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February 23, 2026

2026 IFMAR 1:10 IC Track World C/ship Stage 1 Report

IFMAR, the World governing body of RC racing, has published the Stage 1 report for the 2026 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship which will be hosted by Club Automodellistico 5 Colli a decade after the iconic track staged the previous European hosting of the race. The 11th running of the championships, it will take place from September 4th to 12th in the medieval town of Gubbio in central Italy and given the nations unofficial title as ‘the world capital of nitro onroad racing’ it is expected to attract a large and competitive entry. In 2016 it was Dominc Greiner who became World Champion with a flawless drive ahead of then Serpent team-mate Alessio Mazzeo, who gave the local crowd plenty to cheer about, with then reigning 1:8 World Champion Simon Kurzbuch completing the podium for Shepherd just ahead of Bruno Coelho. Since then the track has hosted the 2022 IFMAR ISTC World Championship, Coelho taking the win on that occasion, with the club highly regarded for its strong organisation and presentation of races. The previous two 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships where staged in Thailand, the 2024 race held at Huge RC in Bangkok after original host Costa Rica hit issues surrounding noise. Jilles Groskamp would take a hugely popular victory at the former ISTC World Champion Surikarn Chaidajsuriya owned track, to become only the second driver to win the biggest prize in both Electric and Nitro Touring Car. View the full 2026 Stage 1 Report here.

Source: IFMAR [ifmar.org]

February 13, 2026

Hongyu GDC announce 2nd edition of Asia Nitro Party

Chinese track Hongyu GDC has announced that following the hugely successful inaugural hosting of the Asia Nitro Party race last month that they will host a second edition of the race in 2027. An event for 1:8 GP, 1:8 GT, and 1:10 Nitro Touring Car, it will also officially become a 3-day race event with January 15-17th already fixed as the 2027 date. The first edition of the Asia Nitro Party attracted a stacked international entry with visitors impressed not only by the Hongyu GDC facility but also their experience of visiting the city of Foshan. In 1:8 GP it would be Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura who took the win ahead of Xray’s Filippo Domanin and Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani. In 1:8 GT, Bernard-Alain Arnaldi took the win for Genius ahead of the Raptors of World Champion Alessio Mazzeo and Natanaele Senesi. With mild weather in Southern China in January, 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 has already made a mark on establishing itself as a major annual event on the international nitro onroad race calendar.

Source: Hongyu GDC [Facebook]

February 9, 2026

Bruneau wins 50th anniversary Florida WinterNats

One of the world’s longest running nitro onroad races and celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026, Joachim Bruneau has taken the 1:8 Open win at the end of the high rate of attrition 45-minute Florida WinterNats final. Hosted at Greg Esser’s Nuggets Ranch Raceway in Arcadia, after the four rounds of qualifying it was Infinity’s Teemu Leino who secured the TQ honours ahead of new Mugen Seiki signing Diego Morganti, Lazaro Alonso JR, former 1:10 Nitro Touring World Champion Ralph Burch and 2017 WinterNats Champion DJ Apolaro. With Morganti getting an early lead over Leino, the Finn having issues with his brakes, while pair would be the only drivers to run 13-seconds lap times during the race, unfortunately neither would go the distance. After just 5-minutes Leino was out with a throttle servo failure with Alonso JR next to go out 3-minutes later. Winner of November’s Cow Patty Classic, Apolaro wouldn’t get back to back wins at the track, the former ROAR Champion out at the 20-minute mark. He would be followed to the sidelines at 36-minute by another contender Burch. All the time it was Morganti who was out front and looking on target to add a 6th title to the family name, his father Paolo a 5-time Winternats Champion. With just over 5-minutes to go however a rear belt failure would put the 21-year-old out handing Cow Patty Classic podium finisher Bruneau the win. Some distance back Rafael Angula and Dutch visitor Gertjan Van Schaik completed the podium. In 1:8 Masters it was a Dutch win, as Infinity driver Arie Manten took victory from P5 on the grid. The 1:8 GT win went to Serpent’s Jose Almonte, Top Qualifier & World Championship Podium finisher Carlie Lopez having issues and dropping out of contention eventually finishing P10 with his Raptor. In 1:10 Nitro Touring, Apolaro brought home the win after getting passed Top Qualifier & defending Champion Michael Palazzola with Jerry Guerra completing the podium.

Image: Joe Kimble

February 8, 2026

Canas wins Montpellier GP after Ongaro error

Sworkz Juan Carlos Canas has opened the European 1:8 Nitro Buggy season with victory at the Montpellier Grand Prix, his second consecutive win of the famous French classic coming after a mistake from weekend dominator Davide Ongaro saw the Team Associated driver eventually finish P3. With rain effecting proceedings at Circuit du MBM, qualifying for the 20th edition of the race would after the completion of 3 rounds see Ongaro take the TQ honours ahead of Mugen Seiki’s 2025 Montpellier GP race leader & podium finisher Berkan Kilic. Canas would complete the Top 3 ahead Sworkz team-mate Mattio Polito, the Mugen Seiki of last year’s Top Qualifier Burak Kilic, and Tekno’s Joao Figueiredo. Winning their respective Semi-Finals, it was Ongaro and fellow Italian Polito who lead away the field for the shortened 45-minute main. Last winner of the Montpellier GP in 2023, Ongaro looked on target for the win having built up a huge lead however a high speed mistake resulted in contact with a fencing post which gifted his rivals the race as he struggled with buggy after the impact. With the Top 3 finishing on the same lap, Canas’s took the win by 9-seconds from an impressive Polito with Ongaro a further 7-seconds back. Behind, Figueiredo, Sparko’s Adrian Pariente, and Sworkz’s Elliott Boots completed the Top 6.

Image: Sworkz [Facebook]

February 2, 2026

Phend wins Southern Indoor Championship

A year on from claiming victory on his Nitro Buggy debut for Xray at the race, Dakotah Phend was again the big winner at the RaceTime Entertainment organised Southern Indoor Championship in Alabama. With many of his 2024 rivals competing at the TNR Fuels A-Main Challenge on the opposite side of the country, Phend would after the three rounds of qualifying end up P2 as 2024 SIC Champion Brandon Rose secured the TQ for Team Associated with two TQ runs. The Tekno of Cole Kasten completed the Top 3 with 2023 1:10 2WD World Champion Tater Sontag securing P4 on the grid. With Rose leading away the 30-minute final, Phend, who had just made the first of his 10-minutes fuel stops, would go to the front when Rose and Sontag made contact as the trio ran together. At the end Phend would have a 20-second winning margin over Sontag with Kasten completing the podium ahead of Rose. In eBuggy while Phend took the TQ and lead for 9 of the 10-minutes a coming together with his team-mate on the straight after a bobble meant it was Sontag who would made it a double win for Xray securing the win ahead of TLR driver Hunter King and the Team Associated of Julien Oliveras. Phend would DNF with a broken car.

Image: Southern Indoor Championship [Facebook]

February 2, 2026

VanDalen wins TNR Fuels A-Main Challenge

Tekno RC’s Seth VanDalen was the big winner at the annual TNR Fuels A-Main Challenge held in Norco, California, over the weekend, as he took the win in 1:8 Nitro Buggy. With the 2026 edition attracting 761 entries over 21 classes!, two rounds of qualifying would result in VanDalen taking the TQ honours ahead of Sworkz’s Camden Lime as his Q1 time was faster than Lime’s Q2 topping pace. Making the trip over from Europe, Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic would start P3 followed by Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen, the Tekno of last year’s Top Qualifier Ryan Maifield, while the Team Associated of 2025 winner Spencer Rivkin completed the Top 6. Over the half hour final, while Kilic would lead for a lengthy stint, it was Van Dalen who took a close win over the Turkish visitor with Nguyen, who took a turn at leading, completing the podium. Kilic wouldn’t go home empty handed however taking the Nitro Truggy win ahead 2025 winner Maifield with Van Dalen in third. In eBuggy, Nguyen would get the better of Top Qualifier VanDalen to come away with the win as Kilic rounded out the podium ahead of the Mayako of Ryan Cavalieri.

Image: JConcepts [Facebook]

January 30, 2026

2026 Asia Nitro Party Chassis Focus Index

Last weekend Red RC kicked off our 2026 race coverage by travelling to China to the impressive Hongyu GDC track in Foshan for the inaugural running of the Asia Nitro Party. A brand new nitro onroad race providing an international stage for the category, it attracted a stacked international entry that only looks set to grow after a successful first edition. With newly crowned IFMAR 1:8 GT World Champion Alessio Mazzeo and his Raptor leading the biggest category, 1:8 GT, in 1:8 GP it was IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship Top Qualifier Andrea Catanzani and his Serpent who led the entry. Come the finals however the Italians couldn’t put their name on the race’s opening role of honour, that instead going to France’s double European Champion Bernard-Alain Arnaldi and Genius in GT and Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura in 1:8 GP. Over the busy weekend of high revving racing action we managed to get our hands on 8 cars from 6 different manufacturers and for those who missed the any of these chassis focuses as part of coverage from the Asia Nitro Party we have compiled them in our first Chassis Focus Index of 2026.

View Chassis Focus Index here

January 28, 2026

Morganti joins Mugen Seiki Racing

Mugen Seiki Racing, the US distributor for the World Champion Japanese manufacturer, has announced the signing of top American nitro onroad racer Diego Morganti. Son of veteran 1:8 Onroad racer Paolo, the 21-year-old was the winner of 2025 KO Propo Grand Prix driving a Capricorn but goes into the 2026 season with a completely new program. Announced as joining Ielasi Tuned engines at the end of 2025, on campaigning Mugen Seiki’s newly released World Championship winning MRX7, Morganti said, ‘I’m very excited to announce my new collaboration with Mugen Seiki Racing! I can’t wait to get to the track and start testing the new MRX7. Thank you so much to Brian Thomas and to the entire Mugen Seiki team.’

Source: Mugen Seiki Racing [Facebook]