Fischer flying Durango nest?

13/03/2012
It seems that Billy Fischer, one time 5th place qualifier at the 2010 Worlds has parted ways with chassis sponsor Team Durango according to sources... Billy to be fair has stuck around with the big 'TD' much longer than some of the other drivers who raised anchor after only 6 months, however by his standards he has gone backwards competitively. Whats next for Fishdaddy? Perhaps a return to TLR ??? who knows..

 

Mitch a TLR match ?

03/03/2012
Our Floridian friends sent us a tip, it seems long term Team Associated factory driver JR Mitch is heading towards a drive with TLR, having been photographed in full TLR get up in a recent press release from JConcepts. Absent from last weekend's Dirt Nitro Challenge, attended last year's Neo11 event in the UK, ending up in the semis. We asked AE's team manager and Big Kahuna Brent Thielke, "He doesn't race for Associated/Reedy/LRP anymore. That's all I can confirm." so should we expect a some nice JR TLR PR  pretty soon ?!

 

Tick Tock TKI3 ?

20/02/2012
Kyosho's MP9 platform, widely admired by many but perhaps not the freshest of freshamn, although compared with the 'Silver Fox' RC8 its still only just hitting puberty. The first MP9 edition hit shelves in October 2008, in the time since many versions and iterations have passed through Kyosho's warehouse doors, most recently the TKI2 World Champ Limted Edition - released a year ago. Rumours point to the Kyosho bigwigs favouring a summer release of their next MP9 update which they hope will pull in the punters.

 

The Smelly Subject...

13/02/2012
An omni-present odour occasionally wafting by, at the Montpellier GP additives were used by quite a few drivers, despite them not being allowed. Drivers secretly pointing fingers at each other of breaking the sacred driver code of additive use whilst proclaiming their own innocence - A Shakespearian quote comes to mind, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much"...
 
For the old hands and the well-travelled drivers watching certain cars on certain areas of the track - think the lowest grip areas, some visibly had more traction, easily pulling away from a non-sauced car. Now one doesn't want to tarnish the results but we're led to believe that around half or less of the finalists used tyres with additive applied at some point. Indeed some are more skilled (read experienced) than others when it comes to this dark art - applying it well in advance and then covering up the tell tale signs just in time to hit the track. ProCircuit is a brand that has come under a bit of fire however today they did issue a statement with regard to the thorny subject, "...we take this opportunity to say that none of our team drivers used any tire additive." We must applaud them for this statement and the courage to issue it to quash any post-race debate. The subject however is far from dead, the debate far from over, the smelly subject's simply starting.

No more Pro-Line for JQ?

12/02/2012
Spotted in the Montpellier Pits - Pro-Line tyres in his travel bags, but AKA rubber on his car... Looks to be the end of an era, doesn't seem like JQ has signed for AKA though...

Tyre copying FAIL

Roll up roll up who wants some bargain tyres ? Special price for you! 
With all those tyre companies surely there is more than 2-3 individuals who can design new patterns and innovate ? Keep Copying - Keep Failing

2012: The year of additives?

The BRCA banned additive use for their national series, the French federation (FVRC) however allow it to be used, but not applied inside the track perimeter as per EFRA's rule, will EFRA be forced to take a position ahead of the summer's larger races ? With tyre companies getting ever smarter with some applying additive during the production process how can it be controlled, should it be controlled ?

TLR's future in Europe 

Gone with the wind: Yannick Aigoin, Martin Bayer, Riccardo Rabitti, Carsten Keller - The new European team leader is Brit Darren Bloomfield, but with little driver presence on mainland Europe bar the Portuguese what does the future hold for TLR's championship ambitions ?

Kyo$$$ho... 

Despite strong additions to the European team, questions continue to be asked concerning Kyosho's own finances, it doesn't take an expert to rewind 15 years and count the number of chassis brands on 1 hand, nowadays you need a whole football team worth of hands and toes to count, the pie hasn't grown at the same rate so the slices are thinner. We've seen companies come and go in RC but Kyosho is one of the oldest most established...

XB9 in the spotlight 

XRAY boost two of Europe's highest rated 1/8 Buggy drivers in Savoya & Bayer, but with only a 5th place finish at the Italian DNC @ Padova & 4th at the Coppa Italia the pressure is on for a strong finish at Montpellier.