American Factory Driver Partners with US R/C and Diecast Car LeaderProfessional race car driver Bryan Sellers will team with United States' Radio Control car leader Hobby Products International (HPI) RACING in 2012. Sellers, of Braselton, Ga., will represent HPI RACING as part of a personal services agreement with the Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based manufacturer. HPI RACING is a world-leader in highly detailed Radio Controlled (R/C) scale replicas of off-road, rally and race cars. The Falken Tire factory driver will act as an ambassador of HPI RACING in a variety of ways including on-site appearances at R/C events and trade shows as well as through branding of his race helmet, uniform and his web site, The arrangement incorporates all of Sellers' racing activities including his position as race and test driver of the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS) and the No. 46 BCKSTGR/Fall-Line BMW M3 Coupe in Grand-Am's Sports Car Challenge GS class.
HPI RACING's product line ranges from professional sports car racing models requiring paved courses to off-road vehicles designed to do battle on the battering hills and moguls of scale tracks. While intricately detailed to replicate the full-scale versions of the cars they represent, HPI RACING R/C cars are also amazingly durable with polycarbonate bodyshells and mechanically precise with suspensions and electric or gasoline-powered engines tuned and adjustable for performance. The various lines of HPI RACING R/C cars can reach top speeds ranging from 15 mph up to an astounding 100 mph! The highly modifiable and customable cars have prices ranging from $110 to $1400 for base kits.
While separate of his personal services agreement, HPI RACING announced the creation of a scale replica of the 2012 Team Falken Tire Porsche that Sellers races in the ALMS. Recently unveiled at the International Toy Fair Nurnberg in Germany, the scale recreation of the No. 17 Porsche features a pre-painted pre-decaled 1/10th scale polycarbonate bodyshell mounted on the Firebolt 15T electric motor-powered HPI Sprint 2 Sport chassis. The bodyshell features realistic aerodynamic details such as a highly detailed rear diffuser and a multi-position adjustable rear wing. The Sprint 2 Sport has a performance-proven four-wheel drive belt driven high-performance chassis with oil filled adjustable shocks mounted on multi position shock towers, adjustable front and rear camber links, adjustable height body mounts and a full set of ball bearings for maximum efficiency. The car uses replica Falken AZENIS RT Slick tires mounted on to replica BBS wheels. The Sprint 2 is equipped with waterproof electronics and a 2.4GHz HPI TF-40 radio system for consistent and precise control.
In addition to its R/C line, HPI Model Cars crafts some of the world's most detailed and beautiful "static" recreations of road and racing cars. The 1/43rd scale Precision Cast Model-line includes classic Le Mans prototype and GT race cars as well as a staggering array of rally and road cars. Within the division, HPI has also crafted a limited number of precision slot cars for competition and display.
Quotes
Bryan Sellers:
On partnering with HPI RACING: "I am very excited to be able to announce this partnership with HPI RACING. Sometimes you get a marketing partner and they are just the perfect fit. This is one of those. I've loved HPI's products for years and from our first conversations it just fit like a glove. We have the same objectives and the same attitudes towards how we approach things. The thing that impressed me the most has been their competitive approach. If anyone thinks for a second that this is a toy company they are dead wrong. Everyone at HPI are real racers making real race cars. The attention to detail, the engineering solutions, it is all at the same level of focus that we approach those things with our race cars. It is just on, literally, a smaller scale. Five minutes with one of these cars and you're amazed by the mechanical intricacies that go into making them and all the ways you can make them go fast. That really appeals to me as a competitor. HPI RACING is the kind of company, the kind of people, I want to be associated with and I am proud they saw the same thing in me."
About having his race car done in scale R/C form: "It is really cool to see your car in 1/10th scale flying around a track! I've driven other cars that have been made into models but never one that I can actually race. I'll be the first to admit that is pretty neat. It'll be fun to take the HPI RACING Team Falken Tire Porsche to some R/C tracks and see how we do."
On future personal service contracts and partnerships: "We've been having a lot of success on the track the last few years. I believe that is starting to pay off for us off the track as well. It helps generate media and public interest in me as a driver and that translates directly to interest in our partners. Even more so, when you have a partner like HPI RACING you can do things that benefit them behind the scenes even more. That's what gets me really excited about these partnerships. We can put them in front of a lot of eyeballs with TV, media and social media, but we can also relate our sport to their business and get people excited. This is about a lot more than advertising. So, if there is the right fit, like it is with HPI RACING, we'll look at more partnerships in the future."
Andrew Hilman, Marketing Supervisor, HPI RACING: "HPI RACING is proud to announce our association with professional race car driver Bryan Sellers for 2012. HPI RACING is a company founded by a deep passion for motorsports and our partnership with Bryan Sellers is a natural extension of this philosophy. We are committed to producing the most innovative, high performance Radio Controlled products and continually strive to engage partners and athletes that will contribute to the quest for this ultimate goal. Bryan's high level of professionalism and competitive spirit in his full scale racing endeavor as well as his scale Radio Control racing enthusiasm adds to the HPI RACING brand image by perfectly illustrating the best tie in between full scale motorsports and it's smaller scale counterpart. By highlighting the similarities between the two scales of motorsports we are able to show that passion for motorsports transcends boundaries of size and scale. In addition, Bryan with his intimate knowledge and expertise of full scale racing technologies and racing vehicle dynamics will be a great asset to the HPI RACING R&D Department's quest to continually push the boundaries of Radio Control racing vehicle technologies. We are extremely eager to begin our partnership with Bryan and proudly welcome him to the HPI RACING family."
