Tamiya's TRF801Xt Racing Truggy Kit

R/C Madness is a track located in Enfield, Connecticut and the Off-Road Madness event is sponsored by RC Driver magazine. Tamiya America has been going to this event for many years as it is a well run and fun event. During those initial years we brought the TNX Monster truck to victory on one or two occasions. 2008 marks our introduction of our new TRF801XT competition level truggy, so what better place to have an initial pre-production shakedown than one of our favorite tracks in the east coast. This year, there were approximately 160 entries. The most popular classes were 1/8th truggy and 1/8th buggy both with 46 entries each.

This year we sent two TRF drivers to tackle the Madness once again. They were Jimmy Jacobson and Josh Numan. Jimmy Jacobson has piloted the TNX before on the RC Madness track and has plenty of off-road experience to give the new TRF801XT a good shakedown. Josh Numan has won plenty of on-road events and is now striving to conquer the world of nitro off-road. These two pilots put the TRF801XT through all the rigors of racing and provided the designer with valuable feedback in the process.

Qualifying consisted of three rounds with the best single round determining qualifying position. Jacobson was one of the two drivers to complete 13 laps in qualifying. The main event was on Sunday, with both TRF drivers in the A-main. At the start of the 45-minute A-main race, Jacobson got a great start and took the lead after the first turn and began increasing his lead to nearly half a lap distance within the first 5 minutes. Although some bad luck negotiating traffic on the track and running out of fuel mid-way caused him to lose the lead, but he was still able to come back from adversity and secure a podium finish.

The TRF801XT will be coming to you soon and Tamiya America will be tackling as many tracks as it can find to further develop its potential. Stay tuned for more TRF801XT sightings............