Champlin on top of the World Down Under – Schumacher gets first 2WD World title

Broc Champlin is the new IFMAR 1:10 2WD Offroad World Champion, the American securing the biggest accolade in the sport by winning the opening two A-Mains in Sydney, Australia, and claiming Schumacher’s first 2WD World title.  Kicking off finals day at the Hills RC Off Road track with a TQ run in the fifth & final qualifier to line up second behind Top Qualifier Marcus Kaerup this was to be a hint of what was to come.  With Champlin all over the rear wing of Kaerup in A1 there would be contact on the penultimate lap, the pair touching mid air in the double double.  With Kaerup’s Associated going tumbling, Champlin came out of it just in the lead after a drag race down the straight with World Finals debutant Davey Batta.  2-time World Champion Spencer Rivkin would come through from sixth to complete the Top 3 as Kaerup crossed the line in fifth.  With a protest against Champlin proving unsuccessful for Kaerup, the Dane would lead away A2 again with Champlin applying the pressure and four laps in as he got his buggy on two wheels, Champlin didn’t need a second invitation to go through to the lead.  It was to be a lead the 23-year-old would hold, a mistake from Kaerup putting an end to any potential come back, and crossing the he became the latest IFMAR World Champion on the 40th anniversary of the championships.  With the new Champion locked in, Champlin becoming the 15th driver to join the 2WD roll of honour, A3 would decide the remaining podium places.  With Kaerup finally convert his pole position into a win this would see him salvage a podium behind Batta, as he, Rivkin, and Daniel Kobbevik all finished on the same points.

Becoming the 10th American winner of the original Offroad World Championship class, asked who it felt to become a World Champion, Champlin replied, ‘Absolutely amazing, there is really no words, it’s just special to have the chance to battle for one and then to win it is just next level’.  Hailing from Las Vegas he continued, ‘My car was super good the whole race and I was trying to maintain pressure and understood I couldn’t get too close.  Then Marcus tapped out, left the door open, I went to the inside.  He then made mistake and I was just able to relax a little bit.’  Asked how relaxed he was or if the nerves where an issue as he realised he was closing in on a World title, he said, ‘the nerves didn’t kick in until the last lap, when you have a bigger lead it’s harder cause your thinking about it.’  On giving Schumacher their first 2WD World title, he said, ‘I am super happy for them.  I just want to thank Trish, Robin, Muz, and everybody at the Schumacher factory.  I also want to thank Clu Connors from Whitz Racing Products, Jason & Alison from JConcepts, the whole Hobbywing crew, Gens ace, Power HD, all my sponsors, my friends, my family, I couldn’t do it without them.’  Racing since the age of 9, asked if becoming a World Champion was always the dream or at which stage of his career it became a goal, he said, ‘I would say as soon as I saw the joy in Slovakia that was brought to Spencer when I was team-mates with him.  And just how much it actually meant really put it into perspective that I really wanted to win it.’  Realising that goal today, asked if he was now thinking about the double as we head into the 4WD action he replied, ‘I am not thinking about the double just yet, I will probably enjoy dinner with the team, a glass of wine, and then sit down tomorrow get my 4WD tyres and car ready and go from there.  I was really confident coming in with 4WD, less confident with 2WD, so if 2WD went really well there is a chance 4WD could as well.’

With Batta impressing a lot of people here in Sydney, the 20-year-old summed up his performance with,  ‘I’m definitely happy but I have seen P2 a lot over the past few years and I was just trying to look for the win so when I get back home it’s back to work and keep grinding.’  Asked about his finals the Californian said, ‘A1 I made a tiny mistake on the doubles, the wind caught me a little bit and I dropped back.  I tried reeling them back in and I was in the perfect spot when Marcus and Broc got together and I drag raced Broc down the straight away but I didn’t want to fully cut him off and screw both of us so he ended up getting by me right there.  I tried putting pressure on him the rest of the lap but I didn’t want to really push to hard and hit him so ended up with a second.’  While trying to chase down Champlin in A2, finishing 6/10ths of a second off, Batta said, ‘I was chasing down Broc towards the end of A2 trying to reel him in but he did an amazing job. I race him in the States all the time so I will try to get him back later.’  With his car feeling ‘really grippy’ in A3, he would clip a curb in the top 180 and his car rolled over dropping him back but his two second places in the opening finals were enough for the runner-up spot on his first Worlds A-Main appearance.  With Arizona two years ago his first Worlds experience he finished 15th on that occasion.  Making a strong impression with his pace throughout 2WD here, asked his expectations for 4WD he replied, ‘this whole month leading up to the event I was practicing my 2WD and the last few weeks I built my 4WD and I took it out for a day and I was ‘this think is amazing’ so I put right back in the bag and we’re hoping it is as good as it is were I practice.’

‘I’m a bit disappointed to not get the win but Broc was the better driver on the day’, that was how Kaerup summed up his finals.  The 17-year-old continued, ‘I went the wrong way with the set-ups and small mistakes in the main cost me the title but I’m pretty happy to get third overall and recover what I could.  Congrats to Broc and Davey for the first and second place.’  The recently crowned eBuggy World Champion added, ‘I should have kept my se-up from Q3 and just got my confidence more & more but we went the wrong way every time trying something new so we just let other people into the party and we will not make he same mistake in 4WD.  I always like 4WD more so I am looking forward to it.’

A driver who was also making his first 2WD World final appearance, posting a TQ run in the fourth round of qualifying to line up P3, Kobbevik was frustrated at missing out on the podium.  A previous 4WD World Finalist at the Hudy Arena in 2019, also just missing out on the podium then and finishing fourth, the Norwegian said, ‘I knew I had to beat Marcus in the last one, and tried my best to do it clean but I couldn’t get passed and missed the single double double a bit, and to be honest A2 for me was a shame because Spencer took me out before the jump section.  I put in a protest but apparently they didn’t have a video review of it and the referee didn’t see it, so my protest wasn’t successful but if I would get that first spot in the second leg I could have just settled behind Marcus in the third leg so it would be nice for me but I had to go the hard way and it didn’t work.’  Looking to the upcoming 4WD action, the 19-year-old said, ‘at the warm-up for sure I was much quicker in 4WD than 2WD.  Every race is different but for sure I am even more motivated now for 4WD.’

View our event image gallery here.