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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]

January 25, 2026

Arnaldi takes GT victory at Asian Nitro Party

With the 1:8 GT Final bringing a successful inaugural Asian Nitro Party race to a close under the lights at the Hongyu GDC track, it was Genius’ Bernard-Alain Arnaldi who took the win in China. It was to be a drama packed start to the 45-minute final with World Champion Alessio Mazzeo calling a time out during the warm-up due to an engine issue. With that time out expiring, as the rest of the field headed to the grid after complete a restarted warm-up, Mazzeo’s car only making its back onto the starter having been fitted with a new engine that still needed to be tuned. With this hastily done by Gimar’s Giovanni Crea to try not miss the start, the Italian would have to begin from the pit lane. With that immediately putting him half lap down, Italy’s quest for victory was struck a blow for a second time as Top Qualifier Natanaele Senesi would flame just 2 corners after the start. He would rejoin two laps down as Spain’s Raul Anton led the way in front of team-mate Arnaldi, who had had a mistake at the first corner. Anton would soon allow the Frenchman to go to the front, giving Arnaldi plenty of room to execute a pass at the end of lap 6. Once there that was where he would stay til the finish. With Mazzeo’s Raptor the fastest car on track, it did look like we might be in for a showdown in the closing stages of the race. Getting the gap down to 3-seconds, unfortunately damage to his body would in turn lead to it cutting into his tyre and causing his pace to drop right off and allowing Arnaldi to build back up his advantage to win by 16-seconds. All the time, as the Mazzeo tried to chase down the leader, Senesi was working his way back up through the field to salvage a podium finish.

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January 25, 2026

Matsukura gives masterclass in China to win Asian Nitro Party

Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura gave his rivals a masterclass on how to execute a perfect 45-minutes of driving, the Japanese driver turning around a difficult qualifying to win the inaugural Asia Nitro Party at Hongyu GDC track in China. After qualifying 14th, he gave the first hint of what was to come in the Semi Finals coming from 7th on the grid ahead of the Mugen Seiki of JJ Wang who started on pole. Lining up second for the Main event behind the Mugen Seiki of Top Qualifier Sinnosuke Yokoyama, Matsukura would get jump on his countryman off the line and once in front never looked back. Unfortunately Yokoyama’s impressive qualifying performance wouldn’t be rewarded in the final, the OS. Speed factory driver having a difficult race and suffering a flame out and also needing to do a body change during the race. He would finish 8th 15-laps down on the winner. While Matsukura controlled the race, Xray’s Filippo Domanin would keep him honest, the former Nitro Touring Car World Champion’s 7-second advantage over the Italian teenager never enough to allow him to completely relax. Having made a good start from 5th on the grid after winning his Semi Final, Domanin also had to watch his back with Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani only 3-second behind at the finish. Competing the podium, Catanzani set the fastest lap of the final but having to tune his engine in the early part of the race prevented the World Championship Top Qualifier from challenging for the win. Fourth place would be decided in the final stages of the race between Wang, who impressed in qualifying with two TQ runs, and Hotrace tyres owner Nicola Marrone. With both drivers having limited race mileage in recent years, Marrone would get by in the final 2-minutes of the race as Wang ran out of tyres. Afterwards both drivers looked very stiff following their first 45-minute final in a number of years.

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