Red RC

May 15, 2023

2023 1:12 World Championship Stage 1 Report

The organisers of the 2023 IFMAR 1:12 World Championships have just published the Stage 1 Report for the 21st running of the title which will be decided at Beachline Raceway in Cocoa, Florida, from December 4th to 9th. The largest indoor racing facility in the state, this will be the seventh time these World Championships are hosted in the US and mark only the second running of the title since it separated from being part of the same World Championship week as 1:10 Electric Touring Car after South Africa in 2018. The most significant information from the Stage 1 Report is the tyre information with Jaco tires the official controlled foam for the event with their Magenta front and Pink rear. These tyres will be available to competitors for practice from late June. Beachline Raceway, which recently hosted the ROAR Electric Carpet Off-Road Nationals, will run a Warm Up Race on November 24-26. With the last 1:12 Worlds held in 2020 in the UK just before Covid hit the World, with Marc Rheinard taking the title for a second time, the return of the championships is set to be extra interesting following the news that reigning back to back Touring Car World Champion Bruno Coelho will make his first attempt at the title. Red RC will travelling to Florida in December to cover the unfolding of the fourth and final World Championship of the 2023 season.

View Stage 1 Report here

May 15, 2023

Sworkz S35-GT Lay Down Body Shell Post Conversion Kit

New from Sworkz is this Lay Down Body Shell Post Conversion Kit for its S35-GT and S35-GT2 nitro and electric 1:8 GT chassis. The mounting of the body shell posts are in horizontal positions at the rear end of the car. The rear horizontal body posts give a lower centre of gravity around the rear of the car and better downforce is achieved more efficiently to the chassis. It is the best way to improve the cornering speed and you can also keep the standard rear posts by keeping the flat top area for the body height.

Source: Sworkz [sworkz.com]

May 14, 2023

Canas wins International Buggy Challenge

Sworkz’ Juan Carlos Canas completed the double at the International Buggy Challenge in Portugal, the Spaniard winning both Nitro Buggy and eBuggy at the 5th running of the event. Hosted in Barcelos by top Portuguese international racer Joao Figueiredo, qualifying would see Canas become the Nitro Top Qualifier as he topped 3 of the 5 rounds. Behind him reigning back to back World Champion and recent Philippine Masters winner David Ongaro secured P2 with a TQ run in the penultimate round with Italy’s Riccardo Berton P3 as the only other driver to top the time sheets. Winning his Semi Final from Figueiredo, Canas would have pole for the 45-minute from Ongaro, with the trio putting on a superb show with the battle for the win going right to the finish line. Holding a 2-second lead, a late mistake from Ongaro allowed Canas to get by for the win by just just 3/10th of a second. Finishing 9-seconds back Figueiredo completed the podium. In eBuggy it was Ongaro that was the Top Qualifier and while the Team Associated driver won A1, Canas found a way passed the Italian in A2 and A3 for the overall win. Sworkz’ Daniel Pariente completed the podium ahead of Mayako’s David Ronnefalk.

Image: RC-Project.it [Facebook]

May 14, 2023

Orlowski takes TQ & 4WD Win at Euros Warm-up

Michal Orlowski took the TQ and 4WD win at the 1:10 Electric Offroad Euros Warm-up Race today at RACO2000. Having finished 2nd in Saturday’s 2WD action behind winner Bruno Coelho, today Orlowski ruled the astro turf track leading a Schumacher 1-2 at the Dutch event from team-mate Wesley van Helmond. In qualifying the 2015 Champion would top the times in 3 of the four qualifier with van Helmon the only other driver to TQ a round when he went fastest in Q4 ahead of Coelho’s Xray and Tommy Hall’s Team Associated. In the triple finals, the Polish ace opened proceedings with a win over Xray’s Martin Bayer before sealing the deal in A2 with victory over van Helmon. With both Bayer and Coelho finding a way passed van Helmond, the A3 win gave Bayer the runners up spot ahead of the Dutch driver with Coelho getting 4th. The 2023 EFRA European Championships will take place from July 17-22.

Image: Michal Orlowski [Facebook]

May 13, 2023

Coelho wins 2WD at Euros Warm-up

Bruno Coelho took the win in 2WD at the 1:10 Electric Offroad Euros Warm-up Race today in the Netherlands. With the RACO2000 astro surface track in Utrecht hosting the EFRA European Championships from July 17th to 22nd, the Warm-up Race attracted a strong entry of factory drivers including reigning champion Tommy Hall. In qualifying it was top Dutch racer Wesley van Helmond who became the Top Qualifier with two TQ runs from 4 rounds with team-mate Michal Orlowski making it a Schumacher 1-2 as he topped the final qualifier. Coelho’s Xray was fastest in Q3 putting him third on the grid in front of Hall’s Team Associated. In the triple finals Coelho would improve his buggy with the new pace allowing him to win A1 & 2 for the overall victory. With Orlowski winning A3, the podium was a reverse of the qualifying order with Van Helmond completing the Top 3 as Hall finished 4th and Xray’s Max Götzl fifth. Tomorrow drivers will battle it out for the 4WD win.

Image: Bruno Coelho [Facebook]

May 12, 2023

Evo Race Factory ER-23 formula body

New from Italian bodyshell producer Evo Race Factory is their latest 1:10 Formula 1 creation, the ER-23. The third F1 body design from from the Maranello based company, they have not given any specific details or handling characteristics about the lexan body but over its predecessor it features a lower front noise and larger more square side pods. The body should fit all popular brands of 1:10 formula chassis.

View more images here

May 12, 2023

Schumacher Mi8 ‘High Grip Track’ conversion kit

British manufacturer Schumacher has a new High Grip Track conversion kit for its popular Mi8 1:10 Electric Touring Car. The standard Mi8 has proved to be a safe and easy to drive car that generates plenty of grip, and is particularly competitive in lower grip conditions. The Mi8 high grip track (HGT) conversion features an alternative suspension geometry to free the car up in the corners and create more rotation. It also includes new shock mounts to lower the centre of gravity. This geometry was used by Michal Orlowski to reach the IFMAR World Championship A Final last year, and to recently win the ETS race in Daun. The conversion kit includes a new chassis, top decks, wishbones, shock towers, and required hardware.

View HGT Conversion kit parts list here

May 12, 2023

JConcepts S15 1:8 Truggy body

JConcepts has announced the release of their S15 body shell for 1:8 Truggy. The S15 body style is a staple in the line-up at JConcepts. The IFMAR World Championship winning design has served well over the years, even spawning many look-alikes around the industry. When it comes to Truggy racing, the Florida company has worked on and finalized an S15 for the popular 1:8 truck class to go along with the ROAR National Championship winning F2. Debuted at the Dirt Nitro Challenge, the S15 took off in the hands of Spencer Rivkin (RC8T4e) in the E-truggy class, and Ryan Maifield (Tekno NT48 2.0) in the nitro truck class. The versatile body, in addition to the previously mentioned, fits on an assortment of 1/8th trucks on the market including the MBX8T, 8ight-XT, D8T, and Sworkz vehicles.

View more images here