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December 1, 2025

A decade on – life is different, but the drive & focus on winning in Chile are the same for Kurzbuch

2025 marks a decade since Simon Kurzbuch became the Champion of the World. A driver Red RC have had the pleasure of following on his journey up through the ranks and into 1:8 Onroad racing history books, we first got to know him through the early days of the Euro Nitro Series and as one half of the talented Swiss racing duo that was himself and Silvio Hachler. Unfortunately we would miss him claiming the biggest prize the sport has to offer, Brazil in 2015 the only 1:8 Onroad World Championship we have missed since going online in 2006. Thankfully Simon, being the super nice guy he is, hasn’t held that against us and just before he caught his long flight to Chile we had a quick chat to get his thoughts on where he feels he is at as he attempts to become only the 3rd driver to ever win IFMAR’s original WC category more than once. If he can pull off that feat he would also be the first non Italian to ever do so. While legend of the category Lamberto Collari won’t be in Santiago for a chance at a 10th World title, and defending Champion Dario Balestri’s chances of a hat trick are on hold as he also wont be there, Simon did address the big talking point around this year’s 24th running of the Worlds – the absence of the entire Infinity team. ‘I am disappointed that the Infinity drivers are not coming, it is a real shame for Kenji that none of them are coming, but no Infinity does not affect anything from my side in how we approach this race. In the end there are still very good drivers there and you need to beat them and to beat them you need to work properly before the race in your preparations and then work hard when you get to Chile. I have a really good focus on the race so from this side it does not change anything if Infinity are there or not.’

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December 1, 2025

Pariente wins Spanish finale on Sparko debut

Adrian Pariente got his new deal with Sparko off to the dream start as just days after officially being announced as joining the manufacturer for the 2026 season he won the final round of the ultra competitive Spanish 1:8 Nitro Buggy National Championship. Racing at Circuito RC Silla on the outskirts of Valencia, the event attracted over 70 drivers and in the F1 category it was Spanish international offroad legend Robert Batlle who took his Sworkz to the overall TQ honours ahead of team-mate Juan Carlos Canas. Young Team Associated driver Erik Becerril Rodriguez, who learned his craft at RC Silla, completed the Top 3 ahead of 2024 Euro B Champion David Todd while Pariente ended the five rounds of qualifying in 5th. In the semi Finals their where wins for Tekno’s new crowned Korean National Champion Daniel Pariente and Canas with the 2024 World Championship Top Qualifier getting to lead away the 11-car field at the start of the 45-minute Main but starting from 3rd it would be Adrian who would come out the race winner by 10-seconds ahead of Canas in second which was enough for him to successfully defend his National title. The podium was completed by Rodriguez ahead of the Batlle brothers, the younger Dani very pleased with securing P4 from 10th on the grid as a disappointed Robert finished 5th having lost his qualifying pace come the finals.

Image : Dani Batlle [Facebook]

November 30, 2025

1:8 Onroad World Championship coverage presented by Capricorn, Radbody, T-Works, and IFMAR

Having hit a landmark of telling the story of how 50 World Championships unfolded when we reported on Marcus Kaerup’s 1:10 4WD Buggy World title win in Australia, Red RC is excited to be travelling to Chile to cover the 1:8 Onroad World Championship, our coverage presented by Capricorn, Radbody, T-Works, and IFMAR. As we kick off the first of our next 50 World Championships, this one is special because it was IFMAR’s original World Championship category that was also the first World Championship to be covered here on Red RC back in 2007 in Argentina. With a certain Lamberto Collari racking up the 8th of his 9 World titles, now 18-years later the championship is back in South America and having missed the last one Red RC are definitely going this time round for what in our opinion is the Formula 1 of RC Racing. Unfortunately while Collari and all of his team-mates at reigning World Champion manufacturer Infinity won’t be making the trip to the amazing CACH facility in Santiago, we are still going to be in for the intensity that only a World Championship brings out in drivers and manufacturers. While Japan 2023 winner Dario Balestri doesn’t appear on the entry list, it is led by three World Champions – Simon Kurzbuch (2016 World Champion, Brazil), Shoki Takahata (2019 World Champion, USA) and Toni Gruber (1:8 GT 2023 World Champion, Australia) – they will face the next generation of potential World Champions in the form of drivers like Andrea Catanzani who unlike the three World Champions has been to the track previously where he was the Top Qualifier at the IFMAR 1:8 GT World Championships back in September.

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November 24, 2025

Pariente becomes Korean 1:8 Buggy Champion

Young Spanish teenager Daniel Pariente has been the new 2025 KMRCA Korean 1:8 GP Buggy National Champion, the Tekno driver taking the title over the weekend when he travelled to ‘TheTrack’ in Gimpo in South Korea. With this year’s Nationals attracting almost 60 entries, racing on the indoor dirt track would see Pariente secure the TQ honours ahead of long time leading Korean offroad racer Dani Choi & his Kyosho and the country’s latest up & coming talent HyunKyu Jung, his Team Associated making it three different manufacturers in the mix. Winning his half-hour Semi final ahead of Jung, Pariente would lead away the 11 buggy grid from Jung while Choi’s winning time from the second Semi ahead of Alex Lim’s Tekno would see him line up third. From the front it was the visitor who maintained his form to win by 19-seconds as the podium saw the Top 3 finish in the order they started, Jung having to recover from a first lap mistake that dropped him to 4th for a time. Unfortunately for Lim he would retire from the final 48-minutes in.

Image: KMRCA [Facebook]

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.

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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 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 10, 2025

Takahata takes MRX7 to JMRCA Japanese National title

With Mugen Seiki having only officially released their latest 1:8 Onroad Chassis at the end of last month, their factory driver Shouki Takahata gave the Robert Pietsch designed MRX7 its first major title by winning the 2025 JMRCA 1:8 Onroad Japanese National Championship. With a field stacked with World Champions, it was the 2019 World Champion secured the TQ at the K2 International Circuit ahead of multiple World Champion Naoto Matsukura while Infinity team-mate & defending Champion Takaaki Shimo ended up 3rd. While the Top 2 directly went to the 45-minute final, Shimo and 1:12 World Finalist Hayato Ishioka won the Semi finals to progress along with the other 6 drivers to make up the Main grid. In the final Takahata would take back he last held in 2024 with his Max powered MRX7 setting the fastest lap on his way to the win with the rest of the podium a repeat of last year – Matsukura second and double Nitro Onroad World Champion Tadahiko Sahashi third from 5th on the grid. Unfortunately Shimo would retire from the final just before the half way point. For Takahata the result is a nice boost ahead of the upcoming IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championships in Santiago, Chile.

Image: Mugen Seiki [Facebook]