After winning the last national about a month ago, I had good hopes for this race.  After 2 years we where back at one of my favorite Dutch tracks, RC Hotwheels in Deventer.

Practice started really good for me, I didn’t practice on this track like others but when I put my S400 on the track it was really good. I had some push on power in the fast corners but besides from that it handled really well.

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The Aprilia Bokor Cup took place in Hungary last weekend and Serpent’s off road project development driver Jorn Neumann took the victory to claim the very nice prize of an Aprilia Scooter!!

Held at the Broker-Ring, which is 100km from Budapest, the 1:8 off road race saw Jorn running the prototype buggy from Serpent which was running a number of different parts to that used at the Euros in Crete last month with Jorn reporting the new parts made the car much better.

In the practice Jorn and the buggy’s designer Gerd Strenge worked a lot on diff & shock oils and tires. For the Qualifying they had found the perfect set up with Jorn was able to TQ 3 of 5 rounds.

In the Semi Final it was again Neumann that took the top spot for the 45 minute Main. A good fuel strategy allowed the Serpent driver to pull away from the field and at the flag he crossed the line  a massive 2 laps up on second placed Martin Bayer to claim the win and the impressive first prize of a Aprilia Scooter.

Afterwards the German off road ace said, ‘It was a awesome event and the Bokor team were really helpful and welcoming. The organisation was perfect and what a cool prize for winning the race, an Aprilia Scooter. I hope that I can come back next year.’

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Promising young Swiss driver Shasa Lackner took the biggest title of his career on Sunday when he was crowned the 2008 EFRA European 1:8 Onroad Junior Champion in Valencia, Spain.

The Serpent 960 ‘08 driver finished a very creditable 29th overall from the 129 car field to claim the title for the highest placed driver under 17 years of age.

In the overall result Serpent, who had the biggest representation in the Main final with four 960 ’08s, enjoyed a podium finish thanks to another young talent Andrea Cristiani from Italy who took third missing out on the race victory by just 2 seconds.

Unfortunately incidents for the other Serpent drivers Massimo Fantini, who TQ’d the race, Oscar Cabezas, who lead the final in the early stages, and Michael Salven ended their challenges for the title.

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Serpent factory driver Massimo Fantini has TQ’d his 960 ‘08 for the European Championships which are taking place in Valencia, Spain, this week.

The World Championship Top Qualifier and former European Champion set the pace in the second of the four qualification heats at the Autet circuit making the most of the cooler track conditions on Saturday morning to record the fastest 5 minute run narrowly missing out on 18 laps.

Joining Fantini in the Top 4 at the end of qualifying to ensure at least two Serpent 960s in the Main Final was Serpent Driver Development team member Oscar Cabezas driving his Mega powered example.  The Spanish ace also recorded the fastest lap of the event todate with a new lap record time of 17.379 seconds.

Full coverage of the 2008 EFRA European Championships can be found on www.redrc.net

Source : Serpent

This year was the 31st running of the Texas Biggie, one of the longest running races in the US, where Serpent driver Jeremy Cupps came away with the race victory driving his 960 ‘08.  Jeremy sent us this short report on the event -

We had a very relaxing and laid back weekend, as always its nice to get to hang out with fellow racers, and help the new guys with their cars.

The biggie format is one of my favourites as we run 6 rounds of qualifing, 3 on Friday, 3 on Saturday, and the mains on Sunday so you had plenty of time to get everything ready to go.

After the first day I was in the second qualifying position, by just a few seconds so it was very close, but I was still trying a few things, and so were my competitors. The first run on the second day of qualifing is usually the one that counts, its when the track is cooliest and thus fastest. My main competitor and I were on new TQ runs, we were seperated by less than a second when the buzzer sounded, and I held on for the top starting spot. I was completely happy with how the 960 08 drove, it was smooth and predictable, I could put the car were ever I wanted it to go, very easy to drive and I could not ask for anymore as the car was amazing.

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Serpent Driver Development team member Kyle Branson notched yet another great win in the BRCA British 1:10 200mm National Championship as he took his 720 ‘08 to victory in Round 6 at Snetterton over the weekend.

While Saturday’s practice day started off wet, the track dried after about 2 hours allowing Branson to get in some valuable testing ahead of race day.

Sunday comprised of four rounds of qualifying with ideal weather conditions.  Fastest in each of the first two rounds of heats, Branson was in the TQ position and in the third run was on for a better time until he got hit by a backmarker allowing Mark Gilliland to take the No.1 spot.

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Serpent are pleased to announce the release of our long awaited 1/12th scale chassis, the S120. Made using high quality components throughout, we have worked within the confines of the scale and class rules to produce a unique, high performance and fully adjustable chassis.
Some of the car’s highlights include:
- One piece CNC machined aluminium rear pod.
- 2.5mm thick Carbon fibre chassis.
- T-bar chassis.
- Laterally mounted monoshock.
- Centrally mounted tweak adjuster.
- Central main-shock.
- Completely adjustable front suspension.
- Pivot ball mounted steering blocks.
- Rear ball differential.
- Lightweight graphite rear axle.
- Adjustable ride height front and rear.

The S120 will be available to buy from early August.

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Last weekend the German 1:8 Onroad Nationals took place in Ettlingen where Team Serpent claimed a number of National titles with the 960 ‘08.

In the Senior Championships it was Michael Salven who took top honours with his Mega powered Xceed shod Serpent.  There was also title success for the car, which was designed by Salven himself, as young Toni Gruber won the Junior Championship also using Mega engines and Xceed tyres.

In Class 2, Serpent enjoyed further success as Jörg Wäldle claimed overall honours while Philip Kremer won the Youth Master title, Timo Schröder became Junior Champion and the Senior Championship went to Andreas Salzburg.

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Round 3 of Swiss National Championships was held at the Sitterdorf track where competitors were greeted by 30 degree plus temperatures and Simon Kurzbuch took his Serpent 960 ‘08 to victory.

In Qualifying victory for Kurzbuch didn’t look on the cards as he could only manage the 13th fastest time with Shasa Lackner the top Serpent in 3rd position.

Saturday night a great effort was made by Kurzbuch and his team to change the set-up on his car ahead of Sunday’s Semi-Finals and it would work.

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Clive Connolly is the 2008 Irish 1:8 National Champion winning the title in perfect style on Sunday with victory at the St.Annes track at the controls of his Serpent 960 ‘08.

The defending 2007 Champion, Connolly successfully retained his National title with the perfect score despite one round remaining in the 6 round championship.

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