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June 23, 2025

Beretta crowned new 1:8 GT European Champion

Genius Racing’s Filippo Beretta is the new EFRA 1:8 GT Nitro European Champion. Racing at the MRC Leipzig track in Germany, the Italian topped the opening three qualifiers to secure the TQ ahead of team-mate and 2022 & 2023 Champion Bernard-Alain Arnaldi. Topping the fifth & final qualifier Daniel Schepis secured third ahead of Andrea Catanzani, the Serpent having topped seeding. Missing the cut of directly qualifying for the 45-minute title deciding final, the Raptor of Alessio Mazzeo qualified P5 ahead of Capricorn’s Alex D’angelo. In the final it was very much Beretta who was in control however Catanzani found a way passed his fellow countryman with 5:30 on the clock. Crossing the finish just half a second ahead it looked like Catanzani was the new European Champion however in post race technical inspection his fuel tank failed and Beretta was declared the Champion of the 4th running of the European Championships. It would be an all Genius Racing podium with Leonardo Valente second and Arnaldi third. Travelling to Germany as the reigning Champion Natanaele Senesi would finish P4 having had issues in qualifying and ended up P11. Reigning World Champion Toni Gruber qualified 9th and like Senesi had to come through the Semi finals eventually finishing P7. In 1:8 Electric GT it was Xray’s Adam Izsay who the new Champion ahead of 2023 Champion Mazzeo with Schepis completing the podium.

Image: EFRA [Facebook]

June 20, 2025

Sweep official 1:8 GT World Championship tyre supplier

As Chile continues its preparation for hosting the IFMAR 1:8 GT World Championships in September, the organisers have announced Sweep as the official tyre supplier. Racers will use the recently released D-SPEC GT 40 tyre. The organisers have been testing the tyre in various conditions with their advisors since January and ultimately made the decision after a comparison test with other options at the Club de Aeromodelos de Chile (CACH) in the past 2 weeks when weather conditions were similar to those expect in September. The main focus was performance, durability, quality and how long they took to reach optimum performance (considering that EP racing cannot afford to have a lengthy warm up period and tire warmers are not allowed).

Source: IFMAR Worlds Chile 2025 [ifmarworlds2025.com]

June 17, 2025

Kaerup doubles at NXC Grand Prix

Team Associated rising talent Marcus Kaerup had a successful weekend in his home country with a double win at the NXC Grand Prix. Hosted by Hillerød RC Racing at their track north of the Danish capital Copenhagen, the event has double in size since 2021 with this year’s edition attracting a record 188 entries drivers from Sweden, Norway, Germany, Iceland, England, and Denmark. As the defending Champion Kaerup secured the TQ after topping 3 of the 4 nitro qualifiers with Xray’s Hampus Berg second having topped Q4. Hampus would book his position directly into the 45-minute after winning Superpole. The Mugen Seiki of Pelle Culmsee line up 3rd having win his Semi final while winning the other Semi 15-year-old Oscar Berg’s Xray started P4. Kaerup carried his form into the final but was kept honest by Culmsee, the separation at the finish 8-seconds. Having dropped down the order early on Berg set the fastest lap of the race as the Swede recovered to complete the podium. In eBuggy Kaerup also took the TQ and win with Berg second and Culmsee third.

Image: Marcus Kaerup [Facebook]

June 16, 2025

Wins for Hall & Holdsworth – BRCA Nationals Round 3

Round 3 of the BRCA British 1:10 Offroad Nationals took place at Southport over the weekend where Tommy Hall and Josh Holdsworth took the wins. 2WD qualifying would see Team Associated’s reigning Champion Hall secure the TQ honours ahead of Schumacher’s Ben Smith, Xray’s Lee Martin and Associated’s Neil Cragg. In the finals Hall won the opening two encounters from Smith for his second win of the season with Martin completing the podium. In Sunday’s 4WD action, it was again Hall who secured the TQ but the defending champion, who opened his 2025 campaign with a win at Round 1 at Herts, wouldn’t complete the weekend double in the finals on the B74.2’s final outing. Qualify P2 it would be Cragg who took A1 after Hall rolled out of the lead. A2 would see P3 qualifier Smith win from Josh Holdsworth as Hall again struggled and finished down in P8. It was all to play for in A3 with Josh Holdsworth grabbing the win from Martin and with it his first National 4WD win on tie break with Championship Round 2 winner Smith. Cragg would complete the podium. The BRCA National Championship next moves to Bury Metro on July 12/13th.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

June 12, 2025

IFMAR confirm Thornhill as ’26 1:8 Offroad Worlds track

IFMAR, the World governing body of RC racing, has officially confirmed that the hosting of the 2026 IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship will be hosted by the Thornhill Racing Circuit in Texas. Posting details of the 2026 calendar, IFMAR confirmed the widely expected news that the home of the annual ‘The Dirt’ Lonestar Challenge and this year’s ROAR Nationals will welcome the best drivers in the World to battle it our for the biggest prize in the sport from September 26th to October 3rd 2026. The Thornhill Racing Circuit complex is situated on 13.9 acres with the dirt track having the unique feature of being fully covered. Las Vegas was the venue on the World Championships last visit to the US when David Ronnefalk took the 2016 title.

View 2026 IFMAR World Championship Calendar here

June 10, 2025

Smokem 2025 Australian Indoor Champs – Report

Last weekend the ACT Model Car Racing Club based in Canberra, Australia, hosted the inaugural Smokem Australian Indoor Champs (AUSIC) run on AusBite carpet. Catering for six classes, in 13.5 ISTC class, RC Maker factory driver Jeffrey Mackie narrowly secured the top qualifier position, edging out ARC’s Brayden Stanley, with RC Maker teammate Lincoln Codd completing the top three. A1 saw an intense battle on the tight AUSIC layout, with Stanley applying pressure but unable to find a way past the defensive Mackie. In A2, Stanley finally pulled off a pass, only to suffer a mechanical issue that dropped him to last place, leaving Mackie to capitalise and take the win and ultimately, the title. A3 delivered yet another nail-biting showdown, with Stanley crossing the line just two-tenths ahead of Mackie to secure second place overall. Meanwhile, Codd’s consistent pace and measured drives across all three mains earned him the final podium spot, fending off spirited challenges from Stone, Askell, Peet, and Ilievski.

Continue reading here

June 10, 2025

Diekmann wins Oslo Open 2025

Capricorn driver Thilo Diekmann took the main win at the Oslo Open 2025, the annual nitro onroad race held at the impressive Hverven Raceway located south of the Norwegian capital. While rain hampered the event, in qualifying it was former 1:5 World Champion Martin Lissau who was the Top Qualifier ahead of the Mugen Seiki of British Champion Alex Thurston who both booked their direct place into the final. For 2024 Oslo Open winner Francesco Tironi qualifying P5 meant he had to start his quest for two in a row from the Semi Finals but he failed to go the distance and his race was over. The Italian did however get some consolation on Sunday when he won the 15-minute Midnight Sun Sprint race ahead of Thurston. Qualifying 8th, Diekmann would progress from his Semi and in the 45-minute Main, which ran on Saturday night, he took the win a lap up on Lars Haugen with Alexander Andersson joining him on the podium. Both Lissau and Thurston had a troubled final with the Dane retiring with 7-minutes to go and Thurston finishing a distant fourth.

Image: Thilo Diekmann [Facebook]

June 9, 2025

Harleman wins Dutch EFRA Large Scale GP

The second round of the 2025 3-race Large Scale EFRA GP series took place in the Netherlands over the weekend where Mecatech driver Marco Harleman took the win. With rain having affected the opening round in Spain, where Bernard-Alain Arnaldi took the win, racing at the Real80 track in Groningen drivers again faced difficult wet weather conditions with qualifying seeing limited running. With the 3rd of the 6 scheduled qualifiers proving the quickest, it was Hessel Roskam who secured pole position. For the wet 30-minute final, a number of drivers would not start the race, leaving 3rd place qualifier Harleman to take a commanding win. The Dutch driver was joined on the podium by Luke Van den Berg and Pieter Netten. The third of the EFRA Large Scale Grand Prix races takes place on September 13/14 in Lostallo, Switzerland, where drivers will be hoping for a break from wet conditions.

Source: Mecatech Racing Components [Facebook]