Red RC » Racing

April 6, 2026

Phend wins Psycho Nitro Blast

The 19th edition of the Tennessee based Psycho Nitro Blast took place over the Easter weekend where Xray’s Dakotah Phend took the win, completing a nitro double at the indoor race with the Buggy and Truggy victories. With just two rounds of qualifying it was Team Associated’s Brandon Rose who topped the opening round of Nitro Buggy with Phend topping Q2 which proving faster who secure the latter the overall TQ. Behind Sworkz’s Camden Lime secured P3 on the grid ahead of Tekno’s Spencer Heckert and Sworkz’s Silver State winner Mason Fuller with Xray’s Tater Sontag completing the Top 6. Doing the double last year, a repeat of his 2024 result, Ryan Maifield who qualify P13 for the 18 car A-Main. In the 30-minute final, Rose would take the early lead after a number of drivers executed their ‘Joker’ laps and who stay out front until the final minutes when Phend execute his shorter Joker lap to take the lead with 2-laps remaining. He would take the win by 2.5 seconds from Rose with Dirt Nitro Challenge winner Seth Van Dalen completing the Top 3 ahead of Lime and Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin who started P11. In Nitro Truggy, having qualified P10 Phend took the win by 9-seconds from Top Qualifier Fuller with Maifield coming home 3rd. In eBuggy, Rivkin took the win by just 0.081 from Rose with the Sparko of Top Qualifier Jonah Wilson 3rd at the end of the 10-minute encounter.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

April 6, 2026

’26 IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Offroad World C/ship Stage 1 Report

RC racing’s World governing body IFMAR has published the Stage 1 report for the 2026 1:8 Nitro Offroad World Championship which will be hosted by Thornhill Racing Circuit in the United States from the end of September. The Texas track, which is situated on 13.9 acres complex and has the unique feature of its 120′ x 200′ dirt track being fully covered, will stage the 20th running of the World Championship for the category from September 27th to October 3rd. 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the crowning of the inaugural champion Frederic Vesseyre in France in 1986 and a decade since David Ronnefalk won the last US staged Worlds with victory in Las Vegas in 2016. As the current World Champion Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro will chase a record extending 4-in-row at Thornhill but the Italian will face strong opposition from US drivers as they look to become the first to win the sport’s biggest prize on home soil. This will be only the 4th time the Worlds has been stage in the United States.

View more Stage 1 Report here

March 31, 2026

Inaugural All Japan RC Motorcycle Championship

The first-ever All Japan Radio Control Motorcycle Championship was held at the K2 International Circuit, formerly known as Keitune Circuit, in Chiba over the weekend. The event featured three classes: Superbike, Stock Bike, and 1:4 Motard, with a total of 28 entries across six qualifying rounds and three finals. In the Superbike class, Andrew Ting dominated, achieving TQ in qualifying and pole-to-win victories in all three finals. In the Stock Bike and Motard classes, Toshinori Yanagisawa participated in both and achieved a remarkable double victory. This event served as a significant step towards raising awareness of the radio control motorcycle market, fostering skill improvement among the participants and demonstrating the importance of hosting such a large-scale competition.

View Stock Bike and 1:4 Motard Podiums here

March 30, 2026

24th Hobby Expo China

First held in 2001 and having establish itself as Asia’s most influential hobby and model exhibitions, April 17-19 will see the staging of the 24th edition of Hobby Expo China. Taking place in the Beijing Exhibition Centre in the capital city and covering 25,000 square metres of exhibition space, last year the expo welcomed more than 70,000 visitors who were greeted by more than 320 international & Chinese exhibitors showcasing their products and also using the opportunity to unveiled new products. One such exhibitor was Taiwan’s Hong Nor who gave its first public showing of its XB5 1:8 Nitro Buggy release which has proven a hugely successful return for the manufacturer to the competition offroad market. HEC has become a key platform for connecting global brands, distributors, and hobby enthusiasts across the entire model industry and is the country’s only International hobby exhibition approved by the Ministry of Commerce in China. It also brings together the entire industry chain, from design and manufacturing to distribution and retail. HEC serves too as a key gateway for international companies seeking commercial opportunities and market access in China. With Chinese manufacturers having become key established brands in the RC racing scene, Hobbywing and Flysky are among the home manufacturers taking part in the HEC while international exhibitors include legacy brands like Kyosho and Futaba. Red RC will be making the trip to Beijing to visit the 2026 Hobby Expo China which in addition to two halls of RC car related products also has halls covering RC aircraft and boats, diecast cars, scale models (military, civil, railway, aerospace), figures, collectibles, creative models, model-making tools & materials, and additive manufacturing for 3D printing.

View Floor Plan & more images here

March 30, 2026

Ripoll gets title defence off to perfect start

Xray’s top international 1:8 Onroad racer Maxime Ripoll has got the defence of his French National title off to the perfect start with a dominant performance at the opening round of the 2026 Championship. The first encounter of the 5 round FFVRC Championship was hosted by the BMVRC club in the south east of the country with over 70 entries. Greeted by cold weather conditions, rain would effect qualifying with just 2 of the 4 scheduled rounds run but with his time from Q1 it was Ripoll who took the Elite class TQ with his Max engined RX8 ahead Baptiste Jimenez and Jules David. In the final Ripoll and Jimenez held the top 2 positions for the opening 20-laps before the later hot problems and soon retired. With the fastest lap of the race, Ripoll would take a comfortable victory over the No.8 car of Christophe Louis who finished just held off Stephane Riccobono.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]

March 30, 2026

Boda opens French title defence with win

Defending French National 1:8 Nitro Buggy Champion Clement Boda has got his title defence off to the perfect start, the Team Associated driver winning the opening round of the 2026 championship at the ARCF42 track near Lyon. Securing the title with victory at last season’s finale, Boda would not have a great run in qualifying as 2025 title rival Noha Ben Mohamed took his Sparko to the TQ honours at the end of qualifying with Boda ending up starting P3 in his Semi final. Regrouping for the finals, Boda would take the win in his Semi to secure pole for the Main which the 21-year-old would duly go on to lead from start to finish. After struggling in his Semi final, Xray’s Rémy Bermudez would improve his buggy for the Main and the 18-year-old was able to finish 2nd with Tekno driver Theo Lemaire completing the first podium of the 5 round championship.

Image: ARCF42 [Facebook]

March 30, 2026

Adrian Pariente win Spanish eBuggy National opener

Sparko’s Adrian Pariente has opened the Spanish 1:8 eBuggy National Championship with victory, the winner of last year’s nitro buggy championship finale, taking the electric win at the RC Silla track near Valencia. A race that made headlines last week as a new registration ruling left National Nitro Champion Juan Carlos Canas and others without an entry, it was defending electric champion Daniel Pariente who opened the weekend at the top of the timing to Top Seeding ahead of his brother Adrian with Mugen Seiki’s David Todd Nieto P3. While Todd took Q1, fastest in Q3, 4 & 5, it was Adrian who secured the TQ from Todd while Daniel, fastest in Q2, secured third on the grid. In the triple wins wins the first two 10-minute encounters locked in the overall win, while Todd took A3 to secured second. Daniel completed the podium ahead of Sparko’s Hugo Ibáñez Ramirez and Xray’s Oscar Baldo. In eTruggy, Daniel took the win from his brother with Top Qualifier Todd finishing on the final step of the podium.

Image: Adrian Pariente [Facebook]

March 30, 2026

Polito wins Italian Nationals Round 2 from Ongaro

Sworkz’s Mattia Polito took the win at the second round of the AMSCI 1:8 Nitro Buggy Italian National Championship reversing the result of the season opener as he beat defending Champion Davide Ongaro. Racing at the OspyTeam track in the north of the country, after the four rounds of qualifying it was Polito who secured the TQ ahead of the Team Associated of Ongaro, Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic and Kyosho’s Marco Baruffolo. Polito posted TQ runs in the opening three rounds with Ongaro topping the final round. With Ongaro winning his Semi in the faster time, the 10-time consecutive National Champion secured pole for the final ahead of the WIRC of 5th place qualifier Andrea Trevisan who won the other Semi ahead of Polito. In the 45-minute final, with the Top 3 quickly breaking away, on lap 3 a bobble from Trevisan allowed Polito to move into second. Approaching the 7-minute mark a mistake from Ongaro would see him clip a corner pipe and spin around handing Polito a lead he would hold and extend to win by almost 4-seconds from the World Champion. Half a lap back Trevisan completed the podium ahead of Kyosho’s Riccardo Berton and Xray’s Alex Zanchettin with Kilic completing the Top 6. In eBuggy, Ongaro would make it two from two with the Round 2 win ahead of Top Qualifier Polito with Trevisan enjoying a double podium weekend with P3.

Image: Ielasi Tuned [Facebook]