Red RC

December 4, 2025

Catazani takes penultimate qualifier, all to play for in Chile

Serpent’s Andrea Catazani has taken the penultimate round of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship, his second TQ run meaning it is all to play for between the Italian and Xray talent Maxime Ripoll. With both drivers having 2 TQ run each, Q6 will decide who will the Top Qualifier at the 24th running of the RC racing’s original World Championship. With three drivers still in contention going into the fifth round, Gruber’s challenge would end with a bang as he crashed his Capricorn in the 5-minute of the 7-minute heat to be one of a number of cars not to finish the top heat. Having opened the day with his second TQ run, and a new fastest time, Ripoll would also have a mistake but while he could continued his performance was hampered by his body rubbing off his front left tyre. With Simon Kurzbuch another none finisher due to his engine stopping after going too lean. Ripoll would net himself a P3. Setting the fastest lap of the heat, up front Catanzani would take the heat with a one & a half second advantage over Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata.

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December 4, 2025

XC-ESC GL8 FOC Brushless Crawler ESC

XC-ESC has announced it latest new speedo controller intended for crawlers, the GL8 FOC ESC. With a maximum continuous 140A it is intended for large 1:7 and 1:8 Crawlers. With a BEC range of 6~14A Max, it features advanced FOC high-speed current loop and microsecond-level current control for strong torque at low speed. Smart speed servo control means on the uphill it increases torque automatically to overcome obstacle. On downhill it gives steady speed to prevent rolling and drag force tuning means steady park without rolling. X.BUS precisely controls park-on-incline. Smart Cooling System give temperature control with the fan starting when it reaches preset value, saving power and low noise. These is a ‘Normally-On’ setting for the fan always on for steady top performance. Built-in Bluetooth Connectivity allows you to connect to mobile App for convenient ESC tuning, live data monitoring and firmware upgrade. Capable of data loggings you can view voltage, current, throttle volume, RPM and temperature reading both live or recorded. The GL8 is IP67 rated Waterproof for all weather conditions and is also Dustproof and impact-resistant.

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December 4, 2025

T-Works MP11 Hard Coated Alu Servo Saver Arm

One of the companies making our overage of this week’s IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship possible, aftermarket parts manufacturer T-Works has released this 7075-T6 Hard Coated Aluminium Servo Saver Arm for the Kyosho MP11 1:8 Buggy. Machined from premium 7075-T6 alloy and finished with a black hard coated treatment, it delivers significantly enhanced hardness and wear resistance. Fully compatible with the original kit part for hassle-free installation, it features three types of threaded adjustment shims (B/C/D), which can meet the adjustment needs of different installation distances and have a wider range of applicable scenarios. The Type B threaded adjustment shim supports dual-position distance adjustment of 22.5mm and 21.5mm. The Type C threaded adjustment shim has a fixed adjustment distance of 22mm, suitable for precise matching requirements. The Type D threaded adjustment shim: Supports dual-position distance adjustment of 21mm and 23mm. Customers may also purchase Gasket A and Gasket E separately as needed. Gasket A (thread-adjustable) supports dual-position distance adjustment of 20.5mm and 23.5mm while Gasket E (thread-adjustable) supports dual-position distance adjustment of 20mm and 24mm.

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December 4, 2025

Another TQ run as Ripoll take Q4 just ahead of Catanzani

Xray’s Maxime Ripoll has become the first driver to repeat a TQ run at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship, the French talent opening Day 2 of qualifying in Chile with the fastest time for the fourth round ahead of Andrea Catanzani and Toni Gruber, the trio the only drivers who can now take the overall TQ honours. A slightly warmer morning that yesterday in Santiago, Ripol would break 23-laps for the first time over the 7-minutes bettering Catanzani’s Q1 time by over a second, something that could prove key in deciding the Top Qualifier with the second two runs of the day normally proving slower. With Ripoll’s advantage over Catazani’s Serpent 0.233 of a second, while he set the fastest lap for the round, it is his father’s performance in the pit lane that is the big talking point among his rivals, Team Ripoll making up over a second on refuelling. Behind Gruber’s Capricorn, it was the two factory Mugen Seiki’s of Simon Kurzbuch and Shoki Takahata who completed the Top 5. The two former World Champions said afterwards they just lacked pace this round, Kurzbuch reacting with, ‘Only 5th, I don’t know how to find the speed’, the Swiss driver adding they are going to have to try something different for Q5.

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December 4, 2025

GRP expands Ai-TECH Offroad range with ‘Micro’ pattern

Having brought its brand new Ai-TECH 1:8 Buggy tyre range to market earlier this year, Italian tyre producer GRP has expanded the range with the introduction of a fifth pattern, the ‘Micro’. With the results for the new line very impressive, after many races and testing GRP saw they needed to add a new design to complete the line with a tyre for low/middle grip condition. Completely designed by Maurizio Gandini, who together with his wife Susan and daughter Sara have owned MRP since 2017, they worked on developing this new pattern and preparing the mould in very short time and now after many tests they present the new Micro. The big difference of the Micro compared to other similar products on market is the quality of the mould, the mould produced with special chromed steel, CNC machined and finished with new laser technology. The pins of the Micro tyre are very sharp, this guaranteeing maximum grip and long life. Feedback for the Ai-TECH range being their string performance, long life and very high quality for all components like the wheel, insert and tyre.

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December 3, 2025

Gruber takes Q3 as Ripoll holds overnight TQ in Chile

Day 1 of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship has been completed in Chile and it has provided plenty of variety with the three rounds producing TQ runs from three different drivers, Capricorn’s Toni Gruber coming good on his status as one of the title favourites to TQ the day’s final encounter. With Top Seed Andrea Catanzani steering his Serpent to the opening TQ, the second round saw the number 2 seed Maxime Ripoll deliver on his impressive practice form with a TQ run and together with a P2 in the last run of the day the 19-year-old French driver leaves the CACH Facility this evening as the overall TQ holder. With Gruber having highlighted the afternoon runs were he was strongest, the German was locked in a tight battle for the Q3 top spot with it going down to the wire with Ripoll, and Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata until the latter had a bad lap. In the end Gruber would have an advantage of 3/10ths of a second over Ripoll at the end of the 7-minutes with Takahata competing the Top 3 ahead of the Capricorn of Thilo Diekmann. For Catazani the day wouldn’t finish as it started as his car came to stop on track. Having had his crew practice pit stops during the lunch break, this time it would be Catanzani’s own error during the stop as he came in too fast and got out of shape under braking. Still in TQ contention however, a driver error on track at the same spot as his contact with Ripoll a round earlier, would cancel that potential. With his engine running very lean in the qualifier it would eventually stop just shy of the 7-minutes. With the 7-minute heats bringing an extra element to the qualifiers and piling the pressure on pit crews, Simon Kurzbuch would end the day with a bad stop. With his pitman unable to catch the car properly, the fuel was released all over the car causing the former World Champion to spin on release and with no fuel taken on he would have to revisit the pit lane, the result being a P9 for the round. Despite this the Swiss racer holds P3 just ahead of team-mate Takahata with Catanzani fifth.

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December 3, 2025

SkyRC FuriaX CoolSink Series

SkyRC has introduced their FuriaX CoolSink Series, a trio of precision-engineered cooling kits designed to keep 1:10 3650 motors running cooler, steadier, and in full control. With CNC-machined aluminium structures working alongside high-speed airflow, CoolSink delivers an effortless 10–30°C drop in temperature, helping drivers maintain consistent power weather racing, drifting, or bashing. The lineup includes the lightweight CoolSink Motor Fan Kit with a high-speed fan and carbon-fiber guard, and the CoolSink Pro with a full aluminium frame and guard for ultra-focused airflow, and the Aluminium Vertical Fan Kit, which elevates cooling to target both motor and ESC in tight chassis layouts. Snap-fit or screw-mounted, each option locks in securely.

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December 3, 2025

Ripoll delivers on form to TQ second qualifier at 1:8 Worlds

Xray’s Maxime Ripoll has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Chile, the 19-year-old delivering on the impressive form shown in practice to top the qualifier from Capricorn’s Toni Gruber. Setting the fastest lap the heat, the rising temperatures in Santiago making for slower conditions, Rapoll would finish 6/10ths up on Gruber with Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata completing the Top 3 after he once again had a driver error over the 7-minute run. With Ripoll having a bad fuel stop in Q1, his father executed a perfect stop the second time of asking while Q1 winner Andrea Catazani had a bad stop, this allowing the French driver to gain track position and run just ahead of the Italian on track. Coming onto the final lap, Catanzani would attempt to go down the inside of Ripoll but they touched and while Ripoll somehow kept going the contact would see Catanani’s Serpent flip leaving him to cross the line with a P7 for the round. The benchmark all week at the CACH track where in September he was the 1:8 GT World Championship Top Qualifier, the Italian who after taking Q1 said their refuelling was an area for improvement, used the lunch break after Q2 to go into pit lane and practice his fuel stops under the watchful eye of Serpent designer and 1:8 Onroad racer veteran Michael Salven. After a strong Q1, Kurzbuch would deal with a rich engine in Q2 crossing the line P4 ahead Britain’s Alex Thurston and young Capricorn driver Leon Fuhrmann, the German suffering a DNF in Q1.

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