Red RC » P Off Road

January 5, 2025

Phend & Rivkin winners at JConcepts Clash of Champions

Dakotah Phend and Spencer Rivkin took the big wins at this year’s JConcepts Clash of Champions, Phend marking the beginning of his new contract with Xray with a dominant win in 2WD Buggy. The third edition of the annual race hosted by Hoosier RC HobbyPlex in Indiana, having taken the TQ in both 2WD and 4WD, Phend delivered an impressive early win in 2WD. Winning the opening two A-Main encounters ahead of Schumacher’s Broc Champlin this would be his third consecutive Clash of Champions 2WD win and he was joined on the podium by Champlin another of Xray’s new 2025 recruits Brennan Schimmel. In 4WD, Phend opened with the win in A1 but second place qualifier Rivkin got the job done in A2 after a small error from the Top Qualifier which set the stage for a shoot out in A3. Leading the first half of the decider, a mistake in the berm would prove costly for Phend who eventually finished P4 while Rivkin won to take the overall victory for Team Associated. Both drivers would be joined on the podium by the Team Associated of Davy Batta.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

January 5, 2025

Polito takes ‘OneRace OneMan’ win

Having wrapped up the 2024 season with a very impressive performance at the SIGP in Xiamen, China, Sworkz’s Mattia Polito has opened 2025 with the 1:8 Nitro Buggy victory at the annual ‘OneRace OneMan’ race at the IBR Padova indoor facility in Italy. In qualifying it was Marco Baruffolo who was the Top Qualifier, in his first race for Kyosho the Italian topped 2 of the 4 rounds of qualifying. Fastest in Q3, his new team-mate Riccardo Berton would end qualifying P2 with Polito securing P3 after a TQ run in round 2. In the 45-minute Main, Berton’s challenge would end after just 18-minutes as he retired with a technical issue. With Baruffolo leading he would also run into issues but finish, a problem with his receiver battery 20-minutes in costing him time. Setting the fastest lap of the final, this all played into the favour of Polito who would take the victory from Baruffolo with the Xray of former ‘OneRace OneMan’ race winner Alex Zanchettin completing the podium. In eBuggy, Polito secured the TQ but it was second place qualifier Berton who took the win.

Image: Red RC File

January 4, 2025

Phend opens new era with ‘Clash of Champions’ TQ

Dakotah Phend has opened the new era in his racing career by securing the TQ double at the JConcepts Clash of Champions with his new Xray buggies. Just days after the Slovakian manufacturer officially confirmed they had signed the star American racer, the new package is making its race debut at Hoosier RC HobbyPlex where Phend is chasing a third consecutive win at the annual Indiana event, In 2WD qualifying, 2 from three rounds to count, Phend wrapped up an early overall TQ by taking the opening two rounds, the first ahead of Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin and the second ahead of Schumacher’s Broc Champlin. In 4WD, it was Xray’s Chase Lemieux who took the first round ahead of his new team-mate before Phend went to the top in Q2 & 3 setting the fastest times ahead of Rivkin to secure the overall TQ.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

January 3, 2025

PRO1RC Dirt-04v2 1:8 Buggy tyre

Florida based offroad tyre brand PRO1RC has introduced their new Dirt-04V2 1:8 Buggy tyre. A very versatile tyre intended for a multitude of conditions, when the track is greener, with dirt on the racing line, wet or bumpy, it can be put in different positions, to obtain more or less grip. PRO1RC have also added arrow-shaped pins at the intersections, to obtain much more forward grip. The tyre is available in three compounds, Soft X, Super Soft X and Ultra Soft X.

Source: PRO1RC [pro1rc.com]

January 3, 2025

Tollard & Rinderknecht join Schumacher

Wrapping up a busy first week of 2025 driver announcements by various manufacturers, Schumacher has confirmed US Offroad racers Cole Tollard and Tom Rinderknecht as joining their race team for 2025. World Championship finalist Cole joins the British manufacturer after the demise of the TLR Factory team while Rinderknecht joins after a stint at Xray having also previously race for TLR. Commenting on the news Cole said, ‘I look forward to working with the new team and starting fresh on a new platform. It’s great to see the cars growing in popularity as they are proven on many levels. I would like to thank Mike Winders for the introduction, Muz and Robin Schumacher for giving me this opportunity. Looking forward to 2025!’. Rinderknecht said, ‘I am super excited to be joining Schumacher Racing for 2025 season and beyond! I can’t wait to be a part of this awesome team and I am excited to help Schumacher grow in the USA market. I would like to thank Muz and Robin for the great opportunity to run for this team!’

Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]

January 3, 2025

Figueiredo & Monteiro join Hobbywing

As the roll out of new driver sponsorships for the 2025 season continues, Hobbywing has announced the signing of leading Portuguese 1:8 Offroad racers João Figueiredo and Ricardo Monteiro to bolster its offroad program in this inaugural eBuggy World Championship year. Tekno driver Figueiredo had an impressive season in 2024 making the IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship final in Redovan and will be looking to build on that performance when the the inaugural 1:8 Electric Offroad World Championship is hosted by his home track in Barcelos, Portugal in August. European Championship finalist Monteiro brings extensive offroad experience to Hobbywing and has also worked as mechanic for Hobbywing’s star driver Bruno Coelho and highly regarded by the World Champion for his technical input will also join the XR8 PRO testing plans for Hobbywing.

Source: Hobbywing [hobbywing.com]

January 3, 2025

ONG D3 Carbon RC8B4 Wing Mount Reinforcement plate

New from the ONG brand of Offroad World Champion Davide Ongaro comes this D3 Carbon Wing Mount Reinforcement Plate for the Team Associated RC8B4 1:8 Buggy. The machined carbon fibre plate is intended to give extra strength and stiffness to the rear wing mounting point and is supplied with four M2 self-locking nylon nuts.

Source: ONG [davideongaro.it]

January 3, 2025

Sweep Low Rider 1:10 Buggy Front Carpet Tyre

Sweep Racing has released its first new product of 2025 with the addition of the Low Rider to its 1:10 Buggy tyre range. The new carpet front tyre is available as a 2WD option and a 4WD ‘Wide’ option and is offered in South Korean manufacturer’s Yellow (Medium) and Gold (Soft) compounds.

Source: Sweep Racing [sweepracing.com]