Red RC » R On Road

June 15, 2026

Morganti wins USGP at new Groove R/C Raceway

The new Groove R/C Raceway track in Sheridan, Illinois, officially opened over the weekend with the hosting of the United States Grand Prix Presented By Ulti Tires and it was Mugen Seiki’s Diego Morganti who took the big win. Set to host the ROAR 2026 Fuel On-Road Nationals at the end of July, the USGP attracted 80 entries and in qualifying it was 2010 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Champion Ralph Birch who took the TQ honours with his Mugen Seiki ahead of Xray’s Max Kuenning with Morganti completing the Top 3. Leading away the 10 car 40-minute final unfortunately Birch would come to a stop after just a minute and a half of racing. That promoted Kuenning to the lead but only for a lap as he ran off the track as he came under pressure from Morganti. Once in front he would lead the race to the finish. Dropping to the back of the field, Birch would get restarted and rejoin, and setting the fastest lap of the race would recover to P2 ahead of Kuenning. In Nitro Touring Car it was Kuenning who took the TQ and win with Blake Bell and Andrew Quesenberry joining him on the podium.

Image: Mugen Seiki Racing [Facebook]

June 15, 2026

Nagashima becomes new Japanese 1:12 Champion

CRC’s Yugo Nagashima is the new JMRCA Japanese 1:12 National Champion. Hosted for the previous two years at the Tsukuba RC Park, this year the championship was staged at World Jam Racing track in the Gunma Prefecture. Four rounds of qualifying would see factory Roche driver Hayato Ishioka secure the Open Class TQ, the 2024 Champion fastest in all rounds. Behind it was Kazuki Yamashita who would start 2nd with Nagashima lining up P3 ahead of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu with defending Champion Shota Watanabe completing the Top 5. In the finals Ishioka looked to continue his dominant form but on the final lap of A1 he would loose his lead with Nagashima getting through for the win along with Yamashita taking 2nd. A2 would see another Ishioka lead for half the race but again in the closing laps it was Nagashima who came through for the win at the Japanese title. Holding on to win A3, Ishioka would finish 2nd overall with Roche team-mate Watanabe completing the podium. In the Sports Class it was Toyoki Yamada who took the TQ and the title.

Image: PowerHD [Facebook]

June 8, 2026

Third British National round win in a row for Wood

Shepherd’s Tim Wood made it three in a row with victory at Round 4 of the British 1:8 Onroad National Championship which took racers to the Cotswold track. Winner of last month’s double header at Brookland Raceway, Wood secured the TQ in the fourth & final round of qualifying when he laid down the fastest time to better Steve Davis who held the top spot for the first three rounds of heats. In the 30-minute main, the finalist from last December’s IFMAR World Championship in Chile, wouldcomplete the foirst have of the season with the win over 3rd place qualifier Andrew Hasting with John Carr making it an all Shepherd podium. Round 5 of the 8 round championship now takes racers to the Adur track on July 11-12.

Image: Shepherd Micro Racing [Facebook]

June 8, 2026

Bernsten wins Oslo Open

Adrian Bernsten claimed the TQ & win at this year’s annual Oslo Open 1:8 Nitro Onroad race, the Norwegian taking victory ahead of Denmark’s Martin Lissau at Hverven Raceway located south of the Norwegian Capital. In qualifying it was former international touring car ace Bernsten who secured the TQ honours at his home track ahead of the Infinity of 2024 Oslo Open winner Francesco Tironi, Alexander Andersson and last year’s Top Qualifier Lissau. Topping all four qualifiers, and despite setting the fastest lap of the race Bernsten would still have to work for the win as he came under pressure from Tironi in the 45-minute final. Unfortunately while holding a second spot & battling for the lead a crash on the main straight with a lapped car would put an end to the Italian visitor’s race at the half hour mark. This promoted former 1:5 World Champion Lissau to second for an Infinity 1-2 with Swedish racer Dennis Jonsson completing the podium. In the Masters Class, it was Denmark’s Peter Harder who took the TQ & win with Scotty Ernst coming through for second while Björn Ohlson took the final podium step.

Image: Francesco Tironi [Facebook]

June 2, 2026

Sagami RC Fab NX ver2 1:12

Japan’s Sagami RC Fab has announced the upcoming release of their SRF-NX ver2 1:12 kit, a design based on the legendary NX101 manufactured by R&D Ishuhara that won the All Japan Championship in 1984. The previous SRF-NX was released in January 2023 as a “bare kit,” requiring users to provide their own dampers and rear axle but now the Ver2 comes as a full complete kit. Currently, it is planned to be sold exclusively online, with approximately 50 units available. The main features of the Ver2, which will be limited to jusy 50 kits, is a 2.5mm thick carbon fibre main chassis and rear cross plate. The previous model’s main chassis was made of 2mm thick black FRP. The rear cross brace, which supports the body posts and roll damper, is also made of the same material. The T-bar is made of 1.5mm thick black FRP, and the most of aluminium parts are made of 7075-T6 material. Also new is the -1 degree Camber Front Crossbar. This was previously released as a very limited-quantity option to improve cornering performance at high speeds. The height of the left and right crossbar mounts has been lowered to ensure sufficient ride height even with small-diameter front tyres. The front body post position has been moved forward and are positioned above the white resin bumper to prevent the front of the body from interfering with the track surface when using modern thin-walled bodies. It can also be changed back to the classic, traditional position.

Continued reading & view more images here

June 2, 2026

Sobue wins ‘Bali International Race of Champion’

Across all forms of sport ‘Destination Races’ have become a big thing and in terms of destinations Bali has to be up there for the world of RC racing with Axon’s Akio Sobue making the trip to and winning the Bali International Race of Champions. Famed as a destination for Digital Nomads, the Indonesian Island is also home to the Keramas Aero Park circuit and over the weekend it attracted an international 93 entries to compete over 4 categories of 1:10 Electric Touring Car. In Modified it was World Championship podium finisher Sobue who took the win ahead of Singapore’s Zak Lam making for an Axon 1-2. Porsha Mangilit, the first ever female racer to win the Tamiya Asia Cup, would compete the podium. In 13.5 Blinky it was Lam who took the TQ and win ahead of young Australian RC Maker driver Logan Rintoul who in turn took the win in FWD. Looking to combine racing with a holiday next season?, look out for the 2027 Bali International Race of Champion.

View track image here

June 1, 2026

Garcia appointed IFMAR Interim IC Section Chairman

Well respected race referee and former EFRA President Javier Garcia has been appointed the IFMAR Interim IC Section Chairman. Making the announcement over the weekend, the Spaniard will take over the role for the remainder of the 2026 season from Sander de Graaf. After decades of service to the World governing body, Dutch native Graff made his final appearance in the role at the 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Chile last December. Garcia, who has vast experience of the sport having served as president of the European governing body for 5-years and referred numerous World Championships, has always been respected for his approachability and his ambition for the better promotion of racing and the RC hobby in general as well as always striving for a better racing experience for racers attending sanctioned events. In being appointed to the role, Garcia has promised to prepare a 4-year plan with the goal of leading IFMAR into a much needed new era as an organisation.

Read full announcement here

May 31, 2026

Coelho wins ETS season opener

Fresh from getting married last week, Infinity’s Bruno Coelho has won the opening round of the 2026/27 ETS at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. The World Champion would secure the overall TQ honours ahead defending series champion Michal Orlowski with two TQ runs compared to the Schumacher driver’s single TQ run in the fourth & final round. Fastest in Q3, Awesomatix’s Simon Lauter completed the Top 3 on the grid ahead of Serpent’s Dominic Greiner and Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker. Making his high profile debut for Xray at the Dutch race, Marc Rheinard would line up 7th on the grid. In the opening A-Main on Saturday evening it was Orlowski who came out the winner. Having got by Coelho on lap 1 when the pole sitter lost the rear of his car coming onto the straight, Orkowski would then run wide on the final lap. With Coelho going for the pass as Orlowski came back across to try get the line for the next corner the pair made contact. With Lauter in third, this should have played into his favour but as Coelho’s car landed the German made contact and was out with a broken car – Orlowski getting through for the win ahead of Volker with Coelho in third. Sunday’s morning’s A2 saw a dominant win by Coelho which he again repeated in A3 to take the overall ahead of Orlowski with Volker, winner of the previous ETS’s season finale, completing the podium ahead of Lauter, Greiner and Rheinard. In Pro Stock Olivier Bultynck got his title defence off to the perfect start, the Awesomatix driver securing the TQ and win ahead of the Xray of Jan Ratheisky and Dutch Awesomatix driver Timon Coenen.

Image: Bruno Coelho [Facebook]