We spent some time this week looking back over all that history, and picked out our top ten stories from the 40-year history of 10th Off-Road World Championship racing. Let us know your favourite memories, the best results or biggest stories.

🔟: The 2015 Astro Worlds
Traditionally the 10th World Champs have run on dirt. A wide variety of dirt, to be sure, but always dirt. So when the 2015 event was announced for Yatabe Arena in Japan, one of the most storied venues in the world, and host of the ’95 event, we all assumed it would be on the facility’s long-time dirt track. The hosts had other ideas though, running on an astro surface with artificial jumps and features. It was the first Worlds on an artificial surface, and almost certainly won’t be the last with surfaces like astro and carpet gaining popularity all around the world. Super impressive first WC 2wd win for Spencer Rivkin (Team Associated) on an unfamiliar surface, and Bruno Coelho RC Driver crossing over from an on-road background (joining a long tradition of such cross-overs that dates back to 1987 World Champ Joel Johnson) to take the 4wd win for XRAY.

9️⃣: Mark Pavidis and Matt Francis ’95 Win on Yokomo Home Turf
We already mentioned just how hallowed Yatabe Arena was as a race track. And as home-turf for Yokomo and for the legendary Masami Hirosaka, when the event visited Yataba in 1995, the expectation was for yet another Hirosaka-dominated event. US superstars Mark Pavidis (4wd) and Matt Francis (2wd) would have none of it, winning for Yokomo and Team Associated respectively in a stunning performance.

8️⃣: The Ryan Cavalieri Sweep in 2011 (Vaasa, Finland)
There are a few IFMAR events that have been swept. Masami Hirosaka in Australia in 1989, Ryan Maifield in China in 2017, Martin Achter in South Africa in 2009. And Ryan Cavalieri at the picturesque Vaasa track in Finland in 2011. Ryan’s double win came at the heights of the Cavalieri/Maifield/Tebo domination, and he took Team Associated cars to the double win. 2wd was notable also for Dakotah Phend’s first appearance in a 10th off-road Worlds A final.

7️⃣: Jukka Steenari Back-to-Back (Finland 1999, South Africa 2002)
After a decade of domination by US and Japanese drivers, Jukka Steenari’s breakthrough 1999 win in Finland (after just missing out in 1997) marked the first European winner of a 10th Off-road Worlds, and the first 4wd win for Team Losi Racing. Steenari backed it up again in  South Africa in 2002 after the scheduled 2001 event was delayed due to 9/11. Steenari joins Masami and Cavalieri as the only three to win back-to–back in the same class.

6️⃣: Neil Cragg’s 2005 Win in Italy
In terms of feel-good wins, they don’t come much better than Neil Cragg’s 2005 2wd triumph over Ryan Cavalieri and Ryan Maifield in Collegno, Italy. Perhaps that’s been brought into focus this month with Cragg’s retirement from international racing after an amazing career – but for a man acknowledged as one of the best and fairest, and who grew up on a country with limited dirt track options, for Cragg to win over the might of the US 2wd mod team was a stellar effort.

5️⃣: Losi vs Associated (1989-2023)
It’s the rivalry which shaped the IFMAR World Championships for the best part of 35 years. Team Associated have been around since Jay Halsey won the first World Champs in 1985, but from the moment Team Losi arrived at St Ives in 1989, to the most recent win for the US company at Hobby Action in 2023, it’s been the AE vs TLR battle that is RC’s equivalent of Ford vs Chev. The battle raged at World Championships across the globe, perhaps most ferociously through the 90’s, and at just about every club track on the planet. It’s one reason we’re still a little sad that the new owners of TLR have scaled back their factory effort, and the team won’t be present at Hills Offroad this week.

4️⃣: The 91 Detroit Track 
When it comes to World Championship tracks, few are more memorable than the extraordinary 1991 circuit at Freedom Hill Park, Michigan USA. Carved into the side of the hill, the track had an incredibly soft, loamy surface, one that shifted and changed not only across the week, but seemingly within a race as well. The signature “Surfs Up” section, inspiration for a thousand similar features around the world in the years that followed, was particularly gnarly, pushing drivers and cars to their very limit. Masami Hirosaka triumphed over Team Associated teammate Rick Vehlow in 2wd, with Kyle Reed third in the prototype Losi XX. In 4wd it was a Yokomo shutout, Cliff Lett taking his only WC win, from Hirosaka and Jack Johnson.

3️⃣: The RC10 Stealth Prototypes
Winning any World Championship takes a special car. Over the whole history of World Championship racing there have been plenty of examples of prototypes, hand-build one-off designs and specially made parts. None, however, have been anywhere near as famous at the two Team Associated RC10 Stealth cars from the 1989 and 1991 World Championship events. On both occasions the US manufacturer stunned onlookers, arriving with completely hand-build prototype versions of their RC10 platform. The cars were kept hidden away throughout and it would be only well after the Worlds that any details would emerge. In the modern era, replicas of the ’89 and ’91 cars have been produced around the world, with Team Associated capitalising on the long-lived mystique of the ’89 car with a re-release in recent months. Adding to the story of that ’89 car were of course the larger than standard Yokomo tyres – taking advantage of a rules loophole to produce a tyre uniquely suited to the St Ives surface, and one that would ultimately change the direction of tyre design.

2️⃣: Brian Kinwald’s 1993 Win
Few drivers hold an equivalent status to Brian Kinwald. The US driver (RIP) sadly passed a few years ago, but is almost universally admired and respected. His first World Championship win came in 1993 at Basildon England. The Team Associated cars had looked up against it all week against the Losi XX, with Kinwald qualifying all the way back in P8. A combination of changed weather (and hence track) conditions, and grafting a Losi Hydradrive onto his RC10 Team Car transformed Kinwald’s hopes. His A final performances were astonishing, culminating in A3 with the race and Championship win. Kinwald would later switch across the divide to join Team Losi, winning again in 1997 and becoming the first to win a World Championship for two different manufacturers within the same class (a feat later matched by Matt Francis and Ryan Cavalieri).

1️⃣: Masami Hirosaka (England 1987, Australia 1989 double, Detroit USA 1991, Basildon UK 93, Ranch 1997, Finland 1999)
When it comes to the history of World Championship racing, no name looms larger than Masami Hirosaka. He emerged as a relative international unknown to win the 4wd title for Schumacher in 1987, then doubled-up in both 2wd and 4wd for Team Associated and Yokomo in 1989. That partnership endured throughout his career, winning again in 1991 (2wd), 1993 (4wd), 1997 (4wd) and 1999 (2wd). An astonishing 7 World Championship wins from a possible 14 in that 1987-1999 period. No other driver has ever come close. It wasn’t just on track, of course, that Hirosaka’s performances were built. His partnership with his mechanic and car-builder father Masaaki was legendary, and the support for Hirosaka from Yokomo, Team Associated and Reedy unmatched. He was perhaps the first true professional, leaving no stone unturned in his pursuit of victory. It’s fair to say that Hirosaka set the standard to which every other driver aspired.

So there’s our top ten stories from the forty-year history of IFMAR 1/10 Off-Road World Championship racing. There are a load of things we haven’t mentioned. On-road racer Joel Johnson winning on his first attempt. Davide Ongaro winning at Hobby Action with a car build a few days before the race and otherwise not driven. The Reedy vs Trinity rivalry of the 90’s. The fantastic race track at Hakusan, Japan for the 2007 Championship race, the disqualification of Ben Sturnham from a podium position in 1993, and so many more.

How about for you? What stories make your top ten from across the amazing history of this race? And the biggest question – what new chapter will be written at Hills Offroad RC next week?

📸 LiveRC, RED RC, Team Associated

We’ll start with the internationals, and finish with a look at the local drivers in the field – because there’s some Australian talent here this week as well. Let’s go:

Davey Batta RC – Team Associated/USA
Made the trip to the warmup, and has been uber diligent in his preparation since then. One of the US’ best emerging talents and could go very deep into the week with Team Associated.

Tom Rinderknecht RC – Schumacher R/C Racing/USA
Pushed Broc Champlin all the way at the recent ROAR Carpet Nationals, and when he puts it all together, a stand-out talent. With all the support of the factory Schumacher crew, Rinderknect will come with A final results in mind.

Cole Tollard – Schumacher/USA
An A final appearance at Hobby Action in 2023 where he finished 4th in 4wd is all the evidence we need to know Tollard is an outright chance this week. He missed the warmup, so it will be about getting to grips with the surface. Day we say another who might be stronger in 4wd with the new Schumacher?

Matt Gonzales – Team Associated/USA
It’s not Gonzales’ first visit down under, posting strong results at the inaugural Australian Carpet Series a year or so back, and if my memory is correct, at least ducking out to Hills to have a look and turn some laps. Look for strong performances from the talented Team Associated driver.

Burak Kilic – Mugen Seiki Racing/Turkey
Far better known as an 8th offroad racer, but Kilic is a genuine talent. Two A final appearances at this year’s Euro’s, including with the new prototype Mugen 4wd, mark him as a threat.

Berkan Kilic RC – Mugen/Turkey
With limited 10th running, an A final appearance is a big ask for the Mugen 8th specialist – but not beyond the realms of possibility. The two brothers will be working largely solo on dialling in their Mugen rides, and along with the Tommy and Jamie Hall represent at least the possibility of a pair of brothers making an IFMAR A final in 10th offroad.

Tommy Hall (Hall Brothers RC) – Team Associated/UK
Multiple UK national championships, and a Euros win. Hall is one of the best new talents to emerge from the UK in the shadow of the legendary WC Neil Cragg. The dirt surface will be the challenge (as for all the UK crew), but if he hooks it up, Hall will threaten.

Jamie Hall (Hall Brothers RC)– Team Associated/UK
As above! The other of the Hall brothers, and super sharp on the setup side. Could we see two brothers in a Worlds final for Team Associated? Has that ever happened before?

Ben Smith RC – Schumacher/UK
Third of the fast UK crew, and leading Schumacher driver from the home of the brand. Like the Halls and Holdsworth, it will be all about getting comfortable on dirt as fast as possible.  He’s broken through with some National wins in the UK, and has looked particularly strong in 4wd of late – the class that would seem his best chance.

Luke Holdsworth Brothers RC – Schumacher/UK
Luke is the fourth of a strong UK squad, travelling with the powerful Schumacher team. It’s a tall order, but not impossible for this talented driver to put together a break-out international result. Again, would perhaps feel more confident in 4wd.

Clément Boda RC/Racing – Team Associated/France
Regular French Nationals winner, and coming in hot off a 5th place finish at the inaugural eBuggy World Championships, Boda is a world-class talent and one to watch at Hills. If he gets away to a strong start, every possibility of kicking on to a high finish. Could a win be within reach?

Kouki Kato Rc Driver – Team Associated/Japan
Kouki Kato is a driver we’ve been watching closely over the last two years, the young Japanese pilot making waves in 8th offroad including a big win at this year’s Philippine Masters. He made the trip to the warmup in April, finishing in the top 6 in both 2wd and 4wd. Kato is definitely on our “must watch” list.

The Australians
Christopher Sturdy CS13 – Team Associated/Aus
Sturdy has gone within a whisker of an IFMAR A final in the past, and comes into this home World Champs highly motivated for a personal best and to tick off that A final achievement. Hasn’t has as much chance to get to Hills as he might have liked, but all the pieces are in place.

Jarod Ment RC Racing – Team Associated/Aus
The running mate of Lachlan Donnelly (who we talked about yesterday), Jarod Ment has emerged rapidly over the past 12 months as one of Australia’s fastest. Knows the Hills track inside and out, and will have the Team Associated rides perfectly tuned in to the low grip surface.

Ari Bakla – XRAY/Aus
Arguably the GOAT in Australian R/C. What Ari Bakla hasn’t won, is possibly a shorter list than what he has. Finished well up at the Warmup in April, and knows the venue as well as anybody. An IFMAR A final would perfectly cap off an extraordinary career. Look for Bakla to be strong in the greasy early morning conditions, and particularly in 2wd.

Matthew Couper – XRAY/Aus
Another of the super-fast local drivers, Couper has made a big commitment over the past 12 months to be ready for this World Championship event at his home track. When he’s on song, there are few in Australia that can match his raw pace. If he puts it together, an A final is possible – again with the best hope maybe coming in 2wd.

Lachlan Munday RC Racer – Team Associated/Aus
With father Ray widely recognised as one of the best tech minds in the game, Lachlan comes to this Worlds confident of his best ever performance. Is an A final possible for the young Victoria?  Like many of the Australians, it is if everything goes his way, and 2wd offers the best hope.

Jordan Isergin - RC Driver – Team Associated/Aus
The move to Team Associated late in 2024 has breathed new life into Isergin’s campaign, and going wheel-to-wheel with Munday on a weekly basis means he’s sharp and race-ready. An A final will take a huge run, but we’ll watch him closely (yes, you guessed it, particularly in 2wd).

Jayden Edmunds RC Racing – Schumacher/Aus
Better known as a 8th driver, Edmunds has joined Schumacher in 2025 and makes his second 10th IFMAR appearance. Has had limited preparation with a heavy 8th program this year, but is one of the countries best young talents.

Over our three previews we’ve named no less than 36 drivers who we think are in the battle for A final spots – and we’re very sure we’ve forgotten more than one. Who else is on your list?

And the truth is, an A final appearance isn’t the only measure of success at a World Championship event. Take a trio of young drivers like Australia’s Phoenix Eggleton Racer, UK Junior Daniel Pole RC and NZ tyro Dylan Toia Racing. For them it’s about a first IFMAR experience early in a career that can absolutely take each of them to the very highest heights over the next ten years.

And then there are the legends – drivers like Josh Pain, Allen Horne, Scotty Ernst, Will Venable or Andy Cooke (highly likely to be running one of his GP3D neo-vintage creations) who bring so much to the event both on and off the track.

We look forward to bringing you these stories and more, both via the live coverage we’ll be part of with RC Race Media, and through our own written reports throughout the event.

Entries are now online over at https://hillsoffroadrc.liverc.com/events/ so you can look through the list and share your tips.

Don’t forget, if you enjoy this preview, give it a like and a share.

📸 RC Race Media

Along the way we're made note that World Championships have a history of throwing up first-time, and even surprise winners - so today we'll take a look at what I think are the top-10 candidates for a first time World Championship win.

We'll be back next time to look at another group too - a very long list of those who'll be eyeing off a spot in the A final, and just maybe joining the honour roll of World Championship podium placegetters. That's for next time, for now, we're out on a limb namimg our top-10 contenders for a first World Championship. Let's start at the top:

Dakotah Phend - XRAY/USA
He's a fair candidate to be named the best driver yet to win a World Championship in all the history of RC. The US megastar has won just about everything else, and he's come agonisingly close on occasion (2019 4wd, for example) to an IFMAR win. Spending his whole career with Team Losi, 2025 marked the big move across to European powerhouse XRAY, and with it a reinvigoration. There's been a load of wins in the 2025 season, notably including the 4wd ROAR nationals a couple of months back. With a trip to Sydney in July to sample local conditions, Dakotah will arrive well prepared, with strong team backing, and determined to hoist the biggest trophy. When he's "on", he's all-but unstoppable.

Broc Champlin RC - Schumacher R/C Racing/USA
Sweeping the ROAR Carpet Nationals a couple of weeks back comes as no surprise for a man well known as one of the very best US racers on the highest grip surfaces. Champlin has a long list of wins indoors on carpet. But he's also built a strong reputation on dirt, and is a factor at every event in his home country. At Hobby Action for the 2023 Worlds he was on the podium in 2wd, and missed it by one in 4wd, to be the overall best-performed Schumacher driver. With another couple of years on dirt, Champlin has to be considered among the serious threats - though he is one of a few yet to have sampled the Hills Offroad RC conditions. That's a big challenge to overcome, and one of the reasons we think he might be more of a threat in the 4wd class. One to watch.

Lachlan Donnelly RC - Team Associated/Australia
The local boy grew up on the sweeps of Hills, and knows the place better than just about anybody. When it comes to following evolving track conditions, and being ready to go fast any time of day, Lachlan is all-but peerless. He's also genuinely quick, having grown enormously since a C final appearance at Hobby Action two years ago. With a relentless testing program, and dominant performances at Hills over the last 12 months where he shared Australian Championship wins with Spencer Rivkin, then swept the warmup, Donnelly has put his name firmly on the "must watch" list. The challenge of course will be stepping it up, under pressure, in a stacked field that contains just about every one of the top 30 drivers on the planet.

Daniel Kobbevik sport - Schumacher/Norway 
Uber fast at the warmup back in April, particularly in 4wd, Daniel Kobbevik has the feel about him of someone who at any moment could put together a break-through performance and take it to the best in the world. We can't help but wonder whether 2025 might just be the year that happens. With the engineering talents of Tris Neale in his corner, and Michal Orlowski to work with on car setup, Kobbevik's speed won't be in doubt. If he puts it all together, watch out.

Brennan Schimmel - XRAY/USA
At the 2025 ROAR Nationals, Brennan Schimmel was outstanding. The win in 2wd, and going within a whisker in 4wd announced him to the World, and put him firmly on our list of ones to watch. As with Champlin, he'll arrive without track knowledge, so once again we have to wonder if it might be 4wd that offers the best opportunity, as the talented XRAY pilot gets to grips with conditions.

Joona Haatanen RC - AE/Finland
One half of Team Associated's talented nordic pairing, Haatenan will be keen to match team-mate Marcus Kaerup's recent ascent to the IFMAR Hall of Fame. Loaded with experience despite a relatively young age, Haatenan is another who is on our list of "ready to break through". He arrives hot on the heels of a German National Championship win last week, but has to overcome the lack of track knowledge having not previously visited. Are you getting the idea yet that we think 4wd is going to be intense? Put Haatenan in the mix for that class for sure.

Bartek Zalewski Rc - Poland/XRAY
The Polish boy wonder, Bartek Zalewski has emerged rapidly over the last couple of years to be regularly mixing it with the best in the world. He made the trip to Australia for the warmup back in April, and looked a little overwhelmed by the challenge in such unfamiliar conditions - but since then he's stepped it up big time, including 3rd (4wd) and 4th (2wd) place finishes on low-ish grip dirt indoors at the Euro Champs at Hudy Arena. That's the result (and the speed) that we're looking at when we nominate Zalewski in our top-ten potential first-time winners. If XRAY have the car/s on the money, and things fall his way, this could be the first (of many) Worlds win for him.

That leaves us three spots in our top ten threats for a first time win. And a long list of potential options. Davey Batta? Burak Kilic? Ben Smith? Clemente Boda? Tommy Hall? Tom Rinderknect? Kouki Kato? Chris Sturdy? Jarod Ment? They just can't all fit in a self-imposed 10-driver limit. Who would you pick? We're going to go with three stand-out candidates to round out our ten, and then throw in one completely left-field bonus suggestion that just about no-body else will think of. And the rest, we'll cover next time. Let's go:

Aydin Horne RC - AE/USA
One of the genuine characters of the RC world, Horne is proving in 2024 and 2025 that he has the talent to match the character. He just missed the 2wd podium at Hobby Action two years back, and has spent those two years going wheel-to-wheel with Rivkin, Phend, Champlin etc. And he's been learning along the way. Horne, if he can stay focussed and things fall for him, might very well take the biggest prize - and it would honestly surprise nobody. Made the trip to the warmup in April, and stayed on for the week after turning hundreds of laps. He's ready.

Martin Bayer - XRAY/Czech Rep.
As the chief designer and engineer on XRAY's off-road program, it might come as a slight surprise we're naming him as a contender. But then he won the Euros this year, fending off a wildly talented field with a display of pure pace. That, plus previous track experience down under makes Martin Bayer at least worthy of watching. The big question is not about pace, or experience, or talent, or setup knowledge - but about workload. Just how much of the XRAY 'team' responsibility falls to Bayer's shoulders, and is he free to focus? If so, watch out.

Chase Lemieux - XRAY/USA
When it comes to preparation, Chase Lemieux has left no stone unturned for this World Championship tilt. He's made two trips down under, finding the podium at the 2024 Australian Championships, and then third behind Donnelly and Rivkin in 4wd at the warmup. That 4wd result probably indicates Lemieux is most likely to shine in that wheeler class, but he's another who's only one perfect weekend away from a break-out international win. XRAY have a long, long line of threats and, to my mind, Lemieux is on that list.

BONUS: Caleb Noble Rc Racing - AE/Australia
Stick with me here. This one is a genuine left-field suggestion. I'm guessing many around the world have barely heard this name, at least in connection with 10th offroad. A 1/8th specialist, Australia's Caleb Noble has raw pace that is rarely seen, and hard to match. He's made one competitive 10th offroad outing in Australia (yes, ever) when he swept both classes in a strong field at the Victorian Championships on a slippery track late in 2024. He did that with borrowed cars. He has no factory ride, no experience at Hills, and no reason to suggest him as a potential winner. And yet....  This event could go any way for Noble - that lack of 10th experience, setup knowledge, and track trime might keep him down in the lower reaches of the top 50. Or he just might pull out a shock result. Either way, he definitely won't be boring to watch.

We've left out a load of talented drivers, and we'll be back to complete the list - everybody we can think of who's a genuine A final chance, and better. In the meantime, what do you make of this top-10 list of potential first-time Champs? Who would you have put in your top ten?

Today, in part 1, we’re starting at the top – the drivers in the field that have previous World Championship wins (in any category), and will bring that past experience to bear in Sydney in just a couple of weeks. Most (if not all) of these guys are among the favourites to win. Let’s dive in - and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments.

Davide Ongaro RC (Current 4wd Champ, 8th 2018, 2022, 2024)
Davide Ongaro has a fair claim on the title of best driver in the world right now. If a stunning three World Championships running in the blue ribbon 8th Nitro Buggy category wasn’t enough, Ongaro showed up at Hobby Action for the 2023 Worlds, built a car in his hotel room, and proceeded to dominate 4wd in a style of racing (US indoor clay) he’d barely tackled before. It was an astonishing performance from the Team Associated pilot, and even if he’s done limited 10th since then, there’s no reason he won’t be an outright threat in Sydney – particularly in 4wd. His most recent start at the European Champs, indoors at Hudy Arena netted a couple of A final positions.

Tater Sontag RC (Current 2wd Champ)
The IFMAR World Championships has a long history of unearthing first-time winners that weren’t necessarily favourites at the time. Some go on to stellar careers, others not so much. And the thing is, we never know at the time. When Hirosaka won in 1987, he’d barely been heard of outside Japan. When Cavalieri won for the first time in 2003, he wasn’t necessarily among the big favourites that time around. Both went on to be among the all-time greats. On the flip side, Steven Hartson’s incredible 2013 win (from P6 on the grid!) represented the high water mark of his career. Having arguably been a slightly surprising winner in 2023, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest Sontag has all the skills to be a world level threat for a long time to come. That said, it might just be that having not made the trip down under to practice, he’ll be on the back foot early this time around in very unfamiliar conditions. XRAY will have the setup dialled with a strong local contingent feeding intel, but look for a stronger 4wd showing for Sontag (over 2wd) as he comes to grips with the track surface.

Spencer Rivkin (2wd 2015, 2wd 2019)
If being twice World Champion in the category wasn’t enough, Spencer Rivkin is also the best-prepared international driver coming into this event. He’s twice travelled to Australia to practice (the Warmup event, plus the 2024 Australian Championships where he took the 2wd win). He also sat out the recent eBuggy World Champs in order to be fully focussed on 1/10th. He comes in spearheading the powerhouse AE team, and will be fast out of the gate. We consider Rivkin an absolute favourite in both classes. There’s a huge distance between favouritism and a World Championship win though, something Rivkin knows only too well from 2023. We get the feeling he’s leaving nothing to chance. 2wd might be (just) Rivkin’s strongest chance, but it’s a tiny difference and he’ll be up-front in 4wd as well.

David Ronnefalk (8th, 2016)
The lead European driver for the strong XRAY squad, David Ronnefalk made the trip to Sydney in July to get his first taste of the Hills track. That gives him more recent experience than those who travelled for the Worlds Warmup in April, but everybody starts fresh with an all-new layout, and a newly re-laid surface. Along with his 2016 8th Buggy win, Ronnefalk has finished as high as 2nd in 1/10th offroad (2017, China 4wd) and comes into this one on a hot streak, having won 4wd at the European Championships, plus the Nitro Buggy Euros in recent months. Taking a WC win in a second category would cement Ronnefalk’s legacy in the top echelon of drivers, and we’d not bet against it. Is he another who maybe the tiniest bit stronger in 4wd?

Michal Orlowski (1/12th, 2024)
Michal Orlowski has been one of the best all-round drivers in the world of RC for a few years now – dominant in touring car, winning big in 10th offroad, and also a threat in 8th offroad on his rare appearances (a past Euros win plus 2025 Worlds Podium in eBuggy, for example). That said, dirt offroad is probably the context he has the least regular exposure to, so there is a learning curve there. Orlowski made the trip to Sydney for the Worlds Warmup with the Schumacher R/C Racing factory squad, finishing on the podium in 2wd and looking strong in 4wd with a prototype version of the company’s new chassis. With a further 6 months development, look for Orlowski to be upfront in both classes. Like Ronnefalk, a win here would cement a legacy.

Marcus Kærup RC Driver (eBuggy, 2025)
The newest offroad IFMAR World Championship winner, taking the inaugural 8th eBuggy win just a few weeks ago in Portugal, Marcus Kaerup will arrive in Australia chock-full of confidence, and rightly so. In April he was the biggest threat to dominant local Lachlan Donnelly (who we’ll look at in our next preview story), and will only be stronger for that experience. We’ve said elsewhere that learning how to win at World Championship level is an important tool in the kit, and there’s absolutely no reason Kaerup can’t add to his IFMAR tally next fortnight. With an uber-strong AE team drawing on a tonne of local knowledge, Kaerup is an outright favourite.

Of the past World Champion entrants, who do you like for the win at Hills? We’d hoped to see Jorn Neumann (8th GT 2020) and Ryan Cavalieri (2003, 2005, 2011x2) on the list as well, but have heard both are late withdrawals from the event.

Catch all the action live on RC Race Media from September 30th. And if you like these kind of written stories, let us know and give it a share.

Next time: Contenders for a First-Time Win!

📷RC Race Media

Heading into the Final Race

Going into the final race in Norrköping, I had already secured the overall cup victory with four straight wins and the maximum 800 points. That meant I could approach this last race without pressure, just focusing on enjoying myself. But I’m a racer at heart — I always want to win — so I still gave it everything I had. 
With 33 drivers in five heats, three in 4wd and two in 2wd, it would turn out to be a long day. It's great to see such turnout in this class and we have many new drivers this season.

A Tough Start

I arrived at the track the night before, exhausted after a couple of intense work weeks. Motivation was low, and things didn’t improve during practice. My exhaust pipe came loose for no apparent reason, and then I discovered that my steering felt terrible again. After some troubleshooting, I realized only one of my two steering servos was actually working — dragging the other one along. This was the same frustrating issue I’d had at the Euros and the previous race. For some reason, before each race, I have to unplug and replug the second servo to “wake it up.” Very strange — and the problem continued all through the race weekend.

Wet and Slippery Conditions

Heavy rain during the night left the track wet and slick in the morning. The surface was very slippery, forcing us to power-slide through corners — challenging, but honestly a lot of fun. Apart from that the track had some layout changes from last season that was great additions and made the racing much more fun and closer.

Qualifying & 1/8 Final

Qualifying went okay, though I made a few simple mistakes and started third in the 1/8 final. Because of the large number of drivers and some delays in the schedule, we didn’t start until after lunch. It was going to be a long day.

I drove a clean race and won the 1/8 final, but the field was close behind. I knew the rest of the day was going to be intense.

Quarter Final Chaos

The quarter final could not have started worse — I was hit from behind in the first corner and spun around, ending up dead last. Time to play catch-up. I love this kind of challenge, though — working my way through the field, lap after lap. With just a few laps left, I fought my way into the lead after some really fair and exciting battles. On the final straight, my car suddenly went full throttle on its own! Luckily, killswitches are mandatory in Sweden, so I was able to shut it down right after crossing the finish line.

I discovered that my throttle/brake servo was glitching at high RPMs — likely an electrical issue. I replaced the servo and fixed the problem. Fortunately, the long breaks between heats gave me time to repair and properly tune the car.

Semifinal

The semifinal was another nail-biter, but I managed to win again — keeping my streak of heat wins alive for the entire season. Only the A-final remained, but with so many strong drivers, victory was far from guaranteed.

A-Final – The Decider

By the time the final started, the sun was setting, the light was fading, and everyone was exhausted from the long day. I had a great start and quickly built a gap, but soon had pressure from faster drivers right behind me.

After a few laps, disaster struck — I got stuck on one of the pins holding down the track markers, losing three positions. I fought my way back up to second, but the leader was far ahead. My only chance was to drive flawlessly and hope he made a mistake. He did — and I regained the lead!

But racing luck wasn’t on my side. While lapping slower cars, I was bumped off the track not once, but twice. The second time was especially bad — I got stuck in the corner into the the main straight, allowing the second-place car to pass. I lost my rhythm after that and couldn’t recover.
You can watch the second incident around the 18:30 mark in the race video. But that's racing and I don't hold and grudges, I know nobody does this on purpose. The winner was well deserved and he drove great the whole day.

In the end, I lost the only one heat of the entire season — and that's in the very last race. That stung, as a “perfect season” had been within reach. 

Still, this was probably the most fun race of the year — with incredible on-track battles — and I hadn’t even been motivated to go in the first place! Norrköping remains a challenge for me; I haven’t won there in three years. I’ll be back next year to try again.
I also want to make sure to thank all the people in Norrköping who helped out and made this cup final such a great and fun race. 

Season Recap

This concludes the 2025 race season. The cup was a success, four wins out of five, 19 heathens out of 20, but the Euros in Fehring was once again a disappointment results-wise. Still, the Euros is always about more than just racing — the experience itself is special.

Farewell to the Ultron

This also marks the end of my time with the Ultron. It was never supposed to run this season, but with delays on the Rival, I had to compete with a car that was technically “retired.” It wasn’t ideal, but it got me through another full year. Now it’s time to move on for real. I have two options for my next car — but that’s a story for another day…

Photo credits: Malcolm Wigren

Just the 36 years ago !

Schumacher were the principle sponsor back then and it was a fabulous event.  We're sure this years will be the same !

The over 100 picture slide show is available at https://www.racing-cars.com/ifmar-worlds-1989-australia

In terms of my performance at this event, I finished in the B-Main while racing against many of the ROAR racers I routinely compete with on national level. Our Tekno team at the event worked well together, Jared, Joey, Ilias, Dany Fernandez and of course Joao Figueiredo never gave in, and we competed to the end.  Congratulations to Marcus Kaerup on a great weekend getting the TQ and the World Championship title.

I went through a large assortment of tires and compounds while the track changed through weather and different temperatures. Personally, I had my best runs when the track was looser and after the weather rolled in and topped out around 14th for the round of qualifying. I used a selection of JConcepts Dirt Web 2, Double Bars, Reflex, and settled on blue after the rain and A2 compound once the track was dry and warm.

One of the benefits to the weekend was the one-on-one time with Team Cayote and to better learn the latest advancements in speed control and motor technology. I was able to take this knowledge home and use it at a new or upcoming race in the future. Thanks to them for sending in a large group from the factory to support us in all ways possible. The FlySky radio was perfect all weekend, tuned, and worked great alongside the Cayote electrical. Another benefit was the small and compact nature of the radio and traveling box which allowed me to keep the bulk of my traveling items to a minimum.

Thanks to Jason and Allison Ruona from JConcepts performing team support all weekend for racers. IIias was there all weekend for the Tekno Team including helping with car preparation, setup, and technical inspection and pit work. Oscar, Bob, and Mimi from Cayote were fantastic in the support of the electronics, I look forward to seeing them at more events in the future. A racer simply cannot do these types of events without team support like this.

Next event, Sikcross at The Drake Raceway in Beaumont, California.
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Tekno RC
JConcepts
Cayote
FlySky
ProTek RC
VP Fuels
Flash Point
RM2
Hobby Action
A-Main Hobbies
Drakein
Factory Tracks
Stick-It One