‘Preparations for Worlds has to be exceptional to win’ – Alexander Hagberg
IFMAR’s original electric World Championship takes place in Florida this week where the 21st Champion will decided among a small but ultra competitive field. One of those drivers who will be vying for success is Alexander Hagberg who, as one of the great specialists of the category, is also one who holds a membership to one of RC racing’s most elite clubs. In 2014 he claimed his first World title when he won 1:10 Nitro Touring Car in Thailand, and then in 2018 he took the sport’s biggest prize in 1:12 in South Africa. As the reigning European 1:12 Champion, equalling David Spashett’s record of 8 titles when he won in April of this year, it is fair to say he isn’t going into these Worlds on the back of a run of impressive form since.
An event that attracted many of the expected title contenders, the recent US Indoor Champs saw Hagberg qualify down in 7th before making up two places in the finals to finish low key 5th. Having had issues, including a wheel hub coming off, he said the race is not a good comparison for the Worlds explaining, ‘Track conditions in Cleveland are radically different with Touring Car racing too, the track being in use 24 hours, different sauce. There are many variables, the conditions we wil have in Florida are very hard to predict’.
Enjoying a competitive Snowbirds in February where he finished second, the Swede admits ‘other races have been frustrating’. He added, ‘It hasn’t been a great year leading up to the Worlds. That doesn’t mean the Worlds will be bad for me. For confidence it is not great but it is not relevant to how the Worlds is going to go, in fact having poor outings can mean you are sacrificing the races for testing, so we could be in good shape for the Worlds’. In terms of racing, given he also has his Electric Touring Car race commitments, Hagberg does ‘roughly 30 races a year and the majority of them are international’ adding his record stands at 34 races in a year.
With an impressive track record of having the same main sponsor throughout his career, this is the 34-year-old’s 18 season with Xray. Now 12-years a professional driver with the Slovakian manufacturer, he gave them their first ever World title in 2014 and their first ETS Modified race win at the beginning of the championship’s heyday years plus many other significant wins along the way. Asked if after all the years he still enjoys his job, he was quick to reply, ‘I still have a big passion for what I do, it’s the competitive side that motivates me and I enjoy the promotion and car development side too. The travelling is not as enjoyable now that I have family. The travel is the worst part but the racing is still exciting.’
Chatting to us for this article while in Canada with team-mate Keven Hebert for a four days of testing ahead of making the trip to Beachline Raceway, asked his approach to the Worlds he replied, ‘Preparations for a Worlds has to be exceptional to win. You can’t prepare for every race in a perfect way, there is not enough time. Worlds you put everything on the table. If you don’t get the result you were hoping for you know you put in the work. It’s definitely a special race’. On the 2023 Worlds, admitting himself his title defence in 2020 when he finished 6th was ‘disappointing but its how it is’, he believes it is going to be ‘interesting and competitive’ and he knows going into it that ‘4 or 5 other guys are going to be quick, you could win or finish in the B-Main, you never know’.
On the modern state of 1:12 he said, ‘The cars are better than they have been. The electrics are very good and the batteries are better with more power to use. They are faster than ever but harder than ever to drive. I hope it doesn’t affect racing but expect lots of crashes. It is very hard to drive 8-minutes without mistakes.’ On the track at Beachline Raceway he said, ‘there are question marks for everyone, the carpet, the tyres, the high humidity, there is no AC in the building. Nobody knows as we have never been in this type of condition before’.
Our coverage of the 2023 IFMAR 1:12 World Championship, which is possible thanks to new 1:24 and 1:12 body shell producer Radbody, begins Wednesday (6th Dec) with reports from controlled practice with the Champion set to be crowned Saturday afternoon.