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October 3, 2024

Takara & Coelho win Brazilian AARC Cup titles – Report

Last weekend marked the third & final round of the AARC Cup of ABC in Santo André, Brazil, with two categories, 1:10 Nitro 200mm and 1:8 GT Nitro, still wide open in terms of the championship titles. The 1:10 Nitro 200mm battle was between points leader, Issao Takara (Mugen/OS Speed/Ulti/Nitromax) with 96 points, followed by Alexandre Kimura (KM Racing/OS Engines/Matrix/Nitromax) with 84 points, and João Dulac (Capricorn/OS Speed/Hot Race/MK Fuel), also with 84 points. Im qualifying it was Dulac who secured the TQ after two rounds of qualifying however after 30 minutes of a very competitive race it was the KM Racing of Alexandre Kimura who took the win ahead of Takara with the later securing the overall championship.

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October 2, 2024

2024 Asian Buggy C/ships Indonesia Chassis Focus Index

Last weekend Indonesia played host to the season finale of the 4-round Asian Buggy Championships. The all natural dirt West Side Raceway track, which is owned by very competent racer Adrian Wicaksono, would prove challenging but a big hit with racers, the event bringing drivers from 12 different countries to the capital of Jakarta. While Kouki Kato took the win for Infinity, overall it was the Sworkz of Australian Christian Wolhuter who became the inaugural Champion of the 2024 season. Rewarded for his efforts in hosting the race with a podium finish, WicaksonoIt’s Team Associated made it three different manufacturers in the Top 3 at the end of the 1-hour final. Attracting over 130 entries, we got the chance to photograph 8 buggies from 5 different manufacturers including the Xray of promising 12-year-old Indonesian talent Yansen Wijaya, who, like a certain 3-in-row World Champion, races using a Sanwa stick radio. In case you missed any of the Chassis Focus’ during our coverage of the race, we have compiled them all in our latest Chassis Focus index.

View Chassis Focus Index here

October 2, 2024

Philippine Masters 2025 date announced

With the dust having just settled on the second season of the Asian Buggy Championships, the race that laid the fountains to the continent having its own high profile 1:8 Buggy Championship, the Philippine Masters, has announced their 2025 date. Establishing itself as Asia’s biggest annual 1:8 Offroad race meeting and a major event on the international racing calendar, the 13th running of the Philippine Masters is scheduled for April 30-May 4. A slightly later date than usual, Asian Buggy Championships organiser Scotty Ernst made the announcement at the season finale in Indonesia over the weekend where Philippine Masters track designer Edward Sio was racing himself. Taking place at the Circulo Verde track in Capital city of Manila, the 2024 Edition of the Philippine Masters saw Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro once again take the win, with American Ryan Pavidis and RC legend Atsushi Hara, leader of the 1-hour final for a time, completing the podium. 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 be the second round of the Asian Buggy Championships.

Source: Philippine Masters [philippinemastersrc.com]

September 30, 2024

IFMAR announces 2025 World Championship dates

IFMAR has published the dates for the 2025 World Championships with the latest calendar seeing one change of host country and 1:12 no longer listed. The World governing body of RC racing, whose sole remit is the administration of each category’s bi-annual World Champion crowning, will have two new inaugural World Champions to add to their list as 1:8 Offroad gets it first World Championship race for Electric Buggy while 1:8 GT will now also get an official Electric GT World Champion, the 2023 Worlds hosting Electric GT as a ‘World Cup’ status race. It will be 1:8 eBuggy that kicks off the 2025 calendar at the end of August followed by 1:8 GT in September, 1:10 Offroad in October, and 1:8 Onroad in December. With 1:8 GT originally awarded to Peru, Chile is now set to double its efforts as it is listed to host 1:8 Onroad and now the 1:8 GT Worlds. Club de Aeromodelos de Chile (CACH) will host the 3rd running of the GT Nitro Worlds with 2-months then to get ready for the race that decides IFMAR original World Championship category. Having previously run with the ISTC World Championship, which is just over five weeks away in California, 1:12 became a stand alone championship after Covid but it looks likely they may come back together again for 2026 at least. More news on this and the host track are expected from IFMAR shortly.

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September 29, 2024

Kato executes perfect 1-hour main to win ABC Indonesia

Infinity driver Kouki Kato executed a perfect race to win the season finale of the Asian Buggy Championships in Indonesia, the Japanese driver winning the fourth round in Jakarta from the Sworkz of newly crowned overall Champion Christian Wolhuter. Lining up on pole position for the 1-hour final at West Side Raceway ahead of team-mate Naoto Matsukura and Wolhuter, Kato quickly gapped the field and grew that advantage over the rest of the 15 car grid as his rivals made errors and later hit problems. While Kato ran his own race out front, the focus turned to the battle for 2nd between Wolhunter, Matsukura and Jason Nugroho. Unfortunately leading local challenger Nugroho and Matsukura, who had just set the fastest lap of the race, would both suffer the same faith within 5-laps of one another as they needed lengthy pit stops to fixed rear suspension links on their cars. With Kato winning by over a lap from Wolhuter, it would be the Team Associated of track owner Adrian Wicaksono who completed the podium, a just reward for both his driving in the final and his efforts in staging the Asian Buggy Championships first race in Indonesia. Finishing on the same lap as Wicaksono having held the final podium position for a time, Mayako’s Joseph Quagraine finished fourth.

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September 28, 2024

Kato Top Qualifier at Asian Buggy Championships Finale

Making his debut in the Asian Buggy Championships at the season finale in Indonesia this weekend, it is Infinity driver Kouki Kato who will start the 1-hour Main as the Top Qualifier. The reigning Japanese National Champion secured the top spot on a tiebreak with team-mate Naoto Matsukura who would take the fifth & final round of qualifying at West Side Raceway. Having ended Day 1 of qualifying with a TQ run, Matsukura did the same again today in Jakarta. With 2 from 5 to count, his Q5 time however was 2.8-seconds shy of what he needed to deny Kato, who topped three rounds, the overall TQ. The driver with the fastest lap of qualifying, set this morning in Q3 when he was P2 behind Kato, Indonesia’s own Jason Nugroho locked himself into 3rd place on the grid ahead of Australian Christian Wolhuter, the Sworkz pairing also going to tiebreak for their grid positions.

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September 28, 2024

Kato goes top again in Q3 at Asian Buggy Championships

Having kicked off Day 1 of qualifying at the Asian Buggy Championships Finale in Indonesia with a TQ run, Kouki Kato repeated the feat at West Side Raceway as he opened the second day’s action at the top of the Q3 time sheets. The Infinity driver would set the new fastest time of qualifying by a massive 6-seconds, overnight track maintenance and a better tyre choice by the Japan National Champion contributing factors. With Q2 winner Naoto Matsukura setting the early pace in the 5-minute qualifier, until the first of two mistakes dropped him to P6 for the round, it was local racer Jason Nugroho who continued to be Kato’s closest rival. Setting a new fastest lap and getting very close to being the first driver to go 39-seconds, the Sworkz driver finished 2.6-seconds back on the Pro driver with the similar car of Christian Wolhuter completing the Top 3.

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September 27, 2024

Matsukura ends Day 1 of ABC qualifying with TQ run

Day 1 of qualifying at the Asian Buggy Championships season finale in Indonesia closed with Naoto Matsukura hitting the top of the time sheets. With Infinity team-mate Kouki Kato taking Q1 as Matsukura found himself P7 after a costly last lap mistake, the No.2 seed made amends in the second of the 5-planned qualifiers to post the fastest 5-minute run so far ahead of the Sworkz of Christian Wolhuter, the young Aussie another driver to benefit from eliminating driver errors. Despite improving his Q1 time by 1-second Kato found himself P3 with the Japanese Champion feeling he didn’t have the right tyres for the condition of the last run of the day. A close 2nd to Kato in the opening qualifier, Jason Nugroho would run the fourth fastest time despite suspected radio problems. Seeding fourth fastest but not having a good Q1 attempt, Kyosho’s Rama Tribudiman completed the Top 5 with his second effort.

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