December 2006:
John Bull Racing
Yokomos dominate
IRMCC Christmas Cup 2006
The 2006 Christmas Cup of the IRMCC was held at the club’s Pembroke track on a beautifully sunny Saturday, 30th of December. The tyre warmers stayed in the tool box, and jackets and sweaters stayed in the car. It was sunny Tee shirt weather - in December! - and all was well with the World.
A number of competitors turned up to enjoy the racing, after a too long break of 6 months – caused by the fact that the National Championships, which usually start in October, will now be starting in February. Some enthusiasts have continued practicing on a regular basis throughout the drought, whilst others just put their cars away and took up some other hobby while there was no National Championship racing. But the Christmas Cup is always a bit special, and the John Bull Racing team was one that made a bit of an effort, preparing 3 Yokomo BD cars for multiple champion Joshua Anastasi, young Shaun Pace, and Joe Anastasi.
Joshua’s car was the same all conquering Yokomo BD car
with which he won his 8th National Championship in 2006, running Novak GTB
speed Control, Checkpoint motor, and powered by Corally IP4200 VRS
batteries. "I hadn’t driven the car since the KO Gp at West London last
August. It was good then, and it was good enough to win now. I have a good
mechanic!" said a delighted Josh as he did a few acclimatization laps before
the start.
Shaun’s Yokomo BD was a new car for this season and this
was it’s first competitive outing. The car differed from Joshua’s in having
a KO Propo VFS 1 Pro speedo and running with East Power 4200 batteries. "I
can’t believe how easy this car is to drive fast, and how it remains
consistent, no matter what the conditions." Shaun had good reason to be
delighted. His car was ballistic throughout the meeting, winning the first
round on the short circuit and making the fastest lap of the day on the long
one. And this in just his first outing driving a Yokomo BD.
The third John Bull Racing Yokomo BD was driven by 60 year old Joe Anastasi, boss of John Bull Racing. This car was powered by a
Novak brushless motor system fed with top notch Corally IP4200 VRS cells.
"I’ve had this brushless Novak motor in the car for some time. It never
needs any maintenance, and it’s absolutely ballistic - way too fast for my
driving capabilities, but great fun. And the Yoke; it’s always good."
The Christmas Cup meeting has followed the same popular
format for many years. The first round of races is held on the club’s short
circuit, the second is held on the fast long circuit, and the grand finale
is always the popular oval. All rounds count so consistency is at a premium.
Shaun took an immediate lead in round 1 which he kept to the finish to win
his very first race with his new Yokomo BD. Joshua finished 2nd with Joe
3rd. It doesn’t get much better than that.
In round 2 Joshua took an immediate lead and ran off into
the distance to win as he pleased. Shaun finished 3rd after damaging the car
slightly in a contact with another competitor, whilst Joe retired after
loosing a wheel, putting paid to his chances of a good overall placing.
So now it was all down to the third and final round on
the deadly oval. A mistake on the oval is fatal since the cars are travelling
at such speed, so total concentration is very much at a premium.
From Pole Joshua powered his Yokomo off into the lead, followed by Shaun, with
Joe starting from the back of the grid following his retirement in the
previous race. At the finish it was Josh first, with Shaun an excellent
second and Joe 5th.
When all the points were totted up Joshua Anastasi and his John Bull Racing
Yokomo BD were again declared the winners of the 2006 Christmas Cup, with
Shaun Pace’s similar car an excellent second, his best result to date. “At
last I’ve got a car that’s more than good enough to win, thanks to Yokomo
and John Bull Racing,” said a delighted Shaun as he received the spoils from
club president Bruce Debattista. And Josh had an interesting comment too:
“This car is so superior, I don’t even need to practice. Dad does all the
practicing, and if it’s good enough for him then it’s good enough to win
with.”
Congratulations to both Josh and Shaun. It’s a pleasure to have you both on
board.
August 2006:
KO Grand Prix at West London
Malta Champion Joshua Anastasi and his father Joe returned recently from their fourth visit to the KO Grand Prix, held annually at the West London Racing Centre, England.
The
11th edition of the KO Grand Prix was as popular was ever this year, with
competitors from Northern Ireland, France, Norway, Greece, New Zealand and
Malta joining the numerous British enthusiasts to make the 200 plus entry
for the 3 day event. This 11th edition of the KO GP stuck with the tried and
tested formula of 4 qualifying rounds on the Sunday, followed by the 3
finals on the Bank holiday Monday.
Entries for this year’s event included 2 World Champions, current 1/12
multiple champion David Spashett, and recently crowned 1/10th on road
champion Andy Moore, and was like a who’s who of International RC racing,
whilst the organizing team left no stone unturned to make this event
undoubtedly Britain’s prime RC meeting of the year.
For
Maltese entries Josh and Joe Anastasi this was their 4th visit as
competitors, having participated in the modified class successfully in 2001,
2003 and 2005. Josh had hitherto always managed to make the “B” final,
putting him in the top 20 overall but with so many quality racers this year
this looked like a more difficult task, however come Saturday practice
things looked indeed promising with Josh posting competitive times right
from the word go, his new Yokomo BD car working very well on the West London
track. Now it was going to be down to the weather, the forecast for Monday
being rain.
Sunday dawned sunny and dry and things looked very rosy indeed for the Malta champion when he posted the 10th fastest race time at the end of the first qualifying session. Round 2 was hampered by interference problems. “We tried a couple of set up changes for round 3, which didn’t produce results so we went back to the original set up for round 4” said Josh. However despite making his best ever lap time a couple of mistakes were enough to put him 16th for the finals.
As
predicted the weather on Monday was changeable. Joe’s first final started
dry but less than a minute into the race the skies opened. “We suddenly
found ourselves racing on a wet and greasy track on slicks. Everybody
started flying off the track and I finished 2nd”. Josh’s first final was
almost a repeat except that there was just enough time to slap a set of ‘wet
tyres’ on before the cars lined up on the grid. Starting 6th he drove a
calculated race to finish 4th. Final 2 was a dry one for both, and not a
particularly good one. After tangling in the first corner and finishing lap
1 a solid last, Josh clawed his way back up to 6th at the finish. And the
last final too was wet. “For this final we used the spare car which was set
up for the wet” said Josh who again finished 4th. It was probably his best
race, the first 4 competitors running away and lapping the rest of the
field, just 6 seconds separating them at the finish.
When the
results were calculated Josh and works Yokomo driver John Pape had 8 points
each, 3rd place going to John on his 3rd place in final 2. However 4th in
the B final, and 14th overall in such illustrious company is an excellent
result. It was in fact the best result for Josh to date. In so doing he also
improved his race and lap times so there was improvement on all counts.
Josh’s Yokomo BD is prepared by John Bull Racing and used Checkpoint
modified motors, Corally VRS4200 cells, Novak GTB electronic speed control
and receiver, KO Propo transmitter and digital servo, Titanium racing spool,
driveshafts, pinions and hardware, Protoform bodyshells, and Take Off tyres.
Click here to view more photographs of the event!
(Link opens in new browser window)
20.06.2006:
Another great season for John Bull Racing:
Joe Anastasi’s John Bull Racing team had another great season of on road RC racing at the IRMCC track at Pembroke, Malta, where Joshua Anastasi once again was crowned National champion, for the 8th time. Add to that 2nd in the Super Stock championship for the old man himself, and 2nd in the Stock class for beginner driver Sam Scicluna (Joe’s nephew and Joshua’s cousin) and you could say we couldn’t have done much better than that.
All
three racers used Yokomo cars prepared by John Bull Racing, running Novak
electronic speed controllers and receivers, KO Propo transmitters and
servos, Protoform bodyshells, Take Off tyres, Titanium Racing pinions and
drive shafts, and RW Racing spur gears exclusively. Joshua’s Yokomo BD was
also equipped with Checkpoint motors and Team Brood cells, Joe’s Yokomo BD
also used Team Brood cells but ran with the regulation Corally motor, as did
Sam’s Yokomo SD.
NATIONAL CLASS: Eight national titles in not many more years is no mean feat, but 23 year old Joshua did it again, and no less convincingly, despite the very stiff competition.
“My dad prepares the best cars in the business, and he does all my testing. When I come down to the track on race weekends I know my car is going to be spot on. It helps to know you have the right equipment” says Josh. He won 14 of the 27 championship rounds he entered, breaking lap and race records at most tracks.
SUPER STOCK CLASS:
Young
Sam Scicluna was only 17 when, just a couple of weeks before the start of
the championship, cousin Joshua persuaded him to “have a go”. He
raced the season with an old Yokomo SD, inheriting everything after Joe and
Josh had discarded them, but persevered to end up second in the competitive
Stock class for beginner drivers, surprising everybody, not least of all
himself.
“I’d like to thank Joe and Josh for their help. I could never have done it without them. And Joe has a knack at preparing some mean cars” That was all Sam was able to say. A few words that mean a lot. He had 7 wins in his first season. Not a bad start by anybody’s standards.
And
as if that wasn’t enough success for one season Joe and Josh teamed up
together for the end of season Endurance, and won that too, also driving one
of their faithful and successful John Bull Racing Yokomo BD cars.
This weekend the John Bull Racing efforts grow by a scale of 10 when Josh competes with his JBR2 racing car in the Ta Qali sprint, promoted again by the Island Car Club. You can find out more about the ICC by logging onto the club website at www.islandcarclub.com
This will be Josh’s 3rd competitive outing in the car. At Ta' Pennellu Hill Climb last month the car showed much improvement over it’s first outing, so progress is going the right way. We’ll see what Sunday’s event at Ta Qali brings.
Then it’s back to RC and preparations for another foray at the KO Grand Prix at West London. On the 3 occasions we have raced there, Josh has placed consistently midway through the “B”. In fact last year he placed 15th, and fastest TC3 on the day. With the better Yokomo BD things could get even better this year.
19.05.2006:
Teemu and Schumacher take Snetterton win:
European Champion Teemu Leino of Finland drove his Schumacher Mi2 EC touring car to a fine win in the second round of the prestigious BRCA British National Touring car championship at Snetterton on Sunday.
The
fast Snetterton track under the management of the indefatigable Jon Guest
was the location for the 2nd round of the British championship, and what a
belter it turned out to be.
Associated driver Craig Drescher made history by putting his Novak brushless powered car on pole position. This was the first big success for a brushless motor system in UK. Craig used the Novak 4.5 brushless motor and Novak GTB speed control throughout the weekend.
Race one saw a number of lead changes but in the end it was Schumacher’s new
recruit Adam Rogers who took the win, while Drescher took the win in the
second final. But it was consistency that paid off in the end and Teemu
Leino took the overall win with 2 solid 3rd place finishes in the two
finals.
British Champion Chris Grainger and his Checkpoint / Novak powered Yokomo BD
were out of luck, tangling with traffic in both races, but young Olly
Jefferies gave Team Yokomo something to celebrate when he made his first
National podium with 3rd place overall. Well done Olly.
It was a good day for Schumacher, whose cars occupied 4 of the 10 places in
the "A" final with the battle at the sharp end being fought between just 3
brands, Schumacher, Associated, and Yokomo. Nobody else got a look in.
The next round of the British Championship takes place at the very fast
Halifax track. Just watch those ballistic touring cars go.
09.05.2006:
Chris Grainger puts his Yokomo BD on top again
Reigning
British touring car champion Chris Grainger started off the new BRCA British
touring car championship season in the same way he finished off the previous
season – with a win.
Chris Grainger drove his Yokomo BD touring car to a fine win in the first round of the BRCA championship in slippery, changing conditions which caught out many of the favorite runners, after also making TQ.
New Schumacher driver Adam Rogers finished second in only his first race with the new Schumacher Euro Mi2 touring car, having returned to Schumacher after spells at both Tamiya and Yokomo. Indeed, like local champion Joshua Anastasi, Adam started off in on road touring cars driving the original Schumacher SST in the late 90s.
02.05.2006:
Joshua Anastasi is Malta champion again – for the 8th time
With 3 of the 30 rounds of the National RC on road championships of the IRMCC still left to run, 23 year old Joshua Anastasi has once more clinched the championship to take his 8th Malta Championship title.
Joshua
started the season off driving his usual John Bull
Racing prepared Associated TC4 FT car but changed midway through the
season to the more competitive Yokomo BD car with which he has been winning
most of the recent championship rounds. This was a bold move after 5 seasons
driving A E cars and 4 National championships, but it didn’t take Josh long
to get used to his new Yokomo ride and he was winning again with the car on
only it’s 3rd race. Since then the Yokomo BD has improved with every
meeting.
“We had a situation” explained Josh, “where for business reasons I was driving an Associated car and my father was driving a Yokomo. It meant that we each had to go our own separate ways with testing and development, as well as the impracticability of carrying spares for 2 different cars at each race meeting. In fact since I too have decided to run the fantastic new Yokomo BD car, we have been able to exchange more information, to our mutual benifit. And now Dad is happy because he has been telling me I should try the BD ever since he first drove it almost a year ago. He was right. It is a brilliant car that’s so easy to set up and so easy to drive. I haven’t driven a car that is so forgiving, for a long time.”
As
everybody knows Joshua is not the world’s greatest “practicer”; so the fact
that he won the championship again this year proves beyond doubt his own
capabilities as well as the excellent qualities of the equipment he runs.
With 3 rounds still to run Joshua has again won 14 of the 27 rounds held to date, more often than not establishing new race and lap records in the process. His Yokomo BD car has run all season with the same Checkpoint modified motor, Team Brood cells, Novak electronic speed controller and receiver, KO Propo transmitter and servo, Proline wheels, Protoform bodyshells, Titanium racing spool, shafts and hardware, Take Off CS tyres and RW racing spur gears, and of course the car has been impeccably prepared by John Bull Racing.
25.04.2006:
Encouraging debut for JBR2.
With
less than 24 hours before its debut event at the ICC’s Xaghra hill climb in
Gozo, Joshua Anastasi’s John Bull Racing
JBR2 single seater hill climb car had hardly turned a wheel in anger.
The garage at Tal Fanal in Ghasri, Gozo where we were all staying was a hive
of activity throughout Friday and Saturday, and it was only late Saturday
afternoon that the car finally ran any distance under it’s own steam.
Come
Sunday, Josh drove 4 clean runs with the car, improving with every run, and
brought it back home in one piece, albeit with a list of things to improve.
The main problem was gear selection but this is presently being addressed,
and Josh should feel a lot more confident at the next round of the National
Hill Climb and Sprint championship, scheduled for Ta Penellu (Mellieha by
pass) on Sunday the 28th May.
10.04.2006:
Busy days ahead for John Bull Racing.
It’s
”never a dull moment” at John Bull Racing. If we’re not selling
Dunlop tyres or selling RC cars and bits, we’re busy racing. And even that
comes in big and small. With The annual Easter Cup meeting of the IRMCC due
this coming Friday, and the Xaghra Hill Climb of the ICC due the following
weekend, you could say we’re having to put in a few hours of overtime to get
everything ready and ship shape.
Last weekend was spent putting a few more hours into Joshua’s latest hill climb single seater racing car, which is now finally starting to look like a racing car and not a collection of pieces. The all steel 1500 engine is in place and now it’s down to wiring, piping and plumbing. Joshua made the whole space frame, including suspensions, from scratch, and now it is my turn to do the electrics and plumbing, whilst “uncle” Alex builds up the fibreglass bodywork.
If all goes according to plan we should have it running by the weekend, but in the meantime there are 3 Yokomo RC touring cars to prepare for Friday’s Easter Cup to be held at Pembroke. And the weekend after Gozo it IRMCC championship time again. It really is “never a dull moment” at the John Bull Garage. Who’s doing the coffee tonight?
02.04.2006:
Pembroke Malta.
The John Bull Racing team had another good and successful day’s racing at the IRMCC’s 7th round of the National Championships for electric RC on road cars.
In
the “Stock” class for beginner drivers, young Sam Scicluna collected more
valuable champion-ship points to hold onto his second place in the
championship. Sam had a 2nd and a 3rd with his John Bull Racing Yokomo Rayspeed BD in his 3 ten minute finals on Sunday. Ray Attard Previ won all
3
finals to extend his lead further. Ray’s Associated TC3 car is equipped with
KO Propo electronic speed control and Corally motor.
In the “Super Stock” class Joe Anastasi held onto second place in the championship with another win and a second, and fastest race of the class.
In the National championship, multiple Malta champion Joshua Anastasi consolidated his lead even further with another 2 wins and a second place. Joshua also recorded the fastest lap of the day as well as the fastest race time of the day to establish himself as the local benchmark for all to beat on his way to his 8th National title. Joshua drives a Yokomo BD car prepared by John Bull Racing.
With Joshua on his way to another National title, Joe chasing the leader hard in Super stock and Sam comfortably established in 2nd in the stock class, you could say that John Bull Racing are having a pretty successful year again. All 3 John Bull Racing drivers use equipment by Novak electronics, Corally, Proline, Orion, Checkpoint, KO Propo, Team Brood, Protoform , Take Off, RW Racing and Titanium Racing, and all 3 cars are prepared by John Bull Racing in St. Paul’s Bay.
March 2006:
USA. Carpet Nats 2006 won by RDX:
The USA
Carpet National Championships were held from 17th to 19th of March in USA.
American top team Corally driver Chris Tosolini has now won the USA carpet
nationals touring car modified class back 2 back in 2005 and 2006 with his
Corally RDX. Also the RDX has won all 5 of the big indoor meetings in stock
class.
The Corally RDX appears to be the car to beat in touring cars wherever you race. Check one out for yourself at John Bull Racing.
February 2006:
Carpet Nationals. England.
With the
winter season and virtually no outdoor racing, carpet racing indoors is the
big thing in the UK’s cold winter. The Carpet Thrashionals have become a big
event with all Britain's best drivers in attendance, but perhaps the
surprise this year was not so much the driver line up as that of cars. In
fact history was made when all 10 places in the
A final were filled by just one make and type of car, the fantastic Yokomo
BD. No guessing what car won, but the winning driver was none other than
young Olly Jefferies.
Olly’s winning Yokomo BD races with Checkpoint motors, Novak electronic speedos and GP3800 cells, KO Propo transmitter and servo, Proline wheels, Protoform bodyshells, Take Off tyres, and Titanium racing drive shafts, screws and spool.