Red RC » Racing

March 29, 2024

IFMAR announce 1:8 Offroad Worlds return to Redovan

IFMAR has made the somewhat surprise decision that 2022 World Championship hosts Redovan in Spain will again host the 1:8 Offroad World Championship in 2024. With it a week since it was announced that originally selected hosts Brazil would be unable to run the event for the FAMAR Bloc, alternative host countries quickly surfaced keeping hopes alive of the Championships remaining in South America. Bolivia was quickest off the mark followed by Mexico and then former hosts Argentina. However on discussing the situation the IFMAR Board of Directors have made the somewhat controversial decision to revert to the previous host bloc EFRA, with the well known Baldo brother’s family owned track given the task of once again hosting the sport’s biggest race. Executing an excellent World Championship in 2022, where Davide Ongaro defended his title win from four years earlier in Australia, last year the track also hosted the European Championships for a second time. IFMAR’s own rules stipulate that a new acceptable host must be received from the Bloc within one month of notice of the originally selected venue no longer being in a position to host the race which was the case. With this in mind IFMAR’s decision is one that is sure to divide opinions and alienate the RC community in South America but it also raises questions about the process for selecting World Championship hosts going forward. In our opinion while the ultimate goal of any World Championship is to crown the best driver in the World it should also be an opportunity to showcase RC Racing in its best light to new audiences, something we believe is often missed or over looked.

Read full IFMAR announcement here

March 28, 2024

TLR World Champions T-shirt

2WD Buggy World Champions TLR have released a brand new t-shirt to commemorate the 2023 IFMAR World Championship title won by team driver Tater Sontag last September in Chandler, Arizona. The Next Level Apparel Unisex Cotton t-shirt is a 4.3-ounce 90% cotton/10% poly blend and features TLR team branding on the front while a large rear print marks the teenager’s win ahead of outgoing 2 time World Champion Spencer Rivkin.

Source: TLR [horizonhobby.com]

March 28, 2024

Trinity Gen 2 MX8 & MX10 ESCs

Horizon Hobby owned Trinity has released the second generate of MX8 and MX10 electronic Speed Controllers for 1:8, 1:10 and 1:12 competition use. The MX8 Gen 2 220A Sensored ESC has been designed for the most competitive 1:8 scale offroad racers offering an industry leading 220-amp constant power rate and an incredible 1000-amp burst rate. All this power comes in a sleek black machined aluminium case designed for maximum heat dissipation. This second generation of ESC also features a 32-bit microprocessor for more powerful processing capability and more precise power output. Each MX8 comes with 10-gauge wire, fan, and built-in wireless module. A shortened receiver connector wire comes standard to make sure your wiring looks clean. The MX8 Gen 2 ESC can be programmed by connecting to the Trinity Programming App from your phone.

Continue reading here

March 28, 2024

IFMAR ISTC World C/Ship Motor & Battery homologation

IFMAR has published details of its approval process for motor and battery manufacturers wishing for their products to be used at this 1:10 Electric Touring Car World Championships which will be hosted by Finishline RC Raceway in Bakersfield, California, in November. At last year’s IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships in Arizona, a number of drivers were forced to switch motors and battery brands as their sponsor’s products while ROAR/EFRA approved had not completed the approval process with the World Federation. The most high profile case of this was 2WD World Champion elect Tater Sontag who while at the time sponsored by Fantom, had to use a motor from Hobbywing and batteries from Protek. Manufacturers with previous IFMAR approved batteries and motors do not need to re-apply for homologation once the product remains unchanged but with the Spec class moving to 17.5T this year all motors will need to go through the approval process. All applications must be made between March 25th and July 5th, 2024.

Source: IFMAR [Facebook]

March 27, 2024

McBride confirmed for Philippine Masters return

Fresh from his National Championship double title win over the weekend, Kyle McBride has been confirmed for making his return to the Philippine Masters in Manila next month. The Australian was a regular visitor to the event prior to Covid but missed the return of the event last year as he took a break from international competition in 2023. Now back on the international stage with Kyosho, having attending the opening round of the Asian Buggy Championship in New Zealand last month, the World Championship finalist is looking forward to the second round in the Philippines. The 12th running of what has become Asia’s biggest annual 1:8 Offroad race, McBride said, “Super excited obviously, the Philippines track is one of the best in the world in my opinion. We’ve had the pleasure of going there quite a few times in the past. They are super nice people, Edward and all of his crew offer lots of hospitality and it’s always a world-class event. Obviously a lot of top drivers are going this year so it’s going to be one of the big ones. They always build super technical but fast and flowing layouts. We can’t wait.”

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]

March 26, 2024

Payne wins season finale, Harper takes RugRacers Series

The fifth & final round of the Hertford Radio Car Club run RugRacers Series saw Schumacher’s Ollie Payne take the win but it was team-mate Elliot Harper who took the overall 23/24 Series title. While four drivers had a chance at the title going into the season finale, other commitments meant winner of the previous round Alex Thurston, Harper and Hayley Eldridge where absent, the latter competing at the ETS in Vienna where she was making history in becoming the first ever female to make the Modified A-Main. In qualifying Payne took the top spot, 4-seconds ahead of the returning Olly Jeffries with Matthieu Dambrine securing 3^rd position on the grid. The first final saw a commanding win from Payne where he would pull away, managing the gap for the rest of the run to take a comfortable 3-second win over the Awesomatix of 16-time BRCA Champion Jefferies. A2 began with Jeffries chasing Payne and looking for an opportunity to get by but the Top Qualifier would stay out front to win the round and secure himself runner-up spot in the championship while her efforts over the previous rounds secured Eldridge third in the final standings.

Source: RugRacers [Facebook]

March 25, 2024

Home of the TITC, RC Addict gets resurfaced

It has become the home of the greatest & most difficult annual electric touring race in the World and having just hosted its biggest TITC ever the RC Addict track in Bangkok, Thailand is getting a new surface of asphalt. Originally built in 2009, the track which has hosted two 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships (2012 & 2022) and became the home of the TITC since 2010, was last resurfaced in 2016. Built in an area 55m wide by 27m deep, the extreme heat that Thailand experiences had taken its toll on the surface with the bumps adding to the challenges of the race, in particular over the last two years since its return after Covid. In addition to the fresh asphalt, the track’s enclosed pit area is also receiving a welcomed treatment of insulation which will keep the area cooler when it is once again packed with hundreds of racers from around the World for the 21st edition of the race in 2025.

View more images here

March 25, 2024

Balestri wins Ielasi Tuned International Cup

The 2024 edition of the annual Ielasi Tuned International Cup took place at Pista Leno in Italy over the weekend where it was Infinity’s Dario Balestri who took the 1:8 win ahead of Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch and Capricorn’s Toni Gruber. In qualifying for the race put on by former World Champion Daniele Ielasi, it was 1:8 GT World Champion Gruber who took the opening qualifier ahead of Balestri but the reigning 1:8 Onroad World Champion go to the top in Q2 & 3 to secure the overall TQ from Gruber. With two P2 runs young Xray star Filippo Domanin secured P3 on the grid for the 45-minute final ahead of Kurzbuch with Thomas Lorenzi and last year’s winner Francesco Tironi completing the Top 6. Balestri lead away from the start but about half way into the race had issues with Gruber going to the front but then the German would have problems of his own. In the end some very quick pit work for a last minute fuel stop helped keep Balestri ahead of Kurzbuch, the pairing enjoying a great battle for the win as Gruber completed the podium just 3 seconds back after 194 laps of racing.

Image: Ielasi Tuned [Facebook]