Red RC » R Off Road

January 5, 2026

Schumacher announces Schimmel signing

While he was busy helping them claim a 1-2 behind new team-mate Broc Champlin at the Clash of Champions in the US over the weekend, 2WD World Champions Schumacher has officially announced their signing of Brennan Schimmel to its offroad team. After a 1-year stint with Xray, the reigning ROAR 1:10 2WD Modified Buggy Champion unveiled his move to the British manufacturer when he posted photos of his two new Schumacher buggies ahead of flying to the Hoosier RC Hobbyplex in Indiana for the first race of 2026. In the official announcement from Schumacher today, Schummel said, ‘As the Clash of Champions event has just concluded it was my first outing with the new rides and working with the team, I couldn’t be happier! Bringing home a solid P2 overall finish in 4wd also. I’m looking forward to getting back to the track to learn even more on the cars. A huge thank you to Muz, Robin and the Schumacher team for making this happen.’

Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]

January 5, 2026

Savox welcome Kaerup as team driver

Savox servos has announced 4WD World Champion Marcus Kærup as an official team driver for 2026. The highly talented Dane, who also won the 1:8 eBuggy World title in 2025, used Savox servos in his 1:10 World title winning Team Associated RC1084D and Top Qualifying 2WD RC10B7D buggies in Australia last October but now becomes an official sponsored team driver of the Taiwanese manufacturer. Welcoming Kaerup as a new team driver, Savox said that he will continue to run Savox servos across his Team Associated 1:10 buggies as well as in 1:8 Nitro and Electric buggies, and his TC8 Touring Car!, adding ‘We’re excited for what’s ahead.’

Source: Savox [teamsavox.com]

January 5, 2026

Champlin joins FlySky in new radio deal

2WD Buggy World Champion Broc Champlin is to use FlySky as part of his 2026 race package, the factory Schumacher driver making the announcement on his new deal with the Chinese radio manufacturer at the 2026 Clash of Champions event over the weekend. With FlySky having made huge market gains and and made quite a name for itself over the last two years, on becoming the latest World Champion to join the brand, Champlin posted, ‘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!’ It was a good official race debut for Champlin as he took the 4WD Mod TQ & Win at the Clash of Champions.

Source: Broc Champlin [Facebook]

January 5, 2026

Champlin & Batta win Clash Of Champions but Lemieux takes home the money

The first big US offroad race of 2026 took place over the weekend with Hoosier RC Hobbyplex in Indiana hosting the Clash Of Champions where Schumacher’s Broc Champlin and Team Associated’s Davey Batta took the Mod titles, but winning the event’s closing Mod Clash Race it was Xray’s Chase Lemieux who took home the money. With 8 cars lining up for the 2WD Buggy 8-minute shoot out which offer a top prize of $3,000, Lemieux would come out the winner ahead of Batta and Xray’s Dakotah Phend, their podium efforts rewarded with $300 and $200 respectively. In the main racing qualifying for 2WD would see Phend take the TQ at the end of the three rounds ahead of Batta and his AE team-mate Spencer Rivkin. In 4WD it was Champlin who secured the TQ ahead of Phend and Brennan Schimmel who after his end of season departure from Xray was running Schumacher buggies. In the finals both classes would decided in A2, Batta winning the opening two encounters to wrap up 2WD while Champlin did the same in 4WD. The 2WD would see Phend recover rough A1 and A2 outings to win A3 and salvage 2nd with Champlin grabbing a podium from 5th on the grid. The 4WD podium would be completed by A3 winner Schimmel and Phend.

image: Team Associated [Facebook]

January 2, 2026

GRP Tyres sign Boots

In a major signing for GRP, the Italian tyre manufacturer has announced that multiple European Champion and World Championship Top Qualifier Elliott Boots will represent the brand in 2026. Unveiling the factory Sworkz/Reds Racing driver, GRP posted, ‘After the launch of the new 1:8 Buggy line last May, we weren’t simply looking for a driver. We were looking for the right driver. Fast when it matters, solid in development, with real experience, a true racing mindset, and real weight in the international Buggy scene. Profiles like this are rare. Very rare. Among them all, Elliott was an immediate choice. We’ve known each other for years—we know what he can deliver on track and off track. He immediately understood the direction of the project and embraced our proposal with enthusiasm and determination. I, Maurizio, together with Susi and Sara, owners of GRP, are proud and excited to announce Elliott as the new official GRP Factory driver for the 2026 season. This is not just a new driver. It’s a step forward in our Buggy program. And it’s only the beginning.’ Reacting to his new tyre deal Boots said, ‘I’m so excited to share with you all that I will be joining GRP Tyres for the 2026 season. I’ve known Grp for many years, but since Maurizio, Susi, and Sara took over eight years ago, everything has changed for the better. I visited the company personally and found it to be truly impressive. They produce everything in-house, have direct control over the compound formulation, the laser-finished molds are fantastic, the tires they produce are unmatched on the current market, and their quality control is obsessive. Despite having many years of experience, I was impressed by their quality and enthusiasm. I’ll publish several tutorials in the coming weeks to better explain all the technical characteristics of the various components. I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity and really looking to our first race together.’

Source: GRP [grpgandini.it]

January 2, 2026

Haatanen switches to RUDDOG Racing Electronics

Top Finnish Offroad racer Joona Haatanen is making the switch to Ruddog Racing electronics for 2026. The career long Team Associated team driver has run the US manufacturer’s package of Reedy Electronics but following his joining of Ruddog Distribution as a full-time employee in early 2025, he will now run the German based Team Associated distributor’s full range of own brand Ruddog Racing electronics in his AE cars. This full performance package includes the RXS speed controller, Ruddog Racing motors, servos and LiPo packs.

Source: Ruddog [ruddog.eu]

December 31, 2025

Phend confirms switch to Matrix Tires

Having announced that he was leaving JConcepts after 6 seasons with the US tyre brand, Dakotah Phend has been confirmed at Matrix for 2026. The Xray driver joins reigning 1:8 Offroad World Champion Davide Ongaro in running the Italian manufacturer’s tyres. On sharing the announcement Phend posted, ‘With time comes change and with change comes opportunity and I’m extremely excited for what the future holds. Cristian, the owner of Matrix, has been great to work with and I can’t wait to help the brand grow and flourish over here in the states. First race up will be Clash with the newly announced Matrix slick tires!’

Source: Dakotah Phend [Facebook]

December 30, 2025

Phend leaves JConcepts

Top American Offroad racer Dakotah Phend has announced that his 6-year sponsorship with Florida based tyre & body manufacturer JConcepts has come to an end. Joining Xray for 2025 after a career long drive at TLR ended, Phend achieved a triple at this year’s US Nationals winning the Nitro Buggy, eBuggy, and Truggy titles with JConcepts providing the traction for each of his wins. Joining JConcepts in 2020, on making the announcement of his departure, Phend posted, ‘After 6 successful years my time with JConcepts is officially coming to an end. We have had a lot of National and other major race wins over the years and I can’t thank everyone there enough for all of the support over the years. Jason has been great to me and I appreciate the amount of time and effort that he has put into my race program. He does a lot for his drivers and the industry and I have a lot of respect for what he has created and accomplished. When I signed back in 2020 it was absolutely the right decision for my program and I wish them nothing but the best moving forward.

Source: Dakotah Phend [Facebook]