Red RC » P Off Road

July 19, 2025

3-in-row as Bernadzik is Top Qualifier ‘Down Under’

It’s the third season of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships, the third time Pine Hill Dirt Racing track has hosted the Australian round, and completing the hat trick Team Associated’s Alex Bernadzik has just secured the overall TQ for the third year in a row. With this year’s event attracting its biggest ever international entry, it was the Australian who delivered in the deciding fifth & final round of Nitro Buggy qualifying. With Japan’s Kouki Kato and American Tyler Jones the other TQ contenders, having taken the first two rounds of qualifying on Thursday, Infinity’s Kato would be the first to bow out as he crashed on his first flying lap and suffered a flameout. Sparko driver Jones also crashed on his first lap giving Bernadzik, who already had the fastest qualifying run from Q4, the breathing space for a second TQ run. This time his closest challenger was Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen, the gap 1.531-seconds at the end of the 5-minutes. Overall, behind Bernadzik it will be Kato who lines up second on the grid followed by Jones, Iivonen and last year’s winner Caleb Noble.

Continue reading here

July 19, 2025

Bernadzik delivers on speed to take Q4 in Brisbane

Having been super quick throughout the first two days of action at the Australian round of the Asian Buggy Championships, Team Associated’s Alex Bernadzik finally delivered a TQ run when he took the penultimate round of nitro buggy qualifying at Pine Hills Dirt Racing track. Opening Day 3 of the event with a third TQ run in eBuggy, last year’s event Top Qualifier finally put together the run we were waiting for, setting a new fastest time as he ended up almost 5-second faster than the Sparko of Q3 winner Tyler Jones. Taking the opening two rounds on Thursday, Infinity’s Kouki Kato completed the Top 3, and with the just fifth & final quali to go it will be a three way battle for the overall TQ between Kato, Jones and Bernadzik – drivers’ best two to count. Getting a fourth for the round was Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen, the Top Seed now no longer in contention to be the Top Qualifier in Brisbane. Leading the Sworkz challenge this weekend, it was another solid nitro effort from Atsushi Hara, the former World Champion & Philippine Masters podium finisher, completing the Top 5 for his best run so far having got his first Top 6 yesterday.

Continue reading here

July 18, 2025

T-Works RC10 B84 Rear Chassis Skid Protector

Adding to its range of skid plates, T-Works has introduced an option for use on the new Team Associated RC10 B84/B84D 1:10 4WD Buggy chassis. Made from stainless steel, the rear plate, which comes supplied as two plates, is designed to provide protection for the buggy’s chassis against scratches which are part of the wear & tear that comes with racing offroad.

Source: T-Works [rc-tworks.com]

July 18, 2025

Jones TQs third qualifier at Asian Buggy Championships

With intermittent rain throughout the day interrupting the second official day of action at the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships in Australia, when Round 3 of qualifying finally concluded it was the Sparko of Tyler Jones who came out fastest. The American took the day’s only round, two originally on the schedule, ahead of last year’s Top Qualifier Alex Bernadzik by 0.273 of a second. Struggling with traffic throughout his run, Top Seed Pekko Iivonen took his Mayako to the third fastest time ahead of yesterday’s Q1 & 2 pace setter Kouki Kato – a 3-second mistake in the middle of the run denying the Infinity driver from three in a row at the Pine Hills Dirt Racing track. The big winner at last year’s Australian round of the Scotty Ernst promoted championship, Tekno’s Caleb Noble claimed a P5 with Atsushi Hara completing the Top 6. With rain affecting the running of the top heat of eBuggy, a rerun at the end of the day saw Bernadzik go one better than nitro to take his second TQ run of the event with Kato and Hara competing the Top 3.

Continue reading here

July 17, 2025

Kato again in Q2 as Iivonen throws it away under the lights at Pine Hills

Racing under the flood lights at the Pine Hills track in Brisbane, Infinity’s Kouki Kato made it two from two in qualifying at the third round of the Asian Buggy Championships. Again it was a last lap mistake that promoted Kato to the top of the timing screens, this time top seed Pekko Iivonen with the costly error. With driver errors the talking point of qualifying so far, Iivonen dropped two & a half seconds as a result of his mistake allowing Kato to back up Q1 with another TQ run by 1.358-seconds over the Finn’s Mayako. Racing under flood lights in order to get a second round of qualifying in the books as the forecast is giving rain for the morning, Jackson Beale would complete the Top 3 for Tekno. After an error in Q1 that left him P10, a clean run in Q2 allowed the 19-year-old to back up his strong showing in seeding. After a P2 in the first round, last year’s race winner Caleb Noble had two bad laps and ended up P5 behind Pine Hill Club President Zac Ryan. Opening with a P3, Jayden Edmunds again had traffic issues but this time it lead to a costly error and he ended the day with a P6. Opening the second round of qualifying with a TQ run in eBuggy ahead of Iivonen and Tyler Jones, Team Associated’s Alex Bernadzik couldn’t repeat in Nitro ending up 7th.

Continue reading here

July 17, 2025

G-Force Xtrada 1:10 4WD Buggy

Having shown some pre-production images of it Xtrada 1:10 4WD Buggy back in May, Japan’s G-Force has just officially announced the release of its all new kit which it says is a 2-belt drive 4WD chassis reminiscent of legendary race-winning cars. The drive system is paired with a rear mid-motor and vertically mounted battery layout, a setup that delivers fierce traction and an ideal weight balance, achieving the perfect harmony between controllable steering and unbeatable rear stability—two traits rarely found together. Supervised by Masami Hirosaka, the newly designed body, with its rear-shifted cabin and pronounced side volume, adds both visual impact and aerodynamic functionality. Equipped with big bore dampers, long-span front and rear suspension arms, and a slipper clutch, the XTRADA adapts to everything from dusty tracks to high-grip tracks with ease. Describing the Xtrada as ‘a true neo-classic buggy’ it adds it is ‘a nostalgic throwback for veteran RC drivers, and a fresh, exciting discovery for the new generation.’

View more images here

July 17, 2025

Kato takes Q1 in Brisbane

The first round of qualifying is in the books at the third round of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships and it was Infinity’s Kouki Kato who came out on top in Brisbane. The Japanese driver claimed the first TQ run of the weekend ahead of last year’s Australian round winner Caleb Noble, the Tekno driver benefitting from mistakes by a number of key contenders. Winner of the opening round of the championship in New Zealand back in March, Jayden Edmunds completed the Top 3 as the top Mayako, his team-mate Pekko Iivonen, having topped seeding, having a run he summed as ‘bad’. The Finnish driver said his tyres just didn’t feel right and he struggled ending up with a P12. Suffering a number of mistakes, Team Associated’s Alex Bernadzik had good speed but ended up P4 while having TQ’d the first round of eBuggy, Sparko’s Tyler Jones opened with a P5, the American another with a costly mistake in the run.

Continue reading here

July 17, 2025

Iivonen tops seeding at Asian Buggy C/ships Australia

Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen has got his first ever visit to Australia off to a strong start, the Finn topping seeding for Round 3 of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships in Brisbane. Racing on the oil treated Pine Hills track, Iivonen set the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the two seeding rounds ahead of another track first timer Kouki Kato, the Infinity driver 3/10th of a second off his rival. Heading the local challenge was last year’s Top Qualifier, the Team Associated of Alex Bernadzik just 8/100th off the Japanese visitor with the Tekno of fellow Aussie Jackson Beale fourth fastest. With 2025 the attracting Australian round of the championship’s biggest international entry, it was another visitor who completed the Top 5 with American Sparko team driver Tyler Jones travelling 29-hours for his first ever race outside of the USA. With a threat of rain showers tomorrow, the oil treated surface being very slick in the damp, drivers are in for a busy first official day of action in Brisbane as Race Director Scotty Ernst pushes to get two rounds of qualifying in the books today in case.

Continue reading here