1:10 Offroad Worlds Warm-up preview by Scott Guyatt
Having enjoyed plenty of World Championship talk and discussions while in his company in the media room at the opening round of Scotty Ernst’s Asian Buggy Championships in spectacular New Zealand just over a week ago, Action R/C’s Scott Guyatt has put together a great preview of the 1:10 Offroad Worlds Warm-up race which takes place in his home country of Australia this coming weekend. If you hadn’t done your homework on the race, Scott has you covered with his in-dept preview. Take it away Scott……… ‘It’s time for those three words we all love: “It’s Race Week!” And if you’ve hung out with us for long enough, you know that means we absolutely cannot resist an overly long race preview. Read on as we all get excited for what lies ahead in the next few days. The long road to the 2025 1/10th Offroad IFMAR World Championships takes a huge step this week, with the running of the official warmup event. Hosted, of course, by Hills Off Road RC in Sydney’s northwest, the event offers at least three critical opportunities:
WHOSE WARMUP IS IT ANYWAY?
First, and most obviously, for those who attend to get a feel for conditions at Hills ahead of the Worlds itself later this year. The layout, of course, will be different – but the venue, the style, the surface, and even the ways that track builders shape corners and jumps and cambers are all helpful insights and experiences. It’s no surprise then that some of the racers that will be here this week will be among the big contenders come October. Think Spencer Rivkin, Michal Orlowski, Marcus Kaerup, Aydin Horne, Chase Lemiux, Tom Rindernecht and more. Team Associated, Xray and Schumacher, for example are sending solid teams, with drivers accompanied by engineers of the caliber of Tris Neal and Kurt Wenger making the trip. There’s lots to be learned, and every piece of data gathered this week might pay off later.
Second, the event is a fascinating race in and of itself. More than a dozen world-class international drivers will take on the cream of Australia’s established and emerging talent. The over-arching objective might be learning – but racers are racers, and once the competitive juices start flowing we can expect this race to get pretty serious as a race in its own right.
And thirdly? It’s a shake-down of sorts for the event organisers. For the club, race officials, media teams, and more. Figuring out the best way to use the venue, to set up World Champs-level scrutineering and tyre impounds, catering, announcing, and more. In late 2024 Hills RC hosted perhaps the best organised Australian Championships ever – a race roundly, and rightly celebrated for its high level of organisation. The Worlds? That’s another level – so this warmup is also for the club as it puts all the pieces in place for the real thing in a little under five month’s time. Let’s take a look at this week’s happenings through each of those three lenses.
DATA GATHERING
For the World’s best, it’s no longer a case of showing up on the day and winning…so much preparation goes into a World Championship and this week is a critical step along the road. I mean, sure, Davide Ongaro showed up at Hobby Action in 2023, built a car in his hotel room, and won the World Championship – but that’s because his team knew exactly where to start, exactly how to get the car setup. The team put in the work that let Ongaro strut his extraordinary stuff. And that’s the key factor here. Not every driver who will contend in October is here this week – Dakotah Phend is just one obvious example. But the big three teams in the world of 10th offroad – Team Associated, Xray and Schumacher? They’re here. And they’re here to learn, to test, to develop, to understand. To see where their current platforms are strong, and to identify weaknesses. It’s not just those three of course – Team Yokomo, Kyosho, Team Losi Racing, Mugen Seiki, Serpent, and Australia’s own GP3D all have entrants this week, all have the opportunity to take a step along the way.
For the 2025 Worlds, this now traditional pre-worlds warmup takes on extra significance because of the nature of the race. It’s the first outdoor dirt Worlds in years. The first on a 10th-size outdoor track, with a largely untreated surface in well over a decade. This World Championship will be fought out in conditions unfamiliar to many of the leading contenders and teams. That makes the Warmup all the more important. It makes the likelihood of special prototype parts (or dare we think, even whole prototype cars?) all the more likely. We expected any test or prototype parts to be kept pretty quiet this week – but think there’s almost no doubt we’ll see some pretty interesting things emerge before the main Worlds event itself. And all of that adds one extra element – the importance of local teams and local knowledge. Team Associated, and Xray, in particular, will arrive with the capacity to draw on setup knowledge and ideas of very strong local teams who know these conditions well and have fine-tuned existing platforms to perfection. Both have previously had factory drivers visit (Spencer Rivkin and Chase Lemieux respectively) and will have a head-start.
If you’ve not visited Hills before, or not watched last year’s Nationals broadcast closely, the other critical factor at this track is the way it evolves each day. There are at least three distinct track conditions likely to be encountered over every day of the event – so being here in person to experience and understand track evolution and the differing setup options suitable for different times of day will be, say it with me, absolutely vital.
THE RACE ITSELF
Racers are competitive beasts – and while I imagine every racer interviewed this week will talk about this event being first and foremost a learning opportunity – inside each of them beats the raging heart of a fierce competitor. Come finals time Saturday afternoon (2wd) and Sunday afternoon (4wd), the race for the win will be 100% on. The five American drivers will want to take on the six Europeans. The three Japanese drivers will want to remind everybody that Japan is never to be ignored at a world level. And the home-town racers will want nothing more than to take international scalps at probably the most competitive 10th Offroad event on these shores since the 1989 Worlds. And the lone Kiwi? He has a point to prove and talent to show. Ambition is everywhere.
So who do we look at? Of the internationals, Spencer Rivkin and Chase Lemieux have track time here at Hills. That means Team Associated’s Marcus Kærup, Davey Batta, Aydin Horne and Kouki Kato have good starting setups. Kaerup doesn’t have loads of dirt racing experience – but is ridiculously fast everywhere he goes. Lemieux and Xray team-mates Martin Bayer and young charger Bartek Zalewski will contend. And of course Schumacher brings arguably the world’s best all-round racer Michal Orlowski for his first Australian visit, accompanied by new US signing Tom Rinderknecht and the talented Daniel Kobbevik. That’s 11 already – and every one a potential contender for the win and likely A finalist.
Except…there are a bunch of Aussies who know the place well and are determined to make a name on the world stage. Lachlan Donnelly beat Rivkin in 4wd at the Nationals here 6 months ago. Ari Bakla brings three decades of front running experience, Christopher Sturdy a race-winning pedigree unmatched in Australia. Those three, for example, could easily run up front, or win, and it won’t be a surprise. Add in the deep local Team Associated squad with the likes of Lachlan Munday, Jordan Isergin and Jarod Ment, new Schumacher signing Jayden Edmunds, local guru Matthew Couper, and more. There are easily ten Australian drivers with genuine hopes of an A-final performance. And that adds up to a whole lot of serious competition mixed in with the “we’re just here to learn” approach we’ve already spoken about.
It’s also worth noting there are a whole load of other drivers running this week we haven’t had room to name. From emerging young talent like Phoenix Eggleton, Sam Muffett and Carter Sims, through to bona-fide Australian legends like Josh Pain, Ray Munday, Ben Panic, and Andrew Gillot – there are a load of reasons to run, and a load of stories to explore. We’re here for all of it!
SYSTEMS CHECK
We won’t go into a load of detail here, except to say that Hills RC is serious about putting on one of the best World Champs events ever. They sent a delegate to Hobby Action in 2023, put together the 2024 Nationals we canvassed above, and are leaving no stone unturned. There are new approaches to media, to facility and more being trialled, tested, and developed – and the Warmup race gives the chance to test those approaches in real race conditions – with still five months left for fine-tuning and further improvement.
For those watching from home, of course the event coverage will be important – and there we’re in good hands. Australia’s own RC Race Media will cover the event, with a broad pool of experience covering big races, including a host of Australian events, plus international meetings such as the Asian Buggy Championships, Philippine Masters, and Asian Onroad Championships. Full live streaming, including post-race interviews, analysis, pit walks, and a dedicated commentary team will kick in for qualifying and finals across the weekend, with a mix of Australian and international voices that you’ll instantly recognise. And we hear the lads have a few fun tricks up their sleeves!
The one thing that won’t change for this week is the track layout. With a whole new layout in the works for the Worlds itself, this week’s action will stick with the layout that has been in place since the Nationals last October. It’s a fitting test, a mix of high speeds, thread-the-needle chicanes, and a layout that plays with the gently sloping setting of the Hills track. Don’t forget “The Rivkin Line” unlocked by Spencer on the last lap of the 2024 Australian Championships!
THE SCHEDULE
So those are the three reasons for a warmup race, but what’s actually on the agenda? Thursday is “bump-in” day, with racers able to access control tyres (Rawspeed Supermini, for the record) and get set for the weekend. The on-track action kicks off Friday with a schedule that maximises track time for all. Friday is practice day – six rounds of controlled practice for both 2wd and 4wd. Saturday, things get serious – it’s 2wd day. Five rounds of qualifying plus three finals for all competitors are on the agenda. Sunday it’s rinse and repeat for 4wd – five rounds of qualifying, plus three finals. That makes a total of 14 runs for each class across the three days. Finals on Saturday and Sunday are scheduled to kick off from around 1.30pm local each day. Keep an eye on the time zones – daylight savings time ends Sunday morning in Sydney – so your relative time in other parts of the world will change between Saturday and Sunday.
WE’RE READY
So we’re set. The track itself is in prime condition after heavy rain last week. The club is organised. Media is in place. Racers are already in Sydney or winging their way to the southern hemisphere even as I write. And the locals are amped, super excited not only to put on a fitting warmup race ahead of a hugely anticipated World Championship, but to take home some trophies this week as well. Everything is set for a fascinating week of testing, learning, developing, and racing. Join us here, at the Hills RC club’s own Facebook page, and RC Race Media right through the weekend for all the stories, all the action, and all the analysis.’
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author.
