Time for a little levity - New F1 "toy"

[PSfan]

With all the turmoil in F1 these days with most attention being drawn to the diffusers, lie-gate, and Flavio's hair it should be of no surprise that HPI (a large manufacturer of radio control products) have chosen to release their newest foray into rc f1 racing at this weeks Long Beach grand prix...

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HPI was clearly inspired by the 2008 McLeran but fitted it with 2009 spec slicks and ready to accept a kerrs system in either Nimh or LiPo configurations. Whether McLeran choose to bring this up with the FIA because it is clear, HPI have stolen McLeran intellectual property is yet to be determined (Though I hear many McLeran faithful are calling for a $100m fine be imposed on the toy company.) A look at the rear of the car also shows that this chassis is ready to accept a double diffuser now that the FIA has determined that it is not a hole, but a "gap" or "opening"




*** images taken from: http://www.redrc.net/2009/04/hpi-racing-formula-ten-update/ ***

[Charlie]

Whats up with Flav's hair?

[Jag_Warrior]

^Good post!^

For a time, R/C car racing was pretty popular here in the States. Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser built an HPI touring car racer and played around with some R/C racers during the Portland CART race weekend. Reading that Monty was into it, plus the fact that several guys that I worked with at that time were into it, got me into it. It really was great fun.

Most of what was popular then (here) was 1/10 scale stadium, NASCAR CTS and monster truck racing.... both gas and electric. But my interest was more toward F1, CART and sports cars. Too bad that most of that action was in Europe and Japan... a few clubs in California and Hawaii.

IMO, HPI makes some of the best mass produced models. Tamiya also makes some good stuff, but they're not as durable as HPI - again, just my opinion. I like them all. Any maker that does F1 and sports car R/C chassis helps to build the sport.

For anyone that is interested, here's a decent resource for F1 R/C action.

http://www.formula1-rc.com/

[Jag_Warrior]

And this is fun. If the hands were turning the steering wheel, I'd just as soon watch this as some races. :D

Imagine an entire field of these things, "piloted by" the legendary drivers across the ages.

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