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October 9, 2023

IFMAR release 126 strong 1:8 Onroad Worlds Entry List

With IFMAR’s newest World Championship 1:8 GT getting underway this week in Sydney, Australia, the World governing body has released the entry list for the upcoming edition of its oldest and original World Championship, 1:8 Nitro Onroad. Scheduled to take place from October 27th to November 5th at Infinity International RC Speedway in Japan, the 23rd running of the categories biggest prize has attracted a strong 126 entries lead by reigning Champion Shoki Takahata. With 24 countries represented, the host nation has come out in force to support the race making up just shy of 50% of the entry. In addition to Takahata, who won the title for Mugen in California in 2019, his three title predecessors Dario Balestri (2017), Simon Kurzbuch (2015) and Tadahiko Sahashi (2013) will also compete. The third time Japan will host the 1:8 Onroad Worlds, on the last visit it was a home win for then Serpent driver Sahashi. Nine years later he would become only the second driver ever to be both a 1:8 and 1:10 Nitro Onroad Champion when he was crowned the 1:10 World Champion with Infinity in Thailand last year. Red RC will be making the trip to Japan to cover the event.

View entry list here

October 9, 2023

Isaacs does double at MonTech NYGP

The annual MonTech New York Grand Prix took place over the weekend where Awesomatix driver Sam Isaacs stamped his authority on the fifth running of the event with victory in both Mod 1:12 and Touring Car. Held at 360v2 RC in New Rochelle, New York, 1:12 qualifying would see Isaacs secure the TQ with his Q4 run from Donny Lia, Kemp Anderson and Keven Hebert. With a single 8-minute final to decide the winner, Lia would find a way passed the pole sitter after 16-laps holding it for 20-laps before going out of the race which allowed Isaacs to win by a 2.4-seconds margin from Anderson and Hebert. In Touring Car, Isaacs was also the Top Qualifier and in the single 5-minute final led from start to finish to win by almost one & a half seconds from ROAR Champion Herbert and Anderson, the Top 3 remaining unchanged to how they qualified.

Image: 360v2 RC [Facebook]

October 8, 2023

‘Of course goal is to keep the title’ but ‘the class has changed a lot’ – Neumann on 1:8 GT World title defence

Think Joern Neumann and you think World class offroad racer. The German is a multiple offroad European Champion, a multiple offroad World Champion Finalist and the only European to ever to win the legendary Reedy Offroad Race of Champions. Ironically his biggest win in the sport didn’t involve navigating any jump sections, and this coming week the factory Sworkz driver will defend that title despite not having raced in the category since adding the IFMAR World title to his CV. It’s January 2020 and the World has no idea of two major things that are about to happy – Neumann is going to become an onroad World Champion and a thing called Covid is going to shut down the World just afterwards!

Continue reading here

October 5, 2023

EFRA seeks support on EU nitro fuel petition

EFRA, the federation for RC racing in Europe, is seeking the support of racers and the industry with a petition submitted to the European Parliament to amend the rule regarding nitro fuel for model car racing. The petition is titled “Petition No 0519/2023 by Markus Dirks (German) on amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors” and is opposed to the reduction from 25 % nitromethane content to 12% in the fuel used by model sport pilots and model sport car drivers. The petitioner claims that this would lead to thermal problems in engines and prevent European or World Championships from being held in Germany and calls for exemptions and for paragraph 10 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors to be adapted.

View & sign petition here

October 4, 2023

1:8 GT Worlds Live Broadcast by RC Race Media

The second of this year’s four IFMAR World Championships takes place in Sydney, Australia, next week where Sworkz’ Jorn Neumann will try to defend his 1:8 GT World title and our friends at RC Race Media will be broadcasting all the action live. Live video coverage will be available from Wednesday 11th to Saturday 14th October bringing you all the action from qualifying and finals. Commentary will be shared between the venue and the stream with Leonard Kee making the trip over from Malaysia to look after announcing duties. Tony Firth who is known in Australia for his RC Racer Chat interviews will be bringing viewers all the post race chats, interviews and pit walks throughout the event. You will be able to watch the live stream on a number of Facebook and YouTube channels, and thanks to a special collaboration with RC Racing TV you can also watch all the action on their YouTube channel and Facebook page. Red RC will of course be making the trip Down Under to tell the story of how only the second ever running of the World Championship for the 1:8 GT class unfolds at John Grant international Raceway, starting Monday 9th October. With the first Worlds held in Florida in 2020, this will be Red RC’s first ever 1:8 GT event to cover and we are excited to witness first hand the stacked manufacturers battle between Sworkz, Serpent, Xray, Hong Nor, Genius Racing and Capricorn, each of whom are fielding drivers capable of becoming World Champion.

Source: RC Race Media [Facebook]

October 4, 2023

Joe Pillars World Championship debut replica TLR

While Red RC’s first encounter with Joe Pillars was in 2010 when he was Team Manager for Kyosho and mechanic for the Japanese company’s star driver Jared Tebo, he was also a very capable driver. To mark it being 20-years since he made his World Championship debut he has just completed a personal project of building a replica of his TLR 1:10 2WD Buggy which he put into the A-Main. Sharing photos of the buggy on social media, Joe outlines the story behind the build, ‘2023 marked 20-years since I attended my first IFMAR World Championships at MINNREG in Largo, Florida. At the time I was 21 yrs old and working for Team Orion/Peak Racing building motors for the team and was also sponsored by Team Losi. I went onto qualify 7th and finished 8th overall, being my best result in R/C as a driver. A few months ago I had the idea to build a replica car like what I ran and today it’s finally finished! A big thank you goes out to Larry Doe for most of the help sourcing parts! Thanks to Kris Norlock for helping with the LRP Q2 ESC! Thanks to David Goss for the red Matt Francis ball cups that were impossible to find! I only had 1 Team Orion V2 Motor left after all these years, no better place to have it! Cavalieri Edition.’

View more images here

October 3, 2023

Australia to host 2025 1:10 Offroad World C/ships

Newly crowned 1:10 Buggy World Champions Davide Ongaro and Tater Sontag will be travelling ‘Down Under’ to defend their titles in 2025 with the FEMCA Bloc having awarded the hosting of the 20th running of the championships to Australia. Currently making final preparations for next week’s 1:8 GT World Championship in Sydney, the awarding of the 1:10 Offroad Worlds to the RCRA (Remote Controlled Racing Australia) means three years of back to back World Championship action for the nation who will also host the 1:5 Onroad Worlds next year. Currently three tracks, one situated in Queensland and two in New South Wales, have expressed interest with RCRA in hosting the championships with the national body giving them until the end of this month (October) to respond with their capabilities against a set criteria. An official announcement of the host track is expected at the end of November. Australia has previously hosted the 1:10 Offroad Worlds when in 1989 a certain Masami Hirosaka did the double. Only the third running of the IFMAR World Championships for its second oldest category, while the St Ives track is still going today almost 35-years on, it is not one of the potential hosts for 2025.

Image: RCRA [Facebook]

October 2, 2023

’23 US Carpet Offroad C/ships Spec Tyre Announcement

This year’s sell out US Carpet Off Road Championships has announced the spec tyres for the Cleveland, Ohio, based race. Now in its third year, the indoor carpet track race takes place on November 29 to December 3rd and will see racers competing in the Non Pro Buggy classes run Schumacher Cactus rear tyres combined with Cut Stagger Low Profile fronts for 2WD and Cactus Fusion 2 fronts for 4WD. For the truck classes, JConcepts will be the supplier with a Swaggers/Fuzz Bite combo for SCT and Pin Downs/Swaggers for Truck. A Scotty Ernst event, last year’s US Carpet Off Road Championships saw Schumacher’s multiple World Championship podium finisher do the Buggy double.

Source: USCOC [carpetoffroad.com]