October 22, 2024

2024 Speed King Tour Rd5 – Report

Round 5 of the popular Japanese based Speed King Tour 2024 sponsored by Rakusei Model was held at Twin Ring Honguu in Aichi prefecture.  Although the day was cloudy and the conditions were difficult with occasional rain showers, the high level of racing attracted spectators with hotly contested battles in all three classes.  In the TC0 class (Modified) A-Final, Infinity driver Ryosuke Yamamoto showed outstanding car control and drove a race that was unmatched by any other competitor to take the win.  Xpress’ Masaya Okazaki took second while the Tamiya of Takara Sano got last position of the podium.

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October 21, 2024

Ongaro retains Italian title with perfect campaign

Continuing his winning form, Davide Ongaro has retained his AMSCI Italian 1:8 Nitro Buggy National Champion title with victory at the third & final round of the championship at the Buggylandia track.  On a winning run having won the annual Reds GP the weekend before and Spain’s premiere offroad event Buggyland the weekend before that, the 3-time World Champion would kick off the rain effected season finale by taking his Team Associated to the TQ honours.  Winner of the opening two rounds of the National Championship, Ongaro would complete the trio by going on to win the 45-minute final, which ended under floodlights, ahead of the Sworkz of Mattia Polito with WIRC’s Marco Baruffolo completing the race podium ahead of Riccardo Berton.

Image: Davide Ongaro [Facebook]


October 14, 2024

Raymond doubles at 2024 Kinwald Klassic

Hobby Action RC Raceway in Chandler, Arizona, played host to the 5th annual Kinwald Klassic where young Team Associated driver Levi Raymond completed the double.  One of the 2023 IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship host venue’s two big annual events, the other being the Desert Classic, the Kinwald Klassic is held in honour of Offroad RC great Brian Kinwald.  Decided over 3 rounds, qualifying would see Matthew Gonzales secure the 2WD Mod Buggy TQ ahead of Chase Boyd while in 4WD it was Raymond who secured the top spot from Gonzales.  In the triple finals, all three counting, 2WD would see three different winners but winning A2 it was P4 qualifier Levi Raymond that took the win over A1 winner Gonzales with his brother Chase Raymond completing the podium.  In 4WD Buggy, Raymond would win A1 & 2 and finish P2 in the third encounter to complete the double again with Gonzales and Chase either side of him on the podium.  The biggest winner of the event however was the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation who in Brian’s name received over $5,000 from collections during the event – well done to everyone involved.

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October 14, 2024

Jefferies wins EWS season opener

The latest season of the popular & long running Essex Winter Series kicked off over the weekend with Awesomatix driver Olly Jefferies taking the win ahead of the Schumacher of reigning Champion Elliott Harper.  Qualifying for the opening round of the 5 race series, which is presented by Ruddog/Iris, would see Harper open proceedings with a TQ hitting the top of the times again in Q3.  Taking Q2, Jefferies would however take the overall TQ was he laid down the fastest time in the fourth & final qualifier.  Returning to race action former British National Champion Kyle Branson would line-up third ahead of British Nitro Onroad Champion Alex Thurston.  In the single 5-minute A-main, the Top 7 would finish as they started with Jefferies registering maximum points 1.5-seconds up on Harper with Branson completing the podium a further 1.3-seconds back.  In Stock, Zak Finlay secured the TQ and win while in the FWD class the win went to the Iris of Top Qualifier Adam Southgate.

Image: Kyle Branson


October 8, 2024

Beretta & D’Angelo win at Modeltek Trophy

Mini Autodromo Stradivari in Cremona, Northern Italy, played host to the Modeltek Trophy last weekend where Filippo Beretta and Alex D’Angelo took the 1:8 GT wins.  In 1:8 Nitro GT, qualifying would see Genius Racing’s Beretta secure the TQ as the Italian topped two of the three rounds.  Fastest in Q2 France’s Bernard-Alain Arnaldi made it a Genius 1-2 on the grid.  In the half hour final, Beretta would deliver the win posting the fastest lap of the race but having come from P7 on the grid with new Capricorn signing & World Championship Top Qualifier D’Angelo would finish just 1-second back.  Newly crowned European Champion Natanaele Senesi took his Senesi Motorsport S21 GT to the final podium step.  In 1:8 Electric GT, it was Arnaldi who secured the TQ from Senesi and D’Angelo with the later coming through to win the opening two encounters for the overall victory.  Winning A3 Arnaldi took the runner-up spot ahead of Senesi.

Image: Alex D’Angelo [Facebook]


October 6, 2024

Donnelly crowned Australian 4WD Offroad Champion

Lachan Donnelly is the 2024 Australian 4WD Offroad National Champion, the long time Team Associated driver reversing yesterday’s 2WD result to beat his 2-time World Champion team-mate Spencer Rivkin to crown at Hills Off Road RC track.  Sunday’s 4WD title action at the Campbelltown Hobbies 2024 RCRA EP Offroad Australian Championships saw the 20-year-old from Sydney secure the 4WD TQ as he topped the opening 2 rounds of qualifying.   Fresh from his 2WD title on Saturday, the US star using the event as practice for the IFMAR Electric Offroad World Championships the Sydney track will host in 12-months time, Rivkin went fastest in Q3 to secure the No.2 spot on the grid.  Rounding out quali by topping the fourth & final round multiple National Champion Ari Bakla’s Xray would line up 3rd on grid ahead of another US visitor Chase Lemiuex.  In the finals Donnelly would put in two faultless drives to secure the title that will go down as one of the National Championships more special years.  Winning A1 ahead of Lemiuex and A2 ahead of Bakla, everything was to play for as to who would stand either side of the new Champion, it an emotional and very popular win.  A great battle between Bakla and Rivkin would ensue, the former looking like he had done enough to get the job done but in the dying moments of the last lap Rivkin executed the pass to secure the win and another Team Associated podium 1-2, Bakla ending up on the third step.  In 4WD Stock, Michael Stone pulled off the double adding to his 2WD title with victory over Justin O Connell and Andrew Selvaggi.

Image: Team Associated Australia [Facebook]


October 5, 2024

Rivkin wins Australian 2WD Offroad Nationals

Not a headline you’d usually expect to read but US offroad star Spencer Rivkin is the new Australian 2WD Offroad National Champion.  Together with promising US racer Chase Lemiuex, the duo have travelled to Sydney to the Hills Off Road RC track which will host next year’s IFMAR Electric Offroad World Championships.  While an official Warm-up Race will take place in April, the timing of the Campbelltown Hobbies 2024 RCRA EP Offroad Australian Championships gives racers the opportunity to experience the same weather conditions as is expected for the Worlds which run from September 29 – October 6, 2025.  With Saturday’s action dedicated to deciding the 2WD Champion, after 4 rounds of qualifying it was Rivkin’s Team Associated that took the overall TQ after topping two rounds while Aussie’s top racers Ari Bakla and Lachlan Donnelly posted a TQ run each to line P2 & 3 respectively.  In the triple finals Rivkin, who will chase his third 2WD World title next year Down Under, cruised to wins in A1 and 2 to added a new title to his CV.  A win in A3 from Donnelly would make it an Associated 1-2 while 2nd in A3 gave Lemiuex the final step on the podium.  In the 2WD Stock title race, Xray’s Michael Stone, the man responsible for last year’s 1:8  GT World Championship in Sydney, dominated to take the win.

Image: Hills Off Road RC [Facebook]

 


October 3, 2024

Takara & Coelho win Brazilian AARC Cup titles – Report

Last weekend marked the third & final round of the AARC Cup of ABC in Santo André, Brazil, with two categories, 1:10 Nitro 200mm and 1:8 GT Nitro, still wide open in terms of the championship titles.  The 1:10 Nitro 200mm battle was between points leader, Issao Takara (Mugen/OS Speed/Ulti/Nitromax) with 96 points, followed by Alexandre Kimura (KM Racing/OS Engines/Matrix/Nitromax) with 84 points, and João Dulac (Capricorn/OS Speed/Hot Race/MK Fuel), also with 84 points.  Im qualifying it was Dulac who secured the TQ after two rounds of qualifying however after 30 minutes of a very competitive race it was the KM Racing of Alexandre Kimura who took the win ahead of Takara with the later securing the overall championship.

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