Red RC » R Off Road

August 16, 2026

Van Dalen is new ROAR National Champion

Having started the season with an impressive double win at the Dirt Nitro Challenge, Tekno’s Seth Van Dalen has just become the new ROAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy National Champion. Qualifying P2 behind Top Qualifier & defending Champion Dakotah Phend, Van Dalen would line up 6th for the decider after he dropped from pole in his Semi to P4, that race won by team-mate Ryan Maifield who completed the Truggy double earlier in the Silver Dollar Raceway hosted championships. Double Champion in 2024, Maifield would start 2nd for the 15 buggy World Championhip length 1-hour Main behind Phend’s Xray and ahead of the Xray of Chase Lemieux with Team Associated Davey Batta lining up P4 and Sparko’s Jonah Wilson carrying no.5. Having won the eBuggy title on Saturday from Kyosho’s Phi Long Nguyen, Phend led away the nitro final before his first fuel stop at 10-minutes but going an extra lap before his stop, a quicker stop by his pitman Billy Fischer, saw Lemieux come back out still in the lead. The 2026 ROAR 1:10 4WD Buggy Champion stayed out front until his second stop at the 20-minute mark, but on his in lap the Wisconsin driver had a roll and needed to be marshalled handing Maifield a brief lead. Out of sequence with the Xrays, Maifield’s 3rd stop handed the lead to Van Dalen. In the second half of the race Van Dalen and Lemieux would go wheel to wheel. After a roll that saw his buggy cut the track on his in lap, with the final stops compete it was Lemieux in the lead with just over 7-minutes on the clock but a mistake as the final 6-minutes approached handed the lead back to Van Dalen. With Lemieux retaking the lead the pair would tangle with 4-minutes remaining, the battle resuming with Lemieux in front. Inside 3-minute Van Dalen would make the pass for the lead with a mistake from Lemieux giving his rival his biggest lead of the final which he maintained to claim his first national title by a winning margin of 4.4-seconds over Lemieux. Finishing on the lead lap, Sworkz’s Mason Fuller completed the podium from P11 on the grid. After a late issue Maifield would fall back to P7 while Phend would be a DNF, retiring at the 2/3rd race distance.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

August 10, 2026

Hall brothers double at British Buggy Nationals Round 5

The fifth round of the British 1:10 Offroad National Championships saw the Hall brothers do the double, Jamie taking the win in Saturday’s 2WD action and Tommy the winner of 4WD on the Sunday. Hosted by Bury Metro Radio Car Club, the event would see Schumacher’s Ben Smith taking the 2WD TQ with two TQ runs ahead of the Team Associated siblings, Jamie securing P2 ahead of Tommy. In the finals it was Jamie Hall who took A1 from Smith. With Smith winning A2, it all came down to A3 in which the Halls took a 1-2 as Smith dropped to P3. Overall this gave Jamei the win from Smith with Tommy, winner of the previous round in Southport completing the podium. In 4WD, Tommy would secure the TQ ahead Thomas Phipps with Round 4 winner Josh Holdsworth completing the Top 3. In the finals, after a P5 in A1 which was won by Phipps from Xray’s Lee Martin, the Top Qualifier & defending National Champion would defend his No.1 starting position to win A2 & 3 to secure his first 4WD win of the season. He was joined on the podium by Phipps and Holdsworth. The overall championships will be decided at the season finale later this month as Batley Buggy Club hosts Round 6 on August 29/30th.

Image: Team Associated [Facebook]

August 1, 2026

Kobbevik finally becomes European Champion

Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik has finally turned years of raw speed into his first major international championship title, the Norwegian today becoming the 2026 EFRA 1:10 4WD Offroad European Champion at the ERT-Steyregg astro track in Austria. In qualifying, it was the Sworkz of Micha Widmaier who opened with a TQ run but rising to the top in Q2 & 3 it was Kobbevik who would be the Top Qualifier. Fastest in Q4, 2023 Champion Orlowski made it a 1-2 on the grid for the CAT PB followed by the Xray of Bartosz Zalewski who wrapped up qualifying with the fastest time in Q5. As the defending Champion, David Ronnefalk’s Xray would start P4 ahead of Widmaier with newly crowned 2WD Champion Marcus Kaerup finding himself P6 on the grid. In A1, the two Schumachers pulled clear and with 1-minute to go Orlowski got down the inside to go the front. A lap later however Kobbevik was back in front as he jumped over his team-mate but it still wasn’t decided. On the final lap the duo touched a number of times but with Kobbevik just running wide on the final run to the line it was enough for Orlowski to get through for an exciting win. In A2 Kobbevik was able to stay out front from start to finish, Orlowski shadowing him until a mistake in the final minute. With the decider going to A3, an early error from Orlowski lifted the pressure on Kobbevik. While a mistake on lap 3 allowed Zalewski to go to the front, it was short lived as the Pole landed on the track piping allowing Kobbevik back to the front to take his first title in style. Overall Orlowski would claim the runner-up spot with Ronnefalk completing the podium ahead of Zalewski, Widmaier, and Kaerup.

Image: RC Racing TV [rcracingtv.com]

July 29, 2026

Kaerup claims 2nd European 2WD title in Austria

Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup has retaken the EFRA 1:10 2WD Offroad European Championship title, the reigning 4WD World Champion putting in a pretty dominant performance in Austria. In qualifying at the ERT-Steyregg astro track, it was 2023 Champion Kaerup who secured the overall TQ honours with 3 TQ runs from the 5 rounds. Having held the overnight TQ after going fastest in Q2, Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier secured second ahead of Team Associated Joona Hataanen who opened qualifying at the 36th running of the championships with the fastest run. 2024 Champion Michal Orlowski would line P4 with Schumacher team-mate Daniel Kobbevik completing the top half of the grid. With defending champion Martin Bayer finding himself in the D Final, the final would decide a new champion. In A1, Kaerup cruised to a massive 9-second win over Kobbevik, a number of early pile-ups behind the leader giving him an easy passage to the win. In A2, Kaerup again took control of the race but a mistake just coming up on the final minute allowed Widmaier back into the battle as the two drivers got jammed as Kaerup came back onto the track. While Widmaier pushed, he couldn’t find a way passed with the win securing Kaerup his 3rd 1:10 Offroad title. Winning A3, Hataanen made it a championship 1-2 for Associated with Kobbevik completing the podium. The attention now switches to 4WD for the rest of the week with the new Champion targeting the double and trying to reclaim the 4WD title which he previously held in 2022.

Image: Team Associated [Facebook]

July 27, 2026

Phend doubles at Wicked Weekend

Xray’s Dakotah Phend pulled off the buggy double at the ‘The Wicked Weekend’ in Gainesville, Georgia, RaceTime Entertainment’s annual event attracting over 750 entries. Phend would secure the TQ in both Nitro and Electric Buggy. In Nitro qualifying after a DNF in Q1, he would topped Q2 & 3 to secure pole for the final ahead of Tekno’s Ryan Maifield and Team Associated pairing Spencer Rivkin and Brandon Rose. In eBuggy qualifying Phend took the overall TQ with the fastest time in the final qualifier with the Sparko of Jonah Wilson, fastest in Q1, lining up second ahead of Rivkin and Sworkz’s Mason Fuller, winner of the Nitro Buggy final last year. In the single 10-minute eBuggy Main, Phend would win by a comfortable 11-seconds over Rivkin with last years Top Qualifier Rose again completing the electric podium. In the earlier half hour 18 Buggy Nitro Final, Phend cruised to the win with the battle for who joined on the podium going the way of Rose in second and Tekno’s DNC double winner Seth VanDalen in third. In Nitro Truggy Maifield would take the win ahead of Phend and Fuller.

Image: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

July 20, 2026

Woulhunter wins Asian Buggy Championships Australia

Factory Kyosho driver Christian Wolhuter took the big win at the Australian round of the Asian Buggy Championships, the 2004 ABC Champion taking the top step of the podium ahead of Jackson Beale and Jayden Edmunds at the Pine Pills track in Brisbane. With the 3rd stop on the 4 round calendar attracting over 300 entries, it was to be a challenging weekend for both the race organisers and racers as rain and further incoming bad weather forced the racing to be condensed to finish under the lights on Saturday night. In qualifying it was the Team Associated of last year’s Australian round winner Alex Bernadzik who took the TQ honours from Beale’s Tekno, each having a TQ run from the 2 rounds of qualifying Race Director Scotty Ernst & his team managed to squeeze in around the weather. With a P2 in Q2, Wolhuter would line up P3 ahead of the Xray of New Zealand Champion Logan Toia, and new Sparko signing Edmunds. In the 45-minute final unfortunately a bad batch of glow plugs would end Bernadzik’s chances of repeating his 2025 win on lap 1 as he suffered a series of flameouts. Despite putting in the fastest lap of the race and rising back up to 7th in the 14 buggy field, he would retire in the closing stages of the race. Up front Wolhuter took the win by a comfortable 24-seconds from Beale while Edmunds just held off Zan Ryan by 4-second to complete the podium. In eBuggy, it was Bernadzik who also took the TQ which he was able to convert to the win ahead of Edmunds and Wolhuter. The fourth season of the Asian Buggy Championships concludes in Indonesia with the fourth round at West Side Raceway in Jakarta from September 3-6th.

Image: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]

July 20, 2026

T-Works MP11 Carbon Fibre Side Guards

T-Works has added these carbon fibre side guards to its range of aftermarket parts for the Kyosho MP1 1:8 Buggy platforms. Made using high quality carbon fibre material, they offer reduced weight, rigidity and durability with no change in handling characteristics. The package includes one left and one right side guard plus mounting screws.

Source: T-Works [rc-tworks.com]

July 20, 2026

Kato takes back Japanese National 1:8 Buggy title

Kouki Kato has taken back his JMRCA Japanese 1:8 Nitro Buggy National title, the Infinity driver declared the winner of the weather curtailed championships over the weekend. Racing at the Honzawa Off-Road Park, in Kitami city on Japan’s Hokkaido island, unfortunately bad weather would halt the action half way through qualifying forcing the result to be declared based on the 2 two of the 4 rounds they managed to get completed. Fastest in controlled practice ahead of Mugen Seiki designer Shin Adachi, it was 2024 Champion Kato who topped both rounds giving him back the title he lost to Yusuke Sugiura last year. Second fastest over his two qualifiers Adachi would be declared the runner-up with Ayato Tsuruta, 3rd fastest in Q1, completing the podium. Making his return to his National Championship for the first time in 9-years, 2008 World Champion Atsushi Hara would be classified 6th based on his P5 run in Q1.

Image: Kouki Kato [Facebook]