Mark Green Wins BRCA 1/8 Rd. 2

—– News from RedRC —–

The second round of this years BRCA 1/8th circuit national championship was located at the famous Wombwell circuit, which is part of a large Karting complex. This track is loved by all the drivers since it contains a combination of slow and fast flowing corners which is a joy to drive when driven on the edge. The weather forecast did not look too good for Sunday, but thankfully it was a dry weekend. With time restrictions in place due to the noise levels, the Committee decided to run open practice with a lunch break. This made the track at times very congested with a lot of fast cars easily catching up the slower cars and damage was inevitable.

The main issue happened mid afternoon when Richard Boult accidentally tripped and fell onto the main straight whilst marshaling a team mates car and was hit on the leg by defending champion Tim Wood which total destroyed his car. The result was an immediate halt to the practice session while first aiders attended to his leg and an ambulance was called. The outcome was a bad gash to his leg and he was driven home later that night for rest. This however could have been a lot worse, but the committee first aid representatives have to be commended for a job well done while the ambulance arrived.

The Drivers in attendance was again higher than expected and it was good to welcome a small minority of 10th IC drivers who have decided to try the Formula One section of this hobby. The drivers were all poised for setting a banker time in the first round since rain was a strong possibility at this stage. In Heat 4, it was the returning Mike Walton with his Mugen MRX4 / Sirio chassis who at this stage topped the time sheets prior to the last heat. With a host of top drivers setting banker times, the first round ended yet again with Mark Green on TQ with Mike Walton an impressive second from Richard Hicklin and Andy North.

In the next couple of rounds, the order at the top started to take a familiar look with Tim Wood and Andy North establishing themselves as the main rivals to take victory from the ever dominant Mark Green. The fight for the remaining A final places was a tight affair with anybody from the 4th heat in with a chance with a late charge but fortunately Richard Hicklin and Neil Diver had just done enough in previous rounds to gain a final position 9th and 10th respectively.

The top 10 after qualification are as follows.
1. Mark Green – Serpent – Novarossi – Merlin Fuel 18 Laps 311 secs
2. Tim Wood – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 300 secs
3. Andy North – Mugen – Reds – 17 Laps 302 secs
4. John Carr – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 306 secs
5. Michael Walton – Mugen – Sirio – 17 Laps 308 secs
6. Jason Frost – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 309 secs
7. Andy Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 17 Laps 309 secs
8. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica – Max – 17 Laps 310 secs
9. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 311 secs
10.Neil Diver – Shepherd – IDM – 17 Laps 312 secs

The final was a procession up front with the top 3 slowly pulling out comfortable leads over each other and an even bigger gap to fourth position after an initial threat from John Carr until he made an error on lap 3. The main battle was for second position with Andy North maintaining a consistent gap to Tim with the possibility of Tim making an extra fuel stop towards the end. However, Tim just had enough of a lead and when Andy was forced to make a splash and dash at the end gifted Tim second place. Out front, Mark Green drove a steady and consistent race and on this current form, it is looking inevitable that he will regain the title at the end of the season.

The final results are as follows:
1. Mark Green – Serpent – Novarossi – Merlin Fuel 101 Laps
2. Tim Wood – Serpent – Mega – 99 Laps
3. Andy North – Mugen – Reds – 98 Laps
4. Jason Frost – Serpent – Mega – 96 Laps
5. John Carr – Serpent – Mega – 93 Laps
6. Neil Diver – Shepherd – IDM – 75 Laps
7. Andy Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 73 Laps
8. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica – Max – 51 Laps
9. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega – 47 Laps
10.Michael Walton – Mugen – Sirio – 33 Laps

News from REDRC –>  LINK TO FULL REPORT

Tags: 1:8, Onroad

Cto. de España 1/8 Pista. Victoria de Óscar Cabezas

El trazado de Almusafes (Autet) acogió el pasado fin de semana la segunda prueba puntuable para el Cto. de España 1/8 pista.

El buen tiempo, seco y soleado, acompañó la prueba. Óscar Cabezas, marcó el ritmo de las clasificatorias, seguido por Nacho López y Sergio Montesinos.

La final ha sido una de las más bonitas de los últimos tiempos con una lucha increíble entre el actual campeón de España Oscar Cabezas con su Motonica-Novarossi-Merlin y el valenciano Nacho López con su nuevo Serpent. La táctica, el pilotaje y algunos ingredientes en forma de pequeños problemas y un engrasamiento del motor de Oscar determinaron un resultado final apretadísimo, venciendo la prueba Oscar y cruzando después Nacho a sólo dos segundos. Los diez minutos finales fueron de infarto principalmente para los que estábamos en el pit lane. La tercera posición ha sido para el madrileño  Sergio Montesinos que pasó a sólo dos segundos de Nacho. Una final muy emocionante de las que hacen afición y de la que disfrutaron todos los presentes. Con este resultado Oscar Cabezas se sitúa como el nuevo líder del Campeonato de España 2010.

La Plus 40 fue ganada por otro piloto de Merlin, Vicente Eres con lo cual la marca hace un doblete en el Nacional en la modalidad más rápida y exigente con los motores.

Clasificación final:

1-      Oscar Cabezas   Motonica-Novarossi-Merlin Fuel

2-      Nacho López   Serpent

3-      Sergio Montesinos    Enneti-Azor

4-      Víctor González    Kyosho

5-      Joaquín Villegas    Sepherd

6-      Alberto González   Sepherd

7-      Carlos Echarri   Motonica-Novarossi

8-      Fernando Castillo   Motonica

9-      Carlos Peracho   Sepherd

10-   Paco Lobo   Serpent-Novarossi

+ 40

1-Vicente Eres   Mugen-Merlin Fuel

2-Ricardo Royo

3-Francisco Lara

Tags: 1:8, Onroad

Netherlands 1/8 NK 2 at Ruchphen

The second round for 1/8 Onroad Netherlands Nats, was held last weekend at Ruchpen track.

A really interesting and exciting race were Ilia Van Gsatel made his first race as Merlin Team Driver.

Robin D’Hondt has written this text for us:

“Hey Everybody,

The second round of the Netherlands championship was held at the fast track of Rucphen. Weather forecast looked good, we only had a bit of rain on Friday night, which made training on Saturday morning impossible, but for the rest of the weekend the dark clouds would stay away from the track.

On Saturday afternoon I came on track and the setup felt pretty nice to begin with. I didn’t changed anything at first because I wanted more grip to come, so in the late afternoon I only started changing some small things like down stops, front springs and rear arm positions.

The later it got, the faster everyone went and soon we were with 5-6 people driving lap times in or close to 13.0 (track record 12.8 I was told).

On Sunday morning the first qualify came, and checking the lap times of the lower heats I saw that the track was faster than the day before. The car felt like a train on rails and the engine was a rocket. Like I said the track record is 12.8 and in this qualify I drove a 12.858, sadly however none could tell me the last 2 digits of the current track record.

First qualy:

1                             Robin D’Hondt  32L         7:05.942

2                             John Ermen       32L         7:06.343

3                             Ilia van Gastel   32L         7:08.277

4                             Rick Vrielijnck    32L         7:12.476

The second qualify both Ilia and me had a 7:04, Rick made his time better by 2 seconds and John hit problems. Results after 2 qualify’s:

1                             Ilia van Gastel   32           7:04.098

2                             Robin D’Hondt  32           7:04.615

3                             John Ermen       32           7:06.343

4                             Rick Vrielijnck    32           7:10.601

In the third and last qualify I was able to better my time by 0,3 seconds which was still 0,3 seconds to slow to have TQ in the final. So results after the 3th qualify and hereby the 4 direct qualified:

1                             Ilia van Gastel   32           7:04.098

2                             Robin D’Hondt  32           7:04.334

3                             John Ermen       32           7:06.343

4                             Rick Vrielijnck    32           7:10.055

The final was completed by 3 persons from each half final. Which where: Gunther van Staey, Michiel Renting, Peter Ceyssens, Jordy Blok, Stefan Koenders, Tim Bosmann.

In the start of the final I could jump to first place as Ilia had a rough start. But soon he joined me just behind my rear tires and away we went from the pack for never to be seen again. In the first half of the race we were changing places a lot… sometimes we even past each other 2 or 3 times in 1 lap! I think we both could feel the eyes of the spectators, sometimes I even heard the people around the track yelling when it got really close.

And the fighting continued till Ilia made his tire stop first, 4 minutes later it was my turn to change tires but at least I had 4 minutes to get heart rate down again.

Tires on and out the pits I went, next to an orange car (Ilia off course) we went side by side onto the straight, but I wasn’t counting on having so less steering with the big cold tires so Ilia could take first position and could slowly pull away from me as I was getting used to the fresh tires.

I was about 10 meter behind and as hard as I was trying to close the gap I wasn’t getting closer.

The second from last pit stop Ilia had to make a Stop and Go for refueling over the line, so he thought it was over and out … until after the last pitstop I suddenly heard “Car 2 stop and go bad refueling”.

That’s me…  fast into the pits, stop => GO, I could come on track in front of Ilia with a small gap between us, Ilia was pushing hard to get it close and he got it close. We finished over the line 0,3 seconds apart.

Final Result:

1                             Robin D’Hondt  132         30:09.386 – Motonica – Gimar – Merlin Fuel

2                             Ilia van Gastel   132         30:09.713 – Serpent – Orion – Merlin Fuel

3                             Rick Vrielijnck    130         30:13.054

4                             Gunther van Staey         129         30:04.446

5                             John Ermen       128         30:06.127

6                             Peter Ceyssens                126         30:05.162

7                             Stefan Koenders             125         30:10.306

8                             Tim Bosmann    120         30:08.299

9                             Michiel Renting                87           21:56.008

10                           Jordy Blok                          DNS

I would like to thank my sponsors: Motonica, JP GIMAR, Merlin fuel, Sanwa Airtronics,

LRP electronics, Ghiant RC car Colours, Team C and Hobby Pro

And special thanks to my mechanics My Dad Rony D’hondt and Lody Haling for giving me the bit more advantage in the fast fuel stops and tire change.

Tags: 1:8, Netherlands, Onroad

Victoria de Robin D’Hondt en el Cto. Holanda 1/8 pista.

Se celebraba el día 9 la segunda prueba del nacional de 1/8 pista holandés en el circuito de Ruchphen.

El sábado por la mañana el circuito apareció mojado y el tiempo de práctica quedó reducido a la mínima expresión. Afortunadamente a media mañana la pista comenzó a secarse y el resto de la carrera se pudo disputar con normalidad.
Ilia Van Gastel, reciente 7º clasificado en el Warm-Up del cto. de Europa de este año, hacía su debut oficial con Merlin Fuel, después de haber empleado ya Pro-Racing 25 en el Warm-Up del Cto. de Europa y en varios entrenamientos.

Van Gastel, debutó en con Merlin Fuel en el Cto. de Holanda consiguiendo la pole en una cerrada lucha con Robin D’Hondt, que sería el aperitivo de la emocionante final que nos brindaron ambos pilotos.  Apenas 3 décimas separaron  a uno de otro en las clasificatorias.El 3er. clasificado, John Ermen, quedaba ya a más de 2 segundos de la pole y el 4º (Rick V) a casi 6 segundos.

Los resultados de las clasificatorias:

1   Ilia van Gastel   32 – 7:04.098 – Motonica – Gimar – Merlin Fuel

2   Robin D’Hondt  32- 7:04.334 – Serpent – Orion – Merlin Fuel

3   John Ermen       32- 7:06.343 – Mugen – Novarossi

4  Rick Vrielijnck  32- 7:10.055

En la final Van Gastel tuvo problemas en la salida y fue superado por Robin D’Hondt. Rápidamente el dúo de cabeza, puso asfalto de por medio con el resto de participantes y durante la primera mitad de la final se intercambiaron la primera plaza en numerosas ocasiones. En alguna e las vueltas llegaron a adelantarse 3 veces en el mismo giro.  Ilia fue sancionado con un Stop & Go, por repostar sobre la línea, de modo que Robin D’Hondt, aprovechó esta circunstancia para colocarse en primera posición, pero al poco tiempo, también D’Hondt fue sancionado con un Stop & Go. A pesar de ello consiguió salir de Boxes en primera posición con una exigua ventaja sobre Van Gastel. La diferencia entre los dos fue de sólo 0,3 segundos al final de la carrera.

Enhorabuena a ambos pilotos Merlin por el brillante espectáculo que brindaron en esta prueba.

Resultado final:

1                             Robin D’Hondt                 132        30:09.386 - Motonica – Gimar - Merlin Fuel

2                             Ilia van Gastel                  132         30:09.713 – Serpent – Orion – Merlin Fuel

3                             Rick Vrielijnck                130         30:13.054

4                             Gunther van Staey         129         30:04.446

5                             John Ermen                      128         30:06.127

6                             Peter Ceyssens                126         30:05.162

7                             Stefan Koenders             125         30:10.306

8                             Tim Bosmann                   120         30:08.299

9                             Michiel Renting                87           21:56.008

10                           Jordy Blok                          DNS

Tags: 1:8, Holanda, Onroad

Comienza la temporada 1/8 en Reino Unido

La temporada 1/8 pista en el Reino Unido, comenzó oficialmente el pasado fin de semana con la primera prueba puntuable para el campeonato nacional.

A esta prueba acudió una nutrida representación de Irlanda y en contra de lo habitual no hubo lluvia, aunque sí amenazó durante toda la jornada del Domingo.

Mark Green se hizo con la pole de la prueba y no dio opción a sus rivales en la final, consiguiendo una cómoda ventaja desde las primeras vueltas.

Resultado final:

1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi/Merlin Fuel
2. Clive Connolly – Mugen/IDM
3. Jason Frost – Serpent/Mega
4. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/Max
5. Dan Jones – Mugen/Novarossi
6. John Carr – Serpent/Mega
7. Tim Wood – Serpent/Mega
8. Neil Diver – Shepherd/IDM
9. Chris Heath – Serpent/Mega (DQ from 5th due to width of rear end)
10.Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Mega (DQ from 9th failed to submit car for scrutineering)

Reportaje completo en redrc.net

Tags: 1:8, Onroad

Mark Green wins BRCA 1/8 Rd.1

The British 1/8 Nats started last weekend at Medip track (West England)

Mark Green TQ’ed and won the first UK Nats round. Some Irish drivers as Clive Connolly attended the race.

The final result:

1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi/Merlin Fuel
2. Clive Connolly – Mugen/IDM
3. Jason Frost – Serpent/Mega
4. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/Max
5. Dan Jones – Mugen/Novarossi
6. John Carr – Serpent/Mega
7. Tim Wood – Serpent/Mega
8. Neil Diver – Shepherd/IDM
9. Chris Heath – Serpent/Mega (DQ from 5th due to width of rear end)
10.Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Mega (DQ from 9th failed to submit car for scrutineering)

Pics: Redrc.net

Full report at: http://www.redrc.net/2010/04/mark-green-wins-brca-18th-rd1-in-mendip/

Tags: 1:8, Onroad

1/8 Speedmasters Greece

Last weekend took place the 1/8 Onroad Speedmasters in Arena RC track, near Athens.

Leonidas Farmakis, (Serpent – Picco – Merlin Fuel) took the TQ and also the final victory.

Here is a video of the main final:

Top 3:

1. Leonidas Farmakis – Serpent – Picco – Merlin Fuel – 108 laps

2. John Doucakis – Motonica – 106 laps

3. Andreas Gianakakis – Kyosho – Merlin Fuel - 100 laps.

Info: Velocity Models.

Tags: 1:8, Greece, Onroad

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

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