Red RC

September 28, 2026

Ongaro set early pace at Buggy Worlds

Having had three rounds of practice yesterday to familiarise themselves with the Thornhill Racing Circuit track layout on which IFMAR will crown its 20th 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Champion come Saturday, it is Team Associated’s defending Champion Davide Ongaro who is setting the early pace in Texas. With drivers best 3-consecutive laps improving in huge chunks over yesterday, Xray’s David Ronnefalk fastest on 1:58.124 in the first round, Sworkz’s Camden Lime fastest in the second run on 1:54.709, it was Ongaro who ended the day fastest with a 1:51.540 in the third free practice. With three more practice rounds on today’s schedule it was the Italian who opened proceedings with the fastest time. While a slower pace than yesterday evening’s run, Ongaro was, on like for like conditions, quickest from Ronnefalk with Kyosho’s Riccardo Berton third ahead of the Sworkz of Mason Fuller, Kyosho’s Marco Baruffolo and the Associated of reigning eBuggy World Champion Marcus Kaerup.

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September 28, 2026

1:8 Offroad Worlds coverage presented by RUDDOG

The 2-year wait is finally over and thanks to Ruddog Racing we have just arrived in Hutto, Texas, ready to spend the next 6 days telling the story of how the 20th running of the IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship unfolds at Thornhill Racing Circuit. The eigth time we will report on the categories biggest race, this is the third time our coverage has been presented by Ruddog Racing. Based in Germany, Ruddog is a company steeped in offroad racing history being a distributor for 35-time World Champion manufacturer Team Associated and iconic offroad tyre brand JConcepts to name but a few. Founded in 2006 by Sven Rudig, the same year as Red RC joined the world wide web, as an avid offroad racer himself he has developed Ruddog into having their own product ranges such as Ruddog Racing which offers a line of nitro engines and electronics. They are also behind Revolution Design Racing Products which has established itself as a designer & producer of high-quality tuning parts that are hugely popular upgrades among offroad racers. 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the crowning of the inaugural 1:8 Buggy World Champion Frederic Vesseyre in France in 1986 and a decade since David Ronnefalk won the last US staged Worlds with victory in Las Vegas in 2016. As the current World Champion Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro will chase a record extending 4-in-row this week but the Italian faces strong opposition from US drivers all looking to become the first to win the sport’s biggest prize on home soil.

Source: Ruddog [ruddog.eu]

September 28, 2026

Xbility XB-F1 Hybrid Chassis

After releasing a Hybrid Flex Chassis for its 1:28 kit, Xbility has now released one specifically designed for their Formula 1 kit the XB-F1 which was released at the end of last year. The chassis combines an aluminium chassis section with a carbon chassis section, bolted together. The torsional flex can be adjusted by adding or removing screws, allowing you to control the desired level of chassis flex.

Source: Xbility [xbilityrc.com]

September 28, 2026

Urbain claims French title with TQ & Win at Marmagne

Awesomatix’s Lucas Urbain has secured the FFVRC 2026 French 1:10 Modified Touring Car National title in style with TQ & victory at the season finale over the weekend. Racing at the Marmagne track in central France, qualifying for Round 5 of the championship would see Urbain top all but one round of qualifying, French touring car veteran Cyril N’diaye posting a TQ run in Q2 to line up second for the A-Mains. A multiple National Champion, RC Maker’s Rémi Callens competed the Top 3 followed by Thomas Vigneron. In the triple finals, Urbain took the first two, A1 ahead of Callens and A2 ahead of N’diaye, to seal the deal. With N’diaye winning A3 from Callens that was how they would complete the podium as the race brought a close to the outdoor season.

Image: Lucas Urbain [Facebook]

September 28, 2026

Tironi wins Round 2 of Italian 1:8 National Championship

Infinity’s Francesco Tironi has taken the win at the second round of the AMSCI 1:8 Onroad Italian National Championship. Racing at the Leno track in the north of the country, it was the Serpent of Mirko Salemi who secured the TQ honours setting fastest times in 3 of the 4 qualifying round. Fastest in Q2, Xray’s recent 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship podium finisher Filippo Domanin would qualify P2 with Tironi in third ahead of young Luca Ielasi, the Top 4 going directly to the Main. Unfortunately a problem for Salemi at the start of the 45-minute final ended his chances of the win but setting the fastest lap of the race he would recover to P4. Up front Tironi would take his first National win in some time with a 3.1-second winning margin over Domanin. Securing P5 on the grid after victory in the Semi Finals, Andrea Muscolino’s Infinity completed the podium. The National Championship concludes on October 25th with the third & final round at the iconic Fiorani track.

Image: Francesco Tironi [Facebook]

September 26, 2026

2nd Hobby Culture Festival China (HCFC)

Having attracted over 26,500 visitors to its first edition, Hobby Culture Festival China returns in 2026 with Hangzhou, one of the seven ancient capitals of China and the capital of the Zhejiang Province, the stage for this event that brings together model exhibitions, RC competitions, interactive experiences, and hobby culture activities under one roof. A three day exhibition that runs from October 30th to November 1st, HCFC is an important part of Hobby Expo China (HEC)’s strategic layout of ‘One South, One North; Spring
and Autumn Seasons’. However unlike the impressive HEC. which was held in Beijing back in April and focuses more on comprehensive trade activities, the Hangzhou festival places greater emphasis on immersive consumer experiences, digital creative culture and the model industry. Building on Hangzhou’s strong digital creative and hobby industry base, the festival will feature a 2,000-square-meter professional indoor flight zone and an indoor pool area, covering model vehicles and aircraft across land, sea, air and space, as well as figures, robots, AI and other categories. Additionally the Chinese National Championships for both Crawling and Drifting take place in the same venue, competitors and spectators getting opportunity to meet hobbyists and brands attending the Hobby Culture Festival. This will allow enthusiasts to experience the excitement of a national level championship up close, while providing participating brands and drivers with opportunities to interact directly with a large community of hobby consumers.

Source: Hobby Expo China [hobbyexpochina.com]

September 26, 2026

RC Pit Clock Android App for Nitro Racing

Many a nitro race has been lost in the pit lane due to refuelling timing and so the idea was born for RC Pit Clock, a new Android App that helps you plan your fuel strategy. Created by long time racer and professional software developer Lionel Hagege, the idea came from something he’d seen many times at races: managing fuel during a long race can become surprisingly difficult. You know your fuel runtime and your average lap time, but once the race starts, things change. A lap can be missed, a pit stop can happen a little earlier or later, and you have to keep recalculating everything while concentrating on the car and this is where RC Pit Clock is designed to help with that. Enter your fuel autonomy, average lap time and race duration and the app calculates the fuel stops and, during the race, shows how many laps are left before the next refuelling stop. If you pit earlier or later than planned, the remaining stops are recalculated. There is also a Garmin version, so the information can be displayed directly on the driver’s watch. The App also follows the race day and from the heat board posted at the club, it tells you when you run, when you marshal, and sounds an alarm before each of your runs.

View more App information here

September 26, 2026

Custom Works Beast 2 Midget Dirt Oval Kit

North Carolina based oval kit manufacturer Custom Works has released the second iteration of its Dirt Oval 1:10 Midget class racer the Beast 2. This updated version includes the necessary options for racing on both high bite and loose dirt style surfaces that typically use 2.2 buggy styled rubber tyres. The Beast 2 also includes all the standard high quality parts as the original Beast plus several new or upgraded parts. Laydown and standup transmission options as well as adjustable offset features and servo locations in the chassis mean you only need one car for the different types of track surfaces you may encounter. With many of the parts utilised to meet the spec class requirements there are several other optional parts that can be used outside of the spec class rules for quicker and easier adjustments including optional Custom Works patented adjustable rear arms, and optional Gear Differential.

View Kit Features & more images here