February 7, 2025

Volker, Kobbevik & Neumann set pace on opening day of MIBO International

It is the biggest MIBO International race yet and kicking off the third edition of the combined Czech onroad & offroad indoor event it was Ronald Volker in Modified Touring Car, Daniel Kobbevik in 2WD Buggy and Joern Neumann in 4WD Buggy who set the pace in free practice.  With both tracks opening up to racers late afternoon, to give them the Friday morning to travel to the Sports V Hotel in Hrotovice, Day 1 of the event consisted of 5 rounds of practice.  On the black carpet onroad track it was the Mugen Seiki of inaugural MIBO Champion Volker and the Schumacher of defending Champion Michal Orlowski would were the bench mark, Yokomo’s Christopher Krapp completing the Top 3.  On the grey carpet offroad track, onroad & offroad drivers standing back to back on the central drivers stand, 2WD Buggy saw Kobbevik’s Schumacher have the edge on MIBO debutant Marcus Kaerup’s Team Associated with Xray’s Bartosz Zalewski posting the third fastest time.  In 4WD, it was the Sworkz of the defending 2WD Champion Neumann that produced the fastest three consecutive laps ahead of the teenagers Kaerup and Zalewski, the later taking the win here 12-months ago.

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February 7, 2025

2025 IFMAR 1:10 Offroad Worlds – Stage 1 Report

The Stage 1 report for the 1:10 Offroad World Championships which take place in Sydney, Australia, later this year has been published by IFMAR.  Taking place at the Hills Off Road RC track which is situated in the North West of Sydney, the 20th running of the World title race is scheduled to run from September 29th to October 2nd for 2WD Buggy and October 3-6th for 4WD Buggy.  The Stage 1 Report confirms Australia’s own Clive Silva, who also acts as IFMAR Secretary/Treasurer, will lead the event in the role of Race Director.  On the media side RC Race Media will broadcast the official live stream around the world, Tony Firth, Matt Seckold and their crew having previously broadcast the 2023 1:8 GT World Championship and responsible for the live streaming of all four rounds of the high profile Asian Buggy Championships.  While previously announced in relation to the Warm-up Race which takes place from April 3-6th, US tyre brand Raw Speed are the official controlled tyre for the Worlds with their Super Mini Soft Compound with Grey Open Cell Insert tyre.  Further details of the 1:10 Offroad World Championships, such as a detailed time table, will follow in a Stage 2 report.

View Stage 1 Report here


February 3, 2025

2025 IFMAR 1:8 Elec. Offroad Worlds – Stage 1 Report

IFMAR has published the Stage 1 Report for the inaugural 1:8 Electric Offroad World Championship confirming the first World title of 2025 will be decided in Portugal from August 26-30th.  With Spain hosting the 19th running of the 1:8 Nitro Buggy Worlds last September, their Southern European neighbours will open this new chapter in offroad racing as Associação Clube Moto Galos Barcelos host the first eBuggy Worlds at their 310m track in Barcelos, which is located in the north of the country.  While the World Cup Race hosted last April, a precursor to establishing a World Championship for a class, struggled to attract entries, given the growing significance of the 1:8 eBuggy market and the lure of a World title, all the leading manufacturers and their star drivers are expected to travel to Barcelos one month before making the trip to Sydney, Australia for the 1:10 Offroad Worlds.  Having previously hosted the 2022 EFRA 1:8 Nitro Buggy European Championship, won by former World Champion David Ronnefalk, and home to the annual International Buggy Challenge (IBC), won in 2023 by World Championship Top Qualifier Juan Carlos Canas, the home track of World Championship finalist Joao Figueiredo is sure to put on an event that reflects the significance of this new World Championship.  Red RC is looking forward to making the trip to Portugal in August for this new WC which is the first of four stops on our 2025 IFMAR World Championship coverage tour.

View Stage 1 Report here


January 26, 2025

Philippine Masters ’25 – Announcement

It has become a bucket list race in the 1:8 Offroad racing scene and the organisers have today announced that registration for the 2025 edition of Philippine Masters is open with just 200 entries up for grabs.  Scheduled for April 30-May 4th, the 13th running of the Philippine Masters will see racing for 1:8 Nitro Buggy, 1:8 eBuggy and 1:8 Nitro Truggy (click here to register).  A race that was started by local Philippine racers with no ambitions for it to become a major event on the international racing calendar, the Philippine Masters has grown into becoming Asia’s biggest annual 1:8 Offroad race meeting.  The success of the race, which takes place in the capital city of Manila, has lead to the continent getting its own high profile championship with Race Director Scotty Ernst creating the Asian Buggy Championships of which PM25 is the second stop of four races that make up the championship’s third season.  The Philippine Masters is one of Red RC’s favourite annual events to attend and report on as it combines both top level racing and a social atmosphere around the racing that lives up to the host country’s tagline ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’.

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]


January 21, 2025

Philippine Masters ’25 track revealed

The organisers of the Philippine Masters has revealed the Circulo Verde Race Track which will host Asia’s most high profile 1:8 Offroad event of the year from April 30-May 4.  The 13th running of the Philippine Masters, track designer and accomplished offroad racer Edward Sio has overseen the work which includes the track being newly re-surfaced and oiled.  Tweaking the layout in some sections and they have also added some additional jumps for more actions on this always popular track.  Last year the Manila event was once again won by World Champion Davide Ongaro in a final that saw the legendary Atsushi Hara lead for almost half the final.  With the Philippines famed as a holiday destination, the event has a truly unique vibe living up to the nations tourism tagline ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’.  Holding the same status as the TITC in Thailand does among onroad racers, once again Philippine Masters ’25 will form part of Scotty Ernst’s Asian Buggy Championships as the second stop of four races that make up the championship’s third season.

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January 10, 2025

2025 IFMAR 1:10 Offroad Pre-Worlds – Announcement

With the countdown to the 2025 IFMAR 1:10 EP Offroad World Championships underway, host club Hills Off Road RC has published information regarding the Pre-World race which takes place at the Sydney track on April 3-6th with further testing opportunities either side of the race weekend.  With the main event, the 20th running of 1:10 Offroad racing’s biggest prize, schedule for September 30th to October 6th, the Pre-Worlds event will give racers the opportunity to get familiar with the dirt and track surroundings at what is regarded as one of the premier offroad tracks in Australia.  US tyre brand Raw Speed are the official controlled tyre for the event with their Super Mini Soft Compound with Grey Open Cell Insert tyre.  Only the second time the country has hosted the World Championships for the category, Masami the double winner back in 1989, 2025 also marks the 40th anniversary of the Hills Offroad RC club which was founded the same year as IFMAR hosted the first ever 1:10 Offroad Worlds in 1985 in Del Mar, USA.  The kangaroo in the official event logo looks like he is determined and focused on ensuring a home win for the Aussies!!

Source: Hills Off Road RC [Facebook]


January 2, 2025

IFMAR announces China to host 2026 1:12 & ISTC Worlds

IFMAR has officially announced China as the host of the next 1:12 and 1:10 Electric Touring Car World Championships, 2026 seeing the two events being brought back together for the first time since South Africa in 2018.  The titles will be decided in the city of Foshan on two different tracks with the GDC Indoor track the location for 1:12 and a brand new outdoor asphalt track being built for ISTC.  For the passed two years the GDC track has played host to international racers with World Champions Bruno Coelho, Naoto Matsukura and Ronald Volker racing at the impressive facility’s FIRC event which for 2024 was given FEMCA Championship status.  Marc Rheinard, Jilles Groskamp and Atsushi Hara also paid the track a visit in December watching Coelho take the FEMCA title, with the trio very complimentary of the race venue owner Gavin Kwok has created.  Under the guidance of Kwok the FEMCA Championship was a mini rehearsal for the World Championships with a very impressive opening ceremony, and he will be joined by Rick Wang in bringing the 2026 World Championships to fruition.  Wang played a key role in China’s successful hosting of its previous two IFMAR World Championships – 2016 ITSC in Beijing and 2017 1:10 Offroad in Xiamen.  With China recently removing Visa requirements for many European visitors, the championships are scheduled for March 27 – April 5, 2026, with the Stage 1 report expected in the next few months.

Source: IFMAR [Facebook]


November 27, 2024

2024 1:10 Onroad World C/ship Chassis Focus Index

Exactly 10-years after it hosted its first World Championship, the very unique Huge RC Circuit in Bangkok, Thailand was once again the challenging battle ground for the 10th edition of the IFMAR 1:10 Onroad World Championship.  A track thats high traction challenged even the very best drivers in the world, following more than a week of action it was Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp who came out on top and in doing so became only the second driver ever to win both an Electric and Nitro Touring Car World title, the other driver being Naoto Matsukura who was once again in the mix this year.  Having already written about the official manufacturer stats in our race coverage, during our time in Bangkok we managed to photograph 11 cars from 5 different manufacturers which will have now compiled together for our latest event Chassis Focus index.

View Chassis Focus Index here