The first round of this years BRCA touring car nationals took place at the weekend at the popular and technical West London track, a swirling wind causing problems for all the drivers on day one and threw away all the pre race testing and data. Early pace setter was defending champion Chris Grainger with his new Schumacher Mi4 but he was being chased hard by Xray star Elliott Harper and Associated’s Olly Jefferies, while in the pro Stock class Rob West was the class of the field with his older Schumacher Mi3.

The wind was replaced on day two by some heavy rain storms, Andy Moore left his charge for pole position late and a second in the final round of qualifying behind Olly Jefferies gave the former World champion pole for the five cell modified A final, Olly lined up second with Chris Grainger third. Andy Moore took the first two finals and the overall win with a final in hand; Glen Doman from fifth on the grid made it in to a fine second place with his Horizon / Tamiya, while Olly Jefferies completed the podium with his TC5.

In Pro Stock it was a win for Jay Westwood from Rob West making it a Schumacher 1-2, Johnny Bowden finished third for Hot Bodies.

This season there is a constructor’s cup up for grabs and the Xray team took the win at West London. The championship now moves on to the fast open track of Halifax in four weeks time, early pre season favourites Chris Grainger and Elliott Harper will need to make up for a poor first round as Andy More will look to build on his round one win.

Source: BRCA [brca.org]

See more here:
Moore & Westwood take BRCA TC Rd1

The Yeah Racing aluminium spur gear stand is designed to hold a large range of your spur gears for easy storage. Capable of holding up to 10 spurs and compatible with all those used for 1/10th or 1/12th scale RC cars. The top of the stand is fastened with a body clip to hold the gears securely and furthermore, a rubber strip is attached to the body clip for ease of use.

Source: Yeah Racing [yeahracing.com]

View original here:
Yeah Racing Alu Spur gear stand

Last weekend at the Riccione track in Italy, there was the Sprint Trophy race, open to 1/8th, 1/10th scale and Classic chassis’. In the 1/8th scale 4wd class it was Vice World Champion Andrea Cristiani, driving the Serpent 966, that took the win from Alberto Tedeschi in 2nd and Alessandro Merloni in 3rd. The 200mm class was won by Michele Romagnoli driving the Xray NT1 ahead of Alex Rinati in 2nd and Giammaria Antonelli in 3rd, while the Classic class saw the win go to Alessio Rinaldi from Roberto Fabbri and Daniele Campanelli.

Source: Road Race Riccione [roadracericcione.it]

Continued here:
Andrea Cristiani wins Sprint Trophy race

Over the weekend the news emerged (thanks to all the people that mailed me) that former European Champion and World Championship runner up Ronald Voelker had joined Yokomo. Having raced for Hot Bodies in previous years and been very successful, the LRP backed driver is looking forward to the season ahead with his new sponsors. We contacted him for a statement on the move.

First of all I would like to thank Hot Bodies and especially Toshihiko Hara for their support over the last 3 years! I’ m really looking forward to racing the new Yokomo BD5 and I am happy to have the opportunity to race in such a world class team with so much success behind them.

Ronald’s first race is this weekend’s Reedy Race and in preperation for that event the German driver took the opportunity to shake down his new ride last weekend at a local race.

See original here:
Ronald Voelker confirms move to Yokomo

Craft-RC have released their Much More developed CRST starter box, a compact, high torque starter that can be used to start most types of engines. Made from stainless steel and durable nylon composite parts, this starter comes completely assembled and ready for use in both on or off road configurations. Its ergonomically designed over size handle provides painless fatique free transport every time. In addition the starting flywheel mechanism can be reconfigured so that it can start engines placed along the chassis or perpendicular to the chassis. The starting mechanism utilizes a large heavy duty 775 size motor with pulley/belt reduction system to produce the torque required for new 21 sized engines. Furthermore, the alignment posts are adjustable from the top with a single tool for easy set-up.

Source: Craft RC [craftrc.com]

Excerpted from:
Craft-RC CRST starter box

The second round of the BRCA 1/8th national took place yesterday at the Halifax track. The weather forcast was for rain showers all weekend so the track became very busy when dry patches formed between the showers. On Saturday, it was Mark Green setting the pace followed by Neil Diver, Pete Hastings and Richard Hicklin, while on Sunday it was bright and the track was almost dry for heat practice. Rain then started to fall but soon stopped and for the final heat, it was 90% dry. Mark Green in this heat set TQ and in doing so, the cars behind him put in good banker times for if the rain came again. In Round 2, it was fully dry and a good time would secure a main final position. All the top drivers improved to into the 20 lap bracket, apart from Tim Wood, who ran out of fuel, but was on for a good 20 lap result. Up front however, Mark Green continued his recent dominance at the Dutch GP by setting TQ and a new lap record of 21 laps in 310 seconds. This result being a clear 3/4 of a lap clear of Richard Hicklin. Round 3, and Mark Green did not improve on his previous time, but heat 4 saw improvements to bump Adam Catchpole, Andy Hastings, and Dan Bancroft into the top 10. Round 4 was a washout, since a big rain shower returned.

The top 10 Qualifiers were as follows:
1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 21 Laps 310 secs
2. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Mega – 20 Laps 306 secs
3. Neil Diver – Shepherd/Sirio – 20 Laps 309 secs
4. Pete Hastings – Serpent/IDM – 20 Laps 311 secs
5. Adam Catchpole – Kyosho/JP – 20 Laps 312 secs
6. Chris Heath – Mugen/Sirio – 20 Laps 312 secs
7. Andy Hastings – Serpent/IDM – 20 Laps 313 secs
8. Andy North – Mugen/Siro/Novarossi – 20 Laps 315 secs
9. Tim Wood – Serpent/Mega MF – 19 Laps 288 secs
10. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/Max – 19 Laps 301 secs

The main final started in damp conditions, and all the cars went out on dry tires to prevent loosing too much time having to change tires. The grip was very low and if you went off line, the cars would spin. After 5 minutes, it was Mark Green with a 1/2 lap lead over Tim Wood who loves the wet conditions. Andy Hastings was third at this point followed by Pete Hastings. The cars were getting faster and faster with every lap but the track did not seem to become fully dry. At the 20 minute point, Mark Green hit a back marker on the straight, which totally shattered his rear wheel and he was out. This then left Tim Wood to coast to a easy win, followed by Andy Hastings and round 1 winner Pete Hastings.

The final results are as follows:
1. Tim Wood – Serpent/Mega MF – 95 Laps
2. Andy Hastings – Serpent/IDM – 89 Laps
3. Pete Hastings – Serpent/IDM – 88 Laps
4. Neil Diver – Shepherd/Sirio – 86 laps
5. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/Max – 80 Laps
6. Andy North – Mugen/Siro/Novarossi – 76 Laps
7. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Mega – 74 laps
8. Adam Catchpole – Kyosho/JP – 66 Laps
9. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 65 Laps
10. Chris Heath – Mugen/Sirio – 50 Laps

The next round is at the Wombwell Circuit in South Yorkshire. A drivers track in which every driver likes very much.

Thanks to Andy North for the report.

See the rest here:
Tim Wood wins BRCA 1/8th Rd2