CML are reporting on the 4th round of the BRCA 1/8th Off Road series that took place in very inclement weather at Shrewsbury over the weekend. The track was an ‘old style’ grass track with a layout new to every one on the day. There were a few jumps for the drivers to negotiate but the biggest challenge were the conditions. From the beginning of qualifying the rain set in, and it didn’t let up at all throughout qualifying. This potentially was going to make the qualifying more important because if the organisers were to call the meeting off after qualifying, the points would be awarded in that order.

Neil Cragg set out of the blocks fast and it was his Reedy powered RC8B that took TQ in the first 2 rounds of qualifying. This would give him pole position and if the meeting were to be called off, he would be declared the winner. Darren Bloomfield took 2nd on the grid and had at times looked very fast. Darren was to take the TQ in round 3 where Neil had some water ‘gremlins’ that left him with no run. Elliott Boots was to complete the top 3 in qualifying.

After qualifying the organisers made the call to go ahead with the finals but with a reduced duration to limit the exposure to bad weather. As it happened the rain stopped almost the minute qualifying was over and it would remain dry and bright for the rest of the day. The lower finals were littered with good drivers who had had problems during qualifying, and with that left themselves with lots of work to do to bump through. The ‘B’ final saw 4 of the works Associated drivers trying to make their way through and into the main ‘A’ final, these being Craig Drescher, Lee Martin, Paul Bradby and Richard Cree. Of these it was only Richard Cree who missed the cut, his fate sealed by an error in a place that took an age for a marshal to reach him. Paul Bradby survived a last lap battle with Anthony Potter to take the last position and join the grid in the ‘A’ final.

The top 3 in qualifying quickly established themselves as the lead pack in the ‘A’ final, along with Craig Drescher who made good use of his track time in the B to force his way to back of these 3 in the early stages. For the first 5 minutes Neil, Darren and Elliott all took turns at the front as they got used to conditions that were very different from what they had encountered in qualifying, as the track was now very bumpy in places. Just before the first stops Neil hit the front and a series of very quick laps straight after fuelling enabled him to open a decent gap as the other 2 were unable to respond to his pace. He then settled into a fast cruise that further consolidated his position to the flag and a comfortable victory. Darren pulled just clear of Elliott to be safe in second, but a late race charge from Craig saw him on the back of Elliott for the final lap. Craig made a mad dash to the line to try and take the position, but it was to no avail with Elliott hanging on to take 3rd with Craig 4th.

Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk]

Credit:
Neil Cragg wins BRCA 1/8th Off-Road Rd4

oOple finally have their report online from the 2nd round of the BRCA 1/10th off road national series, held at the all-grass Oswestry track in the midlands, UK. Round one of the series saw some new faces take wins but it was like a trip back in time at Oswestry as both reigning national champions took wins in their respective classes. Ellis Stafford, reigning 2WD champion again took the TQ but this time made it stick with a win in legs one and three of the A final to take his first win of the series. Lee Martin, again the 4WD reigning champion, also took the top qualifying spot and won legs one and three of the A final for the overall victory. Phil Sleigh currently leads the 2WD series whilst Tom Yardy leads 4WD – but with 4 more rounds to go things will certainly change around.

Read the full report here.

Source: oOple [oople.com]

Continued here:
Stafford & Martin win Oswestry BRCA National

Having taken the first photos of the car last weekend at the Bumod GP in Turkey, Serpent have released CAD images and details about their new 1/10th scale 200mm, given the name 733. To cope with the growing amounts of horsepower and to translate that to superb grip on the tarmac, the car is a completely new design, carrying very few parts across from the current 720 series. It performed well on its race debut, with some bad luck for Jilles Groskamp denying a certain TQ and taking him out of a leading position in the main final. Expected for release in July, there will be a limited run in time for drivers competing at the European Championships in Gubbio, Italy.

Main features
- New geometry and roll-centres, lower center of gravity and modified weight-positioning for improved grip and better balance.
- Adjustable caster, camber, toe-in, width, wheelbase front and rear, ride-height, roll centers and more.
- Alu front lower bearing blocks and suspension brackets, with integrated anti-roll bar holders and integrated alu middle bearing block
- Ball-raced wire type front anti-roll bar system, more efficient and easier to tweak
- New servo-saver design, mounted on the chassis only, with new and easy to mount linkages, options to change Ackermann
- Split type rear end assembly, with alu holders for 2-speed/brake (from 966) and integrated anti-roll bar holders, and also split type rear alu bearing blocks combined with alu suspension brackets for easy differential access.
- New, very accessible brake system, with large ventilated disks, lower in the car, with ready to use race brake-pads
- New nylon suspension parts / wishbones front and rear
- New rear uprights and keeping the latest 720 steering blocks, both combined with the lightweight alu pivot balls and nylon ball-cups.
- Very thick and strong carbon shock-towers front and rear with a variety of positions.
- High quality steel parts, stainless steel high speed bearings, Allen type steel screws throughout the car
- Race proven Centax clutch (a Serpent innovation) combined with the reliable LC 2-speed gearbox
- New gear-ratio combined with new pulleys with small side holes to let dirt out and new drive-belts.
- RCCX shocks-sets with 2009 modification on rod-support and x-ring.
- New light-weight gear-differential, mounted lower in the car, same diff front and rear, just pulley is different. Combined with light-weight drive-cups, CVD’s in the front and drive shafts in the rear
- 3mm chassis plate 7075 T6 with closed type design, combined with U-shaped motor mount which can remain on the engine. This mount, then goes on top of the new alu chassis stiffener. Perfectly positioned. This stiffener has arms to the front and back to influence flex, depending with how many chassis-screws its fastened.
- new low 75cc fuel tank with AFL-cap more to the front and mounting-position for AMB transponder on the bottom
- carbon fibre radio plate assembly unit contains fuel-tank, belt-tensioner, both servo’s, receiver box, battery/holder (accepts normal and Lipo-pack), transponder-holder all as one easy to take out sub-assembly. Ideal for easy cleaning and access. All wiring very short and compact to mount. Nice straight servo-linking to brake and throttle levers.
- New asymmetric roll bar with integrated sleeve for the fuel-cap strap, roll bar doubles also as end-stop for the fuel-cap.
- Full color manual/ref-guide and nice logo-decals and a new design small exclusive packing box.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

Credit:
Serpent 733 1/10th scale CAD Images

The Nordic Championships were held last weekend at the beautiful Väst-8 facility in Gothenburg, Sweden. Perfect conditions in qualifying saw Alexander Hagberg take an impressive TQ in 1:10 by 4 seconds with his Max powered Xray NT1, while in 1:8 qualifying it was Swedish Mugen driver Mikael Fransson just in front of Danish ace Martin Christensen with his Shepherd/Capricorn combo.

The 1:10 final was run on a wet track for the first 20 minutes. It was Alexander Hagberg who made the most out of these conditions, gaining a massive 5 lap lead after the first 10 minutes, proving to have chosen the right wet tire for this particular surface. When the track started to dry it was time for a tyre change, which would cost Hagberg 3 laps but he kept his head cool and cruised to victory in the 45 minute long main. After a lot of drama and issues for the other drivers especially from the rain it was Kyosho driver Magnus Vässmar who made his way up to the runner-up spot from 6th. The 3rd spot was captured by Norwegian Adrian Berntsen who showed a fast pace on the dry track. 4th qualifier Martin Christensen was out by the 15 minute mark.

The 1:8 final started out dry but eventually would turn into a full-on wet race where rain tires were necessary. In the end only 6 drivers finished and it was the top qualifier Mikael Fransson who was the fastest and most consistent driver in the rainy conditions. He took the win over Serpent driver Bengt Andersson and the local Kyosho racer Marcus Lindner.

Final results 1:10
1. Alexander Hagberg – 149 laps
2. Magnus Vässmar – 146 laps
3. Adrian Berntsen – 142 laps
4. Bengt Andersson – 139 laps
5. Tom Erik Haaversen – 139 laps
6. Frank Andersen – 139 laps
7. Mikael Fransson – 125 laps
8. Mickael Brandt – 117 laps
9. Per-Ola Hård – 114 laps
10.Martin Christensen – 34 laps

Final results 1:8
1. Mikael Fransson – 121 laps
2. Bengt Andersson – 118 laps
3. Marcus Lindner – 115 laps
4. Martin Andersson – 110 laps
5. Patrik Johansson – 109 laps
6. Stefan Andersson – 105 laps
7. Martin Christensen – 58 laps
8. Adrian Berntsen – 49 laps
9. Patrick Sahlin – 36 laps
10.Stig Berntsen – 30 laps

Thanks to Alexander Hagberg for the report.

Read the original:
Hagberg & Fransson claim Nordic titles

RB have developed a complete clutch tool set for 1/8 buggy and truggy, which is presented in a handy box.  Removing the difficulties of assembling and disassembling your clutch shoe and its spring, a 1/4 of a turn and the clutch is mounted or removed without any risk of damaging parts. These tools can be used on nearly all current clutches and the set includes a flywheel removal tool, flywheel wrench, driver handle, collet wrench, allen key, 1/8th scale wheel nut socket, clutch shoe removal tool and clutch shoe fitting tool.

Source: RB [rbproducts.com]

See the original post:
RB Complete clutch tool set

Craft RC have announced that they are now selling 1/8th and 1/10th scale lightweight setup boards and decals for use with both on road and off road chassis’. The boards are made of a high quality super flat material and the decals are the usual quality from Craft RC. Easy to apply, fuel resistant and will stay good a long time, they are available in a wide range of different designs.

Source: Craft RC [craftrc.com]

Read the original here:
Craft RC Setup boards & Decal