)

Jan Ratheisky – Xray X4’26 (21.5 Super Stock Touring by JACO)

Andy Brooks – Xray X4F’26 (FWD by 1up Racing)

Charles Bruno – Xpress XQ11RR  (25.5 LMH by Interstate Hobby Sport)


1:12

Kemp Anderson – Awesomatix A12X (Modified 1:12 by Absolute Hobbyz)

Ollie Payne – CRC MetriCKs (1:12 Super Stock by Excelerate RC)

Josh Cyrul – Excelerate Prodigy 12 (1:12 Super Stock by Excelerate RC)
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October 19, 2025

Isaacs does the double at Montech NYGP

Having won 1:12 Modified, Awesomatix’s Sam Isaacs has gone on to complete the double at the 7th edition of the Montech NYGP by also winning Mod Touring Car at 360v2 in New Rochelle today.  Securing the TQ for the Speedzone Modified Touring Car class ahead of team-mates Kemp Anderson and first time NYGP visitor Lucas Urbain, the previous two time winner was the class of the field setting the fastest lap of the single 5-minute A-Main to win by just of 2-seconds from Anderson.  A further 1.3-seconds back Lucas Urbain made it another podium lock out for Awesomatix.  With Xray taking the win last year thanks to Keven Hebert, it was NYGP debutant Jan Ratheisky armed with the all new X4’26 who led their challenge this year finishing P4.  Also racing in the Jaco 21.5 Super Stock Touring class, the German would go one better finishing third, Craig Xavier’s Awesomatix taking the TQ & win ahead of the last year’s winner Eric Anderson.

Reacting to his win, Isaacs said, ‘It was a good race. I was able to keep it clean and the car felt pretty good maybe a little bit pushier than qualifying but a pretty safe race car so it worked out.’  With the win bring his NYGP wins tally to 6, the United State’s leading electric onroad racer said, ‘I felt like I was driving pretty well this weekend so I’ll try to keep it going especially into the Paved US National next week.’  On making the transition from NYGP carpet to the asphalt for the ROAR National Championships, the 31-year-old said, ‘It’s little difficult and it may take a practice run or two but that surface is complete different, a sealed lower to medium asphalt track, so it will definitely be an adjustment and then going from a climate controlled environment to something hot outdoors it will be tough too.  But this is definitely a nice win to have going into it.’

Coming out of the blocks looking very racy, Anderson said, ‘The car started off good and then just lost a bunch of grip so I didn’t have the pace to keep up with Sam.’  The 23-year-old, who also finished P2 in Touring Car last year, continued, ‘after that I just tried to circulate around and try and stay ahead of Lucas.’

Asked to sum up his first NYGP, Urbain said, ‘The main went alright, I guess according to plan. These two in front are quicker and I was quicker than Jan. I thought at some point I could make a bit of an impression on Kemp, he had a few bobbles here & there but I was never close enough.’  With the race marking his first ever US race on carpet, the Frenchman continued, ‘So yeah it was pretty much how it’s been the whole time, same gap, maybe a little bit close now I closed the gap very slightly.  I guess it unfinished business and we need to come back next year and do better I guess.’

Giving his reaction after the final, Ratheisky said, ‘The final was very good. I was happy to be able to follow Lucas for like two & a half minutes but it took too much risk to follow him so I decided to back off a little bit to finish 4th instead of sending my car to the wall again. I feel like our set-up work was going in the correct direction unfortunately the race is over right now but it’s a good start with the new car for sure.’  On his Super Stock podium, he said, ‘People who know me know I am a final driver and I was able to overtake EA but then unfortunately I hit a curb and made a light roll and I was not able to recover to be able to attack again so I secured the third instead of maybe throwing it away.’  A regular visitor to US races, asked his thoughts on his first NYGP, he replied, ‘Amazing. It is also the most exhausting race also because you have almost unlimited practice runs which is great but very very challenging on the body.  I don’t remember the last time I went to bed that I wasn’t able to think about anything as I immediately feel asleep.  I would love to come back, it’s a really good race.’

Class Winners Round Up

With a total of 9 class wins up for grabs at the MonTech NYGP, in 1:12 Stock by CRC it was British visitor Morgan Williams and his CRC who took the win as the Top Qualifier.  Behind him Jeff Dayger and Fabio Evangelista completed the podium.  In 25.5 Stock Touring by Snag RC the win went to pole sitter Andy Brooks while the 21.5 LMH12R by TQ Wire victor was Joe Wright.   The 1up Racing sponsored FWD class saw Michael Skeen take the win from 3rd on the grid with Top Qualifier Andy Brooks second and Esse Castro third.  From the pole Charles Bruno won the 25.5 LMH by Interstate Hobby Sport from Charles Edwards and Dan Arnold.

View our event image gallery here.

October 19, 2025

Chassis Focus – Sam Isaacs (Awesomatix)

Chassis – Awesomatix A800RR
Class – Modified Touring by Speedzone
ESC – Hobbywing XR10 Pro G3
Motor –  Hobbywing V10 G3 5.oT
Battery – Team EAM 4200Mah
Tires – Jaco (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M17S / Sanwa PGS-LHII
Body – Xtreme Twister Speciale

Notes –
Sam is running a steel chassis for the NYGP and the SCC conversion set.  His car is also built with Avid bearing and Titanium Ball Studs.

Image Gallery

October 19, 2025

Isaacs claims third NYGP 1:12 Mod win

From a grid that was lead out by the past three 1:12 Modified Champions of the Montech New York Grand Prix, it was the high profile East Coast race’s most successful driver Sam Isaacs who took the big win at the 7th edition of the 360v2 hosted event.  Starting P2 on the grid behind 2021 Champion Donny Lia, and in front of defending Champion Kemp Anderson, while Isaacs mounted a number of charges on Lia over the 8-minutes it was a backmarker that ultimately decided the race.  Running as an impressive high speed train for over 6-minutes, CRC’s Ollie Payne also in the mix, Lia’s efforts would come undone when he collected a back marker who was out of shape having just launched his car off the curbing.  With Isaacs and Anderson going through, Lia would set about a charge getting back by Anderson but running out of time to deny Isaacs his 3rd win in the AbsoluteHobbyz 1:12 Modified class, the final gap 0.885.  Anderson would complete the podium in New Rochelle with 2019 Champion Payne claiming fourth on his NYGP return while Excelerate’s Josh Cyrul round of the Top 5.

Reacting this his win, the NYGP one of favourites events, Isaacs said ‘It was a pretty cool 4 car freight train for a while and I think Donny was just getting used to his car and then the pace started to pick. I had a couple of spots at the beginning where I though maybe I could get by him but it probably wasn’t worth trying it if it wasn’t going to be for sure clean.’  The 31-year-old, who won his latest National title here earlier in the year, continued, ‘The last minute & a half we were going around about the same distance we were but unfortunately he got caught up in traffic and I was just able to go a round that. It would have been nice to race to the end, I feel bad that that happened for him but unfortunately that’s how it goes sometimes in 1:12 Mod racing.’

‘It’s part of racing, shit happens, what are you going to do’, was how Lia summed up the unfortunate incident.  The man responsible for putting on the NYGP, he continued, ‘I had good race and I am glad everyone is here and that really all that matters. If I do well at this race every race that’s just a little bit of a bonus.’  On his race up to the incident, Lia said, ‘I was just maintaining the gap, kind of cruising and maintaining the gap to second and then when that happened it was a little too late in the race to really make up any time.’  Asked about the charges from Isaacs, the two World Championship finalist said, ‘that’s kind of 12th scale Mod racing.  It’s so hard to push hard all the time but you can make runs. When you are leading it’s hard to push hard so when you are leading you just want to maintain. Sam was going to push hard and put pressure on me to try and make a mistake and he was trying and I did clip a couple of curbs. We raced well and clean just wish we could have raced it out you know. I had a little left in the tank, there was no need to push too hard. Every time Sam made a run and put pressure on me I would respond. I guess shit happens. What happened was with a good friend of mine, he is more upset than I am, it is what it is, I don’t care.’  Starting P2 in the Excelerate RC 1:12 Super Stock class as the defending Champion, unfortunately Lia’s day didn’t get any better as a mistake led to multiple impacts and a body that needed to be popped back into shape and he finished 6th.

Asked about his final,  Anderson said, ‘It was a really good race, Top 4 nose to tall most of the race, my car was pretty good and I was having to lift a little bit. At the end Donny got collected by some traffic and I made one mistake after that that let him get back by.’  On his podium result, the World Championship Top Qualifier said, ‘3rd is not too bad, I’m happy. A podium lock out again for Awesomatix so it’s pretty good.’

On his 4th place finish in 1:12 Mod, Payne said, ‘the car was a little but pushy so I couldn’t quite stay on the pace of the front guys but the car was pretty consistent I was just missing a little bit of steering’.  Also competing in the Excelerate RC 1:12 Super Stock class, the British driver would dominate proceedings.  Taking the TQ he would win the final by a comfortable 2.5-seconds over 1:12 Spec World Champion Max Mächler and Jeff Dayger completing the podium.  On his performance the European & British Spec Champion said, ‘It’s been pretty much perfect the whole way through, there is nothing much I would change about it if I was to do it again.  In the Main obviously Donny had that issue and as soon as that happened I just settled down and just gave myself a foot everywhere to just finish.  It couldn’t have been much better.’

View our event image gallery here.

 

October 19, 2025

Chassis Focus – Andy Brooks (Xray)

Chassis – Xray x4F’26
Class – FWD by 1up Racing
ESC – Hobbywing Xerun XR10 Pro G2
Motor – R1 Wurks V30 25.5T
Battery – Team EAM 42000mAh
Tires – Jaco
Radio/Servo – Futaba 10px / Futaba CT701
Body – PIP Aero E-TCR

Notes –
Andy, who is the owner of Sortafast, is running his brand’s titanium screws, turnbuckles and hybrid ceramic bearing set.

Image Gallery

October 19, 2025

Isaacs is Touring Car Top Qualifier in New York

Awesomatix’s Sam Isaacs is the Top Qualifier of the Speedzone Modified Touring Car class at the 7th annual Montech NYGP.  Winner of his latest ROAR Touring Car National title earlier this year at the 360v2 track in New Rochelle, he would secure pole for the track’s blue ribbon event with his time from the 3rd of the 4 rounds of qualifying.  While he would lose out on the TQ in 1:12 Mod to Donny Lia in the final qualifier, track conditions for Q4 of Touring Car, the final heat of qualifying, would see no one improve on their times.  Isaacs still topped the round 3.5-seconds ahead of NYGP debutant Lucas Urbain and Kemp Anderson, a driver who has attended every running of the Donny Lia organised race.  For tomorrow’s A-Main starting grid it will be Anderson who starts second ahead of Urbain with Xray duo Jan Ratheisky, another NYGP first timer, and Drew Ellis completing the Top 5.

Pleased to secure the TQ having missed out in 1:12, on his final effort, the pace 1.5-seconds off his best, Isaacs said, ‘I think the track was a little bit off so I couldn’t match the Q3 times but a clean run none the less.’  Still happy with how his car worked on the slower track, asked if he would do anything different for the Main, the 31-year-old said, ‘I think I will mostly leave the car and just try to have a clean run. It should be a good race, it’s been a great event.’

Summing up qualifying, Anderson said, ‘The car feels ok I just made another mistake in the last one. Since the AC was off and it was so hot in here we knew no one was going to go faster so the last round was kind of a throw away. Asked about the final, the Tennessee finishing second to Xray’s Keven Herbert in last year’s Touring Car final, he said, ‘The car is easy to drive and I think it’s a pretty good race car so I’ll probably just leave it. I think the pace is ok.’  On racing and opportunities to make a pace he said, ‘Anything can happen but it will probably be pretty hard with the curbs and there is no where to tap out so it will be a little harder.’

Describing his first experience of a US carpet race as ‘unfinished business’ ask how qualifying rounded out for him, Urbain said, ‘For Q3 I kinda copied Sam’s set-up but it barely made any difference if I am honest same problem. For Q4 I made a radical change. I lost a wheel on the warm-up, prime time in front of everyone, go me, but the change felt better but the gap is still big 3, 4 seconds ish I am not even sure. It was slighty better but still not up there so maybe I go further in that direction. There is some more practice possible tonight or in the morning to figure it out and we’ll go from there in the main.’  Asked if he was battling for the final step on the podium the French National Champion said, ‘pretty much unless they tangle up front which can happen but other than that I have to settle for third because I can’t challenge on pure pace. It’s lacking grip and mostly steering. I want to understeer in slow speed and doesn’t rotate I have to go full lock everywhere, I can’t really let the car move around or dance. I cannot throttle it hard enough.’

Debuting Xray’s new X4’26 here this weekend and putting its durability to the test with a big off in the sweeper that ended his final qualifying attempt, Ratheisky said, ‘The track was very greasy and then I got charged from my team-mate Drew (Ellis) who seemed to have good traction so I tried to pull away but I hit the sweeper because I took a little bit to much risk and crashed unfortunately’.  On his P4 on the grid, the German who also lines up P3 in the Jaco 21.5 Super Stock Touring Class, said, ‘Everyone wants to finish higher but actually I am OK with 4th, I am still testing with the new car on this car but I think I can go in attacking mode in the final. With traffic in his final two laps of Super Stock qualifying denying him the TQ, the former European Champion still topping the round but 0.17 of a second off Craig Xavier TQ time, he said his ‘car is great’ and he is confident for the Main.

View our event image gallery here.