October 4, 2026

Back on top of the World after a decade, Ronnefalk gets 2nd World title

A decade after winning his first IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World title, Xray’s David Ronnefalk is back on the top of the world after taking the win at 20th running of the championship today in Hutto, Texas.  After making his Semi Final look like just a formality on his way to securing pole position for the 1-hour final ahead of Top Qualifier Mason Fuller, the Swede looked to be carrying that form in the week’s deciding race.  Out front and looking in control, with 2-minutes on the clock however a mistake in the whoops section and a subsequent error that caused chaos for a number of drivers, put him down to sixth with team-mate Chase Lemieux taking up the lead.  A driver to really impress at these championship, given his limited nitro racing experience, unfortunately a pit lane exit infringement would earn Lemieux a drive through penalty, dropping him down the order but an engine cut at the 20-minute mark put amends to an impressive 1:8 Worlds debut and he eventually finished P8.  With defending Champion Ongaro becoming the third different leader of the race it looked like the Italian was going to once again reign the world for another two years but even the best can make mistakes.  With 25-minutes to run and a comfortable lead over Fuller, the Italian would hit the post on the back of the track, the impact immediately ending his 8 years reign as Champion.  With Fuller now in the lead, holding it for 26 laps, a number of mistakes allowed a recovering Ronnefalk to close and with a faster pit stop go to the front.  As Ronnefalk came in for his final stop, a hard charging Fuller had two mistakes and needed to be marshalled meaning Ronnefalk kept is lead.  Fuller didn’t give up however and pushed his rival right to the finish, the separation 1.439 seconds after an hour of racing.  Having found himself back in 12th early in the race after that chaos caused by Ronnefalk’s mistake 3-minutes into the race, Juan Carlos Canas managed to get himself back up to third to claim the final step on the podium 2-laps down on his Sworkz team-mate.  As the reigning eBuggy World Champion, Marcus Kaerup would be the best Team Associated finisher as he claimed fourth ahead of team-mate Brandon Rose.  While Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen would suffer a run away during his Worlds Final debut, caused by a power switch failure, the teenager’s first refuelling at 12:30 couldn’t go by without an honourable mention.

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October 3, 2026

Semi just a formality as Ronnefalk secures pole in Texas

The Semi Finals were just a formality for Xray’s David Ronnefalk, the 2016 World Champion securing pole for the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas with his dominant winning time in the first Semi securing him pole for the title decider.  Needing to do an extra fuel stop over his rivals, the Swede got a early break when Canas crashed on the opening lap and back up the field.  Pulling out an earlier lead, Ronnefalk’s extra fuel stop was quick negated such was the buffer he built up by his first stop.  At the end of the 30-minutes it was 2024 pole sitter Juan Carlos Canas who finished second despite making contact with the same post that made him an internet sensation in the final qualifier.  Completing the Top 3 was Spencer Rivkin ahead of Team Associated team-mate Brandon Rose.  In the second Semi, the opening part of the race very scrappy with defending World Champion Davide Ongaro and Top Qualifier Mason Fuller coming together and handing Ryan Maifield the lead until he found the famous left hand side roof post.  In the end it was the very impressive Chase Lemieux who took his Xray to the win holding just fending of the close attentions of both Fuller and Ongaro, the defending champion set to start 4th on the grid behind Fuller.

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October 3, 2026

Tebo progresses to final day 1:8 Nitro Buggy Worlds

Jared Tebo will progress to the main day at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas, this the legendary American offroad racer’s 1st World Championships as a privateer.  His tenth Nitro Worlds, racing last as a factory driver in Redovan in 2022, the 39-year-old found himself 54th at the end of qualifying in what he himself described as ‘a rough qualifying’ but taking the win in his 1/16 final he now gets to be part of the Main day here at Thornhill Racing Circuit for the 20th edition of the World Championships.  Not just racing this week but also here with his family running his growing JTP business’ track side shop, Tebo, who is known for being his own biggest critic, joked ‘this is my first Worlds wearing with a bunch of hats.’  Asked how the week had gone the multiple 1:10 World Champion said, ‘I just haven’t really flowed with the track.  I haven’t really felt the rhythm and wasn’t sure if it was my car or my driving so I was kind trying stuff on my car but still just not driving that well.’  He continued, ‘My last qualifier went well and I had kind of a 15-20 run going but crashed twice on the last lap and ruined it and that’s kind of why I am racing today.’  Taking the 1/16B final win ahead of 2012 World Champion Robert Batlle, this the Spaniard’s 12th Worlds appearance, he said, ‘I felt I probably drove the best I have driven that race so yeah all positive and looking forward to tomorrow.’

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October 3, 2026

MIP RC10 & 4-10 Legend Front Weight Set

California based tool manufacturer MIP has released this Front Weight Set for the RC10 & its own 4-10 Legend kit.  The ultimate front-end tuning accessory for original Associated RC10 buggies and MIP 4-10 Legend Conversion kits, fine-tuning your chassis setup just got easier. Whether you need a subtle weight adjustment or heavier front-end ballast, this stackable system gives you exact control over your weight distribution.  The Modular design lets you run 14g (1/2 oz) or stack up to 28g (1.0 oz) total.  Smart Interlocking Fit mean you can invert the male weight to lock the secondary weight securely in place.  The weighs nests snugly between the front pivot blocks, stabilising your setup and preventing front body mounts from loosening during intense runs.  Manufactured from high-grade alloy steel, they are black oxide coated and laser-engraved with weight specs and the official MIP logo.

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October 2, 2026

Fuller ‘Top Qualifier’ in Texas with 3rd TQ in final quali

Sworkz’s Mason Fuller is the 2026 IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship Top Qualifier, the American securing the honours with a third TQ run in the sixth & final round of qualifying in Texas.  Going into the decider it was down to a two way battle between Fuller and Xray’s David Ronnefalk.  With two TQ runs a piece, Ronnefalk would be the first to present his best effort in Heat 13 of 15 and the Swede delivered by knocking 2-seconds off his Q5 topping time, that run having been the fastest run around Thornhill Racing Circuit.  With Fuller next to go, and having the advantage of not needing to do a fuel stop, he would better that time by 6/10th with a new outright fastest time but with Heat 15 still to run a better time from any of the 12 cars in that group would give Ronnefalk his first Worlds TQ.  Sworkz’s Juan Carlos Canas clearly stepped up to the challenge, the Top Qualifier of the last World Championship, he was on target to TQ the round.  Having just put in a blistering 35.765 second lap, with the crowd still audible in awe of that time, unfortunately the Spaniard would fall foul of the same track roof support post that cost him a strong Q3 run the previous day.  With his car getting caught in a screw at the post, his efforts were for nothing.  While ROAR Champion Seth Van Dalen topped Heat 15 for a P3 for the round, with Fuller taking the Q6 TQ from Ronnefalk this is how they would finish up in the final rankings.  As the defending Champion and winner of Q3, P6 the best he could manage in the final quali, Davide Ongaro completed the Top 3 ahead Canas, and he will line up behind Fuller in the Semi A and while Canas lines up behind Ronnefalk in the Semi B on Saturday.

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October 1, 2026

Ronnefalk doubles in Q5 as Ongaro fuel gamble fails

Xray’s David Ronnefalk has taken a second TQ run at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship, the Swede topping Q5 by more than 2-seconds as his main rivals for the overall TQ honour here in Texas had their issues.  In the end it was Sworkz’s Juan Carlos Canas who was closest to Ronnefalk over the 10-minutes.  Up in the first of the Top 3 heat groups, Ronnefalk set the benchmark with a new fastest time of qualifying of 17/10:30.480, doing so as the only driver to run a 35-second lap of the Thornhill Racing Circuit.  Having posted his second TQ run in this morning’s Q4, it looked like running in Heat 14 of 15 that Mason Fuller was going to better the Swede’s time.  While looking very fast on track, the American Sworkz driver would make a number of mistakes that needed marshalling ending his quest to wrap up an early overall TQ.  Considering the time lost his P3 for the round was impressive.  With the top heat next up, all eyes were on Ongaro, the defending Champion having TQ’d Round 3 with a fuel stop but now gambling on trying to do the full 10-minutes without a stop.  With the noise of the rain on the roof covering the track drowning out the noise of the engine, Ongaro’s engine was to fall silent for other reasons.  His fuel gamble didn’t pay off and as he started his last lap his Team Associated came rolling to a halt.  With the Top 5 drivers making 17-lap runs it was Associated’s Spencer Rivkin in P4 and Sparko’s Noha Ben Mohamed who completed those position ahead of Ongaro who still took a P6 for his efforts.

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October 1, 2026

Fuller produces second TQ run in Texas

Sworkz’s Mason Fuller has opened Day 2 of the qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship with a second TQ run, the American topping the round from team-mate Juan Carlos Canas and defending Champion Davide Ongaro.  Going in the group ahead of Ongaro and Canas, Fuller would be the only driver to run 17-laps of the Thornhill Racing Circuit this morning, Canas missing the mark by 1-second as he snatched P2 from Ongaro on his final lap of the fourth qualifying round.  Behind the Top 3 it was David Ronnefalk, who took Q1 yesterday morning, who set the fourth fastest time ahead of Xray team-mate Chase Lemieux both drivers running in Heat 13 of 15.  The Top 6 was rounded out by eBuggy World Champion Marcus Kaerup with US Offroad heavyweights Dakotah Phend, who had two DNF’s yesterday, and Ryan Maifield just behind him.

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October 1, 2026

Ongaro comes good in Q3, Ronnefalk holds overnight TQ

Defending World Champion Davide Ongaro has concluded the first day of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas with his first TQ run, but it is Xray’s David Ronnefalk who holds the overnight TQ at the Thornhill Racing Circuit.  After topping seeding yesterday, Ongaro would not have the best of starts to qualifying as he managed only P5 while Ronnefalk topped Q1.  Worse was to come in Q2 as Ongaro posted the 8th fastest time.  With the frustration starting to show on the Italian’s face, while Sworkz’s Mason Fuller impressed with the Q2 TQ, the Ongaro smile would return in Q3 as the Team Associated driver just managed to pip the Xray of an impressive Chase Lemieux to the top of the timing sheets.  Lemieux has put in a strong day posting a P4 on his first attempt which he duly backed up with a P3 in the second one before closing out the day with a very competitive 2nd fastest time.  Overall it was a good end to the day for Team Associated with Spencer Rivkin putting together a P3, the leading drivers breaking 17-laps for the first time.  For Fuller, new tyres left him struggling a little in Round 3 and he ended the day by adding a P4 to his TQ & P3 while Tekno’s Ryan Maifield, who surprised with the 2nd fastest time in Q2, completed the Top 5 ahead of Ronnefalk.  The Swede felt he had a really fast car in Q3 but admitted he got carried away and this led to a number of mistakes that put him sixth for the round.  Elsewhere having looked to have found his way in Q2, America’s pre-event title favourite Dakotah Phend, like he did in Q1, ran out of fuel.  European Champion Juan Carlos Canas had been on a strong final run but the Spaniard had a costly last lap his Sworkz getting hooked up on one of the track’s roof support posts leaving him with a P9.

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