It was an amazing week of racing that put 1:10 Nitro Touring Car back in the World spot light and it was an honour for Red RC to travel to Club Automodellistico 5 Colli in Italy last month to cover the 2026 IFMAR World Championship. Capturing the atmosphere with his camera, Club Press Officer Marco Paffi has produced this very nice ‘Road to Glory’ video that relives the vibes of what was an epic week of race action. Nice work Marco!
Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch is the new 2026 Euro Nitro Series Champion, the Swiss racer taking the 1:8 title with victiry at the season finale at the MyCandy track in Lentiai, Italy. In qualifying for Round 4 of the championship it was Infinity’s Dario Balestri who secured the TQ honours ahead of an impressive run from ARC’s Silvio Hachler topped the opening qualifier, Balestri taking the other three. Italian Infinity driver Jonathan Gandin secured 3rd on the grid ahead of Kurzbuch. In the final there would be a great battle for the lead between Balestri and Hachler who were clear of the field. With 3-minutes to go however Balestri ran out of fuel and it looked like Hachler had the win but cruelly with just 20-seconds to go in the 45-minute final the Swiss driver suffered a glow plug failure. Kurzbuch would take the win just 3/10ths of a second ahead of Gandin with a refuelled Balestri completing the podium ahead of Hachler who was classified 4th. In 1:10 Nitro Touring, the title already secured by Jilles Groskamp at Round 3 in Austria, it was the Capricorn of World Championship finalist Jakub Rozycki who took the TQ ahead of team-mate Toni Gruber and Groskamp’s Infinity. As the out going 1:8 ENS Champion, in the final it was Gruber who took the win from Rozycki with Groskamp finishing 3rd ahead of the Capricorn of Christoph Rohrmoser.
Image: Simon Kurzbuch [Facebook]
New from Cerberus Racing, the new brand of RC industry & racing veteran Josh Cyrul, comes this new 1:10 F1 body called the Vortex. Created with the intent to improve overall performance, steering and durability, the new Vortex is sure to turn heads with the aggressive nose that has been shortened and now features raised ribs to strengthen that stubborn cracking point over the front plate and tie-rods. The side pod has been re-shaped for a more aggressive shape with additional re-shaping/shortening at the rear for better airflow to the lower portions of the rear wing. The Vortex is available in both .015″ and .020″ polycarbonate.
A decade after winning his first IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World title, Xray’s David Ronnefalk is back on the top of the world after taking the win at 20th running of the championship today in Hutto, Texas. After making his Semi Final look like just a formality on his way to securing pole position for the 1-hour final ahead of Top Qualifier Mason Fuller, the Swede looked to be carrying that form in the week’s deciding race. Out front and looking in control, with 2-minutes on the clock however a mistake in the whoops section and a subsequent error that caused chaos for a number of drivers, put him down to sixth with team-mate Chase Lemieux taking up the lead. A driver to really impress at these championship, given his limited nitro racing experience, unfortunately a pit lane exit infringement would earn Lemieux a drive through penalty, dropping him down the order but an engine cut at the 20-minute mark put amends to an impressive 1:8 Worlds debut and he eventually finished P8. With defending Champion Ongaro becoming the third different leader of the race it looked like the Italian was going to once again reign the world for another two years but even the best can make mistakes. With 25-minutes to run and a comfortable lead over Fuller, the Italian would hit the post on the back of the track, the impact immediately ending his 8 years reign as Champion. With Fuller now in the lead, holding it for 26 laps, a number of mistakes allowed a recovering Ronnefalk to close and with a faster pit stop go to the front. As Ronnefalk came in for his final stop, a hard charging Fuller had two mistakes and needed to be marshalled meaning Ronnefalk kept is lead. Fuller didn’t give up however and pushed his rival right to the finish, the separation 1.439 seconds after an hour of racing. Having found himself back in 12th early in the race after that chaos caused by Ronnefalk’s mistake 3-minutes into the race, Juan Carlos Canas managed to get himself back up to third to claim the final step on the podium 2-laps down on his Sworkz team-mate. As the reigning eBuggy World Champion, Marcus Kaerup would be the best Team Associated finisher as he claimed fourth ahead of team-mate Brandon Rose. While Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen would suffer a run away during his Worlds Final debut, caused by a power switch failure, the teenager’s first refuelling at 12:30 couldn’t go by without an honourable mention.
The Semi Finals were just a formality for Xray’s David Ronnefalk, the 2016 World Champion securing pole for the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas with his dominant winning time in the first Semi securing him pole for the title decider. Needing to do an extra fuel stop over his rivals, the Swede got a early break when Canas crashed on the opening lap and back up the field. Pulling out an earlier lead, Ronnefalk’s extra fuel stop was quick negated such was the buffer he built up by his first stop. At the end of the 30-minutes it was 2024 pole sitter Juan Carlos Canas who finished second despite making contact with the same post that made him an internet sensation in the final qualifier. Completing the Top 3 was Spencer Rivkin ahead of Team Associated team-mate Brandon Rose. In the second Semi, the opening part of the race very scrappy with defending World Champion Davide Ongaro and Top Qualifier Mason Fuller coming together and handing Ryan Maifield the lead until he found the famous left hand side roof post. In the end it was the very impressive Chase Lemieux who took his Xray to the win holding just fending of the close attentions of both Fuller and Ongaro, the defending champion set to start 4th on the grid behind Fuller.
Jared Tebo will progress to the main day at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas, this the legendary American offroad racer’s 1st World Championships as a privateer. His tenth Nitro Worlds, racing last as a factory driver in Redovan in 2022, the 39-year-old found himself 54th at the end of qualifying in what he himself described as ‘a rough qualifying’ but taking the win in his 1/16 final he now gets to be part of the Main day here at Thornhill Racing Circuit for the 20th edition of the World Championships. Not just racing this week but also here with his family running his growing JTP business’ track side shop, Tebo, who is known for being his own biggest critic, joked ‘this is my first Worlds wearing with a bunch of hats.’ Asked how the week had gone the multiple 1:10 World Champion said, ‘I just haven’t really flowed with the track. I haven’t really felt the rhythm and wasn’t sure if it was my car or my driving so I was kind trying stuff on my car but still just not driving that well.’ He continued, ‘My last qualifier went well and I had kind of a 15-20 run going but crashed twice on the last lap and ruined it and that’s kind of why I am racing today.’ Taking the 1/16B final win ahead of 2012 World Champion Robert Batlle, this the Spaniard’s 12th Worlds appearance, he said, ‘I felt I probably drove the best I have driven that race so yeah all positive and looking forward to tomorrow.’
California based tool manufacturer MIP has released this Front Weight Set for the RC10 & its own 4-10 Legend kit. The ultimate front-end tuning accessory for original Associated RC10 buggies and MIP 4-10 Legend Conversion kits, fine-tuning your chassis setup just got easier. Whether you need a subtle weight adjustment or heavier front-end ballast, this stackable system gives you exact control over your weight distribution. The Modular design lets you run 14g (1/2 oz) or stack up to 28g (1.0 oz) total. Smart Interlocking Fit mean you can invert the male weight to lock the secondary weight securely in place. The weighs nests snugly between the front pivot blocks, stabilising your setup and preventing front body mounts from loosening during intense runs. Manufactured from high-grade alloy steel, they are black oxide coated and laser-engraved with weight specs and the official MIP logo.
New from 1:28 body producer Radbody comes the Mako Evo, an ABS hardbody with lexan roof. This latest hardbody is intended to complement Piranha on medium to large tracks. Mako Evo has been developed to flow through corners with less initial turn-in than Piranha, and transition to midcorner and exit with more rotation. With the side clips installed, the body should weigh just over 24 grams. The new wing incorporates a hump that drops down toward the rear for full chord height, but still picks up cleaner air farther from the body. Molded in 0.5mm for durability, it also features reinforcement ridges to reduce flapping, giving a more confident feel at high speeds. The roof remains 0.3mm, and it is higher than the lexan versions of the Mako. Radbody has raised the roofline to match Piranha for two reasons, firstly for aesthetics and secondly for downforce in the mid-front of the car. There are also vents in the rear of the body to reduce the “parachute effect”. Radbody recommends using thin tape to cover them for different handling characteristics.
