Back on top of the World after a decade, Ronnefalk gets 2nd World title

A decade after winning his first IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World title, Xray’s David Ronnefalk is back on the top of the world after taking the win at 20th running of the championship today in Hutto, Texas.  After making his Semi Final look like just a formality on his way to securing pole position for the 1-hour final ahead of Top Qualifier Mason Fuller, the Swede looked to be carrying that form in the week’s deciding race.  Out front and looking in control, with 2-minutes on the clock however a mistake in the whoops section and a subsequent error that caused chaos for a number of drivers, put him down to sixth with team-mate Chase Lemieux taking up the lead.  A driver to really impress at these championship, given his limited nitro racing experience, unfortunately a pit lane exit infringement would earn Lemieux a drive through penalty, dropping him down the order but an engine cut at the 20-minute mark put amends to an impressive 1:8 Worlds debut and he eventually finished P8.  With defending Champion Ongaro becoming the third different leader of the race it looked like the Italian was going to once again reign the world for another two years but even the best can make mistakes.  With 25-minutes to run and a comfortable lead over Fuller, the Italian would hit the post on the back of the track, the impact immediately ending his 8 years reign as Champion.  With Fuller now in the lead, holding it for 26 laps, a number of mistakes allowed a recovering Ronnefalk to close and with a faster pit stop go to the front.  As Ronnefalk came in for his final stop, a hard charging Fuller had two mistakes and needed to be marshalled meaning Ronnefalk kept is lead.  Fuller didn’t give up however and pushed his rival right to the finish, the separation 1.439 seconds after an hour of racing.  Having found himself back in 12th early in the race after that chaos caused by Ronnefalk’s mistake 3-minutes into the race, Juan Carlos Canas managed to get himself back up to third to claim the final step on the podium 2-laps down on his Sworkz team-mate.  As the reigning eBuggy World Champion, Marcus Kaerup would be the best Team Associated finisher as he claimed fourth ahead of team-mate Brandon Rose.  While Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen would suffer a run away during his Worlds Final debut, caused by a power switch failure, the teenager’s first refuelling at 12:30 couldn’t go by without an honourable mention.

Recalling his race, Ronnefalk said, ‘I had the plan to make the same start I did in the Semi which I kind of did for the first minute & a half.  I tried to just stay in the front and pull away if possible to already make up that extra pit stop I would need to do over the 1-hour.  But after 2-minutes or so I went a little faster on the washboard and rolled it and lost the position to Chase.’  The 30-year-old continued, ‘I didn’t panic or anything but then coming up to the triple in the middle, I felt like I was in the line but maybe I was in the dust, the rear end stepped out on me in the face and I cased it.  Obviously Mason and Canas were really close behind and I caused some carnage there, not my intention of course but it happened.’  Dropping further down the order he added, ‘I drove a bit crazy after that, Martin (Bayer) kept telling me to just focus and stay calm because when I am smooth out there is when I go fast.  He had to remind me a couple of times because he could see I was pushing pretty hard.’  Winning his first World title also on American soil in 2016 in Las Vegas, he admitted, ‘It probably would have been impossible to get Davide unless something happened, which is what happened, and to win you need to finish and this time the day was not his day, it was my day, I have been on the other side of that before so what goes around comes around.’  On the battle with Fuller, he said, ‘I knew I had to make up a pit stop in the last 30-minutes because I was behind Mason and had to pit once more than him but with two stops to go I felt like I was in the position were I made up enough time especially with our quick pit stops, I felt like Dad and Martin did super fast stops all week and that was to my advantage this time.  The final 7-minutes felt like the longest that I drove because he was fast but with 3-minutes to go I had 3-seconds or so and knew that it would be very difficult if I just stayed in the line for him to catch up cause my speed was still good and when he is charging so hard it is difficult to stay clean on this track being so technical, I am just super happy to stay in front over the line.’  On Xray first 1:8 Buggy World title, having joined the Slovakian manufacturer 3-years ago to the month, he said ‘It’s something of course I am very proud of, this is not an individual effort its a team effort and we have been working hard all year trying to figure out what we needed to do with the car together with Cicci and Chase here in the US and Dakota as well and obviously Martin and Juraj and everyone working really hard back at the factory.  I gave them another European Championship title in 8th scale last year and I am super happy to be their first World Champion on the 8th scale nitro side.  I also have to thank Hotrace who made a new tyre for this event in the Tokyo.’

Summing up his run to second place Fuller said, ‘I made a few changes, nothing crazy but just to get more stability out of it and I think it worked out, we were close.’  He added, ‘It started off pretty good, started 3rd and just tried to get out Top 5 and get away from the pack.  Then David had an issue, he was out in the lead and then feel way back.  Davide was way ahead so I was honestly just trying to hold the podium spot and then Davide and Chase had their issues.’  With one previous Worlds Final appearance, 2022 in Spain where he finished 10th, the Iowa racer continued, ‘I had a little lead but David was really fast, he caught up and I tried to hold the lead but unfortunately lost it with 10-minutes to go I think.  I tried to catch him at the end but just came up a bit short.’  Summing the entire week, one in which he clearly put himself on the world stage, the 21-year-0ld said, ‘I have never been this close to winning a worlds so I am still really happy overall.  For sure I am hungry for more and we’ll get the head down and try again in 2-years.’

‘It was a good come back’ was how Canas summed up his 3rd place.  The Spaniard explained, ‘Some guys had a crash in front of me and I thought I chose the right line to avoid them but I ended up going out of the track and I went back to 12th or something.  So after that I think I can only be happy to make Top 3 in the World at the best level.’  The 24-year-old added, ‘I think it was a good result for me, for the team, and it looks like everything worked on point.  If not you can’t make from 12th to 3rd, it’s so difficult.’  On his strategy, he highlighted he was pleased to run 8:30, saying it was ‘the first time I make 8:30 in a final and that means the new engine from Reds is working really well.’  He concluded, ‘I am already waiting for the next one (World Championship).’

Returning to the driver stand to congratulate Ronnefalk on his win, the very driver he took the title off in Perth in 2018, explaining his shock exit Ongaro said, ‘I was super relaxed and confident and I just hit the pole one time this week and it was in the worst moment.  I think when I hit it I broke the steering servo and I couldn’t continue, that’s it.’  The 25-year-old added, ‘Go job to David and his team, we’ll try again in 2-years.’  FEMCA will host 2028 IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship meaning the race returns to Asia for the first time since Ongaro became the youngest winner of the sport’s top prize then aged just 17.

Semi just a formality as Ronnefalk secures pole in Texas

The Semi Finals were just a formality for Xray’s David Ronnefalk, the 2016 World Champion securing pole for the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas with his dominant winning time in the first Semi securing him pole for the title decider.  Needing to do an extra fuel stop over his rivals, the Swede got a early break when Canas crashed on the opening lap and back up the field.  Pulling out an earlier lead, Ronnefalk’s extra fuel stop was quick negated such was the buffer he built up by his first stop.  At the end of the 30-minutes it was 2024 pole sitter Juan Carlos Canas who finished second despite making contact with the same post that made him an internet sensation in the final qualifier.  Completing the Top 3 was Spencer Rivkin ahead of Team Associated team-mate Brandon Rose.  In the second Semi, the opening part of the race very scrappy with defending World Champion Davide Ongaro and Top Qualifier Mason Fuller coming together and handing Ryan Maifield the lead until he found the famous left hand side roof post.  In the end it was the very impressive Chase Lemieux who took his Xray to the win holding just fending of the close attentions of both Fuller and Ongaro, the defending champion set to start 4th on the grid behind Fuller.

Giving a run down on his perfectly executed Semi, Ronnefalk said, ‘I got a good start and was able to do what I wanted to which was to try to make up as much time in the first stint as possible and with Juan Carlos crashing on the first lap it made that a lot easier for me and I was able to come out in front after my first pit stop so that was key.  After that I just able tried to control the race, not over doing anything, and being cautious when I knew that I was not on the right line on the track, like on the back section or whatever I just slowed down enough to where I didn’t risk anything.  I had a bad stint after the second pit stop I felt like I just found it hard to focus and I didn’t really have anyone to gauge my speed off of so when I little slow there for 2-3 minutes but then I saw Canas where I had him on the track and I just tried to match my speed with him for the last 5-minutes.’  On his FX Engines powered XB8 for the final, the 30-year-old said they will just check over the buggy and having not changed anything since qualifying they have no plans to change for the 1-hour Main.

Set to chase a fourth consecutive World title at Thornhill Racing Circuit, summing up his race Ongaro said, ‘the start was bad, I lost a lot of time there.  My car was actually good and I was trying to push on Mason who was slower than me and then I hit him and I need to wait because the referee say I have to wait.  Then I had a mistake on the right section so I was like 6 or 8th so then I just keep my head down.  The car was good and we got third.’   Asked if the speed is there for the final to take the fight to Ronnefalk, the 25-year-old replied, ‘Maybe David didn’t push at all in his Semi, he was alone in his Semi so he was driving well, but considering all my mistakes to be 2-seconds off him after 30-minutes of racing I think we are closer than the qualifying.’

Tebo progresses to final day 1:8 Nitro Buggy Worlds

Jared Tebo will progress to the main day at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas, this the legendary American offroad racer’s 1st World Championships as a privateer.  His tenth Nitro Worlds, racing last as a factory driver in Redovan in 2022, the 39-year-old found himself 54th at the end of qualifying in what he himself described as ‘a rough qualifying’ but taking the win in his 1/16 final he now gets to be part of the Main day here at Thornhill Racing Circuit for the 20th edition of the World Championships.  Not just racing this week but also here with his family running his growing JTP business’ track side shop, Tebo, who is known for being his own biggest critic, joked ‘this is my first Worlds wearing with a bunch of hats.’  Asked how the week had gone the multiple 1:10 World Champion said, ‘I just haven’t really flowed with the track.  I haven’t really felt the rhythm and wasn’t sure if it was my car or my driving so I was kind trying stuff on my car but still just not driving that well.’  He continued, ‘My last qualifier went well and I had kind of a 15-20 run going but crashed twice on the last lap and ruined it and that’s kind of why I am racing today.’  Taking the 1/16B final win ahead of 2012 World Champion Robert Batlle, this the Spaniard’s 12th Worlds appearance, he said, ‘I felt I probably drove the best I have driven that race so yeah all positive and looking forward to tomorrow.’

Asked if he was happy enough with his performance given his ‘privateer’ status and also running his shop, he replied, ‘I am not happy with my results at all but I am trying to be.  I had a little high expectations coming in.  I practiced a lot and made a point to try practice with Mason Fuller a bunch.  I was running his pace at all these different tracks and he’s TQ and I am 54th, you know, so that’s been discouraging, obviously I want him to do really well but I expected myself to do better.  I am hard on myself but I’ve got to realise that I am here for JTP, my family, and our shop.’  Also progressing from Tebo’s final will be Pelle Culmsee and Nate Sutherland who finished 3rd and 4th respectively.  In the 1/16A Final, Lee Setser took the win from the TQ ahead of Cole Kasten, Bryan Baldo (organiser of the last two Worlds), and 2023 2WD World Champion Tater Sontag who all progress to the 1/8 Final tomorrow, the remaining entry now down to the final 56 drivers.