Who is running what in Pattaya

1:8 Buggy is a hugely important market for the r/c industry as it enjoys massive popularity and the World Championships is the best place to showcase your products.  Walking around the pits here in Pattaya one can see the importance of being able to call a brand the World Champion by the huge presence of the big manufacturers. Of the capacity 180 entry, the majority of whom are customers paying for products with their own money, it is Kyosho that is the most popular chassis with 18% of the line up using their MP9.  This is no real surprise considering the Japanese company is by far the most winning manufacturer with 7 World Championship titles to its credit.

The only other manufacturer to have won the World title more than once since its inception in 1986, with victory in 1990 and 2004, is Mugen and they are the second most popular brand with 17% of drivers using their MBX-6.  Losi are the third car of choice on 16%.  Interestingly Team Associated a company which holds the most IFMAR World titles, none of which are 1:8 Off Road, makes up just 8% of the field sharing fourth with European manufacturer Xray.  Reigning World Champions Hot Bodies are the fifth most popular chassis with 6%, or 10 cars, running here.  Interestingly the smallest team here is from the best known r/c company in the world, with Tamiya having just a single entry driven by European 1:10 Off Road Champion Lee Martin.

In terms of engines Italy’s Novarossi is the most used engine with 24% just ahead of defending champions OS on 21% who have 5 World titles to their credit.  Securing the Top Qualifier honours here yesterday, Team Orion are the third engine of choice with almost 12%.

You can download the full breakdown here (.xls).

Special thanks to Bernard Durand of Racing Experience who together with RCSpecial and OS trawled the pits yesterday to compile the statistics.