Red RC » R Off Road

December 11, 2023

Rivkin & Phend turn RC teachers for a day!

They are two of the biggest names in offroad racing and represent two of the biggest manufacturers on the international stage but last week both Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin and TLR’s Dakotah Phend became RC teachers for a day as part of two different events. Two time World Champion Rivkin was taking part in the launch of Hobbywing Tech Explorers. Held at World Championship venue Hobby Action Raceway, it marked the first collaboration with a school outreach program. Rivkin touched on his journey with RC, overcoming challenges, and dreaming big. He also discussed the mechanics, electrical aspects, and disciplines of the hobby, along with the incredible values it’s brought into his life – from friends, mentors, and unforgettable experiences. On his social media Rivkin said he was ‘So thankful to have had the opportunity to hold my first public gathering and launch a new program with Hobbywing North America called Tech Explorers! Meeting and seeing these kids remind me what it was like when I first laid eyes on RC cars. I want to personally thank Larry and Hobby Action RC Raceway for letting us utilise the track and rental cars. I’m totally looking forward on doing many more of these!’ Phend brought his 1:10 Electric and 1:8 Nitro buggies to a middle school as part of a career day where he shared his story with pupils. On his Facebook page he posted, ‘I was able to be apart of career day earlier this week at Angola Middle School. I went over how I was able to turn a passion into a career. There are a lot of great and unique opportunities in today’s world!’. It is great to see both drivers promoting RC racing in this way and well done to everyone involved in inspiring the future generation.

View Mr.Phend taking his class here

December 11, 2023

Maifield completes clean sweep at U.S. Open Fuel C/ships

Tekno RC’s Ryan Maifield became the first Pro driver to complete a clean sweep at the annual U.S. Open Fuel Championships which held at Adobe Mountain R/C Speedway in his home state of Arizona over the weekend. Attracting almost 250 entries, qualifying would see Maifield take the TQ in the Open classes of Nitro Buggy, eBuggy and Nitro Truggy before wrapping up the perfect weekend with wins in all three finals. In Nitro Buggy he took the win ahead of Kyosho’s Ryan Lutz having a 3-lap advantage at the end of the 1-hour in encounter. Ryan Pavidis would complete the podium driving his Sparko buggy. In eBuggy, the single 10-minute Main saw Maifield led home the Sworkz of Spencer Heckertt by over 7-seconds with Lutz finishing 3rd. In the 45-minute Nitro Truggy Final, it was the Mugen of Frankie Contresas Jr who followed Maifield home.

Image: MOD Media Live [Facebook]

December 8, 2023

Power HD signs Large Scale racer Rodewald

Servo manufacturer Power HD has announced the signing of top large scale racer Sven Rodewald from Germany. The reigning 1:6 Large Scale 4WD Offroad European Champion, 6 X time National Champion, Multiple European Finalist, and multiple LS Touring Car GP Race finalist, Rodewald will be using Power HD’s high end GTS-6 & GTS-7 servos in his 1:6 Offroad and 1:5 Onroad Cars. Racing for chassis manufacturer MCD, on his deal with Power HD he said, ‘During the last year I tried the Power HD GTS-6 and GTS-7 servos, and it was a pleasure to use them! The whole time the servos performed just great! Im happy to join the Power HD factory team for the upcoming season!’

Source: PowerHD [chd.hk]

December 6, 2023

Lutz confirmed for opening round of Asian Buggy C/ships

Having announced an expanded calendar for the 2024 Asian Buggy Championships, Scotty Ernst has confirmed Kyosho 1:8 Offroad star Ryan Lutz will make the trip to New Zealand for the opening round of the season next February. Round 1 of the 4 round championship, that also includes races in the Philippines, Australia and Indonesia, takes place on February 8-11 at the Counties RC Car Club with Lutz set to compete in Nitro Buggy and E Buggy thanks to his sponsors Alpha Plus, Futaba and Kyosho. Extending the ABC’s reach in 2024, an overall point series has been introduced for Season No.2 with other top international drivers expected to be announced to make appearances over the championship.

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]

December 5, 2023

Offroad talent Bajusz joins Xray Factory team

Xray has announced that up & coming offroad talent Zsolt Bajusz will be part of the Xray Factory team from 2024. The multiple Hungarian National Champion will race the Slovakian manufacturer’s XB2, XB4, XB8 and XB8E platforms. Commenting on the news Bajusz said, ‘It is with great pleasure and excitement that I announce that I am joining the Xray factory team. I am very grateful for the opportunity to join the Xray team. It is a dream come true to join this professional team. I am looking forward to the races and I will try to do my best both on and off the track. Thanks to Martin Bayer, Mario Hudy, Juraj Hudy and the whole Xray team for this opportunity.’

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

December 5, 2023

Triple win for Drake at 19th Annual Toys For Tots Race

This past weekend Mugen/JConcepts driver Adam Drake and his wife Ronda hosted the 19^th Annual Toys For Tots Race at The Drake Raceway in Palm Desert, CA. With 180 entries, the event had a lot of competition and also brought in some great toy donations for kids in need this holiday season. Qualifying started at 9am that morning and the race program called for two rounds of qualifying to determine each class TQ. There were 12 classes to compete in and only a driver’s best qualifier would be used to determine who made the main events. Drake set the TQ in 1:8 Expert Nitro Buggy, 1:8 Open Electric Buggy, and 1:8 Open Nitro Truggy classes, and he would go on to take the win in all three classes but ultimately the biggest winner was the kids’ charity.

Source: Adam Drake [Facebook]

December 4, 2023

Edmunds takes 1:8 Buggy South Australian State Title

Team Associated driver Jayden Edmunds claimed the South Australian State Title for 1:8 Nitro Buggy over the weekend. The 17-year-old took his Adam Drake 3 engined RC8B4 to the TQ at the Southern Districts Model Car Club track after topping three of the five qualifiers as racers experienced rain on and off during Saturday’s qualifying. Taking the other two rounds, Q2 & 4, Andrew Foord would line up 2nd for the 45-minute final ahead of Damon Davis-Perry, Aaron Dexter and Caleb Noble. A hotter day on the Sunday for finals, Edmunds was able to gap the field eventually winning by half a lap from Dexter’s TLR with the Mugen Seiki of Zac Foster completing the Nitro Buggy podium. In eBuggy Edmunds would finish runner-up as Noble took his Tekno to the title over the triple A-Main. Top Qualifier Jack McMillian would compete the podium.

Source: Speedy RC [speedyrc.com.au]

December 4, 2023

Lutz does triple at 2023 Fall Brawl

Kyosho’s Ryan Lutz completed a triple victory at the annual Fall Brawl which ran at its new location in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolin, over the weekend. Attracting over 440 entries, the 22nd running of the event saw Lutz master the rough track conditions for the finals to take the wins in both Pro Nitro and eBuggy as well as victory in Open Nitro Truggy. Starting from the TQ in eBuggy and Truggy, Lutz had to start the half hour Nitro Buggy final from P2 behind HB Racing’s Cole Ogden. Unfortunately the expected battle between the duo didn’t materialise as Ogden’s race ended with just over 5-minutes remaining,allowing Lutz to cruise to the win with his Alpha Engines powered MP10. Behind HB Racing’s Collin Weatherholt who take second a result he would repeat also in eBuggy. Sworkz’ David Olsen was the runner-up in Truggy.

Image: Ryan Lutz [Facebook]