New from T-Works for Infinity’s recently released IFB8 1:8 Buggy are these carbon fibre front and rear shock towers. Both towers are machined from 5mm carbon fibre and direct replacement for the aluminium front and rear shock towers that come standard in the IFB8 kit helping to reduce overall weight. The rear tower features extra mounting hole positions for additional set-up options.
View rear tower’s extra mounting positions here
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the original RC10, Team Associated has announced the RC10 Classic Jay Halsey Edition kit, a faithful reproduction of Jay’s world championship-winning car that changed the world of RC off road racing forever. Only eight months after it’s release on July 11, 1985, the legendary RC10 driven by Jammin’ Jay Halsey claimed victory as the first IFMAR 2WD Stock World Champion. It was at this inaugural edition of the IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championships in Del Mar California where history was made. At the time Jay didn’t know how important the race was and how legendary the buggy he drove would become. Looking back, he now realises the impact it made in RC history; not only for Team Associated, but for himself as well. Racing for Team Associated allowed him to travel the world attending different races. It’s what helped him get where he is today, working in the television and film industry. Now you can own a piece of that history with this very first ever kit release of that famous buggy and build a replica of that legendary worlds-winning paint scheme you remember as a kid.
JConcepts has released its F2 body for the latest XB4’24 1:10 4WD Buggy from Xray. As the popularity grows of the XB4, JConcepts set off to incorporate all the functionality of the IFMAR World Championship winning shell and wrapped it around the newest kit from the Slovakian manufacturer. The exclusive composition of the cab, extra rear windows, louvered roof all tied together with Finnisher “V” configuration makes the F2 a classic performer. The body includes two of the 6.5” Carpet | Turf | Dirt wing which is now a standard racing item around the world. The body arrives as clear polycarbonate with protective film and is available in standard and lightweight formed thickness.
New from Avid Racing Concepts are these AE Machined Shock Spacers to fit the recent 13mm and 12mm AE shocks for the B7/B6 line up of cars. They are machined with a Swiss lathe so they are perfectly true and from a self-lubricating plastic to ensure they are super smooth while maintaining strength. They install just like the manual states – Thin spacer > Xring > thick spacer > Xring > stepped spacer with
the wide side in first. Spacer pack includes all the spacers needed for 4 shocks – 4 thin spacers, 4 thick spacers, and 4 stepped spacers.
Source: Avid [avidrc.com]
With the dust now settled on the 19th running of the IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championships at RC Redovan, we have put together a full index of all the buggies we were given access to to photograph for our ‘Chassis Focus’ during our time in Spain. We were able to feature buggies from 8 different manufacturers with Xray and Kyosho notably absent from the list with both manufacturers not allowing their buggies to be photographed in detail. Of the 180 drivers competing, it was Xray that proved the most popular brand with 33 buggies, just one more than Sworkz who were the brand with the greatest representation in the final filling 3 of the 13 spots on the starting grid. With 27 buggies, Mugen Seiki was the third most used chassis. Coming away with its 3rd consecutive 1:8 Buggy World title, Team Associated was fourth in terms of numbers with 18 driver while Tekno completed the Top 5 represented by 16 racers. Of the 13 brands present in Redovan, 8 made it into the main showdown.
With the 2024 Asian Buggy Championships set to conclude in just under 2-weeks time (26-29 September) in Indonesia, the track build that will play host to the fourth & final round of the Championship has been revealed. The first time the Asian Buggy Championship travels to Indonesia, the country hosting the 2006 IFMAR World Championship where Mark Pavidis took the title, West Side Raceway in Jakarta has created a technical jump filled track for the occasion. Responsible for the Philippine Masters track build, the event hosting the second round of the ABC back in April, Edward Sio visited West Side Raceway prior to the season finale to check out the track. Summing up the build, Sio said, ‘The track is smooth and technical with lots of jumps. Traction is low to medium. The whole facility is top-notch, including the big driver’s area with 65-inch monitor on both ends to keep track of timing and scoring. The challenge for the driver comes from the depth of the track, and the fact there is are no straight jumps and lines. I think the only straight line is the straight-away. Overall, it’s a super fun track once you get the flow.’ Red RC is excited to be making the trip to Jakarta to cover the conclusion of the second season of the Asian Buggy Championships with Scotty Ernst already well underway with plans for the 2025 Championship.
RC Racing has many IFMAR World Championships that come around every two years but none of them come even close to the hype, interest, and spectacle that is 1:8 Nitro Offroad. It is the ‘Rockstar’ category of RC Racing, a 3D spectacle to watch with a field stacked with manufacturer rivalries and the greatest number of proper professional drivers. That’s not to detract from the other World Championships, each with deserving Champions, however results in 1:8 Offroad are hard earned. It is also a category that is full of young up & coming talents one of which is Marcus Kaerup. When a capacity entry of 180 drivers from around the World converge for a week of intense racing in a single category, coming away with a Top 10 finish is a mark of something special, especially when 1:8 Nitro is your ‘second class’. Getting to first meet Marcus when he made his World Championship debut in his preferred category of 1:10 Offroad World last year in Arizona, we witnessed him becoming a double World Championship Finalist, making both the 2WD & 4WD Finals at Hobby Action. Already an impressive feat that will elude many drivers, over the last week in Spain we once again witnessed Marcus exhibited why so many people are tipping him for greater things. With the Ruddog sponsored driver putting his Team Associated in the main show, his racing CV now requires updating to ‘3-time World Championship Finalist.’ Having loved over the years following and reporting on the rise of the careers of the likes of Naoto Matsukura, David Ronnefalk, Dakotah Phend, Michael Orlowski and the GOAT of offroad himself Davide Ongaro, after enjoying following his journey at RC Redovan, Red RC are super excited to do like wise with Marcus. We caught up with the 16-year-old for a quick recap on his impressive showing on Saturday’s finals day.
It probably won’t be remembered as the most exciting final we’ve ever witness but RC-Redovan will be forever remembered as the place Davide Ongaro became the GOAT of the IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championships as he made it 3 World titles in a row today in Spain. Having been the first driver to successfully defend the title when he won at the very same location 2-years ago, the Team Associated driver would end up cruising to his fourth World title by a margin of 37-seconds over Sworkz’s Elliott Boots with Top Qualifier Juan Carlos Canas completing the podium in front of his crowd. Widely tipped as being the person who had the real potential to dethrone Ongaro, unfortunately Canas’ challenge ended with a flameout, however even if he hadn’t been caught short on his refueling in-lap, high tyre degradation left him to finish on a flailing front tyre allowing Boots to go by for second. The last World Champion prior to the start of Ongaro historic reign, that will now go on for another two years, 2016 Champion David Ronnefalk would finish fourth just ahead of Xray team-mate Bruno Coelho, the Q5 winner struggling to deliver the challenge many had tipped the Portuguese star for.
