Happy New Year - oOple 2013

[jimmy]

2012 has been a busy year for oOple and we've managed to put out some crackin' race reports and the occasional video. We ran our third oOple Invernational race with the great support from all those that helped out - and as promised, it was bigger and better than ever. A truly outstanding event.

I've worked full-time in a 'real job' since before oOple began;- which started firstly as a website for my artwork - and then progressed onto my vintage R/C collection and eventually R/C racing photos.
2005 saw the first reviews start, and along with it the oOple forum - with the Kyosho Lazer ZX5 the first review. I'd consider 2006 to be the real start of our race reporting. The 'Neo race' in December of 2006, where Mr.Neobuggy himself tearfully thanked us sincerely for attending and reporting on his event was a fantastic moment for us.

2007 was an eventful year for oOple with the Euros and Worlds reporting - thanks to support from Team Associated directly on the latter - the first funding support we'd ever had.

2010 saw the most recent Euros we've attended after EFRA decided to support their own media. The personal funding to attend these races was too much to justify in the face of EFRA's lack of support and acknowledgement of the previous 5 years covered. 2013 and onwards will see us return to European Championship coverage with outside sponsorship - all being well - providing the funding we require to get there.

I was asked many years ago if oOple was my full time Job and if you take a look at the review section you'll see a distinct lack of content in the past couple of years. Working full time and running oOple got to the point that I had to choose - keep working and earning a decent wage or go self-employed and make oOple a priority and see what freelance work I could get to pay the bills.

2013 is the start of a new era - oOple will have more reviews, more reports and a whole new website that'll be in development over the coming months.

2013 will see the inaugural running of the oOple Off Road Race Series in the UK (details soon) for 10th off road buggies, along with the ultra-popular oOple Invernational. oOple has a stong following and awesome team behind it that love the hobby - it can and will only get better from now on.

All the best and happy new year,
Jimmy Storey