Red RC » R Off Road

February 28, 2026

MIBO International TQ double for Zalewski

Xray talent Bartek Zalewski will go for the buggy double at MIBO International as the Top Qualifier in both 2WD and 4WD. The Polish racer who is the reigning 2WD Champion of the annual Czech event and the 4WD Champion from the year before, will chase his first double title looking to emulate Bruno Coelho’s achievement at inaugural running of the race in 2023. Zalewski had the perfect event up to Q3, when Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski knocked him off the top of the timing sheet for the first time by delivery the TQ run in both 2WD and 4WD after a not so great start to qualifying. While Orlowski would of course liked to have push the TQ battle to Sunday morning’s fifth & final qualifier, Zalewski produced the fastest runs of the day in Q4 to lock in pole position for the triple finals. Daniel Kobbevik however push him hard in 2WD missing out by just 4/100ths and the Schumacher driver holds P2 overnight in both classes. In 2WD Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier sits in P2, the Austrian back up his second fastest time in Q2 with another in Round 3. Orlowski is tied on points with team-mate Kobbevik in 4WD but with the Norwegian having the faster individual qualifying time he is ranked 3rd.

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February 28, 2026

Zalewski & Volker on top at MIBO after opening 2 qualifiers

The opening two rounds of qualifying at the fourth edition of MIBO International in the Czech Republic saw repeat TQ runs from Xray’s Bartek Zalewski on the event’s offroad track while over on the onroad track Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker continued his reign over touring car. With both drivers topping the morning seeding practice, Zalewski opened qualifying with a TQ run in 2WD which he duly repeated on the switch over to 4WD. Repeating the feat again in the second of the five planned qualifiers, the Polish racer leads the 2WD ranking from the Sworkz of Micha Vidmaier, the Australia opening with a P5 but improving to go second fastest in Q2. With No.2 seed Michal Orlowski struggling with his driving in 2WD, sitting only P8 after 2 rounds, it is Sweden’s Elias Johansson who leads the Schumacher challenge in third, team-mate Daniel Kobbevik suffering a DNF less than a minute into Q2. In 4WD, Kobbevik looked for a time like he might be the first to knock Zalewski off the top of the timing sheets this weekend but a mistake in Q2 cost him around 1-second and Zalewski moved a step closer to wrapping up an early overall TQ by 3/10ths of a second. With a pair of P3 runs Orlowski sits third ahead of Johansson. For the defending Touring Car Champion Volker, Xray’s Adam Iszay is keeping the former World Champion honest and got very close in Q2. Setting the third fastest time in both rounds Sören Sparbier holds third ahead of Mugen team-mate Patrick Gollner. In Stock, like the other Top Seeds, Izsay converted his No.1 starting position in to two TQ runs.

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February 28, 2026

Zalewski top seed in Czech Republic

Xray’s Bartek Zalewski continues to set the pace at MIBO International, the defending 2WD Champion topping Saturday morning’s seeding practice in both 2WD and 4WD. The Polish driver set the pace in yesterday’s free practice with the Schumacher of compatriot Michal Orlowski his closest challenger after the 5-round and it was a repeat of that over the 2 seeding rounds today. In 2WD, Zalewski had almost 3/10ths of a second advantage over Orlowski with European Champion Martin Bayer completing the Top 3 ahead of Czech racer Dominik Vlasek, Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik and Sworkz’s Micha Vidmaier. In 4WD Orlowski was only 4/100ths off, with last year’s runner-up Kobbevik completing the Top 3 despite failing to improve on his SP1 time. British Schumacher team driver Ben Smith seeds fourth ahead of Bayer with Vidmaier again completing the Top 6.

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February 28, 2026

Noble TQs Asian Buggy C/ships opener in New Zealand

Round 1 of the Team Cayote and VP-Pro backed Asian Buggy Championships is underway this weekend at Counties R/C Car Club, just outside Auckland, New Zealand, where Sworkz’s Caleb Noble has secured the TQ. It’s the third time the series has visited Counties for it’s season opener, with its old-school loamy clay track, and Australian Noble has been the star of the show in qualifying. Sweeping all four rounds across Nitro Buggy, eBuggy and Nitro Truggy he’ll start the A-Mains for all three classes from the TQ position. In Nitro Buggy, it’s his Sworkz teammate, New Zealand’s Jayden Jamieson who’ll line up behind Noble for Sunday’s 45-minute encounter, ahead of countryman, Mayako’s Dylan Toia, and Hotbodies’ Shane O’Connor. For Noble, it’s his first run with new chassis sponsor Sworkz, the switch for the new season also accompanied by a move to JConcepts. In eBuggy, a dominant Noble will line up in front of Jamieson, with Logan Toia (Mayako) starting out third ahead of younger brother Dylan. Mike Stratford has top qualified both 45+ Masters classes, and Shane O’Connor the eTruggy category. The series next moves to Malaysia’s Lap Paradise RC Raceway in late April, with Scotty Ernst today opening entries for Round 2 of the popular high profile Asian based four-round series.

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [asianbuggychamps.com]

February 27, 2026

Zalewski & Izsay top first day of MIBO International

Xray’s Bartek Zalewski and Adam Izsay have set the early pace at MIBO International, Zalewski proving quickest in 2WD & 4WD Buggy while on the opposite side of the sports hall it was Izsay who mastered the onroad track to top both Modified and Stock Touring Car. A race concept that Michal Bok came up with when racing at the 2022 IFMAR ISTC World Championship in Italy, 2026 marks the fourth edition of MIBO International and has again attracted a capacity entry who this year have been treated to two new tracks prepared by Polish track builders Racestars. Switching from last year’s red infield to blue, drivers on both sides of the central drivers stand have been complimentary of the layouts created by Pawel Kowalski. With fresh new black carpet and completely new jumps, on the offroad track it was the Schumacher pairing of Michal Orlowski and 2WD Top Qualifier of the last two MIBO races Daniel Kobbevik who were closest to Zalewski over the half day of practice. Officially a 2 & a half day event, practice only gets underway at 15:30 local time to allow racers use Friday morning for travelling to Hrotovice in southern Czech. In Modified Touring Car it was defending Champion Ronald Volker and his Mugen Seiki team-mate Sören Sparbier who were closest to Izsay’s fastest 3-laps which he set in the 5th & final round of free practice.

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February 26, 2026

FlySky officially announces Champlin signing

While he announced last month on his own social media that he had switched to their popular Noble Pro Plus transmitter, Chinese radio manufacturer FlySky has just official announced that IFMAR 1:10 2WD World Champion Broc Champlin is the latest high profile driver to join its team. The factory Schumacher driver joins fellow US racers Dakotah Phend and Ryan Maifield in representing the brand Stateside and on his switch to FlySky he said, ‘I’m proud to announce my radio sponsor for the year of 2026 and beyond, Flysky RC. I first tried this radio in April of 2025 and was instantly sold. Due to the 2025 World Championships, I chose to stay with what I was most familiar with but after the Florida Carpet Championships, I began the switch. Whether they would end up as my sponsor or not, I chose this radio because it has all of the features I like best. I’m ecstatic to be apart of the fastest growing radio brand in competitive RC racing. I can’t wait to see all of my personal improvements and help the team provide a more quality and refined product for our community of racers. See you all at the races!’

Source: Flysky [flysky-cn.com]

February 25, 2026

O.S. Engines announces Kaerup signing

Iconic Japanese engine manufacturer O.S. Engines has announced that electric offroad World Champion Marcus Kaerup has joined its official factory team. With 2026 a World Championship year for Nitro Buggy, the reigning 1:8 eBuggy and 1:10 4WD World Champion joins defending Nitro Buggy World Champion & Team Associated team-mate Davide Ongaro in using O.S. engines to power his nitro programme. The Danish teenager had been running Ruddog Racing branded engines and his new deal with O.S. is a significant one ahead of the 20th running of the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championships which will be hosted by Thornhill Racing Circuit in Texas and run from September 26th to October 3rd.

Source: O.S. Engines [oos-engines.co.jp]

February 25, 2026

Power HD adds young British Offroad racer Grindley

Leading servo manufacturer Power HD has announced the addition of young British 1:8 Buggy racer Billy Grindley to their team for 2026. The European B Championship finalist, who represents WIRC/Reds Racing, enjoyed a strong 2025 season with results including being a British Nationals finalist, finishing runner-up in the Junior Nationals, and winning both the HNMC GP and the Slough GP. The teenager, whose 2026 season will include racing at the Neoland, a revival of the Neo Race over the Easter weekend, will use Power HD upgraded servo S35V2 for the coming season, which are more energy-efficient and less prone to overheating, make it perfectly suited for 1:8 Buggy. On the announcement, Grindley said, ‘I am Excited for my new adventure with PowerHD for the following season. I can’t wait to try them out for the first time on track, thank you to everyone at PowerHD for the opportunity.’

Source: PowerHD [chd.hk]