The second round of the East German Championship took place at the fast track of Leipzig. In total 22 driver found the way to Leipzig with Shepherd racer Michael Kammer being one of them to score for the East German Championship.

On Saturday the whole day the track was wet so the qualifying took place on Sunday morning under better weather conditions. In the last round of qualifying Michael secured himself the TQ spot to start the 30-minutes finale from the pole-position in front of reigning German 1/8 Champion Toni Gruber

At the start he could defend his lead chased be Toni Gruber close behind him. After a few laps Toni made a driving error followed by an unscheduled visit in the pitlane which costed a lot of time. Increasing his lead lap by lap Michael never looked back and crossed the finishing line 4 laps in front of Toni with Wilfried Stecker completing the podium.

Source : Team Shephard

Serpent offers a full line of aluminium caster blocks for the Cobra line of cars.

600303   C-hub 10 L+R alu
600304   C-hub 12 L+R alu
600665   C-hub 14 L+R alu
600663   C-hub 16 L+R alu

http://serpent.com/product/600303

Can also be combined with alumnium steerigbblocks #600497

http://serpent.com/product/600497/images/

Source : Serpent

X Factory driver Vinny Pedersoli has swept 13.5 short course at the Southwest Indoor Points Challenge held at Tucson’s great Competition Hobbies track, driving his SCX – 60CF to the win in all six events. Most of the quick drivers in Arizona attended the six-race series held over the past two months and Pedersoli TQed five of the races.

Pedersoli had fastest lap and race time in every race, but in the final event, held Sunday May 19, Vinny re-set his fastest lap and fastest race time, turning a 20.7 to better his previous best of 21.1 en route to lowering his best qualifying time by a full 10 seconds. In the A main, TQ Pedersoli survived early-race battles with several other drivers, including X Factory team mate Alex Krieg, then pulled away in the closing minutes to nail down his perfect record for the series. Krieg, who fought hard with Pedersoli throughout the series, finished second.

After Sunday’s race, Vinny remarked, “My SCX – 60CF has been great since the day I got it, and I have only made a few adjustments as the series went along. Alex’s truck is just as good, and we were the class of the field. This all carbon fiber short course simply rocks!”

Source : X Factory

Team Associated’s RC10B4 has been proven as a world-class competition buggy with five I.F.M.A.R. Worlds Championships and ten R.O.A.R. National Championships. Equally important are the countless club level and regional events that the B4 continues to win.

Designed and raced by the winningest name in RC, Team Associated now brings you this level of high-performance in an electric off road buggy with the RC10B4.2RS Ready-To-Run. The B4.2RS RTR is a fully assembled buggy that shares many of the same parts as the popular RC10B4.2 Factory Team kit. The B4.2RS RTR has also received upgraded features, like the Team Associated XP 2.4GHz radio system and XP metal gear steering servo. Power is supplied by a Reedy 3300kV brushless motor while the XP SC500-BL water-resistant electronic speed control with LiPo cutoff and Deans® connector provides smooth throttle control.

The B4.2RS can also be upgraded as your skills improve and budget allows with the full line of Factory Team B4 hop-ups, as well as Reedy and LRP performance parts. Drive a genuine Team Associated B4.2RS RTR to the top of the podium today, or chances are you’ll just be chasing one.

Source : Team Associated

Team Associated’s RC10T4 has been proven as a world-class competition truck with eight R.O.A.R. National Championships. Equally important are the countless club level and regional events that the T4 continues to win.

Designed and raced by the winningest name in RC, Team Associated now brings you this level of high-performance in an electric off road truck with the T4.2RS Ready-to-Run. The T4.2 RTR is a fully assembled truck that shares many of the same parts as the popular RC10T4.2 Factory Team kit. The T4.2 RTR has also received upgraded features, like the Team Associated XP 2.4GHz radio system and XP metal gear steering servo. Power is supplied by a Reedy 3300kV brushless motor while the XP SC500-BL water-resistant electronic speed control with LiPo cutoff and Deans® connector provides smooth throttle control.

The T4.2RS can also be upgraded as your skills improve and budget allows with the full line of Factory Team T4 hop-ups, as well as Reedy and LRP performance parts. Drive a genuine Team Associated T4.2RS RTR to the winner’s circle today, or chances are you’ll just be chasing one.

Source : Team Associated

JConcepts releases 2 new popular 1/8th truck tires in pre-mounted configuration.

Black Jackets

Success in 1/8th racing rests in having the correct tire at the proper time. The Black Jackets from JConcepts made their debut to success at the Dirt Nitro Challenge and Neobuggy events during the 2012 racing season. The Black Jackets, constructed from very small square pins, provide additional grip on loose conditions with a light amount of dust and debris across the surface. The tread spacing near the outside rows are slightly open allowing maximum flexibility to adhere to smooth and slick surfaces providing a reasonable flex contact patch. The crisp center bar construction provides a wall-like pattern of tread which provides additional forward bite and also resists some high-expansion wear associated with typical small pin tires.

The Black Jackets have a quick and nimble feel on the track which translates into quicker lap-times for the driver in certain conditions. During the 2012 Silver State Nitro Challenge, Ryan Maifield utilized the Black Jackets as his go to tire for the dusty conditions. The small pin construction made them ideal for the bumpy conditions while the center bar support allowed plenty of forward traction to climb up to a top spot on the podium. The Black Jackets inner ribbing features a repeated X-type ribbing which reduces the amount of tire expansion under power while still being soft and cushy for bumps and rutted sections. The new high-performance tire includes JConcepts “Force-1” inserts to finish off a successful package.

Features:
· JConcepts small tread, spread lug design
· Heavy center lug design for increased forward bite
· Ideal spacing for performance and traction
· Tread spacing provides maximum flex for increased grip
· Available pre-mounted, green compound on either white or yellow wheels
· Tires available in Soft (Blue), Super Soft (Green), Mega Soft (Black) compounds
· Include light-weight and durable “Force-1” inserts

Stackers

Speed, longevity and consistency describe the winning, fundamental elements of any 1/8th race or driver characteristics. The Stackers tire by JConcepts is a culmination of successful DNA from the highly popular Hybrids and Crowbars tire tread patterns. The Stackers reveal a heavy center lug design which are supported at the lower base with extra rib features and tiny fillets which provide a heavy forward gripping force. Directional slashes cut into the tread soften the lugs to absorb bumps and also increase the lug flexibility to accommodate loose conditions.

The outer rows are a medium to hefty size lug with alternating positioning to drive forward and side-bite while the Stacked rows actively react with one another to lower the overall wear of the tire. The side-lugs are finished off with a hard angle to ease the transition from forward to side-bite while maintaining a linear feel without edginess in the turns. The Stacker inner ribbing features a repeated X-type ribbing which reduces the amount of tire expansion under power while still being soft and cushy for bumps and rutted sections. The Stackers include JConcepts “Force-1” inserts to finish off an extraordinary tire.

The Stackers in the hands of JConcepts / Team Associated driver Ryan Maifield have already TQ’ed the buggy class at 2012 ROAR Off-Road Fuel Nationals in Oakland Mills, PA and took a quick 30 minute victory at the 2012 JConcepts Clash in Flowood, Mississippi. The Stackers are the real deal when it comes to extended main events and conditions which require speed and longevity.

Features:
· JConcepts Stacked / Hybrid type design
· Heavy center lug design for increased forward bite
· Ideal spacing for performance, traction and wear
· Super aggressive tread including stacked features
· Available pre-mounted, green compound on either white or yellow wheels
· Tires available in Medium (Yellow), Soft (Blue), Super Soft (Green), Mega Soft (Black) compounds
· Include light-weight and durable “Force-1” inserts

Source : JConcepts

The 1st Annual Top Gear Hobbies Spring Shootout was held this past weekend in Clackamas, OR. This is the home track of Team Orion USA Team Manager Joe Pillars. Making the trip out for this event was Team Orion’s current 2wd & 4wd IFMAR World Champion Ryan Cavalieri! The North-West’s fastest racers would all be in attendance to test their skills against the 4-Time World Champ!

Full detail at Team Orion

For the latest column, I want to tell you about the LRP X20 StockSpec motors, our new high-end competition car line batteries and also about look back upon how the Flow speed control performed in some of the world’s most prestigious races.

Success Story Flow speed controls
As I write this column today, I was just informed that we can add another prestigious title to our collection of victories with the LRP Flow WorksTeam BL speed control. LRP and Associated team driver Ryan Maifield just won the Cactus Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. In three thrilling A-Mains, Ryan secured the victory in the competitive Truck Modified class, ahead of Ryan Cavalieri and Jörn Neumann.

Full Column at LRP

Serpent introduces as optional supershort SS-RCM shocks for the Serpent 747 combined with lower shocktowers.

The Serpent designed SuperSort RCM shocks, do NOT require new shock-springs. You can continue to use the shockabsorber springs you have always been using.

The volume of the shocks has also remained the same as before ! The shortening has bene achieved by a lower cap, a shorter seal-pack and lower balljoint mainly.

The SS-RCM shocks are about 4.5mm lower than the current shocks, so the shocktowers are lowered at same rate, to lower the center of gravity even more.

To make the upgrade you need:
804305 Shocktower carbon 747 FR low
804306 Shocktower carbon 747 RR low
160124 Shock set RCM-SS (2) x 2

Depending on the version of wishbones you are using, you may need to grind a small area on the wishbone, where the spring-cup may touch. Otherwise no further mods are needed and assembly is easy !

Source : Serpent

Invitation to all the drivers coming to the XRAY Challenge Italy in Roma:

The organiser of the XRAY Challenge invites everyone to an XRAY Party in Restaureant at the Track on Saturday 1st June. All XRAY drivers and their friends are welcomed. 25€ entrance includes dinner and Lucky Draw ticket.

Source : XRAY