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April 29, 2026

2026 Speed King Tour Rd2 – Report

The second round of the high profile Japanese Speed King Tour 2026 took place at the New Rush Next Circuit outdoor tarmac track in Chiba prefecture Japan last weekend where it was Xray’s Jin Sawada who dominated the Modified TC0 class from qualifying to final. His car showed overwhelming speed and nobody was able to catch him. Infinity driver Ryosuke Yamamoto finished second with the Xpress of Masaya Okazaki completing the podium. 2025 TC1 (Stock) class ‘Speed King’ Rento Sasaki still kept his speed and consistency with his XRAY car and made back to back win. Topic of this race was ‘back marker’ and the driver who managed smooth overtake got good result. Xpress driver Toyoki Yamada got second position of podium from 5th starting grid. Toshiaki Hirata finished 3rd. The TC2 class (G Force motor and ESC) A final race was a closely fought contest. Second place qualifier Atsushi Fujimaki won the race from Hiroyuki Tsurumi and Jin Endo finished 3rd from fifth on the grid. All 3 class races were a huge success and drivers are already focusing the next round which will be held at TM Circuit Wakayama outdoor tarmac track in Wakayama prefecture on May 24th.

View TC1 and TC2 podiums here

April 28, 2026

Wins for Smith & Holdsworth at British 1:10 Buggy Nationals opener

The first round of the 6 round British 1:10 Offraad National Championships was hosted by the Potteries Model Car Club over the weekend where Schumacher’s Josh Holdsworth the 2WD win on Saturday before team-mate Ben Smith went one better on Sunday to win 4WD. 2WD qualifying would see Holdsworth secure the TQ honours ahead of Team Associated’s defending BRCA Champion Tommy Hall with Smith lining up P3. Winning the opening two encounters it was Holdsworth who claimed the first win of the season with voctry in A3 and a 2nd in A1 allowing Smith finish ahead of Hall. In 4WD it would be Smith who took the overall TQ ahead of Holdsworth with Xray’s Lee Martin 3rd. The back to back British Champion also of 4WD, Hall would kick off his title defence from P4. Unlike the previous day’s action, deciding the overall win would go all the way to A3. While Smth won A1, Martin took the A2 victory ahead of the Top Qualifier. In A3 it was the Team Associated of junior driver Daniel Pole who took the win from Smith the second was enough for Smith to bag the first win of the season. Overall Martin was the runner up with another podium for Holdsworth while Pole finished P4 and took the Junior Win. The next round of the championship will take drivers to Bingham Model Raceway in just 2-weeks time (May 9/10).

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

April 28, 2026

2 from 2 for Ripoll in French Championship

Maxime Ripoll made it two from two over the weekend, the Xray driver winning the second round of the FFVRC French 1:8 Nitro Onroad Championship at the Celtic CPB Racing 35 track in Châteaubourg. In qualifier the World Championship finalist & defending French Champion would secure the TQ honours ahead of Baptiste Jimenez and Christophe Louis. Over the 45-minute final Ripoll, who took the Round 1 win last month, would eek out a gap to win by a lap over the Shepherd of Semi Finals winner Fabien Baranger. The Mugen Seiki of Louis, second at the season opener, completed the podium ahead of Jimenez who would set the fastest lap of the race and be the only driver to dip into the 14-second lap times.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Ben Mohamed wins French National Round 2

Sparko’s Noha Ben Mohamed has won the second round of the French National 1:8 Nitro Buggy Championship which was hosted by the TTRC 90 club in Bermont in the northeast of the country. Ben Mohamed would top all three qualifying rounds to secure the overall TQ with Tekno driver Theo Lemaire securing second followed by Sworkz Jordan Lot and the Team Associated of defending Champion Clement Boda. Winning the faster of the two Semi finals Ben Mohamed would start on pole with Remy Bermudez winning the other Semi to start second. Racing the 45-minute final on a demanding track that would caught out a number of drivers, Ben Mohamed would have an intense battle with Round 1 Boda with the pair separated by just 2/10ths of a second at the line. Coming through from 8th on the grid Xray’s Rayan Medjoubi completed the podium ahead of Lot and Mugen Seiki’s Hugo Tavernon.

Image: Noha Ben Mohamed [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Branson wins BRCA Nationals opener at Cotswolds

Kyle Branson has won the opening round of the BRCA British Touring Car Nationals. The first of the 5 championship rounds was stages at the Cotswold track where in practice reigning champion Elliott Harper would break the track record with his prototype Schumacher, Branson also managing to break 21 laps. In qualifying it was Branson who was fastest but only marginally over Harper. Topping 3 of the 4 rounds, Branson posted a 21/5:07.13 compared to Harpers 21/5:07.49. Behind Peter Eagles and Chris Grainger completed the Modified class Top 4. In the finals, the British Championship running double A-Mains, Branson won the first by 2.5-seconds from Harper with Grainger moving up to third. A2 would see Harper go for a gap but unfortunately spin out after side-by-side contact. Setting the fastest lap of the harper would manage to finish second just behind the winner with Eagles in third but overall it was the veteran Grainger who competed the podium. Round 2 of the championship will take drivers to Stafford on May 25th.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

April 20, 2026

Pariente brothers 1-2 at Spanish Nationals Round 2

The Pariente brothers achieved a special 1-2 finish at the second round of the AECAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy Spanish National Championship, while Adrian took the TQ honours it was Daniel who took the win by 5-seconds over his sibling. Racing at the Circuito CARTT Fuencarral in Madrid, host track of this year’s European Championships, qualifying would open with the Sworkz of Robert Batlle taking Q1 but fastest over the next three rounds it was Adrian’s Sparko that secure the overall TQ ahead Daniel’s Tekno. Batlle would end up P3 ahead of Round 1 winner and defending Champion Juan Carlos Canas. With no major dramas in the Semi Finals, in the 45-minute final the brothers executed a perfect race with a flawless drive from Daniel netting him the win from Adrian, who won last year’s season finale. Finishing on the same lap as the brothers Canas couldn’t take the challenge to them but adds valuable championship points with a podium finish. Mugen’s David Todd Nieto would finish P4.

Image: Adrian Pariente [Facebook]

April 20, 2026

Champlin & Lemieux win ROAR Carpet Offroad Nationals

Schumacher’s Broc Champlin and Xray’s Chase Lemieux are the 2026 ROAR Carpet Offroad National Champions, Champlin defending his 4WD title while Lemieux becomes the new 2WD Champion. Racing at Maximus R/C Raceway in Seabrook, New Hampshire, it was Champlin who came into the event as the double back tp back defending Champion and qualifying would see the 2WD World Champion line-up P3 for both classes. In 2WD it was Phend who took the TQ over the four qualifiers ahead of team-mate Lemieux. In 4WD, it was Schumacher’s Brennan Schimmel who took the TQ on tiebreak with Lemieux, them both recording two TQ runs each. In 2WD it was Lemieux who took the A1 win ahead of Champlin as Phend dropped to P4 and again getting to the front to win A2, this time aheads of Phend, Lemieux locked in his first National title. With Phend second, Schimmel completed the podium. In 4WD Schimmel converted TQ into an A1 but winning A2 & tasking a later A3 win it was Champlin who tok the overall to retain his title. Despite a rough A2, Schimmel fnished runner-up with Phend taking the final step on the podium.

Image: ROAR Racing [Facebook]

April 16, 2026

Thurston opens BRCA title defence with Halifax win

While unpredictable weather greeted racers for the opening round of the BRCA British National 1:8 Onroad Championship at Halifax, it was business as usual for the Mugen Seiki of reigning Champion Alex Thurston who took the win. Qualifying for the opening race of the 8 round championship would see Thurston secure the TQ by some margin ahead of Michael Lee and Richard Boult as 2025 season opening race winner Tim Wood found himself down in P18. With a damp track for the start of the half final, it would dry out allowing Thurston to take a convincing win over the Shepherd pairing of 5th place qualifier David Spashett and Andrew Hastings. Next up in the championship is the Brooklands track which hosts a double header on May 3-4.

Image: Alex Thurston [Facebook]