Red RC » R On Road

January 13, 2026

Isaacs & Hagberg win at Hudy Indoor Champs

Awesomatix’s Sam Isaacs and Xray’s Alexander Hagberg where the big winners at the annual Hudy Indoor Champs at ProLevel RC in Chesterfield, Missouri – Isaacs winning 1:12 while Hagberg took back to back Touring Car wins. Attracting 148 entries, qualifying would see Isaacs TQ both classes, topping all four round in 1:12 and 2 of the four in Touring Car. With team-mate Kemp Anderson lining up P2 in 1:12 and defending Champion Hagberg in third, in the single 8-minute A-Main Anderson would get the front after a rough start by Isaacs. Leading for half the race, he would be retaken by Isaacs for the win with the podium order being how they qualified. In Touring Car, Isaacs would lead for the first half of the race until a mistake rolled his Awesomatix out of contention for the double allowing last year’s double winner Hagberg to take the victory by 1.6-seconds from Anderson with 2023 winner Keven Hebert completing the Top 3.

Image: Sam Isaacs [Facebook]

January 12, 2026

Takashima D-13 partner with Volker for product development

A brand that has been busy upscaling it product releases, aftermarket onroad parts and accessories manufacturer Takashima D-13 has announced a new partnership with ISTC World Champion Ronald Volker. The factory Mugen Seiki driver will become involved in Takashima D-13’s brand development and product performance testing as well as helping to guide the brand in a positive and competitive direction. Also announcing they will support young Singapore talent & Stock Class Champion Zaccheus Lam, Takashima D-13 say they will continue to develop high-performance products that offer excellent value for money.

Source: Target RC [targetrc.com]

January 12, 2026

Piestch joins Infinity design team

Having announced in December his departure from Mugen Seiki after a very successful 16-year career with them both as a racer and designer, Robert Pietsch has been announced as the latest addition to the technical department at Infinity. The Japanese manufacturer, who are multiple World Champions in both 1:10 Nitro Touring Car & 1:8 Onroad welcomed the highly regarded German designer by saying, ‘With the beginning of the new year, we have decided to further strengthen our design and development department, with the goal of continuing to offer our customers the best possible products and making every moment dedicated to their passion even more enjoyable. We are therefore pleased to welcome Robert Pietsch, who officially joins our organization to support our technical department. Thanks to his decade-long experience and proven skills, Robert will be a significant added value for our future in the RC world. Welcome, Robert!’ On the move Pietsch posted, ‘Now the time has come — some of you may have already guessed it. I am very happy to announce that I have signed with Team Infinity and am officially starting my new role as a designer. I will give my very best to support the entire team and help bring new ideas to life. It is a great honor for me to be able to work for this amazing team, and I hope we will celebrate many successes together — especially with the goal of providing the best possible experience for all our customers. My special thanks go to the entire Infinity team for the trust they have placed in me, and especially to Kenji Taira and Yoshinobu Nikaido, who set everything in motion and made this opportunity possible. I am looking to the future with great excitement and am happy to be working again with familiar faces as well as new ones. Here’s to a great future!’

Source: Creation Model [creationmodel.net]

January 12, 2026

Harper wins at EWS R3 as two Champions crowned early

Round 3 of the Essex Winter Series took place yesterday at the popular British series’ regular venue in the South-East of the UK where a win for Schumacher’s Elliot Harper keeps the championship wide open while Zak Finlay and Dan Blake secured titles. Harper secured pole position in the LRP Modified class, but he had a tight battle with Kyle Branson throughout. Branson, who took the win at Round 1 of the series in October, topped the opening round with his Awesomatix, before Harper took control to win the remaining rounds. The winner at Round 2 of the series, Alex Thurston, lined up third with his Mugen Seiki, ahead of Xray’s Harley Eldridge and the Schumacher of Peter Eagles. In the final, Elliott remained in control and quickly opened up a lead at the front ahead of Branson. The battle on track was for third, with Harley continually closing in on Alex. After keeping the pressure on, Eldridge finally found a way past Thurston in the final minute of the race to move to a podium position. Almost at the same moment, Branson tapped a corner, damaging his car. He held on to second place, but Eldridge quickly closed in. Branson did all he could to keep Eldridge behind, but with a damaged car it proved difficult, leading to Eldridge making an excellent high-speed pass through the infield section on the penultimate lap to add to Branson’s injury, Thurston then also managed to sneak through on the final lap to secure a podium result. All this action left Harper to cruise to victory at the front. This keeps the overall championship wide open, with Harper, Thurston and Branson each having a win with two rounds of the series left to run.

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January 12, 2026

Team EAM batteries for Jin Sawada

The older of Japan’s very fast electric touring car siblings, Jin Sawada has switched to Team EAM batteries for 2026. Joining his brother in representing Xray at the end of last season, Jin makes the move from Sunpadow Batteries to the American Team EAM brand. Set for a busy race program in 2026 that includes contesting both the 1:12 and ISTC World Championships at the Hongyu GDC facility in China, on his new sponsorship the 2024 Japanese National Champion said, ‘I’m happy to be part of this team. There are a wide variety of high-performance battery types available from EAM, so I can choose the one that suits my different cars and track conditions.’

Source: Team EAM [teameamotorsports.com]

January 9, 2026

Serpent’s Catanzani confirmed for inaugural Nitro Party

Currently one of the fastest Nitro Onroad racers in the World, Serpent’s Andrea Catazani is the latest top international driver to be confirmed for the inaugural Nitro Party race in Foshan, China, later this month. The 20-year-old Italian, who was the Top Qualifier at both the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad and the 1:8 GT World Championships at the end of the last year, joins the already stacked entry in making the trip to the new Hongyu GDC facility for its first major nitro onroad event. The reigning Italian GT Champion, he joins compatriots Alessio Mazzeo, Natanaele Senesi, and Filippo Domanin for the first edition of what the 2026 ISTC World Championship host venue plans to build into a major annual event on the nitro racing calendar. Other confirmed entries for the January 24-25th race include Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura and Genius Racing’s Bernard-Alain Arnaldi.

Source: Hongyu GDC [Facebook]

January 8, 2026

Power HD sign German Champion Weigerding

Leading servo manufacturer Power HD has announced that current German 1:8 Onroad National Champion Marco Weigerding has joined its team driver line-up for 2026. The former Large Scale World Championship podium finisher, who now races 1:8 Onroad for Serpent with whom he has been a European Championship & ENS finalist, will now use Power HD servos as part of his race program. Joining the likes of Toni Gruber in representing the brand in 1:8 Onroad, on his new partnership Weigerding said, ‘I’m very happy and proud to be joining the Power HD team. I can’t wait to hit the track with my new power servos! I’m sure I will have the best servos in my car for the next time! See you all at the track.’

Source: PowerHD [chd.hk]

January 8, 2026

Genius confirm Arnaldi for Nitro Party

Italian GT manufacturer Genius Racing has confirmed they are sending 2 time European GT Champion Bernard-Alain Arnaldi to the inaugural Nitro Party race which takes place later this month at the Hongyu GDC track in China. Travelling to the southern city of Foshan for the brand new Asian nitro onroad fixture, the French driver is the latest top international driver to be announced. Taking place over the weekend of January 24-25th, Arnaldi, who is also one of the World’s leading Large Scale racers, joins fellow Genius driver & Spanish Champion Raul Daras Anton on the strong entry list that will also see the Raptor of newly crowned IFMAR 1:8 GT World Champion Alessio Mazzeo, Senesi Motorport’s 2024 European GT Champion Natanaele Senesi, Infinity’s multiple World Champion Naoto Matsukua, Xray’s Filippo Domanin, and Hotrace’s Nicola Marrone race at the multi track Hongyu GDC facility’s 80m X 43m asphalt circuit. Having ended our busy 2025 season coverage at the recent FEMCA Asia Electric Touring Car Championships at the track, Red RC is excited to be returning to this very impressive venue to cover the inaugural Nitro Party when it will echo to the sound of nitro engines.

Source: Hongyu GDC [Facebook]