Tamiya has come out with the successor to the World and European conquering TRF416WE, with the release the TRF416X. Developed using information and feedback provided to them by their team drivers, it sports a number of refinements to help better what is currently the benchmark in touring car racing. New changes include the motor position having been shifted 1mm to the centre for optimum chassis balance, while the rear ball differential has been shifted 1.8mm towards the rear to improve rear traction and acceleration. Wider front bulkhead attachment screw positions and a new lower deck shape enhance the chassis’ front rigidity and there are new carbon 2.25mm lower and 2mm upper decks as well. Finally the front pulley features a direct coupling while the center pulley also features a direct drive setup.

Source: Tamiya [tamiya.com]

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Tamiya TRF416X 190mm Touring car

Tamiya has added a new edition to their 1/10 scale F104 Series line up, with the released of this Officially Licensed 2009 season Ferrari F60. This car looks awesome, featuring 3-dimensional front and rear wings, rear diffuser, side mirrors and aerofoil suspension arms for enhanced realism, not to mention the official sponsors logos on the car. Underneath it is the same F104 essentially with just a few changes such as a 3.2mm thick FRP lower deck a 2mm thick FRP upper deck and a stainless steel rear shaft amongst other things.

Specs & Features
- This is an Officially Licensed 1/10 scale R/C assembly kit of the Ferrari F60 F-1 Car.
- The kit features 3-dimensional front and rear wings, rear diffuser, side mirrors, and aerofoil suspension arms for enhanced realism.
- New rubber tires and wheels enhance the scale realism of the F60. (4pcs.)
- Body can be assembled with or without the polycarbonate sloped side pontoons.
- Finish the body with Item 89922 PS F60 Ferrari Red).
- TEU-104BK ESC and Type-540 motor included.
- 2-channel R/C system, battery pack & charger are separately required.
- The F104 chassis features the same component layout as the F104 PRO and can be upgraded to F104 PRO standards with separately available Option Parts.

Source: Tamiya [tamiyausa.com]

Credit:
Tamiya F104 Officially licensed Ferrari F60

The Proline Dirt Arena kicked off it’s new Winter Series in style last weekend with some top name drivers and some very competitive racing. Smiley faces all round as all that turned up liked the recent changes to the facility after opening about 7 months ago. In 2wd, Team Associated driver Tony Truman took pole in the A final with three 1’s in qualifying. Richard Barton would take TQ in the second round and he would line up 2nd on the grid with Simon Willetts in 3rd. Simon took the 1st leg of the 3 legged A final but it would be TQ man Tony Truman who would take legs 2 and 3 to secure a well deserved victory. 4WD would see a almost perfect domination from Jon Dell running his Associated B44 taking all 4 rounds of qualifying to put himself on pole. In leg 1 of the A final he would have a wheel fall of and Rob Rasey would come through to take the win. Legs 2 and 3 Jon Kept it together as well as his car, to take comfortable win and transfer his TQ to a win.

Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk]

Originally posted here:
Proline Dirt Arena Winter Series Rd1

The organisers of the Czech GP, Lestr Models together with Mibosport, have been in touch to let us know about the International electric touring car event that takes place from the 6th to the 8th of November. With the event run as the Grand Prix Prague in recent years, a name change and change of venue to Moravian city Hrotovice sees a fresh new beginning for this race. In view of the fact that the third round of the Euro Touring Series will take place at the same venue in late January they have adjusted the rules in a such way that this event could also become a warm-up for the ETS race and consequently they are going to use Xenon Max 32 tyres for all classes and Speed Passion Competition 3.0 13,5T motors for the Pro Stock class.

For more information about the Czech GP, and how to enter, visit the event site here.

Go here to see the original:
Czech Grand Prix – Announcement

New from Losi for their 1/8-scale L8ight dirt oval racer are these low profile DLM2 rubber dirt oval racing tires that provide the traction needed for oval racing, and meet the proposed ‘Spec’ racing rules. The tires come mounted on white 1/8 buggy dish wheels, include a precision foam inner liner, and will fit all 1/8-scale vehicles with 17 mm hexes.

Source: Losi [losi.com]

View post:
Losi DLM2 Rubber dirt oval racing tires

After the 6 month summer break, normal micro racing service resumed at Leighton Buzzard for Round 1 of the BRCA Micro Nationals. 68 drivers descended upon the quiet Brooklands School venue to see whether 2008 Champions Mark Stiles and Horizon Hobby’s John Timberlake would be able to retain their 4WD and 2WD crowns respectively.

Pit Talk
Talk was split, throughout the day, between the wonderful hot food served by the Leighton Buzzard club, the new Phat Bodies SC18 ‘Blackjack’ shell, and the noticeable resurgence of the 2WD class. After the 2008 Welsh invasion of the 2WD class, thanks to Craig Harris and Trackside Spares, the Thunder Tiger ZT2 still has the class dominance over its Losi counterpart.

The track laid out by the Leighton Buzzard club was a credit to their hard work and determination to better their previous 2008 National track. After speaking to Chris Hampson during the track build it was clear that the club had done a lot of thorough track build research in the off season. Taking the best points from last years Nationals the track not only allowed both new and experienced racers the chance to get around a fast and ‘jumpy’ course, but also showed thought and consideration at how the track was laid with smooth curved up ramps and a wonderfully constructed wall ride! Leighton Buzzard may have only have raced micros for a few years but they can certainly build a track!

Qualifying

2WD
Controversy reigned strong after the first round of 2WD qualifying after it was found that Danny Conway had entered the 2WD class with an LRP Shark ST running a reversed front one-way diff. cleverly taking advantage of a loophole, or totally against the spirit of the 2WD class? You decide. The jury will be out on this one for sometime I think!

Although running without front driveshafts from round 2 onwards Danny took TQ in each round followed by the mid mounted motor extended Losi Mini-T Pro of Steve Davis and the half-Shark ST-half-Mini-T Pro lovechild of Gavin Stephenson. John Timberlake’s extended Mini-T qualified in 4th place with his best two round scores with Mark Dicks rounding out the top 5 with a near standard Thunder Tiger ZT2 and was the first ‘short 2WD’ not running an extended chassis!

1. Danny Conway – LRP Shark ST
2. Steve Davis – Prototype
3. Gavin Stephenson – Prototype
4. John Timberlake – Losi Mini-T/DT Pro
5. Mark Dicks – Thunder Tiger ZT2

4WD
After a Summer spent racing Rallycross Nationals Mark Stiles wrapped up qualifying after Round 3 with a 1st, 1st, 2nd using his ’09 spec LRP Shark ST, closely followed by the ever consistent Keith Robertson. Keith and Mark put on a stunning display of driving during each round with very few mistakes. If anyone reading this wants to see consistent driving at its best then id advise watching either of these two during a heat! The next 6 drivers down to 8th place were all running the LRP Shark ST chassis with Matthew Drewett qualifying an impressive 9th overall with an FTX Blaze!

Although the majority of racers were running brushless systems Tony Bishop managed to barge his way into 8th overall with a brushed LRP Shark ST, a seriously impressive drive and a well deserved qualifying place!

1. Mark Stiles – LRP Shark ST
2. Keith Robertson – LRP Shark ST
3. Steve Davis – FTX Blaze ST
4. Danny Conway – LRP Shark ST
5. Cris Oxley – LRP Shark ST

Finals

2WD A-Final
Danny Conway sailed off into the distance with an uneventful final, only crashing once to give the others a chance to catch up, whilst Gavin Stephenson battled for 2nd place with Mark Dicks and Stuart Macdonald. Gavin, Mark and Stuart all finished on 16 laps although probably not a true representation of Gavin’s ability but at least he had the points advantage over Steve Davis who retired after lap 9 with technical issues. Mark Dicks took 3rd place with a 0.5sec advantage to Stuart. Nice to see the ZT2 on the podium! After missing the loop on lap 4 due to an over eager marshal John Timberlake found himself against Ricky Macgough and Ashley Roat who kept him honest for the full 5 minutes, with John’s extended Mini-T pipping the ZT2’s to 5th position. With Jonathan Livingstone retiring on lap 7 it was down to National newbie Mat North to bring up the rear in 8th place. Not bad for your first National Mat!

1. Danny Conway – 19laps – LRP Shark ST
2. Gavin Stephenson – 16laps – Prototype
3. Mark Dicks – 16laps – Thunder Tiger ZT2

4WD B-Final
Frogger Products’ Carl Venter dominated the 4WD B-Final with an extremely consistent 20 laps, only 2 seconds ahead of Matt Curtis after 5 minutes who in turn was a full lap ahead of Danny Beattie who came from 9th off the grid to work his way up to an impressive 3rd at the buzzer pipping Mark Everitt to the final step on the podium by 0.5secs! Ben Turner, racing his first ever Micro National, placed his 8.5 Mongoose powered ST to a commendable 5th place in front of Dan Harding and Tony Price with Andrew Dean, Rich Rimmer and Andy Vincent closing out the B-Final.

1. Carl Venter – 20laps – LRP Shark ST
2. Matt Curtis – 20laps – LRP Shark ST
3. Danny Beattie – 19laps – LRP Shark ST

4WD A-Final
As was the case in qualifying Mark and Keith shot off into the distance to do battle with each other, managing to catch the pack up and lap all up to 3rd place after about 15 laps! Although losing 2 seconds on lap 8 to a small mistake Mark managed to pull an impressive lead of 6 seconds to Keith at the buzzer to wrap up his day with the A-Final victory. With Keith finishing in 2nd place it was down to Danny Conway, Tony Bishop and an impressive Matt Drewett to battle it out for 3rd with only 8 seconds separating them as they crossed the line for the final time. 6th was being fought for by Cris Oxley and Chris Bottle who had exchanged places all day through qualifying Cris only managing to pip Chris by 2 seconds. Gavin took 8th overall to Sam Clifton by a single second whilst Steve Davis was again plagued by technical issues and was forced to retire after 15 laps.

1. Mark Stiles – 22laps – LRP Shark ST
2. Keith Robertson – 22laps – LRP Shark ST
3. Danny Conway – 21laps – LRP Shark ST

For full details on how to enter, and all the latest BRCA Micro Section news please go to the new website here.

Source:
BRCA Micro Nationals Rd1 Report