Red RC » R Off Road

February 18, 2024

Neumann takes surprise 2WD win at MIBO

Joern Neumann came out the surprise winner of 2WD Buggy at MIBO International, the Sworkz driver having lined up 5th on the grid for the three action packed A-Mains at the Czech Republic race. With team-mate Micha Widmaier leading the challenge of the Sworkz team in qualifying, holding the overnight TQ and one of four drivers to go into Sunday morning’s fifth & final qualifier in contention for pole position, Neumann was running well under the radar. The first of the finals changed all that as the multiple European Champion picked up the pieces as those ahead cracked under the pressure and he took the win, even the German himself having a smile of surprise on his face as he went to out marshal afterwards. A2 was a similarly incident filled race, this time Neumann following home the Xray of fourth place qualifier Martin Bayer to finish P2 helped by late contact between the top 2 qualifiers Daniel Kobbevik and Joona Haatanen. Top Qualifier Kobbevik would finally deliver in A3 taking his Schumacher to the win ahead of Widmaier but a late incident between Bayer and Haatanen who define the outcome of the podium. Running second at the time and with a faster winning time than Neumann, the incident cost Bayer the overall win as he finished 3rd on tie break with Kobbevik as Neumann became the Champion of the second edition of the MIBO International.

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February 18, 2024

Kobbevik & Zalewski secure TQ honours at MIBO

Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik and Xray’s Bartosz Zalewski are the buggy Top Qualifiers at MIBO International. While the TQ honours on the onroad track were settled yesterday with Michal Orlowski dominating proceedings, it was an intense fifth & final qualifier this morning on the offroad track with four drivers vying for pole position. In 2WD Buggy it was Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier who led away the decider from Xray’s Martin Bayer, Kobbevik and Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen. Under pressure, with Kobbevik quickly on his rear wing, it was Bayer who was first to bow out with a mistake. Shortly after Widmaier’s challenge was over with the two Scandinavians continuing the battle with Kobbevik getting it done by 6/10th as P2 secured Haantanen second on the grid ahead of Widmaier and Bayer. In 4WD, it was a three way battle which quickly became two as Kobbevik pulled up after a mistake. A mistake from Bayer then took the pressure off Zalewski and last year’s 2WD Top Qualifier took the round and a 4WD pole position this time round.

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February 17, 2024

Bayer on provisional MIBO TQ in 4WD

Martin Bayer is the provisional Top Qualifier overnight at MIBO International, the Xray driver being denied locking in the overall TQ with a mistake that allowed Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik to top the fourth round and be part of the battle for pole position tomorrow morning in Q5. Posting a TQ run in Q1 and Q3, Bayer was on target for a third in Q4 but keying an eye on the very fast Sworkz of Micha Widmaier and distracted by a mistake from the overnight 2WD TQ holder, Bayer made a mistake that cost him more than 3-seconds allowing Kobbevik to grab max points. With Bayer still managing a P2 2.6-seconds off Kobbevik, the Top 3 would be completed by Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen but the Finn won’t contend for the overall TQ in Q5, instead it will be Bartosz Zalewski who is part of the three way fight. The double runner up here last year to Bruno Coelho, the young Polish talent was on a competitive Q4 run until be popped a steering link.

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February 17, 2024

Widmaier holds overnight 2WD TQ at MIBO International

Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier holds the overnight TQ in 2WD Buggy at MIBO International with today’s four rounds of qualifying producing TQ runs from four drivers all representing different manufacturers. Having opened the second edition of the Czech event with a TQ run, Widmaier holds a 1 point advantage over the Xray of Martin Bayer who topped the time sheets in Q4. Equal on points with Bayer, having taken max points for Q3, is Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik for whom a last lap error cost him a potential second TQ result as he finished just 2/10ths back from Bayer. Setting the pace in Q2, Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen is one of four drivers in contention for the overall TQ in Sunday mornings fifth & final qualifier.

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February 17, 2024

Widmaier & Bayer take opening MIBO qualifiers

Sworks RC’s Micha Widmaier and Xray’s Martin Bayer have taken the opening round of offroad qualifying at MIBO International. In 2WD Widmaier took the TQ ahead of Bayer by less than 2/10ths while Bayer got the better of Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik to TQ the first 4WD encounter by 7/10th of a second. Having opened Day 2 of the event by topping seeding in both 2WD and 4WD, mistakes on both of his opening qualifying runs would see Bartosz Zalewski end up third fastest in both categories.

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February 16, 2024

Volker tops MIBO practice while Xray leads Offroad

The second edition of MIBO International got underway at 17:00 this evening in the Czech Republic with Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker setting the pace on the onroad track as Xray led the charge on the offroad track. Packing in 5 rounds of practice before drivers retired to the Sports V Hotel’s bar and restaurant to socialise & discuss a plan of attack for the rest of the event, defending Champion Volker set the fastest 3-consecutive laps ahead of Schumacher pairing Michal Orlowski and Pekko Iivonen. On the track layout, which is getting a very favourable reaction from drivers, it was the Xray of Patrick Gollner that was fourth fastest ahead of Jan Ratheisky and the factory Yokomo of Christopher Krapp. Over on the offroad half of the hall, in 2WD Buggy it was the star of last year’s inaugural event Bartosz Zalewski who set the pace from his car’s design Martin Bayer followed by a gaggle of MIBO International race debutants that included Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik, Sworkz’ Jörn Neumann, Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen and Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier. Former European Champion Bayer was fastest in 4WD followed by veteran Hupo Honigl completing the Top 3 ahead of Haatanen and Zalewski.

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February 15, 2024

Track prep underway for 1:8 Buggy Worlds in Brazil

It might not be until September but work has already begun in Brazil on preparing the track for this year’s IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship. Hosts São Paulo Automodeling Association has completely cleared the existing Casa Raceway track in the city of São Paulo and have started work on creating a new track that will be used to decide the 19th running of the most important race in the sport. Scheduled for September 08-14, it is sometimes overlooked the amount of advanced work that goes into putting on a World Championship race. This is the first time 1:8 Offroad has returned to South America since Argentina in 2012. Robert Batlle was the winner on that occassion but it was a controversial event over shadowed by poor organisation and customs issues so it is good to see the 2024 hosts already at work. The championship’s only back to back Champion, Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro will chase a hat trick in São Paulo and Red RC are already excited about attending the event and reporting on how his quest unfolds.

View start of new start work here

February 13, 2024

MIBO International ’24 – Offroad track reveal

Ahead of this weekend’s second edition of the MIBO International Race, the organisers of the Czech Republic event has revealed the offroad track layout on which this year’s competitive driver line-up with battle it out for honours. Unveiling 2-weeks ago the onroad track it will be built next to, the offroad layout is the creation of event organiser Michal Bok, with the carpet track featuring 10-jumps. Taking place in the Sports V Hotel in Hrotovice and starting Friday evening, the stage for two & half day event is set for some great battles in 2WD and 4WD Buggy between Schumacher pairing Michal Orolwski & Daniel Kobbevik, Sworkz duo Joern Neumann & Micha Widmaier, Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen and Xray’s star of the 2023 MIBO International Bartek Zalewski.

See overhead view of track layout here