Red RC » Racing

November 21, 2025

US Masters of Foam 2026 – Announcement

With the the annual Masters of Foam race in Belgium establishing itself as a major event on the International 1:12 calendar, taking inspiration from that event’s success, the inaugural US Masters of Foam is set to make a big splash in 2026. Also aiming to spotlight the very best carpet racing talent in the United States, the event will headline 1:12 pan car, while also working to revive 1:10 touring car foam-tire racing—all wrapped inside a weekend dedicated to celebrating the life and legacy of Steve Curry, a beloved figure in the Pacific Northwest racing community. Hosted at the NORA Skagit River Raceway in Mount Vernon, Washington, the event is scheduled for January 16–18, 2026. The facility features a purpose-built subfloor topped with premium CRC black carpet. Interest is already building, with several of the country’s top carpet specialists expressing plans to attend. Registration for the the inaugural US Masters of Foam will open December 1, 2025.

Source: US Masters of Foam [mastersoffoamusa.com]

November 19, 2025

2025 SIGP Offroad Chassis Focus Index

China’s top annual international offroad race, the 2025 Sunpadow International Grand Prix (SIGP) once again earned itself a reputation of being ‘challenging’, the 3 Circles track one where suspension set-up is critical. Only the second edition of the race since its return to the former 1:10 Offroad World Championship venue following a 4-year break, World Champions Bruno Coelho and David Ronnefalk returned knowing what to expect. For newcomers like Kouki Kato, who would go on to take the nitro win, Pekko Iivonen, and young Korean talent Jung Hyunkyu, the track would be a completely new experience that would test their set-up skills on a new level. Ronnefalk summed up the SIGP track very well when he said, ‘You’re not justing battling the other guy, I feel like more here you are battling the track out there so that’s offroad. It’s not many times you race on a track like this anymore so it’s good to feel what it used to be like in the old days I guess.’ With shocks the big focus of drivers, Belgian shock components specialist brand TRC busy assisting many drivers with getting their buggies dialled in, getting our hands on buggies for our Chassis Focus proved a little more challenging than normal as drivers switched shocks between Nitro and eBuggy. In the end we managed to feature 10 buggies from 6 drivers and 4 different manufacturers and we have compiled them in our latest Chassis Focus Index.

View Chassis Focus Index here

November 19, 2025

Senesi confirmed for Nitro Party 2026

Attracting huge interest following last month’s announcement of its ‘Nitro Party’ onroad nitro race, the brand new Hongyu GDC RC facility in China has confirmed its first international entry with news that 1:8 GT Specialist Natanaele Senesi will travel to Foshan for the January 24-25 race. The 2024 European Champion and World Championship podium finisher will race his Senesi Motorsport cars in both the 1:8 Nitro GT and 1:8 eGT categories on the 80m X 43m asphalt circuit which will host the 2026 IFMAR ISTC World Championships next April. With a number of top European drivers expected to join Senesi for the inaugural ‘Nitro Party’, the timing of the race is the perfect opportunity for European nitro racers to break-up the traditional Winter off season and compete at an event that Hongyu GDC intends to build up into a major annual event on the international nitro onroad race calendar. With Hongyu GDC bringing a world class facility to the Asia, there has be a massively positive response to the race within the regions’s nitro onroad community with a large Hong Kong entry set to make up the expected capacity entry. With the track within walking distance of a number of hotel options, drivers have the option to race for glory in 1:8 Nitro Onroad, 1:8 Nitro GT, 1:8 eGT, 1:10 Nitro Touring Car, and Spec Kyosho FW06 Nitro Touring Car.

Source: Hongyu GDC [Facebook]

November 18, 2025

Thurston back on top at EWS – Round 2 Report

The 2025/2026 Essex Winter Series presented by Team Cayote continued last weekend with Round 2 where Alex Thurston would take the big win. The LRP Modified Class was one to watch, with defending champion Olly Jefferies returning to the series after missing the first event, and Round 1 winner Kyle Branson looking to capitalise on his early championship lead. It was a tight battle for TQ between Kyle and his Awesomatix, and Alex Thurston. Branson took Q1, whilst Alex topped Q2 and Q3. The drivers traded positions in Q4 initially, with Alex then taking the lead, only to have a battery failure two laps from the end. Kyle took the round, but lost out on the tie-break by just 0.002 seconds! Elliott Harper lined up third for Schumacher, with Olly taking his factory Awesomatix to fourth ahead of the privately-entered example of Stefan Chodzynski. In the A Final, Alex led off with Kyle close behind. Olly immediately put Elliott under pressure and was able to get by on the second lap, and then set about closing on the leaders. Alex soaked up the pressure from Kyle, and the battle up front became a four-way fight as Olly closed in and pulled Elliott along with him. The four drivers circulated at high speed for the remaining four minutes of the race, often getting nose-to-tail but everyone keeping the door closed and not allowing the car behind the chance of an overtake. The high-speed freight train entertained the watching crowd as Alex stayed out front, crossing the line to take his second ever victory at EWS.

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November 17, 2025

Inaugural Asia 1:8 GT Nitro C/ship – Announcement

Continuing its roll out of Asia Championship title races, FEMCA has announced the inaugural 1:8 Nitro GT Championship for 2026. The Far East Model Car Association (FEMCA), the governing body for RC racing that represents 15 nations in Asia and Australasia, has awarded the first 1:8 GT title race to the very impressive X-RC Complex in Lam Dong, Vietnam. An event that crowns the ‘Champion of Asia’, while titled the Asia 1:8 GT Nitro Championship, alongside the nitro cars the event will also cater for Electric GT. With GT crowning only its third World Champion this year in Chile, Raptor/Gimar driver Alessio Mazzeo doing the double, the first Asian Champions are set to be crowned between July 17-19th, 2026. FEMCA will publish further details on the championship in due course.

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November 14, 2025

Vintage Bash 4.0 Sets New Record 483 Entries – Report

Taking place in Melbourne recently with Atsushi Hara among those in attendance, Vintage Bash 4.0 has cemented its position as Australia’s premier vintage off-road RC event, delivering a spectacular four-day celebration that blended nostalgia, racing heritage, and modern festival energy. Hosted at the Knox RC Track, VB4.0 once again raised the bar with an incredible 483 entries, breaking its own national record and reaffirming its status as the largest RC racing event ever held in Australia. The Vintage Bash attracts racers from across Australia, along with an impressive roster of international visitors flying in from Japan, Spain, Indonesia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA. This global participation added a remarkable multicultural richness to the paddock, reflecting the universal appeal of vintage RC racing and the strong reputation the Bash has built worldwide. More than just a race meeting, Vintage Bash 4.0 delivered a full festival-style experience. Enthusiasts of classic-era machines were treated to relaxed racing across iconic classes, a beautifully curated concours, and the crowd-favourite 1989 IFMAR Worlds re-enactment, which became a centrepiece of the weekend’s nostalgia.

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November 11, 2025

Pequito defends World title at PNWC

Xbility driver & designer Jose Pequito has successfully defended his 2WD Open World title at the PN Racing World Cup in Colorado. Winning the 1:28 title last year in France, then racing for RC Atomic, the Portuguese driver would repeat the feat with his own car this year taking the ‘One’ to victory in 2WD Open at 5280 Raceway in Denver. In qualifying it would be Reflex Racing’s John Dickson who secured the TQ ahead of Pequito and PN Racing’s Mathieu Da Rocha, the latter taking the TQ & win in the AWD Open class. With Dickson suffering a DNF in A1, Alex Soto-Pagan took the win ahead of Pequito before the World Champion came good in A2 & 3 to win both and retain his title. Soto-Pagan would fill the second step on the podium which was completed by Marka driver Guillaume Loie. Counting a 6th from A2 and a 3rd in A3, Dickson would finish 5th. In 2WD Stock Chris Lemaire had the perfect weekend topping qualifying and taking the win while in Formula 1 EJ Courtemanch covnerted his TQ after turning around an A1 DNF to win the next two for the title.

Image: MOD Live Media [Facebook]

November 11, 2025

Apolaro & Ernst claim Infinity double at Cow Patty Classic

DJ Apolaro and Scotty Ernst gave Infinity a double win at the annual Cow Patty Classic at the Nuggets Ranch Raceway in Arcadia, Florida. One of the US nitro onroad race majors and run by US nitro onroad stalwart Greg Esser and his family, the 14th edition not only attracted the Top US Nitro racers but also a group of European visitors. In qualifying, each driver’s fastest time determining the order, after the 6 rounds it was Apolaro who secured the TQ ahead of the Capricorn of German’s Thilo Diekmann and former Nitro Touring Car World Champion Ralph Burch. In the 1:8 Masters class it was Robert Ronas who took the TQ ahead of Ernst. With a 40-minute final determining the Masters result, Ernst would set the fastest lap with with his Kabuto powered IF8-3 and take the win after Ronas’ race came to an end with 6 minutes to go. Behind Ernst, Donna Garcia and Peter Berton completed the Masters Top 3. With a 45-minute Main for 1:8 Open concluding the weekend’s action, Apolaro would be kept on his toes by Diekmann, the two very evenly matched on outright pace, Apolaro’s best lap a 15.063 compared to Diekmann’s 15.093. With Burch retiring from the race, in the end Apolaro took the win by under 10-seconds from Diekmann with Joachim Bruneau taking the final step on the podium while Ersnt backed up his early win with a P5 in Open. In Nitro Touring Michael Palazzola took the TQ and win ahead of Alex Eesser while in 1:8 GT Nitro the Raptor of World Championship finalist Carlie Lopez took the win.

Image: Cow Patty Classic