October 3, 2023

Australia to host 2025 1:10 Offroad World C/ships

Newly crowned 1:10 Buggy World Champions Davide Ongaro and Tater Sontag will be travelling ‘Down Under’ to defend their titles in 2025 with the FEMCA Bloc having awarded the hosting of the 20th running of the championships to Australia.  Currently making final preparations for next week’s 1:8 GT World Championship in Sydney,  the awarding of the 1:10 Offroad Worlds to the RCRA (Remote Controlled Racing Australia) means three years of back to back World Championship action for the nation who will also host the 1:5 Onroad Worlds next year.  Currently three tracks, one situated in Queensland and two in New South Wales, have expressed interest with RCRA in hosting the championships with the national body giving them until the end of this month (October) to respond with their capabilities against a set criteria.  An official announcement of the host track is expected at the end of November.  Australia has previously hosted the 1:10 Offroad Worlds when in 1989 a certain Masami Hirosaka did the double.  Only the third running of the IFMAR World Championships for its second oldest category, while the St Ives track is still going today almost 35-years on, it is not one of the potential hosts for 2025.

Image: RCRA [Facebook]


October 2, 2023

Horne & Phend win at JConcepts Fall Indoor Nationals

Team Associated’s Aydin Horne and TLR’s Dakotah Phend took the big wins at the JConcepts Fall Indoor Nationals held at Hoosier RC Hobbyplex in New Albany, Indiana over the weekend.  Drivers’ first event following Hobby Action RC Raceway’s superb hosting of the 1:10 Offroad World Championships two weeks ago in Arizona, in qualifying it was Worlds podium finisher Broc Champlin who took the TQ in 4WD.  In 2WD the Schumacher driver would have to settle for P2 in 2WD behind former World Champion Spencer Rivkin.  In the finals, 4WD produced three different winners with Phend taking A1, Rivkin A2 and Champlin finally staying out front in A3.  Overall however, P2 in the third leg gave Phend the overall win from Rivkin and Champlin with Horne fourth.  2WD would open with Ryan Maifield taking A1 from fourth on the grid ahead of Horne and pole sitter Rivkin but World Finalist Horne reversed the order in A2 & 3 to lead home Maifield for the overall win.  Rivkin completed the podium with Champlin and Phend rounding out the Top 5.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]


October 2, 2023

’23 US Carpet Offroad C/ships Spec Tyre Announcement

This year’s sell out US Carpet Off Road Championships has announced the spec tyres for the Cleveland, Ohio, based race.  Now in its third year, the indoor carpet track race takes place on November 29 to December 3rd and will see racers competing in the Non Pro Buggy classes run Schumacher Cactus rear tyres combined with Cut Stagger Low Profile fronts for 2WD and Cactus Fusion 2 fronts for 4WD.  For the truck classes, JConcepts will be the supplier with a Swaggers/Fuzz Bite combo for SCT and Pin Downs/Swaggers for Truck.  A Scotty Ernst event, last year’s US Carpet Off Road Championships saw Schumacher’s multiple World Championship podium finisher do the Buggy double.

Source: USCOC [carpetoffroad.com]


October 2, 2023

Coelho wins MonacoRC Race Of Champions

The third edition of the MonacoRC Race Of Champions took place in Lucca, Italy, over the weekend where Touring Car World Champion Bruno Coelho took the win.  A race at which the Xray team officially presented it’s new X4′ 24,  Coelho secured the TQ at the A.S.D. Minicar Lucca track taking all four rounds ahead of Xray/Hobbywing team-mate Alexander Hagberg.  In the triple finals continued his sweep of the event to take the overall win ahead of Hagberg with ISTC World Championship finalist Alessio Menicucci completing the Modified podium.  In Stock, Nico Catelani had the perfect weekend securing the TQ & win while in FWD it was Awesomatix driver Daniele Pacini who came away with victory.  In Formula, former ETS Champion David Ehrbar was the winner.

Source: Monaco RC [monacorc.com]


October 1, 2023

Ongaro does double at Buggyland X

Davide Ongaro claimed the buggy double at Buggyland X in Madrid, Spain, by steering his Team Associated buggies to both the 1:8 Nitro and 1:8 eBuggy titles at the tenth edition of the international race.  The World Champion’s first win of the weekend came when he would win the eBuggy title ahead of the Mugen Seiki of Berkan Kilic with Sworkz Elliot Boots completing the podium.  Securing the TQ for the triple finals, defending Champion Juan Carlos Canas would win A1 only to retire from A2 and dropping to P8 by the end of third 10-minute encounter ended up 4th overall.  Also qualifying P2 for the 1-hour Nitro Buggy Main, this time behind Top Qualifier Berkan Kilic, Ongaro would come out on top again after a great battle that saw a very fast Boots take the lead before having issues at the 2/3rd distance mark.  The British driver’s team-mate Canas also lead the way for a time but in the end Ongaro completed the Buggyland double by 6.2-seconds from the Spaniard with Burak Kilic, coming from P9 on the grid, completing the podium on the same lap as the two ahead of him.  Making his WIRC debut at the event, Marco Baruffolo would finish fourth on the same lap as TQ man Berkan Kilic in fifth while Boots eventually took the finish in p9.

Image – Davide Ongaro [Facebook]


October 1, 2023

Salemi wins ENS Italy, Gruber takes title

Capricorn driver Mirko Salemi has won the season finale of the Euro Nitro Series where team-mate Toni Gruber was crowned the new 1:8 Champion.  Racing at the Leno track in Italy, the Italian claimed his first ever win of the series with victory over team-mate & defending Champion Dominic Greiner with just 8-seconds separating them at the end of the 45-minute final.  Completing the podium at the third round would be Serpent driver Andrea Catanzani who lined-up 6th on the starting grid.  Securing the overall TQ from Dominic Greiner, Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch lead early on before hitting problems and would eventually retire at the 30-minute mark. Taking over the lead from Kurzbuch, ENS Germany winner Greiner enjoyed a long stint at the front before 4th place qualifier Salemi moved to the front in closing stages of the race which he described afterwards as ’45-minutes of racing at the limit’.  Despite retiring from the final after 17-minutes, ENS Netherlands winner Toni Gruber would clinch the overall ENS title by a single point from Greiner with Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp completing the Top 3.  In 1:10, Top Qualifier Kyle Branson took his Xray to the win by the narrowest of margins over new Champion Melvin Diekann who made it title double for Capricorn RC.  The 1:10 podium in Leno was completed by France’s Quentin Leroux.

View Overall Championship podiums here


September 30, 2023

Berkan Kilic secures Nitro TQ at Buggyland X

Mugen Seiki driver Berkan Kilic is the 1:8 Nitro Buggy Top Qualifier at Buggyland X in Madrid, Spain.  The German driver secured the top spot in qualifier ahead of World Champion Davide Ongaro and newly crowned European Champion Juan Carlos Canas.  Qualifying for the 10th edition of Buggyland started with Sworkz driver & defending Champion Canas taking the first round from Ongaro’s Team Associated before Kilic went top in Q2 ahead of new WIRC signing Marco Baruffolo.  The third round saw Ongaro post a TQ run ahead of Kilic and Canas but almost 4-seconds slower than Kilic’s best, it was the Mugen driver who claimed the overall TQ on tie break.

Image: Berkan Kilic [Facebook]


September 30, 2023

Kurzbuch & Branson Top Qualifiers at ENS Italy

Mugen’s Simon Kurzbuch and Xray’s Kyle Branson are the Top Qualifiers at season finale of the Euro Nitro Series in Italy.  Racing at Pista di Leno in the north of the country, in 1:8 it was former World Champion Kurzbuch, who after problems in Q1, took control topping the next three rounds of qualifying to secure pole for tomorrow’s final.  The multiple ENS Champion’s 20th TQ of the series, behind him it will be Capricorn’s Dominic Greiner, having topped Q1, who starts P2 with the Infinity of Francesco Tironi lining up third.  Winner of the previous round in the Netherlands and the current points standings leader, Toni Gruber will start the final a lowly P9.  Making it a TQ double for engine brand Ielasi Tuned, Branson completed a clean sweep of 1:10 qualifying going fastest in all four rounds.  Behind the British driver, ENS Germany and ENS Netherlands winner Melvin Diekmann qualifies second ahead of Infinity’s Milan Holthuis.

Image: Ielasi Tuned [Facebook]