Red RC » R Off Road

May 1, 2025

Kato sets early pace at Philippine Masters

Infinity’s Kouki Kato has set the pace in the opening round of seeding practice at the Philippine Masters, the Japanese driver fastest by a decent margin over 2-consecutive laps of this year’s more technical Manila track layout. The second round of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships, Kato was the winner of last season’s championship finale in Indonesia but this weekend marks his first trip to the legendary Philippines race and it was another of the race’s first timers, Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic, who was his closest rival 7/10ths of a second back with the rest of the Top 5 covered by just 2/10ths. The first of the three seeding rounds that make up Thursday schedule would see Team Associated’s reigning World Champion Davide Ongaro complete the Top 3 ahead of team-mate Alex Bernadzik with Italy’s Mattia Polito fifth as the leading Sworkz driver.

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April 30, 2025

IFMAR drops Superpole from IC World C/ship format

IFMAR, the World governing body of RC racing, has announced that for all IC track classes the decision has been taken to retire Superpole from the race format and return to 4 direct qualifiers. The format, in which the participating 4 drivers can book a direct spot in the final alongside the Top Qualifier, had both its fans and its detractors and had its controversies too such as at the 2019 200mm Worlds in Miami. They have also announced for IC Onroad Worlds the introduction of a ‘Last Chance’ final for an 11th spot on the main final grid which is already a feature of the 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship race format. In its latest website update, IFMAR have also published updated rules for the upcoming inaugural 1:8 Electric Buggy World Championships set to take place in Portugal from August 26-30 and the 1:8 GT World Championships in Chile which will happen from September 14-20th. Drivers can familiarise themselves with the rules for 1:8 eBuggy here and 1:8 GT here.

Source: IFMAR [ifmar.org]

April 29, 2025

Power HD welcomes Chinese rising star Chau

Leading servo manufacturer Power HD has announced the signing of rising Chinese offroad racer Eric Chau. With a decade of hard-charging experience in the Asian offroad buggy racing scene he is a multiple A-main racer at regional and national events as well as the International SIGP held in Xiamen in December. For 2025 the young ace will race both domestic and international races including the upcoming Philippine Masters, armed with high-torque GTS-6 and S35-V2 servos. On the news he will officially join Team PowerHD, the Sparko driver said, “I’m stoked to join the PowerHD family! Huge thanks to Mr. Ye and Team Power HD for putting their trust in me. The rock-solid performance of PowerHD servos gives me complete confidence. I’m ready to demonstrate our hard-core strength on tracks around the world—let the new chapter begin!”

Source: PowerHD [chd.hk]

April 28, 2025

Fuller hits the big time with clean sweep at Silver State

Sworkz’s Mason Fuller hit the big time as he completed a clean sweep at the 2025 Silver State Indoor Championships, the young American talent taking his first major win in style to come away from the Las Vegas event with four winners trophies. With latest edition of the Joey Christensen event attracting just over 700 entries, qualifying saw Muller lay down his intentions as he took two of the three qualifiers to secure the TQ for the blue ribbon Nitro Buggy final. Behind him, team-mate Juan Carlos Canas was fastest in Q2 to secure the P2 starting position for the defence of the title the Spaniard won last year. Kyosho’s young talent Phi-Long Nguyen qualified P3 ahead of Tekno’s Dirt Nitro Challenging winning duo Seth VanDalen and Ryan Maifield. In the final, having already taken the wins in Nitro Truggy, Electric Truggy, and eBuggy, Muller delivered the big one to win the 45-minute encounter by 23-seconds from Canas. FEMCA Champion Nguyen took the final step on the podium ahead of Team Associated pairing Spencer Rivkin and Brandon Rose.

Image: TheDirt Racing [Facebook]

April 28, 2025

First win for Todd at Spanish Championship opener

Mugen Seiki’s David Todd took his first National race victory as the Spanish 1:8 Nitro Buggy Championship kicked off in Albacete over the weekend. With defending Champion Juan Carlos Canas racing in Las Vegas, the current European Champion finishing on the podium at the Silverstate, reigning European B Champion Todd made the most of the opportunity to claim his first win of the highly competitive National Championship. Another driver to come through the ranks with the support of Modelix, Todd qualified P3 but winning his Semi final secured pole for the final. From the front, he pulled clear to take the win ahead of the Xray of Bryan Baldo. Todd’s team-mate Josemi Sánchez, who started P2 completed the podium ahead of Oscar Baldo’s Xray.

Image: David Todd [Facebook]

April 22, 2025

ABC winners Lutz & Kato bolster Philippine Masters entry

Two of the winners from last year’s Asian Buggy Championships are both set to return at the Philippine Masters later this month with Kyosho’s Ryan Lutz and Infinity’s Kouki Kato bolstering the Manila events already impressive international entry. The biggest edition Philippine Masters yet is the second round of the four round Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships with last year’s New Zealand round winner Lutz returning to the Circulo Verde Race Track while ABC Indonesia winner Kato will get to experience the famed track for the first time. The 13th running of Asia’s biggest annual 1:8 Offroad race meeting, Lutz said, ‘I am so excited to be returning to the Philippine Masters for a second time. Now knowing what to expect, I can arrive with a set-up that should be very close and with the correct tire compound and tread pattern that I will need to succeed. I can’t wait to compete again with some of the World’s best on one of the most beautiful R/C tracks in the World.’ Ahead of the Japanese driver’s Philippine Masters debut Kato said, ‘I’m excited to race on that amazing track for the first time! I look forward to seeing you all there.’

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]

April 22, 2025

Ronnefalk joins Hotrace Tyres

Italian tyre manufacturer Hotrace has announced the signing of former 1:8 Buggy World Champion David Ronnefalk. The factory Xray driver had been racing for a time without an official tyre sponsor opting regularly to use Hotrace. A significant year for 1:8 Offroad with the running of the inaugural 1:8 Electric Buggy World Championships in Portugal later this year, the 29-year Swede will now officially represent the brand in 2025. On the announced, Ronnefalk posted, ‘Very happy to join Hotrace for the 2025 season and beyond. A special thanks to Nicola for the late recruit. First race will be next week at the IBC in Barcelos, Portugal which will be a nice warmup event for the Nitro Euros and E-Buggy Worlds later this summer. Let’s go.’

Source: Hotrace Tyres [hotracetyres.com]

April 22, 2025

Borneo 1:8 Buggy Championship Round 1 – Report

Having returned last year after Covid as a single event, the 2025 Borneo 1:8 Buggy Championship expands to two rounds with the opening race taking place at the Tungkaran RC Track on the third-largest island in the world. Located in Martapura, in the southern part of the island, the race attracted 37-racers, up on last year, including top Indonesian racers John Agus and Ray Timothy. The new track layout got a lot of praise from competitors. In Nitro Buggy it would be Timothy who took the win leading a Kyosho 1-2 from Agus with last year’s Borneo Champion Arya BM completing the podium for Mugen Seiki. In eBuggy, it was Arya who took the win ahead of the Tekno of M. Hijrah with M. Zidan’s Mugen Seiki taking the final podium step. Sponsored by Mugen Seiki Indonesia, VP Racing, TQ RC and SRCC, the second round of the championship will be held at Track Palaran, in Samarinda which is located in the east of the island.

View eBuggy podium & group photo here