Italian Efra GP

Last weekend took place the Italian Efra GP at Fiorano Track.

Lamberto Collari TQ’ed followed by Robert Piestch, Andrea Cristiani and Walter Salemi.

In the final Lamberto Collari, Andrea Cristiani and Robin D’Hondt had the best start, while on the dirty side of the track Walter Salemi managed to overtake Robert Pietsch. After a few minutes Collari was losing some ground due to a broken 2nd gear pinion.Daniele Ileasi Managed to make the whole final without Tyre changing.

Final Classification:

1. Pietsch Robert – 170 laps in 45:11.842
2. Cristiani Andrea – 169 laps in 45:03.079
3. Ielasi Daniele – 166 laps in 45:01.814
4. Pesenti Mattia – 165 laps in 45:08.922
5. Salemi Walter – 165 laps in 45:09.923
6. D’Hondt Robin – 160 laps in 43:33.196 – Motonica – Nova – Merlin Fuel
7. Romagnoli Michele – 128 laps in 34:22.767
8. Lorenzi Andrea – 124 laps in 45:04.992
9. Collari Lamberto – 104 laps in 45:14.092
10.Solaroli Stefano – 48 laps in 14:38.769

Full report in Redrc.net

Tags: Efra, Italy, Onroad

Netherlands 1/8 Onroad Championship Rd. 1

Robin D’Hondt reports from the 1st Round of Netherlands Nats.

The first round of the Netherlands championship was held at the track of Apeldoorn. Weather forecast wasn’t looking good, however it was dry on Saturday rain came on Sunday to bring an interesting scene in the final.

My arrival at the track on Saturday was much later as I wanted it to be due to traffic. I wanted to test many things but in the end I only had 2 hours of testing to make a good setup. The day before I setuped my car with the setup I think would of worked on the track (small track so high droop, much camber change, much offset) and … it worked !

With some minor adjustments to the car I was driving the same laptimes like John Ermen and Rick Vrielinck. So, happy with the cars performance but still having idea’s to make it better we had to call it a day because after 17 o’clock no engines can be started anymore.

Sunday morning it all looked rather wet, apparently it rained at night but with the sky having a blue colour it looked like qualifying 2 and 3 would be dry. And so it was but from everyone qualifying 3 would be the one to go fast.

Top 4 qualifying results:

1                             Ilia van Gastel   29           7:03.787

2                             Rick Vrielijnck    29           7:09.869

3                             John Ermen       29           7:10.519

4                             Robin D´hondt  29           7:11.680

Starting the quarters and semi’s it starting raining again so at the same time everyone started packing in there electronics for a possible wet final.

For about an hour before the start of our final it didn’t rain anymore and I had a constant eye on the tires that the people were using in the semi’s, Aqua’s seemed to work fine and this I also chose to start the final with. But with the track almost dry enough to run normal tires Ilia, Rick and me were about the only ones to start on aqua’s I think. Eventually it turned out to be the good choice.

The people on normal tires were not so much slower but had a difficult time driving which made them end up off track sometimes.  In the first lap I passed John, Rick and Ilia and together we drove away from the rest of the pack, after 5 minutes I had a small lead over Rick and at that time my mechanic Gunther informed me the people on normal tires were getting faster and faster laptimes. So we decided to change tires on the first fuelstop.

Back on track it was hard for a couple of laps to keep the pace in but soon the tires started to work really fine. With all the chaos of the wet track in the beginning and the tire stops in beginning of the race I had no idea anymore who was on which position. Half race my mechanic Gunther informed me that I was in first postion with 2 laps in front of the second. All I had to do now was keep it on track and bring it home.

Final results:

1                      Robin D´Hondt  109         30:06.239 – Motonica – Nova – Merlin Fuel

2                             Rick Vrielijnck        108         30:11.032

3                             Steven Cuypers      106         30:05.877

4                             Ilia van Gastel        106         30:06.884

Thanks to my sponsors:

Motonica, Sanwa, Merlin fuel, Team C, LRP electronics, Ghiant RC car Colours

And offcourse thanks to my meccanics that make this possible:

My dad Rony D’hondt and Gunther Van Staey

Thanks to Robin for the infos

Tags: Netherlands, Onroad

RC Buggy & Truggy Masters – Athens

Last weeken the Arena Race track in Athens held the 2nd round of the Greek R/C Buggy & Truggy Masters.

Stelios Madianos (Losi – Picco – Merlin Fuel) took the first palce in “B” categoy in both scales buggy and Truggy.

Karousos Aris (Losi – Picco – Merlin Fuel) took the 6th overall place in Truggy scale, in a race where about 35% of drivers chose Merlin Fuel.

Info: velocitymodels.gr

Tags: Buggy, Greece, Truggy

Catalunya Reg 2010 1:8 Off-Road

The opening round for Reg. Cataluya Off-Road Championship, took place last weekend on Sta. Oliva Track.

The race was clearly dominated by 2008 Champion, Robert Battle during qualifying,  and also in the A-Main

Final Result:

1º Robert Batlle – Associated – Nova

2º Alex Calatayud – Associated – Reedy – Merlin Fuel

3º Jaume Figuls – Losi – Ninja

4º Carlos Pineda – Associated – Orion – Merlin Fuel

5º Albert Navarro – Bergonzoni – Axe

Pics: Picasa – Miguel Ángel

Tags: Catalunya, Off Road

GP Montpellier 2010

Last weekend took place the Montpellier GP in France.

Most of the European biggest names in 1/8th buggy attended the anual race. Yannick Aigoin TQ’ed ahead Reanud Savoya and Daniel Vega in his first race with the new Agama.

The final results:

Pré-FINALE	PLACE	NOM et PRÉNOM	RÉSULTAT
FIN	1	AIGOIN Yannick	1°/ 105 T 01:00:26.17
FIN	2	BAYER Martin	2°/ 105 T 01:00:30.11
FIN	3	AIGOIN Jérôme	3°/ 104 T 01:00:09.69
FIN	4	VEGA Daniel	4°/ 101 T 00:58:57.15
FIN	5	HERNANDEZ Borja	5°/ 101 T 01:00:00.50
FIN	6	TORTORICI Davide	6°/ 100 T 01:00:25.89
FIN	7	FERRATO Bastien	7°/ 98 T 01:00:10.99
FIN	8	PITTET Jérémy	8°/ 98 T 01:00:30.84
FIN	9	SAVOYA Renaud	9°/ 96 T 01:00:00.12
FIN	10	BATTLE Robert	10°/ 95 T 00:55:52.69
FIN	11	EZAZIAN Jérôme	11°/ 90 T 01:00:09.07
FIN	12	CRAGG Neil	12°/ 6 T 00:03:29.31
1/2 B	13	SARTEL Jérôme	7°/ 34 T 00:20:11.29
1/2 B	14	FARINA Michel	8°/ 34 T 00:20:21.38
1/2 B	15	REYNAUD Nicolas	9°/ 34 T 00:20:29.81
1/2 B	16	RODRIGUEZ Nicolas	10°/ 34 T 00:20:29.91
1/2 A	17	BERMUDEZ Cyril	7°/ 33 T 00:20:09.29
1/2 A	18	DEROCH Stéphane	8°/ 33 T 00:20:14.05
1/2 A	19	PINEDA Carlos	9°/ 33 T 00:20:15.21

This vide shows the “A” half final.

Related links

GP Montpellier 2009 – Merlin News

GP Montpellier en Automodelisme.com

GP Montpellier en RCmag

Pictures: automodelisme.com

Video: RCmag.com

Tags: France, Montpellier

TOY FAIR 2010

Next week our team will be in Nuremberg Fair.

We will exhibit at HALL  7 / Stand F25

We will be pleased to meet you in our Stand where we will introduce the new 2010 Range, cinluding the exclusive HI-RES Additive Package, and the new OFF-ROAD BLEND MERLIN ADVANCE 25, ADVANCE 33 and ADVANCE 46%

Tags: Toy Fair 2010

Highlights 2009

In this vide, you can watch some highlights about 2009 season. Also a small referal to new developments for 2010.

Stay tuned for 2010 new developments.

Tags: Team, Videos

Racing in Athens – A new Merlin Victory

Last Sunday the Club Aspropyros – Arena Track , near Athens held the 1/10 Traction XPERIENCE Race for 1/10 On-road scale.

The young Lykaris Vasilis, whos is a real newcommer (firts year racing), took the absolute victory, despite he was starting the race in “B” level.

Final Result Top 3:

1. Lykaris Vasilis + X-Ray/Merlin Fuel 96 L – 30:07.291
2. Kisrkos Panayiotis Kyosho – 96 L – 30:15.407
3. Vlachopoulos Marios Kyosho – 93 L – 30:10.520

Tags: Greece, Onroad, Racing

Spanish 1:8 Onroad – Final Round

Last weekend took place the 4th and last rd for Spanish 1:8 On Road in Club Arca (Madrid)

Merlin Team Driver, Oscar Cabezas took the victory, TQ and overall Championship.

Óscar dominated the race from the early beginning, being the only driver able to set 18 laps in the recently renewed Arca Track.  Moreover he won the 4 classifying heats.

However the Main final, was not as easy as the final result shows. Óscar had a flame out in the first laps, that made him change the strategy and even run out of fuel in the middle of the final. Nevertheless, his pace was so strong and consistent that he could keep the 1st position until the the final flag.

With this Victory, Óscar claims the absolute title, after 2 victories and 2 second places.  It was a challenge for Oscar to win again the Nat Championship after having changed his car and engine. (Motonica – Novarossi).  So after some adaptation time he is again on top.

Josué Artiles, has finished on 2nd in both, the last race and the overall championship. In fact, both them, Oscar and Josue have finished the regular season with the same figure; 1.893 points. However Oscar’s worst classification was a 2nd while  Artiles worst was a 3rd. This fact gives an idea about the tight fight between both drivers that has been constant in recent years.

The Top 10 Result:

1. Óscar Cabezas (Motonica/Novarossi/Merlin Fuel) 146 laps – 45:12.388
2. Josué Artiles (Mugen / Ninja) 144 L – 45:07.313
3. Carlos Peracho (Sheperd Velox) 143 L – 45:04.494
4. Sergio Montesinos – 143 L – 45:09.572
5. Toni Mateo – 143 L – 45:13.833
6. Nacho López – 143 L – 45:16.219
7. Dani Vega – 143  L  – 45:17.003
8. Joaquín Villegas – 140 L – 45:08.358
9. Francisco Lara – 102  L – 40:59.886
10. Víctor González – 91 L – 39:43.929

So that, this year Merlin Fuel is the winner in the most popular Onroad scales, 1/8 with Óscar Cabezas and Rodrigo Pahissa in 1/10.

Tags: 1:8, Onroad, Racing

Spanish 200 mm. Final Round – Rodrigo Pahissa, New Champion

The 5th and final round for Spanish 1/10 200 mm. took place last weekend in Madrid at Club ARCA Track.

It was an extremely interesting round, since the overall title fight was really tight involving more than 10 drivers with real chance to win the aboslubte Spanish Nat Championship.

The weekend looked great for racing, sunny and over 24ºC. Over 80 drivers attended this last round 2009 season in Madrid.

The Saturday qualifying round showed a close fight for the TQ, with the Top 3 almost in the same laptime and a fratricidal duel between Pahissa Brothers.

Saturday Qualifying:

1. Rodrigo Pahissa – 22 laps – 7:13.346 – Xray/Merlin Fuel

2. Iñaky Pahissa – 22 laps – 7:13.395 Xray/Merlin Fuel

3. Josep Gradolí 22 laps -  7:14.744 Xray/Sirio/

4. Javier Hidalgo 22 laps – 7:19:696 Serpent/Max

Coming from semi-finals Xabier Arana, Juan Hidalgo, Sergi Franch, Victor Peláez, Luis Cayetano and Toni Mur completed the starting grid.

One of the main candidates for the Spanish Championship, Johnny Pastor, finished earlier than expected in semi-final A.

The main final was  really dispuetd. Iñaky Pahissa dominated the firsts laps, while his brother Rodrigo was having some trouble after having rolled, running in last position.

After the second refuelling Javier Hidalgo was the leader and Rodrigo Pahissa was climbing  up positions until he managed to reach the first place, keeping a small advantage ahead Gradoli.

So finally, Rodrigo Pahissa made it and won the race 9 seconds ahead Josep Gradolí and Juan Hidalgo completed the podium in third position.

Final Result:

1. Rodrigo Pahissa – 89 laps – 30:10.238 (Xray – Max – Merlin Fuel)
2. Josep Gradoli – 89 laps – 30:19.583 (Kyosho – Sirio)
3. Juan Hidalgo – 88 laps – 30:08.346 (Team Magic – Picco)
4. Xabier Arana – 88 laps – 30:11.997 (Kyosho – Novarossi)
5. Victor Peláez – 86 laps – 29:59.568 (Xray – Max – Merlin Fuel)
6. Sergi Franch – 86 laps – 30:04.026 (Kyosho – Merlin Fuel)
7. Iñaki Pahissa – 84 laps – 30:13.455 (Xray – Max – Merlin Fuel)
8. Luis Cayetano – 81 laps – 30:02.526
9. Tony Mur Ortiz – 67 laps – 26:43.541
10. Javier Hidalgo – 53 laps – 19:12.453 (Serpent – Max)

With his Victory, Rodrigo Pahissa is the absubte Spanish Nat Champion. Moreover he is the youngest ever 1:10 winner with just 16 y.o.

Tags: 1:10, Onroad