Race report by Bob Williams
Ben Williams & new Mirage driver gave his XRAY 808 it’s first competetive run at the Welsh Motor show event last weekend, With a TQ & win so pleasing himself with the drive & the crowd with his show.

60+ drivers were invited to attend the inaugral Welsh Motor Show were COBRA had been asked to put on a competetive ‘demo’. The track was fairly smooth, level grass with a couple of wooden jumps and table tops to add some more interest. Laptimes were in the region of 17-18 secs so the track was quite small but still offered its challanges.

The format was a for a 5 min practice followed by 4 x 10 min qualifiers on the Saturday followed by a further 5 min practice & 4 x 10 min qualifiers and bump-up Finals on the Sunday. An ideal format to get some set-up work done.

Saturday broke to good sunshine and Ben was on the pace straight away Setting TQ in Round 1, improving it in Round 2, and finally setting what would prove to be an unbeatable 33 laps in 10m 01.6 in Round 4. Nearly 2 laps clear of 2nd.

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Race report by Paul Lemieux
The 4th annual IIC was held last week at the Rivera Hotel and Casino located in the middle of the famous Las Vegas strip. There was a great feeling of history being back close to where the race started at the Stardust a few years ago. When I showed up everyone was eager to race and have a fun week in Vegas.

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The Norwegian National Championship was held in Kodal (170km south of Oslo) on the first weekend of August. Forty drivers signed up for this race, but only 33 showed up mostly due to the poor weather forecast.

On Friday the weather was great with a temperature of 25°C and sunny skies. During practice on Friday I was setting the pace together with Adrian Berntsen, Frank Andersen, and Georg Ellingsen. Then we woke up on Saturday and it was raining cats and dogs! The weather forecast showed 17mm rain and a high risk of thunderstorms. This really posed a problem, since I was leaving for the WC in Portugal on Wednesday, and the car would probably need to be completely rebuilt.

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Qualifying heats were held on Saturday, August 16 and a points system was used to determine qualification. After four rounds the qualifying the results for the semi-finals would be determined.

The semi-finals began after a short rain shower that groomed the track well and kept the dust levels down. It almost seemed like it was a battle in the main final and drivers were determined to finish in the Top 5 to secure a place in the main 60min final.

The organizers decided on a 12-car final. After the 60min battle the results were as follows:

1. Glenn Phuah XRAY XB808 (SIN)
2. Meen Vejrak XRAY XB808 (THA)
3. Ben Seet (SIN)

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Column #21 - Euros + Euros + Worlds
The summer is here. For most people, the summer means holidays, parties, beach time and relaxation. But for me the summer means a completely full racing calendar, a lot of nitro smell, dust, stress, excitement, and thrilling moments. With the racing schedule on my calendar I knew that we would not be bored during the summer at all…………

Full Detail at XRAY

Race report by Martin Hudy
The 2008 World Championship for 1/10 nitro was held on August 7-16 in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. This was the first World Championship for XRAY in this class and debut for the NT1. Although it was the first World Championship, the NT1 was the most popular vehicle at this race among the 35 cars in the field…..

Full report at XRAY

Race report by Ricardo Monteiro
Round 2 of the Luso-Galaico series was held in Spain at the track of A Forna, Porrino. The results of the trophy challenge was still unknown, with Cristian leading the points and me in 2nd place. The Spanish tracks are very different from the ones that we have in Portugal, and I realized on Saturday that it was going to be a very tight race.

In all of the qualifiers the result was always the same. I qualified in 3rd place and headed to the semi-final A with the number two. In the semi-final I had a good start, getting into 1st in the opening laps. During the semi-final I flamed out but because of my lead of a lap I maintained the spot and won the first semi-final. I waited for the results of the 2nd semi-final.

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Race report by Suwardi Suliandy
Round 3 of the 2008 Indonesia 2008 EP Touring National Champhionship was held at the JITC Senayan track, using a smaller track which is more suitable for electric touring races. Traction was low as usual, and dusty. The organizer sprayed some sugar water before the race start to gain more traction.

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The Ballajura show in Perth, perfect venue for Radio Rally Club to run one of its toughest races on the calendar.

West Australia’s best drivers turned up and the competition was…hot… everyone pushing up to and some over the limit.

Qualifying had some extremely close fights, one mistake proving costly to those who did not allow for the track breaking up. Haley`s XRAY XB808 came away with TQ, its weight advantage paying dividens on the rough terrain.

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Round 6 of the Just Hobby Nitro Challenge kicked off at 10:00AM. The weather was good with a slight overcast in the morning. Qualifying started off with three rounds of 7-minute heats. All the drivers were trying to put in good runs in the heats in order to climb to a higher main.
Qualifying was run in a fast and furious pace with five XRAY NT1 cars in the top 10 positions.
Tom Goh (NT1) got pole position, followed by James Loke (NT1) and Jesse Wu (NT1). This impressive qualifying was a result of exchanging setup tips among the XRAY drivers.

Qualifying order:
1) Tom Goh XRAY NT1
2) James Loke XRAY NT1
3) Jesse Wu XRAY NT1
4) Ben Seet
5) Nelson Lee
6) Leslie Baker XRAY NT1
7) Noordin
8) Don Ng XRAY NT1
9) Hengster
10) Mazlan Mazz

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