This past weekend Tri-Cities RC held the Northwest Buggy Championship’s in Pasco, Washington. In the 1/8 Electric Buggy class, Tekin Team Drivers Jeremy Potter and Nick Buechler would fight hard in the 3 rounds of qualifying to start 2nd (Potter) and 3rd (Buechler) on the grid for the triple A-Mains. In A1 Potter and Nick would engage in a 3-way battle for the lead, halfway thru the main Potter would pull away from the rest for the A1 win, with Buechler locking down 2nd. In A2, once again Potter and Buechler would jump out front early on where Potter would never look back. Buechler would have a couple rough laps to finish out in 8th. In A3 with Potter on the sidelines already wrapping up the overall, Buechler would jump to the lead by the 2nd corner, but a mechanical issue would end his run where he would have to settle for a 6th overall. AE’s Chris Nealeigh would take the win in A3 and 2nd overall with Brian Munn rounding out the podium in 3rd.  Both Jeremy and Nick’s Hot Bodies D812E’s were equipped with the award winning RX8 Gen 2 ESC and Tekin T8 Gen 2 Motors.

Pic courtesy of 2wdmod.com

This year the Region 4 R.O.A.R. Regional On-Road Championships were held at Valkaria RC in Malabar Florida. Region 4 is a very competitive region and this race brought out Florida’s fastest. As you roam the pits at a region 4 race you will come across past and current national champions all competing for this home turf title.

On Friday June 6th was a full day of open practice for drivers to shake down car set ups and get familiar with the track. The layout was fast and flowing and the racing was sure to be tight.

Saturday morning came and qualifying was set to begin. The race format was rocket round and the cooler morning track conditions made round 1 very important. The first round was underway and after several heats of 17.5 qualifying Tekin’s Cory Parsons would find himself 2nd overall missing TQ by 3 tenths due to a small mistake. In modified TC Cory would go 3rd fastest in the first round followed by teammate TJ Bradley posting the 4th fastest time. As expected the times in round 2 were slower due to the hot track conditions and no one challenged the round 1 fast times. After the second round there was a reshuffle putting both Cory and TJ in the A groups going into round 3 qualification. As the afternoon was transitioning to evening the third round had a lot of potential for drivers to put in fast runs. In the 17.5 A Group Michael Bruce would run clean and edge out Cory Parsons and Mark Burt to reset TQ in 17.5 touring car. In Modified TC Scotty Gray would make his presents known choosing to run a set of new tires and putting down a blistering 23 lap TQ over nitro ace DJ Aplolaro shaking up the A-Main. In the fourth and final round of qualifying the 17.5 TQ spot was safe and Cory would hold his number 2 spot on the 17.5 grid going into the final. In Modified TC DJ Apolaro would not quite be able to match Grays 3rd round pace going 22 laps followed by Mark Burt, Scotty Gray, And TJ Bradley all with 22 lap runs.

After a exciting couple days of qualifying everyone was ready for the mains. Single A-Mains would decide would decide the Region 4 Champions.

In 17.5 the group would get a clean start with Parsons pressuring Bruce in from the tone. Cory and Bruce got together letting 3rd qualifier Austin Harrison take the race lead. Cory would recover from the mix up with Bruce and stalk Austin for a few laps before making his move to the point. After Cory made his charge to the front he didn’t look back and continued to spread the gap from the rest of the field becoming the R.O.A.R Region 4 Champion!  Cory Chose the Tekin RSX and Hotwire 2.0 to take his Region 4 title.

Cory Chose the Tekin RSX and Hotwire 2.0 to take his Region 4 title.

In the Mod A-Main DJ Apolaro and Scotty Gray would get together in the first corner with DJ fairing the best from the incident. DJ would continue to run in the lead holding off a hard charging Scotty Gray and after some intense dicing on the final lap take the win. The Modified class would be DJ, followed by Felix Law, Mark Burt, Scotty Gray, and TJ Bradley rounding out the top 5. Congratulation to all the winners and thanks to the awesome group of racers and the Valkaria crew for putting on a great race.

TJ Bradley showing off his Tekin RSX and Gen2 Redline powered Mod TC ride.

The 6th annual NorCal Champs race held this past weekend made for some of the closes racing and the most fun at the new Norcal Hobbies facility. After being forced to move recently Norcal Hobbies bounced back into shape to host a great race. Huge improvements to the dirt and the facility from their previous location.

The Norcal Championship belts were on the line for the winners. 4 rounds of qualifying and triple A Mains brought some good battles on the track. Drew Lorenzo brought the heat in 2wd SC. Tyler Vik and Lorenzo were in different heats and were trading TQ for the first 3 rounds. In the first main, Vik got hung up and Lorenzo took over the lead. Lorenzo didn’t hold on to the lead too long, dealing with back markers. In the end, Lorenzo took 2nd overall. People really enjoyed watching an 11 year old bring the veteran a great challenge.

Lorenzo also took 3rd in the E Buggy Lite class. Battling it out with Mason Eppley for the 2 spot each race, who he battles with up at Outback Raceway all the time.

After the podium picture, we were talking to a few people including Tyler Vik, and some guy said “Drew represents the Tekin tagline perfect, He’s smaller, smarter, and faster than everyone except you- Vik.” Vik said, “this little s**t was faster than me, look at the lap times. He just made a couple more mistakes and got hung up more in traffic. He had me sweating”. Drew just smiled and said, “I’ll be back next year to try again for that belt.”

Jeff Lorenzo had some rough luck in qualifying in 4wd SC. He pulled it together and earned second on the grid in the A, behind Vik. Jeff was able to hold that spot for the final position.

“Overall, we had a great weekend and once again Tekin Electronics worked flawlessly. Thanks again for the support and we really enjoy representing Tekin at the races.” Drew and Jeff Lorenzo.

Both Drew and Jeff chose the following products:

Tekin RSX Esc, Redline Gen2 Motors, Tekin RX8 Gen2 Esc, Pro4 HD, Hotwire 2.0.

The 2014 Alabama Manufacturers Shootout 5.0 in Cullman Alabama has been completed and was one awesome event to attend. With 600 entries getting practice on the track was difficult to say the least. If that was not enough Thursdays practice was cut short due to a storm and power outage. The seating practice never happened so on Friday Jimmy Babcock had to run a tight race program to get the 600 entries qualified.

Tekin factory drivers riddled the Pro E-Buggy class at the AMS this year. Adam Drake would take the overall Tq of the class. Starting off the Drake would start the race running a teammates car and fall back early on. Tekin teammate Joe Bornhorst would inherit the lead and try to put some space between him and the pack. Tekin powered Ryan Lutz would slowly chip away on his lead though and the two would take it down to the last corner, with Bornhorst taking the win. A2 had Tq Adam Drake out in front with Bornhost and Lutz in tow for the first few laps. Drake would bobble giving Bornhorst the lead. The two would come together on the straight allowing Lutz to capitalize taking the lead. Lutz would run out front trying to get some distance on the field. Bornhorst would chip away and take the lead with about 2 minutes to go after Lutz would tap a pipe. Bornhorst would fend off a late charge from The Drake taking A2 and the overall win! Ryan Lutz would take 2nd overall. Joe Bornhorst chose the award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc coupled with a Tekin Gen2 T8 1900kv motor while Ryan Lutz chose the T8i 1950kv motor.

Pic courtesy of LiveRC

Tekin factory driver Dylan Gerard was able to TQ all three rounds of qualifying in 4wd Short Course. Resetting TQ every round of qualifying and was the only truck to finish on a 10 lap run. Gerard  would go onto win A1 and A2 and was also the only truck to finish on 16 laps in both mains. Gerard chose the Tekin Rx8 Gen2 and Pro4 HD 4300kv motor in his TLR SCTE truck.  Tekin teammates Chris Viesins and Martin Harrison finished up 2nd and 3rd both also running the Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and Pro4 HD motor! Sean Ramos also chose Tekin to power his Tekno SC Truck to a 4th position.

Tekin powered Chris Viesins  TQ’d 2 out of the 3 rounds of qualifying for 1/8 E-Truggy which secured the overall TQ spot. In A1 of 1/8 E-Truggy Viesins managed to lead throughout the whole race and take the win. In A2, Viesins would repeat this win from tone to tone again to take the overall win in the 1/8 E-Truggy class! Tekin teammate Martin Harrison would take 3rd overall, Paul Ciccarello 5th.  The winning combination yet again was the award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and T8 Gen2 2000kv motor.

Last weekend was the Tale of Two Cities race at Hal’s Hobby Warehouse in El Paso, Texas. Hal’s Hobby Warehouse has served as El Paso’s largest full line hobby store since 1954 and has a 4,500 square foot store with both an on-road and off-road track. The event kicked off with practice on Friday and racing took place Saturday. The event had 12 heats. Adam Drake competed in the 1/8th electric buggy class and was able to take the TQ and victory with his Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc T8 Gen2 1900kv powered TLR 8ight E 3.0. Tekin/TLR teammate Casey Peck would take 2nd running the same equipment, as was young privateer Andruw Martinez.

The SWorkz Challenge was hosted at the Silver Dollar Speedway, previous home of the 2013 Ifmar worlds!  Track guru Kevin Jelich put in yet another epic layout. This one was riddled with off camber sections putting a premium on in air car handling skills. Lucky for Tekin we had a qualified group of “whip artists” ready to clean out the 1/8 E Buggy class.

Ryan Lutz would lead the way with his Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc T8i powered Dex408v2 buggy. Ryan recently switched to the T8i after stripping his cars weight down to 3250g, near minimum weight. “The power band was awesome. SUPER smooth and nothing compromised on the top end.” Lutz   Tekin teammates Phil Atondo was nipping on his heels in A1 taking P2 followed by Tekin/TLR teammate Jacob Haas in 3rd. They would run A2 with the same overall results. Tekin would monopolize the podium. Lutz in P1, Atondo in P2, Haas in P3. Lutz chose the Tekin T8i while Atondo and Haas chose the Tekin T8 Gen2 1900kv, all 3 chose the award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc.

Tekin powered Elliot Boots is on a tear in his BRCA 1/8 E Nats title hunt. In Rd3 Elliot chose to continue using his Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and T8i 1950kv motor he set the fastest lap of Neobuggy with.

Boots would take the Tq and dominant win over the field.

“This is the best feeling and most durable electronics system we’ve ever had in the 1/8 E Buggy class” Elliot Boots.

This past weekend hosted the 2014 Fastlane Raceway Spring Shootout in Blue Springs, Missouri. The weather was hot, and the racing was hotter! Tekin/TLR driver Mike Garrison entered the largest class of the weekend 1:8 Expert E-Buggy. Running his Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc & T8 Gen2 1900kv motored TLR 8ight 3.0e buggy.

As the single A-Main got under way Garrison found himself in a three-way battle for the lead. He worked his way to the front battling for the lead with XRAY team driver Spencer Wall. The Tekin powered TLR machine led majority of the race until Wall made a surprise last lap pass heading into a big double section. Garrison retaliated with an over-the-top big air pass with less than a few corners to go, capturing the overall 1:8 Expert E-Buggy class win!

Spring time racing in Spokane at the Hank Perry 240 always proves to be an awesome race event. The RCCCS and staff have put on another great show for the 2^nd stop of the Northwest Championship Tour and this year had more meaning than ever. Two people known by many in the RC community were lost recently and racers ran special decals honoring the memory of both Gary Matthews and Gracie Snider. It was a special race ran in their memory and we are so glad we had the opportunity to take part.

The E-Buggy class at this years Hank Perry was the biggest and deepest field the Northwest has ever seen with 60 entries.  Tekin’s very own Jeremy Potter & Ty Campbell  would start on pole and 3rd on the grid for the exciting triple 10 minute A-Mains. In A1 Potter would lead from the start and never look back, behind him Campbell would engage in a 3 way battle for 2nd all race long just coming up a bit short at the end and settling for 4th. In A2, Potter once again would jump out to the lead with Campbell quickly to 2nd and applying pressure on Potter. Right before the halfway mark Potter would suffer a mechanical issue, handing the lead to Ty. Having to bump from the B-Main, Tekin team driver Nick Buechler had a quiet A1, but in A2 charged to the front where him and Campbell battled it out for the remaining 3 minutes with Campbell getting the win and setting up an A3 showdown. Like A1, Potter jumped out to the early lead and set it in cruise control as the rest of the field fought for the remaining podium spots.  Buechler  once again joined the front pack quickly from his 11th starting spot. As the time clock ended Buechler would secure 2nd with Campbell in 4th.  The Podium would be all Team Tekin with the TLR 3.0e of Ty Campbell in 3rd,  Nick Buechler and his Hot Bodies D812e in 2nd with Jeremy Potter’s Hot Bodies D812e on the top spot. The entire podium was powered by the award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and T8 Gen2 motor line.

Campbell, Potter, Buechler (L-R)

4WD modified was equally as competitive as E-Buggy at the 240 this year. 41 drivers took to the track chasing those A-main spots during qualifying, where only 10 would be successful and two more were up for grabs with the bump-up format. Tekin’s Ty Campbell qualified 4^th overall with his Tekin RSX/Redline Gen2 powered TLR 22-4. A1 proved excited with intense battles for 1^st through 6^th and Ty managed to pull off a 2^nd place finish behind local NW fast-guy, Chris Bridgewater. In A2, Ty suffered from a steering issue partway in, but managed to get it fixed and continue, although two laps down. A3  was battle-filled as well and Bridgewater had already locked up the win, letting the rest fight to better their overall finishing position. Ty took 3^rd in A3, securing his 3^rd place overall finish, putting Tekin/TLR on the podium.

Campbell, Bridgewater, Munn

E Buggy A-1

588 Raceway hosted the High Voltage Shootout that drew 81 entries. That is the biggest turn out we have ever had! The hometrack of the Hanna family. Wife Myssie runs the races and the Eric Hanna and his sons Griffin and Collin help assure the track is in top shape.

In the E-buggy class Tekin team mate John Michael Mcginty III was TQ and Griffin Hanna and Collin Hanna were qualified 2nd and 3rd. The 3 Boys were the only ones to get a 15 lap run in qualifying. On the first lap of the race Mcginty went for the triple and pushed out a bit wide and that opened up the door for Griffin.Griffin made the pass and Mcginty jumped right back on his bumper. The second lap they both aired it out over the 25ft tabletop to tabletop jump. Mcginty started to roll end over end and while the marshall was running,Griffin high sided and the marshall grabbed him quicker which left John sitting on his lid for what it seemed like an eternity. That allowed Collin to slip by and take the second spot.Griffin stretched out his lead over his brother Collin by 13 seconds.Collin played it safe and drove a smooth race to finish 2nd.3rd went to local guy Bobby Patsel run a Mugen MBX 7.

(L-R) McGinty, Patsel ,Griffin,Collin.

Both Collin and Griffin ran their award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and T8 Gen2 1900kv powered Serpent Electric 811 Cobra Buggies and were dialed on the high bite track. They ran flawless like normal and the motors are killer fast!

In the Pro Mod 2wd class John Michael was clearly the man to beat. He also took TQ and the win with his Centro buggy. He lead from start to finish with Griffin Hanna taking the 2nd spot with his rear mount Serpent Spyder SRX2. The 3rd spot went to Losi driver Kevin Bullock. Collin finished 2.7 back from the 3rd spot.

(L-R) Bullock, McGinty, Hanna

Both McGinty and Hanna chose the Tekin RSX esc and Redline Gen2 line of motors.

“Thanks again to Paul Ciccarello,Brian Looper,Randy Pike,Jon Martin,Chris Schaefer and Landon Thompson from LET’s Go Racing for all the support. Couldn’t do it with out all the great products.” The Hanna’s