Red RC » R Off Road

October 7, 2024

Ongaro doubles again at Buggyland

Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro has won the 11th edition of the Buggyland, the newly crowed 3-in-a-row World Champion repeating the victory double he achieved last year at the Spanish race. The Madrid based event would kick off with Tekno’s World Championship finalist Joao Figueredo topping Nitro Buggy seeding ahead of Ongaro. With three rounds of qualifying it would be another World Championship final who took Q1, Mugen Seiki’s Berkan Kilic fastest from his brother Burak with Figueredo third. Q2 & 3 however Ongaro lay down the form for the rest of the event with the fastest times ahead of the Berkan. In the 16 buggy grid 1-hour final that order was maintained with Ongaro taking a comfortable win by 15-seconds over Berkan with the Sworkz of 2021 Buggland double winner Juan Carlos Canas coming from P5 on the grid to complete the podium. In eBuggy, the result was a repeat of Nitro with Ongaro taking the TQ and win while Canas and Berkan Kilic switch order on the podium with Canas the runner up.

Image: Mauro Ongaro [Facebook]

October 6, 2024

Donnelly crowned Australian 4WD Offroad Champion

Lachan Donnelly is the 2024 Australian 4WD Offroad National Champion, the long time Team Associated driver reversing yesterday’s 2WD result to beat his 2-time World Champion team-mate Spencer Rivkin to crown at Hills Off Road RC track. Sunday’s 4WD title action at the Campbelltown Hobbies 2024 RCRA EP Offroad Australian Championships saw the 20-year-old from Sydney secure the 4WD TQ as he topped the opening 2 rounds of qualifying. Fresh from his 2WD title on Saturday, the US star using the event as practice for the IFMAR Electric Offroad World Championships the Sydney track will host in 12-months time, Rivkin went fastest in Q3 to secure the No.2 spot on the grid. Rounding out quali by topping the fourth & final round multiple National Champion Ari Bakla’s Xray would line up 3rd on grid ahead of another US visitor Chase Lemiuex. In the finals Donnelly would put in two faultless drives to secure the title that will go down as one of the National Championships more special years. Winning A1 ahead of Lemiuex and A2 ahead of Bakla, everything was to play for as to who would stand either side of the new Champion, it an emotional and very popular win. A great battle between Bakla and Rivkin would ensue, the former looking like he had done enough to get the job done but in the dying moments of the last lap Rivkin executed the pass to secure the win and another Team Associated podium 1-2, Bakla ending up on the third step. In 4WD Stock, Michael Stone pulled off the double adding to his 2WD title with victory over Justin O Connell and Andrew Selvaggi.

Image: Team Associated Australia [Facebook]

October 5, 2024

Rivkin wins Australian 2WD Offroad Nationals

Not a headline you’d usually expect to read but US offroad star Spencer Rivkin is the new Australian 2WD Offroad National Champion. Together with promising US racer Chase Lemiuex, the duo have travelled to Sydney to the Hills Off Road RC track which will host next year’s IFMAR Electric Offroad World Championships. While an official Warm-up Race will take place in April, the timing of the Campbelltown Hobbies 2024 RCRA EP Offroad Australian Championships gives racers the opportunity to experience the same weather conditions as is expected for the Worlds which run from September 29 – October 6, 2025. With Saturday’s action dedicated to deciding the 2WD Champion, after 4 rounds of qualifying it was Rivkin’s Team Associated that took the overall TQ after topping two rounds while Aussie’s top racers Ari Bakla and Lachlan Donnelly posted a TQ run each to line P2 & 3 respectively. In the triple finals Rivkin, who will chase his third 2WD World title next year Down Under, cruised to wins in A1 and 2 to added a new title to his CV. A win in A3 from Donnelly would make it an Associated 1-2 while 2nd in A3 gave Lemiuex the final step on the podium. In the 2WD Stock title race, Xray’s Michael Stone, the man responsible for last year’s 1:8 GT World Championship in Sydney, dominated to take the win.

Image: Hills Off Road RC [Facebook]

October 4, 2024

AX Arena to open as Switzerland’s biggest indoor track

New Swiss RC accessories producer Axxelerate RC has announced that in addition to it products that the soon-to-opened AX Arena in Cham, Switzerland, will be at the heart of the brand. As the largest indoor RC racing facility in the country, the arena will offer both on-road and off-road tracks, catering to all levels of racing enthusiasts. Behind Axxelerate RC is a dedicated team that not only aims to provide a world-class racing experience but also delivers top-tier RC racing products. Currently gearing up for the grand opening on October 18th, the track is already set to host the Swiss Indoor Championship this December. We will bring you more details and images of the new track once it is near completion.

Source: Axxelerate [axxeleraterc.com]

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]

October 1, 2024

Berton announces departure from Infinity

Having given their newly released IFB8 1:8 Buggy its biggest win to-date and once again represented the multiple Onroad World Champion manufacturer in the 1:8 Offroad Worlds Final at Redovan in Spain last month, Riccardo Berton has announced his departure from Infinity. Kicking off the 2024 season proper with a victory at the famous Montepellier GP just before the Japanese company’s debut buggy kit was released to the market, the talented Italian driver has been part of the project since joining the team at the beginning of 2020. Posting news of his departure on his Facebook page, Berton said, ‘As I finished my 2024 outdoor season, I would like to communicate that I will be no longer an Infinity driver for the next year. Has been a long trip full of emotions, fun, racing and learning. I am thankful to Kenji-San for the unstoppable support in these years and to my mates Artu and Matteo for all the help. Let’s see what the future brings! See you soon.’

Source: Riccardo Berton [Facebook]

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.

View dates here