September 30, 2025

Kaerup tops 2WD seeding at World Champs

Marcus Kaerup has topped seeding at the IFMAR 1:10 2WD Offroad World Championships, the Team Associated ace delivering the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the Hills RC Off Road track as Day 1 of the action in Sydney concluded under the lights.  The 40th anniversary of the championships, a very tight timetable consisting of 15-groups per round would see the schedule fall behind resulting in the two seeding rounds being reduced to 4-minute runs.  Fastest at the conclusion of the four 5-minute free practice rounds, Kaerup couldn’t carry that form into the opening seeding round managing only the fourth fastest time as Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski found his form again to go fastest ahead of Team Associated’s Davey Batta and Xray’s Bartek Zalewski.  With it now dark at the track, the very vocal cockatoos finally quietening down and roosted in the surrounding trees for the night, Kaerup would shine under the lights on a much faster track with the newly crowned eBuggy World Champion topping the times by a tenth of a second over Orlowski.  A further 2/10ths of a second back, an impressive Kouki Kato completed the Top 3 ahead of the similar cars of Aydin Horne, Lachlan Donnelly, Davide Ongaro and Batta.  The only driver making the top heat of qualifying with their CP1 time being Zalewski who was best of the Xray drivers on what was a challenging day for the Slovakian manufacturer with their star drivers David Ronnefalk and Dakotah Phend seeding 15th and 49th respectively.

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September 30, 2025

Kaerup tops practice in Australia

Practice at the IFMAR 1:10 2WD Offroad World Championships is complete with Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup setting the fastest time in the fourth & final round at the Hills RC Offroad track in Sydney.  With Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski the early benchmark with the fastest time after the opening two rounds, the second half of free practice would see Associated drivers come to the fore as Orlowski struggled with the latest track conditions.  In the third round it was American driver Davey Batta who set the pace ahead of team-mate Kaerup before the Dane switched that order in the final practice with both the fastest 5-minute run and 3-consecutive laps.  2.5-second off, Batta was second fastest with former double World Champion Spencer Rivkin completing the all B7 Top 3.  Over 3-laps Kouki Kato was closest to Kaerup, the Japanese driver’s 5-minute time not representative of his true pace as he missed the first lap because his Associated wasn’t switched on when the cars left pit lane.  A driver on his first ever visit to Australia, French National Champion Clement Boda wrapped up an impressive practice by posting the fastest lap of Round 4 and fourth fastest over his 3 best laps behind team-mate Davide Ongaro.

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September 30, 2025

Orlowski sets early pace at Offroad Worlds

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has set the early pace at the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship, the 2WD action getting underway on a lovely sunny morning here in Sydney, Australia.  With the first of the four timed practices more a break in of the new track layout and and opportunity for drivers to get their bearings, over half the track in the shade of the trees, the second practice was a much more telling run.  Orlowski would set the fastest lap with a best of 29.032 with the Team Associated of Davide Ongaro closest to that on a 29.112, that order the same over the best 3-consecutive laps.  On outright pace it was the Xray of David Ronnefalk who completed the Top 3 but over the full 5-minutes the early bragging rights went to newly crowned 1:8 eBuggy World Champion Marcus Kaerup with US drivers Aydin Horne, 1.6-seconds off, and Broc Champlin making up the Top3.

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September 23, 2025

Austrian 1:10 Offroad Nationals Rnd 4 – Report

Last weekend MAC-Traiskirchen in the south of Vienna and former host of two 1:10 Electric Offroad European Championships, held the 4th Round of the Austrian National Championships.  Competing at the tricky, high grip astro track, the race attracted an entry with many European Top Guns that included Micha Widmaier, former European Champions like Hupo Hönigl and Peter Pinisch as well as the new 2025 2WD European Champion Martin Bayer.  After the completion of qualification which saw a close battle for the overall TQs, it was the Sworkz of Widmaier that took the top spot ahead of the Xray of Robin Riedmann with that ordered switched for 4WD.  The Team Associated of Lucas Grainer completed the 2WD Top 3 while Austrian veteran Hupo Hönigl claimed P3 in 4WD with his Xray.  In the finals the battle between Widmaier and Riedmann continued, both of them risking all and the spectators witnessing daring overtaking manoeuvres like overjumping each other.  In the end they switched positions in each class so Widmaier took the win in 4WD and Riedmann the 2WD victory.  Grainer completed the 2WD podium with Hönigl claiming the final step in 4WD.  In the Stock classes it was the young gun Adrian Hönigl (son of Hupo) who took the win in 4WD/10,5 Motor and old boy Thomas Rössler in the 2WD/13,5 Motor.

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September 22, 2025

Boda adds another French National title with AE

Joining Team Associated at the end of 2024, Clement Boda has given the US manufacturer it second French National Title of the 2025 season after taking the 1:8 Nitro Buggy title with a victory at the season finale at Viglain.  The recent eBuggy World Championship finalist and 2025 1:10 2WD French Champion was up against another Barcelos finalist, Noha Ben Mohamed, for the title.  The Sparko driver, and winner of the 1:10 4WD National Championship earlier this month, would take the early advantage securing the overall TQ in a rain effected qualifying when he topped 2 of the three rounds.  Behind him it was the Mugen Seiki of newly crowned European B Champion driver Hugo Tavernon who secured P2 while Boda was P4.  With a difficult Semi leaving him 9th on the grid for the 45-minute Main, it would be a tough race for 16-year-old Ben Mohamed and he finished 5th while having won his Semi to secure pole position up front Boda could control the race to take the win ahead of Tavernon and Jordan Lot and the secure the overall National title.

Image: Clement Boda [Facebook]


September 21, 2025

Kato secures 2025 Asian Buggy Championships

Infinity’s Kouki Kato has been crowned the Nitro Buggy Champion for the 2025 Team Cayote Asian Buggy Championships.  With the final of the four-round championship, which was due to take place last weekend, called off due to civil unrest in Indonesia, Kato’s Championship was based on the best two from three completed rounds, the Japanese star backing up his popular win at the Philippine Masters with a second placed finish at the rain impacted third round of the series at Pine Hills Dirt Racing in Australia.  The series had earlier opened at the popular Counties RC in New Zealand.  A win at that Pine Hills round was enough to promote Australia’s Alex Bernadzik (Team Associated) to second in the series, with compatriot Caleb Noble (Tekno) wrapping the top three overall, just one point clear of Finland’s Pekko Iivonen (Mayako), with Pekko’s Australian team-mate Jayden Edmunds, winner at the opening round at Counties RC in New Zealand, a close-up fifth.

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September 16, 2025

Haatanen becomes new German 2WD Champion

Top Finnish offroad racer Joona Haatanen is the new DMC German National Champion in 1:10 2WD Mod Buggy.  Now based in Germany, having joined Ruddog Distribution earlier this year as an ambassador for the Team Associated Distributor and option parts producer, Haatanen was the the Top Qualifier at the previous 4WD Buggy Nationals but after a battle with defending Champion Joern Neumann that went to A3, he ended up third overall as Neumann claimed yet another DMC National title.  With RC Cars Köngen hosting the 2WD Buggy title race it was Xray driver Moritz Lautenbach who secured the TQ ahead of Haatanen and Marcel Schneider with Neumann’s Sworkz fifth.  Getting the better of Lautenbach in A1, Haatanen repeated again in A2 to clinch the title as he truly settles into his new German lifestyle.  Winning A3, former German Champion Lautenbach would finish second with Schneider’s Associated completing the podium.  In 2WD Stock it was Sascha Frühwirth who took the TQ and title win.

Image: Ruddog [Facebook]


September 15, 2025

Maifield does the buggy double at 2025 SikCross

Tekno RC’s Ryan Maifield did the buggy double at the 2025 SikCross over the weekend winning both Nitro Buggy and eBuggy at The Drake Raceway hosted race.   A track that was saved earlier this year thanks to the intervention of RC racing’s most famous couple, Adam & Ronda Drake, SikCross made its returned to the Southern California venue with 200 entries looking to enjoy the races unique start/race format.  With two 15-lap races determining the grid for the finals it was to be Kyosho drivers who came out on top – Ryan Lutz taking the eBuggy TQ with his young team-mate Phi-Long Nguyen the Top Qualifier in Nitro Buggy, Maifield ending up P2 in both categories.  In the triple 30-lap each finals, Lutz would have a tough time in eBuggy, Maifield winning A1 and A3 for the overall win with Nguyen winning A2 to claim second as the Team Associated of Tyler Fenster completed the podium ahead of Lutz.  In Nitro, Nguyen opened with a win ahead of Maifield but suffered a DNF in A2 as Maifield took the win and repeated again in A3.  Jimmy Fishback made it a Tekno 1-2 overall with Nguyen having to settle for third as Lutz again missed the podium with fourth.  Nguyen would get a win however taking the title in Nitro Truggy ahead of Fenster, Lutz and Adam Drake.

Image: Tekno RC [Facebook]


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