‘Without knowledge you can drive but you can’t win’ – Jilles Groskamp

It’s easy to think that the top drivers in the World have a special ability to just show up at an event and put their car on the track and be quick straight off the bat.  While there are one or two exceptions who do possess this super power, for the most part the success comes from combining that natural talent with a lot of hard work, that mostly goes unnoticed, between races.  Racing at the top level is relentless because when you are not putting in the work your rivals are, and they are making marginal gains that combined can be the difference between them winning or you not.  One driver who has always stood out as one of the hardest working drivers in our sport is Jilles Groskamp.  Even back in the dominant years of the Tamiya TRF team in electric touring car it was Jilles who was doing most of the ground work for the entire team.  That effort was justly rewarded when he became the 2012 Electric Touring Car World Champion at his home track of Heemstede.  Now at the age of 43, Jilles admitting himself ‘I’m not the youngest guy anymore’, putting in the work is even more vital than before and through that comes knowledge which he points out ‘without knowledge you can drive but you can’t win’.

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1:8 Onroad Worlds coverage presented by Infinity

After our trip Down Under to cover our first ever 1:8 GT World Championship in Sydney last week, Red RC is excited to announced that the next stop on our World Championship tour, 1:8 Onroad in Japan, will be presented by Infinity.  In less than 2-weeks time the sport’s original World Championship category will descend on the Infinity International RC Speedway where the 23rd IFMAR World Champion will be decided.  A category through which our own interest in RC racing came about, the first World Championship we covered here on Red RC was the 2007 1:8 Onroad Worlds in Argentina so it’s a category which has a very special place in our hearts.  Nine years ago, the last time Japan hosted the event, we where on hand to tell the story of Tadahiko Sahashi home victory and last year when Infinity also made our coverage possible we where able to see Tadahiko add the 1:10 Onroad title.  Our coverage from Japan will begin on Monday, October 30th, starting with news from control practice and how the story unfolds over the next 5 days.

Apolaro wins Great Lakes Challenge

One of the United States most iconic Onroad nitro races,  the Great Lakes Challenge saw DJ Apolaro take the 1:10 Sedan win at the 2023 running of the event held at the TSRCAR track in Lebanon Ohio over the weekend.  The Wallace Motorsports driver Apolaro would secure the TQ from Jamie Corrado after setting the fastest time in the 3rd of the 5 rounds of qualifying.  In the 40-minute A-Main,  Apolaro would have a flame out in the first couple of minutes of the race and had to fight his way back from 6th place.  With just two minutes remaining he would find a way by Diatta Collymore for the win.  Collymore led for most of the race being able to capitalise on DJ’s flame out, but finished in 2nd place.   Jerry Guerra Having qualified 5th Jerry Guerra was able to come from as far back as 9th position to take 3rd place to make it an all Infinity IF15 podium.  In the 1:8 Open class  Michael Palazzola took the win from Top Qualifier John Dickson with Mike McBride rounding out the Top 3 after 45-minutes of racing.

Balestri wins his 3rd 1:8 Onroad European title

Infinity’s Dario Balestri has retaken the 1:8 Onroad European Championship title today in Portugal with a dominant and control victory in Portugal today.  Having lost the title to Dominic Greiner last year in Spain, starting from second on the grid the Italian would take control of the 45-minute final after getting by the Capricorn of Top Qualifier Toni Gruber in the opening lap.  Once in front and opting for a single tyre change while his rivals stopped twice, the 2014 & 2019 was able to control the race from the front with the former World Champion eventually winning by lap from Mugen’s Simon Kurzbuch.  Looking to emulate Greiner’s 2022 double of winning both the 1:10 & 1:8 Onroad Nitro titles, new crowned 1:10 European Champion Gruber would have issues while chasing Balestri from P2 to eventually take the final step on the podium.  Running second in the race for some time, unfortunately as the race reached the final 10-minutes Greiner would retire from the final.  Robert Pietsch was another notable retirement, the 2013 Champion at the same Vila Real track seeing his race last only 12-minutes this time round.

Image: Julie Thurston