We have covered about Ryan Cavalieri RC Achievements, now here our other driver we chose among the many we know. He is none other than our friend from across the sea, right at the opposite of the globe from us, may we introduce [should hear the drum roll by now], Gene ‘The Machine’ Hickerson.
Here’s a little bit of him. Get ready to keep scrolling right down down there. Gene Hickerson and his wife Rysann gave birth to their 1st child, Rayanna Ruth Hickerson, on December 22, 2007. Despite now being a daddy, Hickerson continues to be a factor on the track.
4-27-08 CEN Racing’s Gene ‘the machine’ Hickerson takes 5th place in the monster truck class at the 2008 ROAR Nitro Truck Nationals with the CEN Nemesis. Hickerson was in the semi Final in 1/8 Truck.
4-13-08 CEN Racing’s Gene ‘the machine’ Hickerson wins round 4 of the FSORS with the CEN Matrix FRE. There was 184 entries with the best driver’s in FL competing including IFMAR World Champion Billy Easton. (more…)
Yes we are! Ryan Cavalieri, you the man! You appeared everywhere and almost 80-90% upward be at the podium. Will you ever rest? Will you ever quit? Well, don’t quit on us. We love you featuring you here. You are so young, yet you have captured so many wonderful moments being at the top of the podium. If not the best, you still up there among the elite.
So, today, after battling among us who gonna be our featured racer today, we all with one voice, after forcing the negatroids, we came to conclusion, today Tuesday, 29 April 2008 is your day at JonehRC Dot Com. Congrats. Hooray.
To Team Associated, they must be smiling all the way for they have solid hold of this wonder boy. Well at least, till next venture, eh Ryan C Ryan Cavalieri has proven he can drive whatever the car brand is and still at the front. the previous team, Team Losi can verified that for sure.
Ok enough, for now. If you missed the post, here he won the 2008 RCX Supercross event for the second time in video interview!
That was before but this is the recent one. as the reigning Spanish champion Robert Batlle once again shows that he is likely to win the ultimate price by winning in the recent race meeting in Cordoba.
Sometimes if not always, we are late to cover this new prototype Hobao Hyper 9 Buggy from Ofna. They are many sources available but as always again, we go check our rc partners. If not enough, we go to the magazine we subscribe. Yes, it is none other than RC Car Action Mag. So Hobao Hyper 9 Buggy information are mostly from them if not all. Thanks to George Gonzalez of RCCA.
Of course on the other person to thank is Tim Bump, the head at the Hyper Racing division at OFNA. Together with the Hobao engineers, they are thinking of the first buggy that really come out entirely from OFNA own design. They are thinking big. They are thinking the buggy meant for the IFMAR 1/8-Scale Off-Road World Championships.
The design very interesting if we have to say here. It is innovative, unique and totally radical. The buggy is like being held tightly in the corsets or something similar. Even with everything installed, it still look narrow. That’s buggy on diet. Hahaha.
Check the new design of the brake and throttle carb linkage. It uses bellcrank that angled 25 degrees same like the engine slide carb. Yes, the engine is mounted on an angle of 25 degrees leaning inward to the centerline. how cool is that. No wonder it looks kind of abnormal from the other buggy. Well as long as it works, we happy to drive Check again the single link going backward other than for the front brake as normal buggy in front of the center diff.
Here the linkage goes - up to the rear diff area. Pretty neat eh?
The leaning tower engine. Nice, eh? We think so. They claimed due to the engine is the heaviest hardware on the chassis, installing it in this way, right in the center is actually helping in the chassis left to right weight balancing ratio. OFNA claims that the ratio is identical when the fuel tank is half full. Wow
More stories including the lower tank, clip, one piece wing mount and pictures at RCCA radiocontrolzone forum. We will keep you all updated when there’s anything new.
Here a snapshot of the Live News of the Neo 2008 Race. Seeing it live just by refreshing the page is not so much fun as watching it in person from the track itself but nevertheless, you can really feel it just by watching the time they made. Adam Drake is the man here. From the beginning, never once it showed that he was behind or something. He is always in front right up to the last minute. In fact only Mike Truhe managed to keep up with him. The rest are either 1 lap behind or more.
Result live from RCNews.Net. We are not sure whether there will be another final of this Buggy class. For now, this is the standing. Adam Drake is the man. Losi 8ight is the ride. Well done. The Drake is in control! If this is end of it, meaning all top three are from USA and Taylor James is on the 3rd spot. (more…)
We are happy to bring you all this result, The 2008 Silver State Nitro Challenge Final Buggy and Truggy Result. In the end even after never ending dust and tricky rounds with goggles as compulsory, Mike Truhe from Team Losi captured the podium for Buggy and Ryan Maifield from Team Associated / GRP took his Kyosho ST-RR on top of the podium. Nevertheless, our eyes are still on Jared Tebo. Quite interestingly almost captured both trophy with his O’Donnell Buggy and prototype truggy. Well done and must have have been great show to the spectators.
This is Piktor Rush 2 buggy first big race and in the hand of Philippe Lachat won the MORC Indoor GP in Switzerland.
First big race and first big win for the Rush 2…
Philippe Lachat (CH) and his Piktor RUSH 2 wins the MORC INDOOR GP in Swizerland. Christophe Plancherel (CH) finishs at a nice 8th place also with his Rush 2. 132 drivers, most of them from Germany participated to this big event.
We will post more details in a few time with more pictures.
Awesome video coverage by the UndergroundRC.com on the Nitro Challenge Pro A Main final. This is totally a cool video where you can see the how intense the race was. Especially the battle between Mike Truhe and Ryan Cavalieri at the final seconds. Some call it a controversial pass, some just said it is a normal race style of passing. We are not taking side here. We know we enjoy it and we believe so did the spectators there. I think it is true, if you could attend one race only in a year, this could be the one - in USA of course. So enjoy it.
If you could not see this flash embedded player, you can also direct viewing it by clicking here. (more…)
Team Losi has released new Eclipse 1/8th Buggy Tires for all. As the track keep changing, keep challenging racer to find new setup for mere good traction, Losi once and for all produce this incredible Eclipse buggy tire with pattern that promises good traction.
They are supplied with moulded foam inserts, matching the contour of the tire profile. No need trimming here. They are available in silver and red compound. They claimed to last for the whole one hour long mains with enough traction till the end.
Team Xray new buggy. The moment everyone been waiting for. The buggy simply named as XB808. Here in pictures, courtesy from Team Xray website. Claimed made an impact on the recent Nurnberg show.
The XRAY 808. The ultimate vehicle concept molded and shaped into an extraordinary engineering masterpiece by the artisans at XRAY. Superior as ever… yet all new. The 808 throws down a challenge for you to drive it… race it… win with it. Answer the call… take the challenge. Experience a new form of fascination, undreamed-of driving enjoyment… performance and dynamic ability you can count on. Experience the all-new XRAY 808.
There are many pictures at Team Xray website but these are some of them that we find very interesting.
Shocktowers
The front and rear shocktowers are all-new. The shocktowers are CNC-machined from premium extra-robust 3.5mm (rear) and 4mm (front) thick high-grade graphite reducing significantly the weight. The shocktowers featured optimized shock positions and roll center positions.
The new-concept steering block is taken from 1/10 electric off-road cars, providing zero kingpin steering — the steering block rotates in an absolute vertical position so that the angle does not change. The new steering block gives a better steering radius which greatly improves the handling and makes the car even easier to drive on all tracks and provides more steering into corners. The steering block features one optimized Ackermann position.
The tiny size of the steering blocks was achieved by using new lighter ball-bearings. The inner bearing (13×19) carries a heavier load where the CVD drive shaft outdrive rotates… while the outer bearing (8×14) is newer & lighter than previously used to reduce unsprung weight. The two ball-bearings are further away from each other which provides more stability to the mounting and holding of the wheel axle.
Direct Central Shafts Connection
The central drive shafts have an all-new design and concept, a genuine XRAY innovation. To transfer power from the engine, both central drive shafts are directly connected to the pinion gears in the front and rear gearboxes. This allows direct transfer of power without any kinetic losses, as well as increasing the lifespan of the shafts thanks to the elimination of connecting parts. The drive shaft is inserted through the diff housing opening (with Labyrinth Dust Covers™ on the diff housings to keep the dirt outside) and with a pin connects directly to the pinion. The connecting pin sits in a ball-bearing to guarantee that the connecting pin will never fall out… and removing the risk of having the central drive shafts become disconnected.
The Hobao Cup Annual 2008 Race is finally over. Interestingly the result seems to be monopolized by the Team HongNor from Singapore. So it seems. At front, we would like to congratulate Wenyi from Team Hongnor Singapore for winning the 1/8th Buggy class and almost captured the Truggy class as well. Next is of course to our buddy, Malaysian top driver, David Lim from Team Losi / Werks for Top Qualifying (TQ) the Buggy and winning the Truggy class. Well done both of you.
Moreover, from the sources we have, the Hobao Malaysia organizer, led by Mr. Thompson Chong has been reportedly done a very good job. We have done our check, it is indeed a very successful event and everytime, every year, lesser people complaint due to their awesome job on handling situation. As reported by friend, great food and if we have to mention, no marshaling job too.
Hobao Cup 2008 Final Result Buggy class:
1. Wenyi - X1CR - Singapore
2. Indra - Xray - Indonesia
3. San Miao - Hobao Hyper - Taiwan
4. Glenn Puah - Xray - Singapore
5. Luigi - Xray - Singapore
6. Cai Seong - Mugen - Malaysia
7. Alvin Lam - Mugen - Malaysia
8. Lai Kok Heng - OCM - Malaysia
9. Stanley W - Xray - Indonesia
10. David Lim - Losi 8ight - Malaysia (TQ)
My friend, Mr Lai Kok Heng is a very senior offroad racer but he was still up there with the best. Well done Kok Heng!
Truggy class:
1. David lim - Losi 8ight-T Malaysia (TQ)
2. Wenyi - HN X1CRT - Singapore
3. Eric siow - Losi 8ight-T - Malaysia
4. Ramesh - Losi 8ight-T - Malaysia
5. Cj - GS XUT - Malaysia
6. Lai Kok Heng - Kyosho ST-R - Malaysia
7. Mike T - HN X1CRT - Malaysia
8. Nasir - Mugen MBX5T- Malaysia
9. Lim kok beng - Hobao - Malaysia
10. Foong SW - HN X1CRT - Malaysia
Pictures will be available as soon as possible as when it’s available. Sorry.
We talked about it and the detail of this RCAC 1/8th RC Nitro Buggy Club Race, and we just got this scoop or shall I say latest update a few minute ago that the closing date is right up to Saturday, December 15th 2007. That is this weekend my friends.
It is high time to cover our own local race, specifically at our Peninsular Malaysia RC Offroad Racers. Here the RCAC Club Race itself, open to all.
Event : RCAC1/8 Nitro Buggy Off-Road Club Race Date : 16th December 2007 (Sunday) Venue : Titiwangsa Off-Road Track
Start Time : 9.00 AM
Registration fee : RM 50 (RCAC Member), RM 70 (Non-Members)
Check on the top left of this track shot. That is the Petronas Twin Tower, The tallest building in the world in between 1998 to 2004! Surpassed by the Taiwan 101 only
Currently as at report, these are the registered participants. It may be still early and we are sure they will at least reach 30 people for the race. So, if you happen to come down to this area, let us know or contact direct Mr Lai Kok Heng.
Of course there are many ways to convert your nitro buggy to electric powered buggy and one of them is this clear concepts brushless buggy but why go all the hassle when you can actually just buy from this company. Yes it is from the Team Novak and they have everything in their conversion kit to transform you 1/8th scale nitro buggy to electric powered buggy.
Not just any electric powered buggy, it is brushless powered buggy!
Nitro enthusiasts who want to join the brushless revolution can now convert their 1/8th- scale nitro buggy to electric powered using the Novak 1/8th-scale Conversion Kit. Kits are available for various models of Kyosho™, Mugen™ and Ofna™ vehicles, and include all of the necessary components to convert it to brushless power.
Nitro customers who have never run brushless will now experience longer run times, minimal maintenance, low-end torque and control and incredible top speed.
The Novak Conversion Kit is compatible with the Novak #3020 and #3021 HV High-Voltage Brushless Systems, and is available individually or as a combo kit with these systems. The kit includes a Motor Heat Sink and Motor Mount specifically designed for the Novak 550-size HV motors; Two Battery Boxes for dual 2S Li-Po packs or dual 6-cell Ni-MH packs; and a Steering Servo Mount (replaces dual servo mount set-up as the mechanical brakes and brake servo are no longer needed). Kit includes all the necessary Hardware to complete the conversion.
If you remember well, we talked about Yannick new venture The Aigoin’s Racing with GRP products and our rambling on the drug rehab thing which we are very sorry. Sometimes when everything does not come into place, the stress come to attack us.
Anyway, thanks to our RC Partner, Neobuggy.net to make us straight again. They featured a story on Yannick Aigoin’s Racing but specifically on the new GRP RC Engineinside look. Neobuggy has done an interview on Yannick a month ago regarding his prototype engine but no details leaked as at that moment. This was Yannick’s answer when the question popped at him.
“The GRP engine that I am currently testing is a prototype engine which has no name yet” (Y.Aigoin)
Here what Neobuggy.net reported on their site.
It’s fair to say that Yannick’s first race with all this new equipment was a baptism of fire, 2 of the year’s biggest races – Worlds warmup and the Nitrocross race. Results were mixed, but the potential was there.
Now a few weeks wiser, the word is that GRP have been working on this project for some time; their meteoric rise in the 1/8th Offroad engine sector is quite extraordinary when you consider they launched only in January 2006. The project is a completely new engine and line, with new internal technical parts, and aesthetically. We also hear GRP will have a special strategy for this line, a unique tuned high-performance model – really aimed at the best of the best, but with a decent price tag.
GRP’s team comprising of engine guru Mario Rossi, and now R & D specialist Aigoin is destined to result in a pretty special engine!
Yes and I am not kidding when we said HongNor / Jammin X1CR terrorized the recent Puerto Rico Offroad final championship. Imagine 6 out of 10 are HongNors racers in Buggy class while in the truggy class nearly all HongNors racers with the exception of one Losi and Mugen racers. Now this is what I call The Land Of The HongNors!
But of course, Juan Torres was the ‘Man of The Match’ as they call it in the Football. He not only won first in the Buggy, he also captured the top trophy in the truggy class. Just plain awesome Torres!
The Puerto Rico Offroad Association (PROFA) has finished it’s annual points championship. With all championships comming down to the final race it was a very intense race. With over 325 racers the annual point series was a success.
There were 6 HongNor/Jammin X1CR cars in the A main final and 8 X1-CRT cars in the truggy final. Juan Torres driving a X1-CR won the First position of 1/8 buggy class and with the X1-CRT he also won the first of truggy class.
Mark Pavidis moves to Kyosho USA, this is the news we got courtesy of our RC News partner, RedRC.net. To those who does not know who is Mark, well let just say he won big on 2006 IFMAR Jakarta as the World Champion driving his Kyosho buggy with OS engine. yeah, that was him.
Having Mark on staff will give us a distinct advantage because he’s raced at the highest level of competition in the world for decades. Not only will he be able to design new products, his considerable racing skill will allow him to test them to the highest limits. Combined with the considerable talents of Gil Losi, Jr., we’re very excited about the possibilities of future products that will result from our newly-formed team.
1. Cody King
2. Josh Wheeler
3. Ryan Lutz
4. Billy Fischer
5. JR Mitch
6. Gene Hickerson
7. Quincy hughes
8. Tyler Vik
9. Taylor James
10. Jason Branham
11. Trevor Turner
12. Patrick Castleberry
13. Kyle Skidmore
14. Phillip Atondo
15. Matt Gosch
Arena Truck (Truggy)
1. Taylor James
2. josh wheeler
3. Cody king
4. Jason Branham
5. Tyler Vik
6. Matt Gosch
7. Steve Hale
8. Derek Guidry
9. Rocco Margiotta
10. Gene Hickerson
11. Michael Paige
12. Ryan Lutz
13. Billy Fischer
14. Quincy Hughes
15. Phillip Atondo
We are glad that we can cover this story and thanks to Pato aka Tabushi from rctech for sharing with us all. Wherever they goes they are sure making an impact with their skillful driving. It was not enough that conquered the podium on the recent outing at Bogota Columbia Regional Championship; they are now making others noticed that if you are not on your toes, you going to regret it at this Manizales 1/8 track on the Colombia Championship.
Another interesting race down at Arizona back at November 1st to 4th; The Nitro Cross World Championship. It claimed the largest cash purse in the history of Radio Control.
Thanks to our rcpartner RedRC.Net for this news. Another new rc buggy come out with an awesome Life Time Warranty! That is Radical RC Z8 1/8th scale Buggy for you.
Life Time Plastic Parts Replacement Warranty on Chassis Parts
Includes Panther Competition K2 Buggy Tires
Innovative C-Hub for Quick Caster Angle Adjustment
Innovative Light Weight CVD Design
7075 T6 5mm Aluminum Shock Towers
7075 T6 Aluminum Chassis Braces
Carbon Fiber Radio Tray
Center Differential Top Plate and Servo Saver Top Plate
Quick Change Center Differential
Maximum Suspension Travel for Rough Track Handling
Large Bore Aluminum Shocks
Aluminum High Volume Fuel Filter Included
source: More at RCCA (Radio Control Car Action) | RedRC.net
We have featured Tabushi who is our friend at rctech, back at March at the 2007 South American RC Nitro Buggy Championship and now here at his recent outing again at the Fourth stage of the Bogota - Columbia Regional Championship.
Tabushi and his team of Pits Hobby Shop I have to say made an impact on this race outing. They conquered the podium and leave everyone else at the bottom. Just for info, Tabushi is Patricio “Pato” Concha and together with his other team mate Mario Utria were driving with Jammin new engine the Jammin JPX.21 and Maxy’s Fuel and M2C Racing 4 shoes clutches. While their Team Boss, owner of Pits Hobby Shop, Rodrigo Echeverri was using Ofna Hyper 8.5 for the first time. Well done and congratulation to all of you. (more…)
As always, another great report coming from our friend, Gene “The Machine” Hickerson. Enjoy his report but sadly, he did not join the 1/8 Truck aka RC Truggy class for he surely has the chance of going hat-trick on the championship points. However knowing Gene as humble person, we think he made the right decision to let others get the hands on the truggy class he won for consecutive 2 years in a row. Good for you Gene
The 3rd and final round of the 2007 RC Pro East Series was held last weekend in Savannah Georgia at Phil Hurd Raceway. It was a good turnout of about 140 entries as the best of the East battle for the title of RC Pro East Champion. The track was a good combination of fast sections and really slow sections with tons of small double jumps and 1 huge double jump in the middle. There was no place to make up any time on the layout, but many places where you could easily loose time; so the racing was very close as everyone had about the same lap times.
1/8 Expert Arena Truck qualifying:
Going into this final round, the battle was between Xray’s Leon McIntosh and myself as we both had a win in a previous round. In round 1, I put my CEN Matrix Tr Arena on the pole, while McIntosh took 2nd. In round 2, McIntosh put his XB8T on the pole. In round 3, Xray’s Chris Crews took the TQ. In round 4, the overall TQ was still up for grabs, but it was Jammin’s Brandon Cutchins CRT that won the round. That gave Leon the TQ, followed by Brandon and myself in 3rd. The 5 bonus points for TQ gave Leon the edge going into the A-main.
1/8 Arena Truck A-main:
The A-main was a grueling 45 minutes. Bad luck struck right from the start as McIntosh had his engine come loose and missed the start and had to start 1 lap back. At the start, I passed for the lead but then was hit from behind half way through the 1st lap, giving Crews the lead. I worked my way back through the pack into 2nd and set sites on the leader. All I had to do to guarantee the Championship was to finish ahead of Leon, so I took it easy.
At about the 12 minute mark, my brakes went out right as I caught Crews. On my 2nd pit stop, I adjusted the brakes on my Futaba radio but I still had no brakes. As I started to drop back, Cutchins and OCM’s Alan Burton got by for 2nd and 3rd. Then my steering started to get slow. I then realized that it was my receiver pack that was dying. I yelled to my pit man to get another RX pack ready for my next stop. Soon after, my battery was almost dead and I had to pit early to change it. I rejoined the race 4 laps down and in 8th place. Meanwhile Chris Crews had stretched out a big lead and McIntosh was in 5th and moving up. As the hard packed track started to claim its victims, Leon and I continued to move up. Near the end, McIntosh moved into 3rd place while I was up to 4th place 1 lap back. That was how we finished with Crews taking the win and Cutchins taking 2nd. I thought I had lost the Championship by 1 spot since Leon had a 1st and a 3rd, and I had a 1st, 4th, and a 5th. But after the points were tallied up including bonus points for most laps lead, I was the Champion by only 1 point over McIntosh. Crews finished 3rd overall.
RC Pro East 1/8 Expert Arena Truck Final Standings:
1. Gene Hickerson CEN/Maxy’s
2. Leon McIntosh Xray/Werks
3. Chris Crews Xray/Rocket Science
1/8 Expert Buggy qualifying:
In Buggy, it was a battle between Leon McIntosh and myself again. McIntosh had a 1st and a 2nd, while I had a 1st and a 7th. In round 1, Kyosho’s Robin Nelson took the TQ. In round 2, Chris Crews took the TQ. In round 3 and 4, it was Team Associated’s JR Mitch who put his new RC8 into the TQ and overall TQ position. McIntosh had bad luck and was 1st in the B-main. I had not much better luck, qualifying 10th in the A-main, but my buggy was good and ready for the main event. In the B-main, Leon was way in the lead when his engine flamed out, ending his day. He would have to watch the A-main from the sidelines to see if I over took him in the points chase.
1/8 Expert Buggy A-main:
In the 45 minute A-main, Mitch got a clean start and started to pull away. I worked my way up to 4th place very quickly as there was a lot of hacking going on in the pack. Just as quick as I moved up, I was taken out 3 times and dropped back to dead last in 12th place. Soon after, Mitch came up on me and lapped me. By now, the field was spread out some and I was able to get by slower traffic without being taken out much easier. As I worked my way back through the pack, Mitch flamed out and lost his huge lead. He later dropped out with a mechanical problem to end his day. That gave the lead to Robin Nelson. On lap 56, I moved into 3rd and started to run down the leaders. On lap 61, local Patrick Rossiter took over the lead from Nelson. With less then 5 minutes to go, I caught Nelson and was just 16 seconds behind Rossiter. I was going to take my time as I tried to pass Nelson because all I needed to do to win the Championship was finish 2nd. But just then, the high winds caught my buggy over the huge double jump and when it landed, it snapped rolled and broke a steering screw off in the knuckle.
That ended my day and my chance at the title. Chris Crews moved to 3rd and that was how they finished. That gave McIntosh the overall Championship, followed by Nelson, and myself.
RC Pro East 1/8 Expert Buggy Final Standings:
1. Leon McIntosh Xray/Werks
2. Robin Nelson Kyosho/Sidewinder
3. Gene Hickerson CEN/Maxy’s
We just found out that the Team Associated RC8 buggy is already on the USA shore and orders coming in and distributors busy now. We are not sure about the facts of this, but our guess it is probably true. Well, you decide from the forum in RCtech here.
One thing for sure, it has not arrived our Malaysian shore, yet.
Here Ryan Maifield RC8 buggy from the recent indoor racing - neobuggy.net
Ryan Cavalieri has proven he can drive whatever the car brand is and still at the front. the previous team, Team Losi can verified that for sure.
Check again the single link going backward other than for the front brake as normal buggy in front of the center diff. 
Angel Martinez (Hong Nor/Jammin X1-CR)
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