April 30, 2026

Boost for US Nitro Onroad scene as Groove R/C Raceway nears completion

In a major boost for Nitro Onroad Racing in the United States and in particular the Mid West, The Groove R/C Raceway in Sheridan, Illinois, took a significant step towards completion with the layout of its final asphalt surface.  Located approximately an hour southwest of Chicago, the brand new track first broke ground last October.  In April the drivers stand was lifted into position alongside the ribbon style track layout foundations and its raised pit lane.  With ribbon style tracks less common in the US, the development of The Groove R/C Raceway is significant.  A recent convert to 1:8 Nitro Onroad, the F1 of RC racing, famed race announcer Scotty Ernst summed up the importance of the asphalt being laid by posting ‘Well it is truly happening. A World class ribbon style track in the Midwest.  Asphalt went down today so the dream is becoming a reality’.  The track has already announced it’s first major event with the hosting of the inaugural United States Grand Prix on June 10-14.

View more images here


April 30, 2026

Ronald Volker talks FlySky

We have followed Ronald Volker’s career for quite some time, first meeting him in person at the conclusion of the inaugural ETS season at Andernach, Germany, in 2008 when he raced for Hot Bodies and pushed Atsushi Hara the win.  Over the years we have tried to get the 2016 World Champion to ‘put pen to paper’ and give Red RC an insight into his racing.  While we kind of missed the boat at a time when Ronald was just a driver, during his Yokomo days he literally did no work on the cars, now his duties are far wider.  Not just racing for Mugen Seiki and being his own mechanic but also managing the Japanese manufacturer’s touring car race team.  A long time Sanwa user, Ronald would be one of the first major touring car drivers to join FlySky as a sponsored driver and with the Chinese manufacturer just after unveiling their new premium Noble Mix transmitter at Hobby Expo China, he has sent us this first attempt at a column in which he gives his experience with the radio since making the switch.  Take it away Ronald –  ‘Since joining Flysky and running the Noble Pro Series of Radios for around 2.5 years, I am still amazed of the quality and functions.  I visited Flysky and its office in late 2023 and could witness their dedication and motivation to become better and better and to be clearly seen as the top radio manufacturer.  Most importantly, I’ve had zero failures or issues wherever I used it in the World.  Everything is just simple and easy to use and manage – and there is even more to explore, the more you are willing to spend time with for.

Continue reading here


April 29, 2026

2026 Speed King Tour Rd2 – Report

The second round of the high profile Japanese Speed King Tour 2026 took place at the New Rush Next Circuit outdoor tarmac track in Chiba prefecture Japan last weekend where it was Xray’s Jin Sawada who dominated the Modified TC0 class from qualifying to final.  His car showed overwhelming speed and nobody was able to catch him.  Infinity driver Ryosuke Yamamoto finished second with the Xpress of Masaya Okazaki completing the podium.  2025 TC1 (Stock) class ‘Speed King’ Rento Sasaki still kept his speed and consistency with his XRAY car and made back to back win. Topic of this race was ‘back marker’ and the driver who managed smooth overtake got good result. Xpress driver Toyoki Yamada got second position of podium from 5th starting grid. Toshiaki Hirata finished 3rd.  The TC2 class (G Force motor and ESC) A final race was a closely fought contest. Second place qualifier Atsushi Fujimaki won the race from Hiroyuki Tsurumi and Jin Endo finished 3rd from fifth on the grid.  All 3 class races were a huge success and drivers are already focusing the next round which will be held at TM Circuit Wakayama outdoor tarmac track in Wakayama prefecture on May 24th.

View TC1 and TC2 podiums here


April 29, 2026

Teenager Langner joins Awesomatix

Awesomatix has announced there signing of promising 15-year-old German talent Phil Langner to its team.  Previous representing Mugen Seiki, Langner has already built an impressive list of achievements and established himself as one of the most promising young drivers on the European scene taking this year’s ETS FWD Championship title. With speed, racecraft, and determination, he represents the future of RC racing. AS part of the Awesomatix line-up he will compete in ETS Pro Stock 17.5T and Euro 13.5T, alongside key events like the European Championship in Luxembourg, and the German Nationals. On the announced Langner said, ‘I am very happy to join Team Awesomatix after already driving their car privately from 2022 to 2025. It’s very exciting to work with this great team from now on and try to achieve the best possible results together. Thanks to Max Mächler for this opportunity.’

Source: Awesomatix [awesomatix.net]


April 28, 2026

2 from 2 for Ripoll in French Championship

Maxime Ripoll made it two from two over the weekend, the Xray driver winning the second round of the FFVRC French 1:8 Nitro Onroad Championship at the Celtic CPB Racing 35 track in Châteaubourg.  In qualifier the World Championship finalist & defending French Champion would secure the TQ honours ahead of Baptiste Jimenez and Christophe Louis.  Over the 45-minute final Ripoll, who took the Round 1 win last month, would eek out a gap to win by a lap over the Shepherd of Semi Finals winner Fabien Baranger.  The Mugen Seiki of Louis, second at the season opener, completed the podium ahead of Jimenez who would set the fastest lap of the race and be the only driver to dip into the 14-second lap times.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]


April 27, 2026

Branson wins BRCA Nationals opener at Cotswolds

Kyle Branson has won the opening round of the BRCA British Touring Car Nationals.  The first of the 5 championship rounds was stages at the Cotswold track where in practice reigning champion Elliott Harper would break the track record with his prototype Schumacher, Branson also managing to break 21 laps.  In qualifying it was Branson who was fastest but only marginally over Harper.  Topping 3 of the 4 rounds, Branson posted a 21/5:07.13 compared to Harpers 21/5:07.49.  Behind Peter Eagles and Chris Grainger completed the Modified class Top 4.  In the finals, the British Championship running double A-Mains, Branson won the first by 2.5-seconds from Harper with Grainger moving up to third.  A2 would see Harper go for a gap but unfortunately spin out after side-by-side contact.  Setting the fastest lap of the harper would manage to finish second just behind the winner with Eagles in third but overall it was the veteran Grainger who competed the podium.  Round 2 of the championship will take drivers to Stafford on May 25th.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]


April 27, 2026

Balestri wins Campionato Costruttori at MyCandy Arena

Infinity’s Dario Balestri has won the annual Italian ‘Campionato Costruttori’ which was this year staged at the MyCandy Arena in the north of the country.  In qualifying it was new Max Power engines signing Carmine Raiola who took the TQ with a dominant run topping all four rounds.  Behind it was Balestri who claimed second on the grid ahead of Jonathan Gandin, Francesci Tironi, Lamberto Collari, and Silvio Hächler.  In the 45-minute final however Riola’s form in qualifying wouldn’t continue as he retired 30-minutes into the encounter joining Collari and British visit Alex Thurston as retirees.  At the front, putting in the only 13-second lap of the race, it was 2-time World Champion Balestri who took the win by 11-seconds over the Xray of teenager Filippo Domanin.  Swiss driver Silvio Hächler would complete the podium for ARC half a lap ahead of Gandin.  In the 1:8 GT Nitro Class, it was Genius Racing’s Leonardo Valente who took the TQ ahead of the Sworkz of Austrian Tobias Sutrich but with Valente’s race lasting just 5-minutes it was third place qualifier Adam Izsay who took the win for Xray by a lap over Sutrich.

Image: Infinity [Facebook]


April 24, 2026

FEMCA Asia 1:8 GT Championships relocated to Australia

The inaugural FEMCA Asia 1:8 GT Championships, which was originally awarded to Vietnam, will now take place in Australia with England Park Raceway in Brisbane awarded the race.  Earlier this month the Asian governing body for RC racing announced that the championships was being relocated from the impressive new X-RC Complex in Lam Dong due to the delayed opening of the area’s new airport.  QRCCRA, the club behind England Park Raceway, has secured the race to decide both the GT8 Nitro and GT8E Champions with FEMCA sanctioned championships running concurrently with the SpeedyRC IC QLD State Titles from July 30 to August 2.  On the announcement it was also confirmed Sweep Racing will supply their GT2-D40WP as the control tyre for both GT categories.

Source: FEMCA [Facebook]


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