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January 15, 2026

Gens ace power for Shin Sawada

Battery manufacturer Gens ace has announced that it is to power the race progamme of newly crowned Spec Class FEMCA Asia Champion Shin Sawada. The Japanese driver & 2024 World Championship finalists completes his 2026 package with the deal, the Xray driver having already announced his new electronics deal with ORCA. The younger of the Sawada brothers, Jin announcing his move to Team EAM this week, on the news Shin said, ‘As I will continue to focus on stock racing over the next few years, having reliable power is essential. I have tested most of the batteries available and found that Gens ace performs the best. Thank you, Gens ace, for the opportunity to join the team.’

Source: Gens Ace [gensace.de]

January 15, 2026

Smith & Stafford win at EssexCarpetClash Rd4

The fourth encounter of the 6 round EssexCarpetClash took place last weekend in the UK where Round 3 double winner Ben Smith & his Schumacher took the 2WD while the Team Associated of Ellis Stafford took the 4WD honours. For many it was the first race of the year, with a few looking forward to trying their new equipment they had received from Christmas, with the organisers creating a flowing track with a double jump section and dog leg table top would challenge the drivers. In 2WD it seemed to be a battle between Smith and Harley Eldridge for the entire day. Both managed to top the qualifying sheets twice so it came down to the fastest time which was Smith. Next to line up on the grid for third and fourth would be a fight between Aaron Nash and Oliver Nattress, again joint on points with Nash having the faster time. Alfie Castle would get to grips with the track after round one putting in some decent times with Billy Fletcher having a very consistent day. The finals would be a continuation of qualifying and would be a fight on track between Smith and Eldridge. Smith was able to wrap up the day with two leg wins with Eldridge consistently finishing in the top three. Aaron Nash was able to secure the bottom step of the podium with two decent leg finishes.

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January 14, 2026

Haatanen completes ’26 program with Matrix tyres

Having switched electronics for 2026 from Reedy to Ruddog Racing, long time Team Associated team driver Joona Haatanen has been announced as part of the Matrix Tires offroad team. The 2025 European 2WD Buggy podium finisher and German National Champion makes the switch between Italian tyre manufacturers finalising his 2026 race package with the move to Matrix from Hotrace. On the announcement, the popular Finn, who now lives in Germany, posted, ‘Last announcement for program of 2026! Joining Matrix Racing Tires/Xtreme Aerodynamics and will be using their products on my Team Associated 1/8 and 1/10 buggies! Thanks to Christian and rest of the team for this opportunity, let’s see what we can achieve together.’

Source: Joona Haatanen [Facebook]

January 13, 2026

2026 Desert Classic – Announcement

2023 IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship host venue Hobby Action has opened registration for the 10th Annual Desert Classic which takes place at the Arizona indoor track from March 5-8th. Under track owner Larry Tom, the Desert Classic has established itself as an early season fixture on the 1:10 Offroad calendar filling the void left after the iconic Cactus Classic lost its outdoor track location after the 2014 edition. Attracting 32o entries, last year’s edition saw wins for Xray’s Chase Lemieux (2WD) and Team Associated’s Aydin Horne (4WD). Continuing to be supported by long time sponsor Stickit1 Racing, the race schedule will consist of 4 rounds of qualifying with the best three to count with triple finals for all 2WD and 4WD classes and 10-minute Mains for Truck classes.

View race poster here

January 13, 2026

Isaacs & Hagberg win at Hudy Indoor Champs

Awesomatix’s Sam Isaacs and Xray’s Alexander Hagberg where the big winners at the annual Hudy Indoor Champs at ProLevel RC in Chesterfield, Missouri – Isaacs winning 1:12 while Hagberg took back to back Touring Car wins. Attracting 148 entries, qualifying would see Isaacs TQ both classes, topping all four round in 1:12 and 2 of the four in Touring Car. With team-mate Kemp Anderson lining up P2 in 1:12 and defending Champion Hagberg in third, in the single 8-minute A-Main Anderson would get the front after a rough start by Isaacs. Leading for half the race, he would be retaken by Isaacs for the win with the podium order being how they qualified. In Touring Car, Isaacs would lead for the first half of the race until a mistake rolled his Awesomatix out of contention for the double allowing last year’s double winner Hagberg to take the victory by 1.6-seconds from Anderson with 2023 winner Keven Hebert completing the Top 3.

Image: Sam Isaacs [Facebook]

January 13, 2026

Back to back Silver State wins for Fuller

Sworkz’s Mason Fuller has claimed back to back Nitro Buggy victories at Silver State Indoor Championships. With the young American talent taking a break through win at the high profile annual Las Vegas based race last April, he would back it up with victory at this year’s earlier running of the Joey Christensen event. In qualifying it was Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen, who was on the podium last year, who took the TQ ahead of the Tekno pairing Seth VanDalen & Ryan Maifield, Sworkz’s Camden Lime, and Kyosho’s Ryan Lutz, the latter topping the first of the 3 qualifiers. In the 45-minute final it was looking set to be a super close battle between Nguyen and Fuller but a flame out as the race reached 3/4 distant would deny the talented teenager a chance at his first big win. With his main challenger gone, Fuller was able to claim the win with a 24-seconds advantage over Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin while VanDalen completed the podium. In eBuggy, Nguyen also took the TQ and after an incident packed final lap claimed the win ahead of Fuller and Tekno’s Jared Wiggins. Lutz had looked on target to win the 10-minute encounter but landed funny on the last lap handing Fuller the lead but he got hit by Maifield who in turn received contact from eventual winner Nguyen. In Truggy it was Maifield who took both the Nitro and Electric wins.

Image: JConcepts [Facebook]

January 12, 2026

Takashima D-13 partner with Volker for product development

A brand that has been busy upscaling it product releases, aftermarket onroad parts and accessories manufacturer Takashima D-13 has announced a new partnership with ISTC World Champion Ronald Volker. The factory Mugen Seiki driver will become involved in Takashima D-13’s brand development and product performance testing as well as helping to guide the brand in a positive and competitive direction. Also announcing they will support young Singapore talent & Stock Class Champion Zaccheus Lam, Takashima D-13 say they will continue to develop high-performance products that offer excellent value for money.

Source: Target RC [targetrc.com]

January 12, 2026

Harper wins at EWS R3 as two Champions crowned early

Round 3 of the Essex Winter Series took place yesterday at the popular British series’ regular venue in the South-East of the UK where a win for Schumacher’s Elliot Harper keeps the championship wide open while Zak Finlay and Dan Blake secured titles. Harper secured pole position in the LRP Modified class, but he had a tight battle with Kyle Branson throughout. Branson, who took the win at Round 1 of the series in October, topped the opening round with his Awesomatix, before Harper took control to win the remaining rounds. The winner at Round 2 of the series, Alex Thurston, lined up third with his Mugen Seiki, ahead of Xray’s Harley Eldridge and the Schumacher of Peter Eagles. In the final, Elliott remained in control and quickly opened up a lead at the front ahead of Branson. The battle on track was for third, with Harley continually closing in on Alex. After keeping the pressure on, Eldridge finally found a way past Thurston in the final minute of the race to move to a podium position. Almost at the same moment, Branson tapped a corner, damaging his car. He held on to second place, but Eldridge quickly closed in. Branson did all he could to keep Eldridge behind, but with a damaged car it proved difficult, leading to Eldridge making an excellent high-speed pass through the infield section on the penultimate lap to add to Branson’s injury, Thurston then also managed to sneak through on the final lap to secure a podium result. All this action left Harper to cruise to victory at the front. This keeps the overall championship wide open, with Harper, Thurston and Branson each having a win with two rounds of the series left to run.

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