May 20, 2024

Iris team sweeps Austrian FWD Nationals Round 1

The opening round of the Austrian Nationals was held at the MRC Wr. Neustadt track over the weekend where the Iris Team enjoyed a clean sweep in FWD Touring Car category.  Matheo Buchhalt took the TQ with his Iris ONE.05 FWD after setting the fastest qualifier in each of the four rounds.  He was followed by Philipp Stadler, who lined up second on the grid.  In the finals, Matheo won the first two finals to secure the overall win, marking his first-ever victory at a Nationals event.  Philipp Stadler finished in P2, and Loris Buchhalt, another Iris driver, took P3.  Markus Buchhalt finished fourth, making it an all-Iris top 4 result.

Source: IRIS [iris-racing.com]


May 20, 2024

BRCA 2WD Onroad Nationals Round 2 Mendip – Report

The first round of the 2024 BRCA British 2WD Onroad Championship kicked off at the Mendip circuit near Weston-super-Mare on what would be their last visit to the circuit as it is being redeveloped.  This year the BRCA Championship is back to four rounds of qualifying, best two to count, with two finals for all. 
In F1 qualifying it was the Glen Westwood who took the first two rounds of qualifying with his Schumacher which was enough to take pole position.  Behind him it was Luke Lee and his Xray edging out brother Michael’s Schumacher by virtue of having the faster time for the tie-break with both having a first and second.  Next up was James Greener’s Xray with a second and a third from Rob Chaldecott who had three thirds.  The finals saw Luke Lee taking both legs for the overall win, from Westwood with a pair of second places while Michael Lee completed the podium.

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May 20, 2024

Butterfield doubles at ROAR Onroad Nitro Nationals

Serpent’s Bryce Butterfield completed a title double at the 2024 ROAR Onroad Nitro Nationals regaining his 1:10 title he lost last year and adding the 1:8 title to his CV.  With rain reducing track time at the Tri-State Radio Controlled Auto Racers hosted event in Ohio, in qualifying for 1:10 200mm Butterfield would top 2 of the 3 rounds to secure the TQ from the Infinity of DJ Apolaro and the Serpent of defending champion Jose Almonte P3.  In 1:8 again it was Butterfield with the TQ from the Mugen Seiki of Ralph Burch and Apolaro.  In the 1:10 final, with Apolaro going out early Butterfield would take a convincing win from David Dunn.  Also a 45-minute encounter, in 1:8 Apolaro would lead the first half of the race with Birch an early retirement.  Posting the fastest lap of the race however Butterfield would hit the front in the second half to do the double taking the title with a 2-lap advantage over Apolaro with Joachim Bruneau completing the podium.

Image: Bryce Butterfield [Facebook]


May 20, 2024

Ongaro wins Italian Nationals second round

Having taken maximum points from the opening round of the AMSCI Italian 1:8 Buggy National Championship held in March, defending Champion Davide Ongaro extended his points lead with a repeat victory at Round 2.  Attracting 67 entries, it was to be a very challenging weekend for the host club Nitro Buggy Genzone as the event started with Friday’s practice being cancelled after heavy rain flooded the track.  Preparing the track for a Saturday morning start having pumped out the water the club was dealt a second blow when they arrived Saturday morning to discover thieves had stolen equipment and catering supplies.  Despite the incident, the club did manage to get the event underway with Ongaro’s Team Associated securing the TQ, after topping 2 of the 4 rounds, from Sworkz’s Mattia Polito and WIRC Racing’s Marco Baruffolo who topped one round each.  After the Semi finals it was Polito who lined up on pole for the 45-minute final ahead of Ongaro, WIRC’s Andrea Trevisan and Infinity’s Riccardo Bertin.  Over the race, the order would settle into a repeat of the season opener with Ongaro taking the win from Polito after a close battle with WIRC Racing’s Marco Baruffolo again completing the podium.

Image: Riccardo Verardo [Facebook]


May 16, 2024

Brazilian Nitro Onroad Nationals Round 1 – Report

The first round of the 2024 Brazilian Nitro Onroad Nationals was held in Florianópolis, SC, Brazil, recently. Despite delays caused by heavy rains in the area which decreased practice times for all participants, the finals happened on Sunday under much desired sunny weather. With record attendance for such an event after an ongoing economic downturn and some long term effects of the pandemic on the closure of many tracks and shops, the event was a success, with 46 registered drivers including two from Argentina as well. The event was divided in four categories; 1:8 GT, 1:8 Onroad and 1:10 Touring Car, the latter divided in two grids of Sport and Racer. Sport designated for rookies while the Racer category was for seasoned drivers.

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May 15, 2024

Thurston makes it 2 from 2 in BRCA 1:8 Onroad C/ship

Alex Thurston continued his impressive 2024 season form making it 2 from 2 at the second round of the BRCA British 1:8 Onroad Nationals held at Adur over the weekend.  Winner of the season opener at the Cotswolds track last month, Thurston took his Ielasi Tuned powered YMC Racing Mugen Seiki to the top of the times in all four qualifier and starting from the TQ went on to win the final by 2 and a half laps setting the fastest lap in the process.  As at Round 1 of the 7 round Championship, reigning Champion Tim Wood was again on the podium but this time down in P3 behind team-mate & new Team Shepherd owner David Spashett who went from pitman at season opener to racer at Round 2 to claim a second place.  Currently Thurston leads three National Championships – 1:8 Onroad, 1:10 200mm Nitro Touring Car and the 1:10 Electric Touring Car having secured his first ever National win in the class at the season opener a weekend earlier.

Image: Alex Thurston [Facebook]


May 14, 2024

Raiola crowned Italian 1:10 Nitro Touring Champion

Infinity’s Carmine Raiola was the crowned the 2024 AMSCI Italian National 1:10 Nitro Touring Champion over the weekend at the Roger Track 2.0 in Marigliano.  Qualifying for the title race would see Raiola secure the TQ, after topping 3 of the four rounds, ahead of team-mate Dario Balestri.  An impressive qualifying performance by the BMT of Ciro Mollo would secure him third on the grid for the 45-minute final.  Continuing his form into final setting the fastest lap, Raiola would cruise to victory over the Xray of Mario Spiniello by almost 2-laps, Spiniello having a strong final having qualified P9.  Unfortunately for Balestri and Mollo their races would end prematurely, the pair making contact and eventually retiring within 1-minute of each other as the race entered the final 5-minutes.  In the end it was the Xray of Francesco Pierella which completed the podium.  In the Sport Category, it was Ciro Borrelli who took the title also driving an IF15-2.

Image: Carmine Riola [Facebook]


May 14, 2024

Boots gets first win of BRCA title defence

Round 2 of the BRCA 1:8 Nitro Buggy British National Championship took place in Shrewsbury over the weekend where Sworkz’s Elliott Boots registered the first win of his title defence.  In qualifying it was the Xray of season opener winner Jonathan Skidmore who would take TQ just as he did at Round 1 with Boots 2nd and the Team Associated of Neil Cragg third.  In the Semi Finals, the event would come to an early finish for Skidmore who misjudged the back step up, brushed the wooden board and broke the car just 5 laps in.  With Boots winning his Semi final he took up pole position for the final ahead of the WIRC of Lewis Jones, Cragg and Michael Lewis.  Just as the 45-minute final had started Boots hit trouble.  A flameout caused by a stone on Lap 1 meant he was in the pits and despite the fast reactions of his pitman, the former European Champion found himself rejoining 2-laps down.  Making a charge back through the field, with 8-minutes to go he had worked his way back to the front eventually crossing the finish line 2-laps clear of Cragg with the HB of Graham Alsop completing the podium.  A five round championship, Brookthorpe is the next stop for drivers with the third round taking on June 15/16.

Image: Elliott Boots [Facebook]