Red RC

October 7, 2025

Branson wins EWS season opener – Report

The well-known Essex Winter Series kicked off its 2025/26 season over the weekend and with the LRP Modified defending champion Olly Jefferies missing the opening round, there was an opportunity for his competitors to get a head-start. It was Kyle Branson who secured the TQ with his Awesomatix, ahead of Mugen Seiki’s Alex Thurston with the rest of the top five made of the Schumacher trio of Elliott Harper, Peter Eagles and Matthieu Dambrine. Branson continued to remain in control for the Final, taking a lights-to-flag win to secure the maximum points at the season opener. Thurston and Harper finished second and third, reflecting the qualifying positions, Eagles holding on to fourth place as Stefan Chodzynski moved up to fifth at the finish.

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October 7, 2025

’27 1:10 Offroad Worlds open to bids as FAMAR declines turn to host

With the dust just about settled on a very memorable IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship at Hills RC Off Road track in Australia, the host nation & venue of the 2027 Worlds has been opened right up after the FAMAR Bloc has declined its turn to host the race. Under the normal, often criticised, Bloc rotation it was the South American governing body’s turn to award the championships to one of its member countries. Given FAMAR’s recent history with World Championships and the fact 1:10 Offroad is not a popular category in the region, it was always expected that it would decline hosting. This would normally mean it would go back to the last host Bloc, in this case FEMCA. This was what we experienced with the 2024 1:8 Offroad Worlds when Brazil cancelled and it returned to EFRA with Redovan in Spain stepping up as a late replacement venue – the first track to host back to back World Championships. Last year’s 200mm Worlds was also cancelled and returned to FEMCA with Huge RC in Thailand hosting that race. With FAMAR pulling out it was widely believed the impressive new Hongyu GDC multi track facility in China, which hosts next year’s ISTC Worlds would step, however at a meeting during the running of the Offroad Worlds in Sydney it was agreed that once FAMAR confirmed their position, that the event would be offered to the other 3 Blocs – FEMCA, EFRA and ROAR which represents North America. Each Bloc will put forward one track each as their selection to IFMAR who will then make the decision which of the three is selected for the 21st running of the 1:10 Offroad Worlds. With the host of the next Worlds usually announced during the running of the current Worlds, it is expected that the announcement will come within weeks. At the recent 1:8 GT World Championships at the excellent Club de Aeromodelos de Chile track in Santiago there was also no announcement of the next host however with it going to the EFRA Bloc it is understood Italy, Spain and Switzerland have submitted potential host tracks.

October 6, 2025

2025, the year Kaerup came of age & became a double World Champion

2025 will go down as the year the Danish teenager Marcus Kaerup came of age with the Team Associated driver becoming the new IFMAR 1:10 4WD World Champion just 37-days after winning the inaugural 1:8 eBuggy World title in Portugal. The son of former European 1:10 Electric Touring Champion Jonas, becoming a double World Champion on a Monday was made even more special by the fact this time his dad was here in Australia as his mechanic, the father & son team working relationship & bond special to watch. Having secured the TQ, his second of the week as he also started on pole in 2WD, a podium the end result there, Kaerup would see off a brilliant title defence effort from his own team-mate Davide Ongaro. Taking the win in A1 ahead of the Italian, he would have to work even harder in A2 to keep his main challenger at bay, but he did to secure a title that is widely viewed as just the beginning, the legend of our sport Atsushi Hara one to tip Kaerup for greatest. With Ongaro going onto win A2 ahead of the Xray of Dakotah Phend, a long 9-days in Sydney would concluded with an AE 1-2 with Phend taking the final step of the podium. Driving his Mugen Seiki 4WD prototype, Burak Kilic would just miss the podium taking fourth ahead of European Champion David Ronnefalk.

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October 6, 2025

Kaerup just holds off Ongaro to take A1

An intense A1 of 4WD at the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship saw Top Qualifier Marcus Kaerup just hold off defending Champion Davide Ongaro as the two Team Associated drivers dogged it out over the 5-minutes. With Kaerup struggling out of the corners, Ongaro was all over the rear wing of the Dane making contact on a number of occasions. The Italian’s big chance to go to the front would come as the race approached the final minute, Kaerup catching the pipe at left side double and coming up short on the landing. However Ongaro would land on the inside pipe and miss the corner handing the lead right back. With Ongaro then coming under pressure from the Xray of David Ronnefalk, Kaerup was able to bring home the win. Having got by his team-mate Phend, when they touched wheels coming off the main straight & into the double double, the American coming off worst, Ronnefalk completed the Top 3 ahead of Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic and Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik.

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October 6, 2025

Kaerup is 4WD Worlds Top Qualifier

Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup is the Top Qualifier at the IFMAR 1:10 4WD World Championships, the Danish star securing pole position for the today’s finals with a third TQ run in the fifth & final round of qualifying as the 40th anniversary of the Worlds reaches its final day in Australia. With the running order reversed for Q5, the top seeded heat up first, Kaerup set the pace topping the group from Xray’s Dakotah Phend and defending World Champion Davide Ongaro. Overall however 2WD World Champion Broc Champlin, going in the second fastest heat, would get within 8/10ths of Kaerup’s time to secure a P2 for the round. In terms of how they line-up for the title decider the result means it is Ongaro who starts behind his AE team-mate with Phend and David Ronnefalk, who got a 5th for the final round ahead of Spencer Rivkin, locking in third and fourth on the grid. Winning 2WD from 2nd on the grid, Champlin faces a tougher task if he is to do the double at the Hills RC Offroad track as he completes the top half the grid in 5th.

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October 5, 2025

Phend finally hits the top in Q4 Down Under

Having started out qualifying day at the IFMAR 1:10 4WD Offroad World Championships in Sydney with a P3, but then having two rough rounds, Dakotah Phend finally hit the top in Q4 heading a 1-2 for Xray as David Ronnefalk also ended the day with his best run. With Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup getting his second TQ run of the day in the previous round, Q4 would see the Dane DNF, his car coming to a halt 3-laps in. While Kaerup didn’t have an explanation for the car stopping, Salton Dong from his electronics sponsor Hobbywing revealed afterwards that their data from car led them to believe it was a radio issue as a result of lost signal. Overall it was a tough round for Associated after they topped the opening three qualifier. Defending World Champion Davide Ongaro TQ’d Q2, but the Italian wouldn’t have a clean run and ended up 9th. Kouki Kato would be their fastest driver in P7. Behind Xray it would be Schumacher who were the next best in a repeat of Q3 when they finally got themselves somewhat into the mix. Orlowski, who went to the top of the timing screens for most of the run, would complete the Top 3 ahead of Broc Champlin and Daniel Kobbevik. Putting in the most consistent performance of the day Burak Kilic capped of a strong day with P6, his Mugen Seiki prototype never outside the Top 6 today having opening with a P2 run in Q1.

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October 5, 2025

Kaerup takes opening 4WD qualifier ahead of Kilic

Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup has TQ’d the opening round of 4WD qualifying at the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships, the 2WD Top Qualifier fastest from the Mugen Seiki prototype of a very focused Burak Kilic. As things hot up both on and off the track in Australia, running in the second fastest heat group it was Kilic who laid down the benchmark for the top seeded heat as they took to the track in the hot midday conditions. With reigning World Champion Davide Ongaro leading them out, initially it was Xray’s Dakotah Phend who set the pace before Kaerup went to the top with his team-mate Ongaro holding P2. While Kaerup set the fastest lap while in the process of executing a clean run, we would see mistakes from both Phend and Ongaro. With a roll over, Phend eventually got P3 2/10ths of a second off Kilic. Also with a roll over, Ongaro would finish P5 just 0.002 off the Xray of David Ronnefalk. The round would finish with 3 Xray drivers in the Top 6 however young Polish talent Bartek Zalewski would be DQ’d in post race tech for an unmarked battery promoting Schumacher’s Daniele Kobbevik to 6th.

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October 5, 2025

FIRST LOOK – Mugen Seiki 1:10 4WD Buggy Prototype

First making an appearance at the EFRA European Championships in Slovakia back in early August, Japanese manufacturer Mugen Seiki is debuting the prototype of its upcoming entry into the 4WD market here at thhe IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships in Sydney, Australia. In the hands of team driver Burak Kilic, the buggy is off to a very impressive start setting the second fastest time in the opening round of qualifying today. Red RC was given a first look at the prototype just after its Q1 run. Having unveiled their first 2WD Buggy, the MSB1, at the previous 1:10 Offroad World Championships in Arizona 2-years ago, the 4WD is again the work of Japanese car designer Shin Adachi.

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