Red RC » International

November 4, 2023

Balestri back on top of the World in Japan

Infinity’s Dario Balestri is back on top of the World after taking victory at the 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Japan. Having relinquished the title to Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata in the USA in 2019, after a forced 4-year-old wait, the Italian took the title back today and becomes one of the greats of the sport. Having often been referred to as the fastest onroad nitro driver in the World without a World Title before he finally got his breakthrough win in France in 2017, today’s win see him join legendary 9-time World Champion Lamberto Collari as the only other driver to hold the title more than once in the 23 editions of IFMAR’s original World Championship class. Unfortunately for Takahata after a brilliant Semi final win that put him 3rd on the grid, his title defence came to a very premature end in the final when his engine broke after just two and a half minutes. Having enjoyed a good stint as leader of the race, Capricorn’s Toni Gruber would finish 2nd just 7.5-seconds behind Balestri after the one hour of intense racing. Top Qualifier Simon Kurzbuch, who lead for the first 10-minutes until his first tyre stop, would complete the podium for Mugen in a dramatic end of race battle with Infinity’s Jesse Davis that led to a long delay in the prize presentations as it was reviewed by the officials. When the prize giving did get underway Takahata, who changed engine and finished the final, gave himself a better reason to remember his home World Championship by using the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend and she said yes.

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November 4, 2023

Takahata to defend World title from P3 in Japan

Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata is to defend the 1:8 Onroad World Championship title he won in California four years ago from P3 on the grid in Japan after a near perfect Semi Final performance. Starting the second of the half hour encounters from P2 on the grid, the Japanese driver would win from the Capricorn pairing of pole sitter Toni Gruber and Dominic Greiner, the later having to start from the back of the grid after calling time in the warm-up to change engine. In the first of the Semi Finals, Jesse Davis executed a text book race to repeat his 2019 performance when he booked himself into his first World Championship final. Behind the Australian, Infinity team-mate Naoto Matsukura secured his place in the 1-hour final ahead of a delighted Francesco Tironi, the Italian having bumped up from the quarter finals. As the drivers with the fastest two race times outside of the Top 3 Semi Final finishers, 2013 World Champion Tadahiko Sahashi and 1:8 Onroad World Championship debutant Kouki Kato complete the 10 car line up that will compete for the 23rd IFMAR World Title here at Infinity International RC Speedway.

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November 3, 2023

Reunited after 15 years – Hara, Miura & the D8

15-years ago one of the icons of our sport claimed a race win that to this day he describes as the ‘highlight’ of his illustrious racing career. That driver was Atsushi Hara and the race in question was the 2008 IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. As anyone who races nitro well knows, it is very much a team sport. Today here in Japan, on the penultimate day of the 1:8 Onroad Worlds, that World title conquering combo of Hara, legendary race mechanic Masayuki Miura and the winning Hot Bodies D8 buggy were reunited for the first time in a decade and a half. As Red RC was in its infancy and didn’t cover its first 1:8 Offroad World Championship until 2-years later in Thailand, it was an opportunity to recreate the winning team photo of 2008 with our good friends Hara and Miura and do a ‘Retro Chassis Focus’ on the historic buggy.

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November 2, 2023

Kurzbuch is Top Qualifier in Japan

Eight years on from TQ’ing in Brazil on en-route to becoming the 2015 World title, Mugen Seiki driver Simon Kurzbuch is again the Top Qualifier at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship. Four drivers, all World Champions, went into the sixth & final round of qualifying at the Infinity International RC Speedway in Japan with a chance of the overall TQ. Q1 winner Dario Balestri was the first driver to go by the wayside, his car coming to stop half way through the qualifier. Next it was Q2 pace setter Toni Gruber who came to a halt a minute later. That left just Kurzbuch and Shoki Takahata in the battle although the later wasn’t on a good run. All the while 17-year-old World Championship debutant Kouki Kato surprised them all snatching the TQ for the round ahead of Kurzbuch but with two TQ runs to go with his P2 it was the Swiss ace who goes into the history books as the Top Qualifier of the 23rd running of the sport’s original World Championship. With his TQ run, him being the fifth different driver to do so over the six rounds, Offroad racer Kato put his Infinity into the Super Pole. This was duly won by Dario Balestri who denied defending World Champion Takahata a direct spot in the final alongside Kurzbuch. First to go the Mugen driver ran a best lap of 13.633 which neither Kato or Toni Gruber could better but last to go Balestri needed just three laps to produce a 13.518 to win a feat he also achieved at the 1:10 World Championship in Thailand 12-months ago.

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November 2, 2023

Kurzbuch repeats in penultimate qualifier

Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch has become the first driver to repeat a TQ run at the 1:8 Onroad World Championship as he made it two in a row in the penultimate round of qualifying in Japan. The Swiss driver managed the run perfectly as Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura pushed him for the TQ but on the last lap the Japanese driver once again ran out of fuel. This handed Dario Balestri the second fastest time, the Infinity driver just 3/10ths off. More than a second back, a big margin at these World Championships, Toni Gruber would complete the Top 3 just ahead of defending Champion Shoki Takahata with everything still to play for in the sixth & final round of qualifying at the Infinity International RC Speedway.

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November 1, 2023

Takahata takes Q3 as Balestri holds overnight TQ

In a thrilling first day of qualifying at the 1:8 Onroad World Championship, Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata has TQ’d the third round of qualifying becoming the third different driver/manufacturer combo to top the times in Japan. The reigning World Champion capitalised on the cooling evening conditions to set the fastest time of the day ahead of Infinity’s Dario Balestri with Capricorn’s Toni Gruber completing the Top 3. Opening qualifying with a TQ run, it is Balestri who holds the overnight TQ at Infinity International RC Speedway ahead of Gruber who topped the second round of qualifying. With Takahata holding P7 in the ranking, his day not starting out well with a crash in Q1 and DNF in Q2, it is 17-year-old Kouki Kato who is the top Japanese driver sitting in third following an impressive second fastest time run in Q2.

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November 1, 2023

Major IFMAR reshuffle in Japan

While most of the attention is on the track at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Japan, in one of the track offices there was a major reshuffle of the sport’s governing body taking place yesterday at the IFMAR AGM. A heated and lengthy meeting, with a number of participants joining remotely via webcam, there was a major changing of the guard with only long time serving IFMAR representative Sander de Graff of EFRA giving some continuity. Current IFMAR President Jeff Parker together with Carlos Gomez and Frank Mostrey, the Belgian having announced his retirement prior to the meeting, will be replaced by Eric Anderson, Tim Caporal & Bob Ingersol, all of ROAR, and Clive Silva of FEMCA. With Parker’s role as President set to end with the conclusion of these World Championships in Japan on Saturday, it is widely expected that well known electric onroad racer Eric Anderson, who made the trip to Japan for the AGM, will become the new IFMAR President.

November 1, 2023

Gruber takes 2nd qualifier at World Championship

In another dramatic qualifier at the 1:8 Onroad Worlds in Japan, Capricorn’s Toni Gruber took the second round TQ. Having opened qualifying with a TQ run Dario Balestri wouldn’t even make the start of Q2, his engine expiring in the warm-up. Having led Q1 until he ran out of fuel on the final lap, Simon Kurzbuch would flame out very early on and then when it looked like Naoto Matsukura was on for the TQ of the second round he too ran out of fuel. All this allowed Gruber to take the TQ ahead of the Infinity of Kouki Kato and the Sahashi brothers who ran their times in the second fastest heat – Tadahiko faster than Yuya. After a strong first qualifier, finishing P3, Jessie Davis was on for another Top 3 performance but trying to make a pass on Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani, the Italian made contact with the Infinity driver ruining both their qualifiers and earning Catanzani a time penalty.

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