Red RC » R Off Road

February 9, 2026

Lemieux doubles at JConcepts INS16 opener

Xray’s Chase Lemieux has opened the 16th season of the JConcepts Indoor National Series with a double win at his home track of Trackside Hobbies in Wisconsin. The first stop on the 5 round calendar, Lemieux would secure the TQ in both 2WD and 4WD. In 2WD his closest challenger would be Team Associated’s Aydin Horne, winner of the race 12-months earlier, and Xray team-mate Dakotah Phend, each driver posting a TQ run over the three quali rounds. In 4WD, it was Schumacher’s reigning double INS Champion, and winner of the race in 2025, Broc Champlin who lined up P2 with Phend again P3 ahead of Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin. In the finals Lemieux would need just the opening two A-Mains to wrap up both overall wins. In 2WD Horne won A3 to finish second with Phend completing the podium ahead of Tom Rinderknecht. In 4WD Champlin took A3 to finish second with Rivkin getting onto the podium with P2 finishes in A2 & 3. Round 2 of the JConcepts INS16 takes place on May 1-3 at RC One Racing in Macomb Township, Michigan.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

February 8, 2026

Clean sweep for Zalewski at MKGP

Having taken the 4WD win last year, Xray’s Bartek Zalewski has completed a clean sweep of this year’s MKGP winning both 2WD and 4WD at the British Radio Car Association promoted event. The annual 1:10 carpet track event takes place in the Centre:MK shopping centre in Milton Keynes and showcases RC racing in front of weekend shoppers. In 2WD qualifying it would be Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik who took the opening round but it would be Zalewski who would go on to secure the TQ before dominating the remainder of the event. Winning the 2WD final ahead of Kobbevik, with Schumacher’s Ben Smith completing the podium, in 4WD the young Polish talent was untouchable. Topping all four rounds of qualifying, he would again start on pole ahead of Kobbevik, Smith, Sw0rkz’s Micha Widmaier and the Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen and World Champion Marcus Kaerup. In the triple finals, Zalewski wrapped up the perfect weekend with wins in a A1 and A2. Winning A3 ahead of Kaerup, Kobbevik claimed second with the Dane completing the podium.

Image: Bartek Zalewski [Facebook]

February 8, 2026

Canas wins Montpellier GP after Ongaro error

Sworkz Juan Carlos Canas has opened the European 1:8 Nitro Buggy season with victory at the Montpellier Grand Prix, his second consecutive win of the famous French classic coming after a mistake from weekend dominator Davide Ongaro saw the Team Associated driver eventually finish P3. With rain effecting proceedings at Circuit du MBM, qualifying for the 20th edition of the race would after the completion of 3 rounds see Ongaro take the TQ honours ahead of Mugen Seiki’s 2025 Montpellier GP race leader & podium finisher Berkan Kilic. Canas would complete the Top 3 ahead Sworkz team-mate Mattio Polito, the Mugen Seiki of last year’s Top Qualifier Burak Kilic, and Tekno’s Joao Figueiredo. Winning their respective Semi-Finals, it was Ongaro and fellow Italian Polito who lead away the field for the shortened 45-minute main. Last winner of the Montpellier GP in 2023, Ongaro looked on target for the win having built up a huge lead however a high speed mistake resulted in contact with a fencing post which gifted his rivals the race as he struggled with buggy after the impact. With the Top 3 finishing on the same lap, Canas’s took the win by 9-seconds from an impressive Polito with Ongaro a further 7-seconds back. Behind, Figueiredo, Sparko’s Adrian Pariente, and Sworkz’s Elliott Boots completed the Top 6.

Image: Sworkz [Facebook]

February 5, 2026

Team EAM batteries for Eldridge

Top international female electric racer Harley Eldridge has joined US battery brand Team EAM. The accomplished British racer who represents Xray both in onroad and offroad, has a 2026 programme that will include travelling to China to contest both the IFMAR Modified Touring Car and 1:12 World Championships at Hongyu GDC in Foshan. Also with a packed UK race calendar that includes 2WD and 4WD Offroad action, on the announcement Harley said, ‘I would like to say a massive thank you to Eric for letting me join Team EAM! I’m looking forward to promoting the brand further in the UK and across the many different classes I race.’

Source: Team EAM [teameamotorsports.com]

February 3, 2026

Sworkz confirm Boots & Widmaier for MIBO International

Sworkz RC has confirmed that it will be represented at the fourth edition of MIBO International later this month by factory drivers Elliott Boots and Micha Widmaier. Sworkz are past winners of the Czech race with former team driver Joern Neumann winning 2WD Buggy at the 2024 edition of the race that brings together offroad and onroad racing under the one roof of the Sports V Hotel in Hrotovice in the South of the country. Austrian National Champion & European Championship finalist Widmaier is a MIBO International regular returning this year for his third appearance. Two time European 1:8 Buggy Champion & World Championship podium finisher Boots however will make first appearance at the Michal Bok organised race, the British racer hoping to make an impression as he continues to reacclimatise with 1:10 Offroad. Full details of the 2026 MIBO International Race, which takes place on February 27-March 1st, can be viewed on the Mibosport website by clicking here.

View MIBO International Roll of Honour here

February 3, 2026

MyRCM Race Timing App

So Dialed Racetech, a California company dedicated to helping RC enthusiasts through innovative mobile apps, has released the official mobile app for well known worldwide timing platform MyRCM. The app was created in partnership with RC-Timing, the Swiss based company founded by Felix Romer, and which is leading provider of RC, through MyRCM, and Kart race timing software in Europe. MyRCM by So Dialed allows drivers and spectators to effortlessly track the European RC racing scene in real-time. Key features include a comprehensive event view in which drivers can easily view events happening now, check upcoming events, and review completed events from around the world, and they can filter by country, race type, and track type so they only see the races they care about. You can also view detailed results and participation. Live Race Tracking supports live scoring with drivers able to see real-time results and follow race standings and lap times as they happen. MyRCM by So Dialed is available for download on Android and iOS devices:

Source: So Dialed Racetech [sodialed.com]

February 2, 2026

Phend wins Southern Indoor Championship

A year on from claiming victory on his Nitro Buggy debut for Xray at the race, Dakotah Phend was again the big winner at the RaceTime Entertainment organised Southern Indoor Championship in Alabama. With many of his 2024 rivals competing at the TNR Fuels A-Main Challenge on the opposite side of the country, Phend would after the three rounds of qualifying end up P2 as 2024 SIC Champion Brandon Rose secured the TQ for Team Associated with two TQ runs. The Tekno of Cole Kasten completed the Top 3 with 2023 1:10 2WD World Champion Tater Sontag securing P4 on the grid. With Rose leading away the 30-minute final, Phend, who had just made the first of his 10-minutes fuel stops, would go to the front when Rose and Sontag made contact as the trio ran together. At the end Phend would have a 20-second winning margin over Sontag with Kasten completing the podium ahead of Rose. In eBuggy while Phend took the TQ and lead for 9 of the 10-minutes a coming together with his team-mate on the straight after a bobble meant it was Sontag who would made it a double win for Xray securing the win ahead of TLR driver Hunter King and the Team Associated of Julien Oliveras. Phend would DNF with a broken car.

Image: Southern Indoor Championship [Facebook]

February 2, 2026

VanDalen wins TNR Fuels A-Main Challenge

Tekno RC’s Seth VanDalen was the big winner at the annual TNR Fuels A-Main Challenge held in Norco, California, over the weekend, as he took the win in 1:8 Nitro Buggy. With the 2026 edition attracting 761 entries over 21 classes!, two rounds of qualifying would result in VanDalen taking the TQ honours ahead of Sworkz’s Camden Lime as his Q1 time was faster than Lime’s Q2 topping pace. Making the trip over from Europe, Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic would start P3 followed by Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen, the Tekno of last year’s Top Qualifier Ryan Maifield, while the Team Associated of 2025 winner Spencer Rivkin completed the Top 6. Over the half hour final, while Kilic would lead for a lengthy stint, it was Van Dalen who took a close win over the Turkish visitor with Nguyen, who took a turn at leading, completing the podium. Kilic wouldn’t go home empty handed however taking the Nitro Truggy win ahead 2025 winner Maifield with Van Dalen in third. In eBuggy, Nguyen would get the better of Top Qualifier VanDalen to come away with the win as Kilic rounded out the podium ahead of the Mayako of Ryan Cavalieri.

Image: JConcepts [Facebook]