1:8 Electric Offroad World Championship coverage presented by Team Cayote
The week on which IFMAR will crown a brand new World Champion has finally arrived and thanks to electronics manufacturer Team Cayote, Red RC are travelling to Barcelos in Portugal to tell the story of how the inaugural 1:8 Electric Offroad World Champion is crowned. Having run in the shadow of 1:8 Nitro Buggy, which since crowning its first World Champion back in 1986 has established itself as the ‘Rock Star’ category of all RC racing classes, this week is eBuggy’s moment to shine on the world stage. Revealing over the weekend the layout on which all the leading buggy manufacturers will battle it out to go down in history as the first ever eBuggy World Champions, the Barcelos track in North Portugal will play host to almost 120 drivers from around the globe. With Europe’s governing body EFRA enjoying crowning 1:8 eBuggy Champions over the last decade with their stand alone championship event, the reigning champion is none other that three time back to back Nitro Buggy World Champion Davide Ongaro. Despite the European Nitro Buggy title still eluding the Italian, he is the back to back Champion of eBuggy having also won the title previously in 2019. With Barcelos hosting the 2025 EFRA European Nitro Buggy Championship back in early July of this year, the European’s should have slight home advantage. David Ronnefalk lifted the title for a fourth time, and the Swede would love nothing more than to complete the set by adding an Electric World title to the Nitro Worlds win he took in 2016 in Las Vegas. While the US team is relatively small by their standards, they do have their defending eBuggy Champion Dakotah Phend making the trip. Unlike 1:8 Nitro Buggy, in which fuel stops and tyre changes come into play over the long races, 1:8 electric is more heads up racing and we are excited to see how things unfold over the next 5-days. Our coverage presented by Team Cayote, who offer competition spec ESC’s, Motors, and Batteries, will begin on Day 1 of the event, Tuesday, when drivers start off two days of practice, followed by 2-days of qualifying with the finals on Saturday.
Track Image: International Buggy Challenge [Facebook]