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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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January 24, 2026

Yokoyama Top Qualifier at inaugural Asia Nitro Party

In a Mugen Seiki duel for the overall TQ honours in 1:8 Onroad at the inaugural Asia Nitro Party race, it was O.S. Speed’s Sinnosuke Yokoyama who delivered in Q4 to deny Q1 & Q2 winner JJ Wang from becoming Top Qualifier on home soil. Taking place at the impressive Hongyu GDC track in China, fuel consumption caused issues in the first half of qualifying with Wang’s decision to stop for fuel playing in his favour as others came up short over the 4-minutes. For the final two qualifiers however Yokoyama would get everything perfectly aligned. Taking Q3 ahead of Nicole Marron’s Infinity and Wang similat O.S. powered MRX7, the Japanese driver repeated in the fourth & final round and with that time the fastest run of the day he secured the overall TQ at the new high profile international nitro onroad event. With Wang putting in an all out effort to try and hold on to the top spot in Q4, he would hit the curbing and send his car airborne, ending what has been an impressive performance on his 1:8 Onroad return. Behind, a consistent effort from Hotrace’s Nicole Marrone saw his Infinity end qualifying in third place. Ending his day with his best run by 3-seconds, for another P3 run, Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani completed the Top 4. The driver to set the pace in practice yesterday, Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura would finally get a decent run in Q4, but despite the P2 effort he ended qualifying down in P14 to make the back end of the Semi finals grid.

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January 24, 2026

Senesi takes Asia Nitro Party TQ honours

Natanaele Senesi has taken the TQ honours in 1:8 GT at the inaugural Asia Nitro Party race in China. The Italian would go up against newly crowned World Champion Alessio Mazzeo and France’s Bernard-Alain Arnaldi as the fight to secure pole position & the only direct spot into the 45-minute Main went down to the fourth & final qualifier at the Hongyu GDC track. With Mazzeo finding a new level of speed from his Raptor in Q4, he looked like getting the job done in style however with a minute & a half to run in the 6-minute heat his throttle servo would fail. His second DNF, having had an engine issue in Q3, the Italian would end up qualifying 4th overall. Despite running out off fuel three corners before the line, Senesi’s Raptor would take the round ahead of Arnaldi’s Genius who also was on the limit getting to the line and that is how they would complete the final ranking. The biggest surprise of the day ‘s qualifying would be the performance of Hobbywing technical guru Salton Dong, the experienced electric racer steering Mazzeo’s spare World Championship car to P3 on his GT debut.

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