Looks like ROAR lied and said all the body manufacturers are working together to come up with a rule or specifications on the bodies. Maybe its just me, but this article from Proline on Neobuggy do not sound like they are getting along with ROAR...... Who would of thought!
Pro-Line; a company with an enviable racing pedigree, countless national titles, wins and World Championships confirm the company's long term dedication to 1/8 buggy racing. In recent times though PL have had more of a fight on their hands; their classic rival JConcepts has always kept them on their toes - with hindsight a beneficial rivalry for both. But since the arrival of AKA and Losi's own tyres, PL have seen their market strength threatened; the low point, a disappointing buggy result at the 2009 ROAR Nats put in harsh light when compared with the all Pro-Line ROAR final just 2 years earlier. In particular Losi's apparent tyre advance was impressive in such a short space of time, perhaps prompting the infamous, "The nationals would be the last race the Losi team used other brand tyres." - ok so this has backfired a bit and in recent events the Losi boys have seen their results improve on non in-house rubber.
Case in point Neo2010; Adam Drake and Mike Truhe attended to much success and used Pro-Line tyres throughout the event, they tested a few other tyres but settled for Revolvers for the main event; handing Pro-Line a 1,2,3,4 finish and contributing to 8 out of 15 finalists on PL rubber. Eventual winner Yannick Aigoin used the new Procircuit tyres through quali but won the event on Pro-Lines. What is perhaps more telling though is Ryan Maifield's decision to opt for PL tyres a few times during the event; he did run JConcepts the majority of the qualifying but PL for the final; ever the fair racer Ryan was open and honest about it, likewise his Silver State win; possibly having seen team mate Ryan Cavalieri win back to back events with the same equipment albeit different tyres and engine could play an important factor. One should recognise that some tyre brands, compounds and treads work better than others depending on the conditions; looking forward to the Worlds in November PL are in a great position with bags of knowledge about the track from the likes of Hara, and if we make a loose comparison between the Neo2010 track and Pattaya, the track surface in terms of hardness (like tarmac - super hard packed) could bode well for PL come November...
The Body-gate Debate
Pro-Line first unveiled their 'Bulldog' style buggy body on March 11th, see article, less than two weeks later, ROAR (the N.American governing body) came down very hard on this new style 'cab forward' buggy body (see article) - and again clarified their ruling a few days ago (see article). There are a few things to get out of the way first; the bodies below have all existed prior to the ROAR ruling, but ROAR specify, "Buggy and truck bodies used in ROAR-sanctioned events should resemble those used in full scale off-road and stadium racing. Sedans, out-of-scale truck, and van bodies are prohibited.”. Perhaps the catalyst for the movement of the cab forwards was the Losi; body revisions have seen a more pronounced windshield/cab area - Original Losi 8ight body, 8ight 2.0 body and now the EU edition body - its fair to say there a trend can be seen.
Clockwise from top: The bodies of the 8ight 2.0 EU, GS CLX, Team Durango DNX408 and new LRP buggy.
We do wonder what benefit there is to gain from rendering the new style bodies illegal on the grounds that they do not fall within the spirit of a decades-old rule in the rulebook. One point of debate is 1/8 buggy has boomed in the last decade, why not let it develop further without restraint but within guidelines. Sadly though there may be further factors hidden under the murky waters; not so long ago there was the dispute Pro-Line had with ROAR over legality of wider tyres, could this have laid some of the groundwork and motivated ROAR to move so quickly after the bodys introduction ? What will ROAR make of JConcepts' radical stealth fighter style body ? going for the sharp angular line approach one wonders how ROAR will react. Understandably the companies whose bodies are under scrutiny have kept quiet on the matter, opting not to comment and inflame the situation.
We do get the feeling this matter is far from over, and may turn quite messy, in fact rumours reached us that a similar incident to this flared up when Losi introduced their 8ight body a couple of years ago; talk of nationals boycotts etc seem an overreaction and at this point that story is hearsay but there is an cheeky old saying; where there's smoke, there's fire...
This issue has the potential to damage the relationships between some companies and ROAR, possibly even alienate them which is not a good thing for the hobby.