Martin Bayer: Before I was directly involved with R&D, I always thought that the most difficult part of the design process was to find the proper geometry of the car. Now I know that the most difficult challenge for a designer is to face resource limitations and especially The Deadline directly related to the production schedule. In high-competition racing, the customers buy cars for a new season, so missing a release date automatically means less sales which means less resources available for further development of the platform. So my biggest challenge was to find the moment when I had to stop testing and provide the final specs of the car. If there was no deadline, development would be infinite… I would just continue with another & another last small tests here and there.

Of course I had to learn that even when I thought, “Okay, now this is the perfect car,” the next day – when coming to another track or facing different track conditions – I knew I would think that things could still be better. Such is the never-ending development process.

So to answer your question, the 2016 version of the XB8 is definitely another major improvement in terms of performance and reliability. We have worked very hard on the final specs of the car, used all our experience and knowledge from long term testing to make the final car the best possible car in the moment. We will continue to attend all major races around the world to support the drivers, but also we will continue to work on further platform development.

Martin Bayer: Our ultimate goal for all the changes was to make the car faster and easier to drive. We particularly focused on rough tracks, which was an area where we were off the pace. With all the changes made – including changes to the layout of the car, incorporating a more conventional pivot ball suspension, and completely changing the weight balance & flex of the car, the XB8 2016 is now a significant improvement on rough tracks while still being improved for any other track. I am convinced that customers will feel a major difference in the car on rough tracks, where the new XB8 has risen to a completely new level compared to the previous car.

Martin Bayer: The 2014 version of the XB8 used a unique pivot ball suspension with one horizontal and one vertical pivot ball, an idea used by Juraj already in 1986. So the change for 2016 to a more “conventional” pivot ball was not any fundamental change but I understand that it may look different. I really wanted to avoid the “copy jokes” and first tried to do all possible to cure the current suspension but all the solutions we tried to implement did not bring the desired results. So in the end we came to the conclusion that sometimes to move forwards you have to look back. So at the end I have simply decided that I will face the “copy comments” but was convinced that the reliability improvement in the dusty conditions and the performance improvement on the rough tracks using the conventional pivot ball suspension will be appreciated by the customers who are the judges of my work. So here I am ready to face the comments :)

Martin Bayer: Yes indeed! We are fully aware of our disadvantage of not having a permanent covered dirt track at the factory. This has been one of the obstacles of faster and more flexible development. After some internal discussions about the future plans and strategy of the company, as well as some financial analysis, we made the decision to build our own in-house indoor dirt off-road track. The building is already started, and the hall should be ready this summer. I can’t wait for it to be ready! I know how much of a difference our indoor carpet off-road track has made in the development of both the XB4 and XB2. As such, development on our own 1/8 off-road track will be much faster and more flexible. I am really excited. :)

Martin Bayer: With our increased dedication and work in the off-road classes, we have significantly improved the cars which has resulted in better results for the drivers and of course this attracts more potential drivers. I am sure we will add several new drivers to the team, but at this moment I do not expect any “big names” as you say. XRAY is still a family company which has a lot of responsibilities, and we must invest very wisely. But XRAY is also one of the very few true manufacturers, and as such all resources are first invested into new projects, new technologies and machinery, and only what is left over is spent on the team and races. Therefore it has been XRAY’s strategy to build the team and work on young & talented drivers so that both driver and company can push each other further. A great example of this is Martin Wollanka taking the European Vice-Champion title, and recently Bruno Coelho winning the World Championship title. Both drivers are taking the racing scene by storm.

Martin Bayer: Anyone who follows the racing scene understands and knows that the trend is towards electric. I really love nitro racing as this is where I came from… the smell and noise of nitro engines is music to my ears, and I will continue to race nitro as long as the class are supported. At nitro races you usually see the “old” faces, whereas in the electric races you see most of the newcomers and young kids coming through the ranks. So while I am responsible for commercial success of the platforms, I will of course have to put our priority and efforts into the classes that will see growth, popularity, and prosperity.

Martin Bayer: You know that I can’t disclose anything right now :) However in this case I believe that anyone who follows us knows that we are still missing a car in some classes. So you could likely logically assume what will be our next project… it shouldn’t be a big surprise… but I am excited that our off-road line will again get stronger and more attractive. I know that’s probably not the answer you were looking for, but it’s what we can tell you right now :)

Martin Bayer: Work, work, and more work! Results will not come without very hard & dedicated work, no matter how talented you are. And of course you need to have a competitive package with a top-level car, engine/electronics, tires, etc. and you also need to good set-up knowledge, a lot of passion, a lot of patience, and of course a lot of good luck. As a team we have in all the different classes a great combination of experienced drivers and a selection of talented young drivers. As a team we work hard, support each other, help each other, push each other further, but most importantly despite this being high-competition racing we still take it easy when we can. At the end of the day, only one driver can win, and when we are not the lucky one it is not a disaster… we continue our work with focus & strategy, and get to the next race with even more motivation. But of course we always try to have a lot of fun even while the adrenaline & excitement are there at the races.

Martin Bayer: Of course we will do our very best. The competition is extremely tough, so of course our disadvantage will be limited practice time at the Worlds track. We still work to get maximum performance out of the new car, so we stayed for a couple of days after the Worlds Warm-up for additional testing. This helped us to significantly improve the car’s performance. The track was very challenging & demanding, with changing traction during the day so the race will be very much about tires and how fast everyone can quickly adapt to changing conditions. Nevertheless, we continue our work, we continue practicing & preparing, and we will be ready for the race of the year where all the other teams will also come well prepared. I am really excited :)

Martin Bayer: Not really. Maybe in the past that would make sense, but not these days. The main differences for sure are the different traction conditions. A very slippery track may require some different parts than a car purposely designed for high-traction tracks. And already now you need a completely different set-up for such different track conditions. Maybe in the future we will see cars specifically designed for low-traction tracks or high-traction tracks.

Martin Bayer: Right now there are big changes going on in my life. In the next few days I will move from my city to Trencin, where XRAY is located, so I can be even closer to the factory and get more involved. With building the new track at the factory and myself living in Trencin, the flexibility & speed of development should go even higher. I also recently got engaged and will get married this year. So there are plenty of personal changes in my life, and everything looks great. I cannot wait for the future!