Red RC » Events

August 24, 2024

Orlowski is European Championship Top Qualifier

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski is the Top Qualifier at the Monaco RC EFRA 1:10 European Touring Car Championships which are taking place Belgium this weekend. With mixed weather conditions challenging drivers at the Racing Club Roeselare track, Orlowski secured the overall TQ with the fastest times in 2 of the 4 counting qualifiers. Chasing his first European Championship title in the category, the 1:12 World Champion will line up ahead of Marc Rheinard, the Awesomatix driver setting the fastest time for Q3. Defending Champion Bruno Coelho, the Xray driver chasing a 4th consecutive title, will line-up 3rd for the finals having set the fastest time in the fifth & final qualifier. Xray’s Alexander Hagberg, Awesomatix’s Lucas Urbain and the Yokomo of Christopher Krapp complete the Top 6 on the grid. In Pro Stock, it was defending Champion Simon Lauter who claimed the TQ ahead of team-mate & 2022 Champion Olivier Bultynck. Schumacher’s Ollie Payne, who was the top seed after practice, ended qualifying P3.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

August 22, 2024

Niko Saarinen crowned Finnish 1:8 Onroad Champion

Mugen Seiki driver Niko Saarinen is the 2024 Finnish 1:8 Onroad National Champion, the title being decided at the fourth & final round which took place in Hyvinkää over the weekend. Three drivers went into the final race still with a chance of the overall with drivers counting 3 from the four races with Pekka Koivula leading the standings from Niko Saarinen and the defending Champion Jere Saarinen. The race was run in tricky conditions with the track changing from wet to dry. Practice was run on a drying track but luckily when qualifying came around the track had dried up allowing for 2 rounds in the dry before the rain returned. Based off the dry runs it would be Niko Saarinen who took the TQ, from Panu VehniäinenI and Jere Saarinen. The main final was driven in drying conditions meaning everybody had to be very careful to not push over the limit. Niko took the early lead followed by VehniäinenI while there was a collision on the straight between Jere, Joona Lempiäinen and Koivula, which forced the Champion to change tyres due to a broken rim and while Lempiäinen required a bodyshell change. After 20 minutes Niko was till leading followed by Vehniäinen until the second placed driver ran into transmission problems and was forced to retire. Allowing Niko to take the win ahead of Jere with Lempiäinen completing the podium, overall Niko’s Max Power engined Mugen took the title ahead of the similar O.S powered car of Koivula. Also driving a Mugen, fitted with a Max Power engine,the outgoing champion complete the Top 3 ahead of the Infinity of Lempiäinen with Vehniäinen’s Mugen 5th.

Source: Teemu Saarinen

August 21, 2024

1:8 Buggy World Championship preview by Scott Guyatt

While attending this year’s Philippine Masters we had the pleasure of meeting Scott Guyatt who has been working as part of the media team behind Scotty Ernst’s Asian Buggy Championship this year. Talking all things RC and sharing old RC stories with this Aussie over dinner each night while in Manila, talk of him creating some content for Red RC was floated. Having worked with Scott on content from the ABC and now with the greatest spectacle in RC, the IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship, just around the corner, when Scott put together a preview of event for his own Action R/C podcast we thought what a great opportunity and way to introduce his writings to Red RC readers. Sharing his thoughts is the ideal way to start building up this great race as we get ready to build up to our own coverage from Spain which is presented by Ruddog. So take it away Scott – What will almost certainly be the most-watched race of 2024, the IFMAR IC Buggy World Champs, is just a few weeks away. You have to believe we’re excited about this one, and can’t help but cast an eye over the field to preview the event. We’ll do it by producing our own Tier List for the event (yeah, we know Tier Lists are a bit 2018, but we’re so old-fashioned that we’re still all about the long-form story here, so let’s go with a Tier List as well). We’ve picked the drivers we think most likely to run up front, those aiming for a semi- or quarter-final, and a few wild cards with enough talent to up-end the predictions completely. Disclaimer: We used the most recent entry list we could find – so forgive us if some we’ve named don’t make it to Redován come September.

Continue reading Scott’s preview here

August 20, 2024

Red RC to attend MonTech New York Grand Prix

Following the recent announcement on the 2024 edition of the MonTech New York Grand Prix, Red RC is super excited to announce that we will be making the trip to the host track 360v2 RC in New Rochelle, New York, to cover the October 10-13th event. Slotting nicely into our 3-stop World Championships coverage schedule, the MonTech New York Grand Prix will be the first major US based race we will have covered since the 22nd, and unfortunately last, running of the Touring Car Reedy Race of Champions back in 2019. Reaching its 6th edition in 2024, the NYGP, which is supported by Italian bodyshell producer Montech, has established itself as a high profile race on the annual US onroad racing calendar and has drawn many top international entries stateside. In addition to Red RC reporting on how the race unfolds, our friends at Mod Live Media will be live streaming all the action from the indoor race.

Source: Fordham 360 Hobbies & Raceway [Facebook]

August 19, 2024

Hall adds 2WD to 2024 BRCA National titles

Having successfully defended his BRCA British 4WD Buggy National Championship title with his fourth consecutive race win at Round 4 at the end of June, Team Associated’s Tommy Hall has added the 2WD title to his 2024 tally at the championship’s 6th & final round over the weekend. Racing at Boughton Raceway, Hall and defending 27 time British National Championship Neil Cragg came into the final round equal on points following Cragg’s win at the penultimate round. In qualifying it was Hall who took the TQ over his main rival with Schumacher’s pairing of Ben Smith and Lee Martin lining up P3 & 4. Taking A1 & 2 ahead of Smith, Hall claimed his third win of the season allowing him to complete the title double, something Cragg was the last driver to pull off in 2019. Overall Smith would end the season as the 2WD Championship runner-up from Cragg, Martin and Holdsworth brothers Josh and Luke. In Sunday’s 4WD action Cragg would claim his first win of the season ahead of 13-year-old Daniel Pole to finish runner-up to Hall in the final standings.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

August 19, 2024

Hamon completes clean sweep at QLD Champs

Serpent’s Jeff Hamon completed a clean sweep of the Modified Touring Car class at the RC Maker RCRA EP Queensland State Titles over the winning, adding the title to the NSW State Titles he won earlier in the year. With the Bayside Radio Control Car Club hosted event attracting just shy of 100 entries, Hamon would secure the overall TQ after topping 3 of the 5 qualifiers. Making the trip from Singapore, factory Yokomo driver Nicolas Lee would be fastest in the other two qualifiers putting him second in the A-Main ahead of team-mate & defending Champion Simon Nicholson. Setting a new track record in qualifying, Hamon would wrap up the title by taking the first two A-Mains. Lee would win A3 to finish runner-up with Nicholson completing the podium after winning out on the tie breaker with new ARC signing Brayden Stanley. In 13.5T, Awesomatix’s Marcus Askell took the title.

Image: Jeff Hamon [Facebook]

August 19, 2024

ENS Champion Gruber claims 1st win in Netherlands

Euro Nitro Series Champion Toni Gruber claimed the first win of his title defence over the weekend, the Capricorn driver taking the win at the third round at the Apeldoorn track in the Netherlands. In qualifying it was the Mugen Seiki of Round 1 winner Simon Kurzbuch who secured TQ ahead of Gruber with the Infinity of Swiss driver Oliver Krahemann completing the Top 3. With rain washing out Friday’s action, qualifying would be reduced to just two rounds with the fastest to count and for Shepherd’s Lars Hoppe, the winner of Round 2 in Austria, he ended up P9 on the grid. While former World Champion Kurzbuch lead away the 12 car field for the opening minutes of the 45-minute final, once Gruber hit the front with his Ielasi Tuned C804R he was able to edge out a comfortable gap to win by more than 2-laps from Krahemann who put in an impressive showing. The Infinity of Teemu Leino would completed the podium, the Finn just holding off Hoppe with Kurbuch rounding out the Top 5. In 1:10 Nitro Touring it was reigning Champion Melvin Diekmann made it a double for Capricorn, securing victory ahead of the Infinity of former Champion & Round 2 winner Jilles Groskamp with Top Qualifier Milan Holthuis taking the final step on the podium.

Image: Ielasi Tuned [Facebook]

August 16, 2024

Monsanto track ready to become World stage once again

It’s the track that one of the great talents of our sport calls home and it’s where our own Events Editor experienced the unique & heightened atmosphere of an IFMAR World Championship for the very first time, so it is great to see Monsanto track in Portugal looking glorious once again and ready to become a world stage for our sport again. Where a young Bruno Coelho honed his driving skills, the track is located in the picturesque setting of Monsanto Forest Park in the capital city of Lisbon and was the host of the 2008 IFMAR 1:10 200mm Onroad World Championship. A time when the category was on the crest of a wave, the race attracting drivers from 28 countries, it was Bruno’s father Cesar who organised the 3rd edition of these World Championships. In qualifying it was to be Jilles Groskamp, driving a Sirio powered Kyosho, who took the TQ while a young Bruno, then driving a Mugen, ended up 77th out of 137 strong entry. In the final it was the Picco powered Kyosho of Daniele Ielasi who took the World title from American Chris Tosolini with Martin Hudy completing the podium on his Worlds Final debut. Currently in a time when unfortunately we hear of tracks being forced to close around the world, it is great to see Monsanto, after a lot of hard work by the club, being brought back to its glory days with a brand new asphalt surface. With the latest IFMAR 1:10 200mm Onroad World Championship coming up in November at Huge RC in Thailand, it will be the turn of Europe & EFRA to host the next edition in 2026. Are we looking at the ideal host track? Who knows we might even get Bruno to return to his nitro racing roots and have a go at adding a ‘home’ World title to his CV!

View aerial photo & a young Bruno at Monsanto in 2008 here