Red RC » Racing

April 28, 2026

Wins for Smith & Holdsworth at British 1:10 Buggy Nationals opener

The first round of the 6 round British 1:10 Offraad National Championships was hosted by the Potteries Model Car Club over the weekend where Schumacher’s Josh Holdsworth the 2WD win on Saturday before team-mate Ben Smith went one better on Sunday to win 4WD. 2WD qualifying would see Holdsworth secure the TQ honours ahead of Team Associated’s defending BRCA Champion Tommy Hall with Smith lining up P3. Winning the opening two encounters it was Holdsworth who claimed the first win of the season with voctry in A3 and a 2nd in A1 allowing Smith finish ahead of Hall. In 4WD it would be Smith who took the overall TQ ahead of Holdsworth with Xray’s Lee Martin 3rd. The back to back British Champion also of 4WD, Hall would kick off his title defence from P4. Unlike the previous day’s action, deciding the overall win would go all the way to A3. While Smth won A1, Martin took the A2 victory ahead of the Top Qualifier. In A3 it was the Team Associated of junior driver Daniel Pole who took the win from Smith the second was enough for Smith to bag the first win of the season. Overall Martin was the runner up with another podium for Holdsworth while Pole finished P4 and took the Junior Win. The next round of the championship will take drivers to Bingham Model Raceway in just 2-weeks time (May 9/10).

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

April 28, 2026

2 from 2 for Ripoll in French Championship

Maxime Ripoll made it two from two over the weekend, the Xray driver winning the second round of the FFVRC French 1:8 Nitro Onroad Championship at the Celtic CPB Racing 35 track in Châteaubourg. In qualifier the World Championship finalist & defending French Champion would secure the TQ honours ahead of Baptiste Jimenez and Christophe Louis. Over the 45-minute final Ripoll, who took the Round 1 win last month, would eek out a gap to win by a lap over the Shepherd of Semi Finals winner Fabien Baranger. The Mugen Seiki of Louis, second at the season opener, completed the podium ahead of Jimenez who would set the fastest lap of the race and be the only driver to dip into the 14-second lap times.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Ben Mohamed wins French National Round 2

Sparko’s Noha Ben Mohamed has won the second round of the French National 1:8 Nitro Buggy Championship which was hosted by the TTRC 90 club in Bermont in the northeast of the country. Ben Mohamed would top all three qualifying rounds to secure the overall TQ with Tekno driver Theo Lemaire securing second followed by Sworkz Jordan Lot and the Team Associated of defending Champion Clement Boda. Winning the faster of the two Semi finals Ben Mohamed would start on pole with Remy Bermudez winning the other Semi to start second. Racing the 45-minute final on a demanding track that would caught out a number of drivers, Ben Mohamed would have an intense battle with Round 1 Boda with the pair separated by just 2/10ths of a second at the line. Coming through from 8th on the grid Xray’s Rayan Medjoubi completed the podium ahead of Lot and Mugen Seiki’s Hugo Tavernon.

Image: Noha Ben Mohamed [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Branson wins BRCA Nationals opener at Cotswolds

Kyle Branson has won the opening round of the BRCA British Touring Car Nationals. The first of the 5 championship rounds was stages at the Cotswold track where in practice reigning champion Elliott Harper would break the track record with his prototype Schumacher, Branson also managing to break 21 laps. In qualifying it was Branson who was fastest but only marginally over Harper. Topping 3 of the 4 rounds, Branson posted a 21/5:07.13 compared to Harpers 21/5:07.49. Behind Peter Eagles and Chris Grainger completed the Modified class Top 4. In the finals, the British Championship running double A-Mains, Branson won the first by 2.5-seconds from Harper with Grainger moving up to third. A2 would see Harper go for a gap but unfortunately spin out after side-by-side contact. Setting the fastest lap of the harper would manage to finish second just behind the winner with Eagles in third but overall it was the veteran Grainger who competed the podium. Round 2 of the championship will take drivers to Stafford on May 25th.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Balestri wins Campionato Costruttori at MyCandy Arena

Infinity’s Dario Balestri has won the annual Italian ‘Campionato Costruttori’ which was this year staged at the MyCandy Arena in the north of the country. In qualifying it was new Max Power engines signing Carmine Raiola who took the TQ with a dominant run topping all four rounds. Behind it was Balestri who claimed second on the grid ahead of Jonathan Gandin, Francesci Tironi, Lamberto Collari, and Silvio Hächler. In the 45-minute final however Riola’s form in qualifying wouldn’t continue as he retired 30-minutes into the encounter joining Collari and British visit Alex Thurston as retirees. At the front, putting in the only 13-second lap of the race, it was 2-time World Champion Balestri who took the win by 11-seconds over the Xray of teenager Filippo Domanin. Swiss driver Silvio Hächler would complete the podium for ARC half a lap ahead of Gandin. In the 1:8 GT Nitro Class, it was Genius Racing’s Leonardo Valente who took the TQ ahead of the Sworkz of Austrian Tobias Sutrich but with Valente’s race lasting just 5-minutes it was third place qualifier Adam Izsay who took the win for Xray by a lap over Sutrich.

Image: Infinity [Facebook]

April 26, 2026

Nguyen does double on Asian Buggy Championships debut

Young Kyosho star Phi-Long Nguyen has completed the double on his Asian Buggy Championships debut adding the main Nitro Buggy win to his eBuggy victory from earlier in the day in Malaysia. Starting from second on the grid behind Top Qualifier Pekko Iivonen, the American would benefit from the Mayako driver running out of fuel as the second round of fuel stops approached during the 45-minute encounter. Having built up a 12-second advantage over Nguyen and the rest of the 15 car field, a flame out during Nguyen’s first fuel stop adding to the Finn’s advantage, it looked like it was finally going to Iivonen’s big day. A driver who has looked like he has progressed a step up in his driving every time he took the impressive LAP Paradise RC Raceway track here at the second round of the ABC, unfortunately it wasn’t going to be a case of third time lucky. His third appearance in the Team Cayote/VP-Pro backed championship, having raced in the Philippines and Australia last season, he would run out of fuel just before the loop meaning he lost an entire lap on the field. This gave Nguyen, who on taking the win was quick to state his rival was the faster driver in the final despite posting the fastest lap himself, a comfortable lead that he could manage and would never relinquish. 9-seconds back at the finish, Sworkz’s Caleb Noble backed up his win of the season opener in New Zealand with a second place while fellow Aussie Jayden Edmunds completed the podium. Dropping back to fifth after his flame out, a clearly disappointed Iivonen would only be rewarded with a P4 for his otherwise impressive showing with Jared Ment and Ken NG completing the Top 6 on what has been a hugely successful debut visit to a track whose elevation has been a huge hit with racers.

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April 26, 2026

Nguyen sees off determined Iivonen to win eBuggy at ABC Malaysia

Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen has taken the eBuggy win at Round 2 of the Asian Buggy Championships in Malaysia, the American seeing off an intense challenge from Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen in the deciding third A-Main at LAP Paradise RC Raceway. With Iivonen having won yesterday’s opening A-Main ahead of the Top Qualifier, this morning Nguyen would manage to keep his MP11e out front despite the Finn being all over his rear wing in A2 and even getting a look once or twice down the inside but just never quite able to see it through. With 1 minute 20 seconds on the clock of the 8-minute encounter, Iivonen would attempt a long jump but it would go wrong and he would land off the track. Rejoining the track without the need for a marshal, Iivonen’s next lap would be the fastest of the final but as he made another push he would crash again on his final lap, allowing Nguyen to win by over 6-seconds. With the stage set for an A3 shootout, the contenders didn’t disappoint with the crowd producing many “Oohs and ahhs” over the race as Iivonen tried to put a pass on the Asian Buggy Championship debutant. Despite his rival, who again set the fastest lap of the race, getting his noise alongside a number of times it was not enough to unsettle the teenager who put in a super cool headed drive. The pressure on Nguyen would finally lift on the last lap as Iivonen, who showed incredible patients behind the leader, tried to out jump the leader but the landing didn’t work. Crossing the line with a 4-second advantage the overall win was Nguyen’s. Backing up his P3 in the days earlier encounter with another third in A3 meant it was Australian Jayden Edmunds who completed the podium ahead of 3rd place qualifier Caleb Noble.

April 25, 2026

Jones wins high attrition rate ABC Malaysia Truggy Main

Australian Tekno driver Liam Jones has won a high attrition rate Nitro Truggy A-Main at Round 2 of the Asian Buggy Championships in Malaysia. The championship’s first visit to the country and the impressive LAP Paradise RC Raceway, which located just an hour across the border from Singapore, it was expected that the half hour final would be just a formality for Top Qualifier Caleb Noble. The Sworkz driver dominated the opening round of the Team Cayote/VP-Pro backed championship last month in New Zealand, and no one would have bet against the Aussie going back to back here in Johor Bahru. Starting on pole ahead of the Sparko of Ken NG, Noble quickly established a lead but as the race approached half way distance the 19-year-old suffered a diff failure, his race was done. This promoted NG to the lead with Jones, who qualified P4, running in second. However he too would hit mechanical problems, losing rear drive after just a few laps out in front – something he said may have been the result of his truggy taking a heavy hit to the rear early on in the final. With Noble down in pit lane cheering on his compatriot, along with Jones’ elated father, the Melbourne driver would stay out front to take the win ahead by 2/3 of a lap over fellow Aussie Jayden Edmunds. Chinese Kyosho driver Francis Guan completed the podium while with only 2WD NG managed to finish down in P6.