March 23, 2025

Edmunds earns biggest career win at Asian Buggy Championships opener

Mayako Youth Mentoring Program driver Jayden Edmunds earned the biggest win of his career today with victory in New Zealand following an exciting season opener to the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships.  With the Counties RC Car Club track hosting the first of the four encounters that make up the third season of the 1:8 Offroad Championship, Edmunds sent the first hint of his potential when he topped the second round of qualifying before the highly experienced Kyle McBride hit his stride to take the final two qualifiers and the overall TQ.  Lining up P3 for the 45-minute final behind Sworkz’s Jayden Jamieson, after plenty of shuffling for position at the start, four different leaders in the opening four minutes, Edmunds would settle into serious contention when he took the lead from HB Racing’s Logan Toia on lap 33.  With McBride and Toia, who had three stints at leading, both suffering multiple flameouts ending their challenges, Edmunds would find himself under attack from fellow countryman Caleb Noble.  With a very fast car, his Tekno posting the fastest lap of the race, Noble went to the front with a nice pass coming onto the main straight however as both drivers made their final pit stops, Noble pitting a lap earlier, Edmunds’ stop helped him to retake the lead.  Again Caleb appeared quicker but Edmunds played it cool.  As they came around to start their final lap, a mistake by Noble gave Edmunds the breathing room he needed to secure a very popular first international race win.  Finishing 6-seconds back, Top Seed Noble was clearly unhappy with his second place.  Opening the event strongly with a TQ in the opening qualifier, before starting to feel under the weather on Saturday, Jamieson was happy to survive to finish P3 and claim the Kiwi’s first Asian Buggy Championships podium finish in Nitro Buggy.  Just 3.6-seconds back, the WIRC of eBuggy podium finisher and local racer Kasey Dawson capped off an impressive weekend with fourth while Dylan Toia completed the Top 5.

Reacting to his win, a clearly delighted Edmunds joked, ‘That worked out pretty good I think.’  The 19-year-old continued, ‘I got out to a clean start.  I got into the lead and then made a mistake and lost it but fought back.  Caleb was so fast, he was coming and I had a good battle with him.  It was a great race.’  A driver who strangely enough doesn’t use the now almost universally standard issue radio head sets to communicate with pit crew, highlighting to him how impressively calm his father performs his fuel stops, Edmunds replied, ‘yeah it’s probably something we need to work on, we can always improve but that last one I came into the pits behind Caleb and then got out in front so that was the one that counted.’  Asked how his car evolved over the final, he said, ‘It was definitely hard to hang on to at the end but I think that was the same for everyone due to tyre wear and a very small line on the track.  The track was so bumpy for the final.  I went out in the warm-up and crashed 5 -times in one lap, compared to eBuggy it just got so much bumpier in spots that it hadn’t all weekend.  I just tried to limit the mistakes.’  On his biggest career win he said, ‘the only win I have had before this is sort of local races’ with him then confirming, ‘we’ll be in the Philippines, Queensland and maybe Jakarta’, Indonesia bringing the championship to a conclusion.

Asked for a run down on his race, Noble replied, ‘Not much I can say to not make my brands sound terrible I guess.  I drove shockingly for the first 15-minutes.  Somehow I probably drove the worst car on the grid to within contention.’  Asked what the issue with the car was the 18-year-old replied, ‘I don’t really even want to guess.  eBuggy was super good, shocks were super good and I put them on this car and they were super terrible.’  Asked if he took a risk changing the shocks he said, ‘the eBuggy was really good so I just pulled them off that car and bolted them on this car and it was a like a whole different car.  I drove through the field in eBuggy in A3 twice after getting taken out mid race and then drove back to fourth or whatever it was.’  Putting it to him that he had some very good speed in the nitro buggy final, he said, ‘the car was fast but an absolute handful and just not great to drive, I was just making it happen I guess.’

First asking him about how he was feeling after coming down with something on the second day of qualifying, his voice almost inaudible, Jamieson said, ‘we’re on the way out of it, it’s just a sore coughy throat now.’  Asked if it was a tougher than usual 45-minute final given he was under the weather, the 24-year-old said, ‘I think I went through a whole lot of different phases in that race.  At the start I felt like I was going really good, I got into the lead and if thought if I just hold Kyle up for a bit longer I’ll get his tyres balding off before mine because I knew he was on supersofts and I knew they wouldn’t last but he was quick at the start.  I thought if I can hang on I think I have a chance but then just after I lost the lead my throttle finger went completely numb, pins & needle numb, so for 20-minutes I was hoping and praying I was throttling & braking at the right points.  I think I overshot the first turn twice and the one at the back straight I think three times cause I couldn’t feel what I was doing.’  The reigning New Zealand National Champion continued, ‘then it came right again and I think I got back into third when Logan had his second flameout and I thought I’d be pretty happy with third after all this.  Caleb and Jayden were ahead of everyone in that one so I’m happy with third.’  On his pit stops, having lost out on a podium at the race last year due to a flame out, he said, ‘In the warm-up we ran the engine to test fuel mileage and at 10 minutes 40 we could still drive up the pit lane so in the main we knew we could run nines (9-mins) no drama and that probably helped me beat Kasey.’

‘Not good’, that was how McBride summed up his nitro final.  Having secured the eBuggy win earlier in the day and finishing on the Nitro Buggy podium in New Zealand last year, the World Championship finalist ended today’s the race in 12th & last position.  He continued, ‘I started off surprisingly pretty decent but then I got into the pipe.  I was putting in some clean laps but my car probably about 10-minutes in just felt like it didn’t have rear traction so I don’t know what happened whether it’s the track or maybe my tyres weren’t build for those conditions, I’m not sure.’  Asked if he changed tyre choice for the final he replied, ‘I was running exactly what I was running yesterday.  I didn’t make any changes but the car just wasn’t able to track straight.  I was trying to push and it was just going south so just one of those things and it turned into a bummer of a race and then I flamed out twice after that so game over from there.’  On the flameouts, asked if they were down to pushing fuel mileage or something else he replied, ‘I’m not too sure, I think it was just maybe the idle was too low, just happened twice but yeh a bit of a bummer I was expecting a lot better coming into the final but that’s RC racing for you.’

March 23, 2025

Chassis Focus – Jayden Jamieson (Sworkz)

Chassis – Sworkz S35-4 EVO
Engine – ProTek Samurai RM.1
Fuel – Sidewinder
Tires – TZO 500
Radio/Servo – FlySky Noble NB4 Pro+ / ProTek 170SBL
Body – Leadfinger Racing V2 Beretta

Notes – Jayden’s buggy is fitted with front hub weights from T-works as well as shock caps, a screw kit, and power switch from the aftermarket parts and accessory manufacturer.

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March 23, 2025

McBride wins eBuggy at Asian Buggy Champs

He may have got off to a slow start in eBuggy, but Kyle McBride came away with the win at the opening round of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships in Pukekohe, New Zealand.  After two exciting A-Main encounters on Saturday, it was a three way battle for the overall win going into A3 on Sunday – McBride having won A1, Top Qualifier Logan Toia winning A2, and a second place in A1 putting Caleb Noble in contention.  With Toia leading them away, he and McBride would tangle on the opening lap causing chaos in the chasing pack.  Starting from the 3rd spot, it was WIRC’s Kasey Dawson who came through that the best to lead at the end of the first lap.  From there the top seed & Q1 winner managed to see off the challenge of Mayako’s Jayden Edmunds to take the win with McBride crossing the line in third.  Overall with his A1 win and second in A2 it was McBride’s victory ahead of Toia, who pulled off in A3 in frustration of the driving standards, while an over the moon Dawson completed the podium at his home track.

Summing up A3, McBride described it as ‘extremely hectic’ adding, ‘it was a crazy start, everyone was going for it.  I think I got into the back of someone then had to wait and then I got cleaned out after that and then yeah, I don’t know what was happening, it was a crazy run.’  The Australian continued, ‘about half way through I got to settle down a little bit, everyone sort of got in their places, and I ran smooth race from there and I got a third place.’  Asked if he was aware of what was going on in the overall in terms of points he explained, ‘I knew as long as I beat Logan and Caleb I was sweet.  They were ahead after the start and all the carnage, then I think Logan crashed, same with Caleb, and yeah I just ran clean from there.  As soon as I got in front of them I was like alright just calm down and finish the race.’  On the overall result he said, ‘I’m pretty happy with the win.  I pretty much never run eBuggy only at big events so I haven’t run it in a long time.  It was a bit of a learning curve coming back into it.  Considering how my qualifying went, which was pretty average, it was a pretty good improvement and we got it figured out in the end.’

Asked about the hectic start to A3, Toia said, ‘I don’t really have much to say about it.  I’m quite angry about it so yeah, the car was good but I got driven over the top of’.  On his second place overall, the 17-year-old said, ‘I’m happy, I definitely wanted more but that’s the way racing goes.  I’ll go again in nitro.’

One of the happiest drivers of the weekend, asked about the deciding A-Main, Dawson said, ‘She was a hectic start with pile up in the top right hand corner that I did end up getting stuck into.  I tried to go round and got taken out as well, and then somehow we got to the apex and I’d muscled my way past and got to the lead.  We towed around for a couple of laps and I started to get a gap but everyone started crashing so I had a huge lead there at one point until Jayden (Edmunds) slowly reeled me in.  After that I just tried to keep my lines tidy and drive good and managed to do that.  Jayden caught right up to me right at the end and I tell you what I was rattled.’  He continued, ‘I knew before the race that if I won it would put me on the podium no matter what happened anyone else.  Top Seed, a TQ run and then a Main win wasn’t on my bingo card for this event.  I was hoping for Top 5 in both classes and a podium was a very far cry.  Dreams do come true’.  Admitting to tearing up on the drivers stand after winning A3, he said, ‘I put some much time, effort and money into this, for me but also the Rouge RC boys to give them something back is a great feeling.  All the time Ben Young puts in with me especially on practice days its great to thank them for that with this result.’

March 22, 2025

Chassis Focus – Kyle McBride (Team Associated)

Chassis – Team Associated RC8 B4.1
Engine – O.S. Speed B2104
Fuel – VP Pro
Tires – Hotrace Bangkok (fitted for photos), racing on Amazzonia
Radio/Servos – Futaba 10PX / OZ RC McBride Series
Body – Xtreme Aria

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March 22, 2025

Win apiece for McBride & Toia as eBuggy goes to A3

eBuggy at the Asian Buggy Championships season opener produced two exciting A-Main encounters on Saturday that resulted in Kyle McBride and Logan Toia taking a win apiece to send the decider into Sunday’s A3 in New Zealand.  With HB Racing’s Toia securing the TQ, the Kiwi’s stint at the front was short lived in A1 as a first lap mistake dropped him right to the back of the field.  Up front it seemed for a time that no one wanted to lead the 10-minute encounter with Kasey Dawson, Jayden Edmunds, Caleb Noble and Kyle McBride all throwing away the lead when they got a chance at the front.  As the race reached half distance things settled down with McBride hitting the front again but this time the Aussie stayed there for the win ahead of Noble who saw off a number of challenges from Toia as he made an impressive recovery drive.  In A2, second place qualifier McBride got by Toia on lap 1 but quickly gave it back before Noble took a turn at the front for 4-laps.  Chased down by McBride, the Australians would come together resulting in both getting stuck in the piping.  As they got marshalled, Toia went back to the front and despite McBride’s best efforts stayed there for the win with Noble third – the Tekno driver clearly not impressed by McBride’s driving.  With his second in A1, Noble still however has a chance at the overall win in A3.

Summing up A1, Toia said, ‘I had mistake on lap 1 and then I got caught up with Kyle again in the whoops, that was just unlucky, wrong time, wrong place.  I was dead last on the second lap and clawed my way back to third, my last lap pass was awesome.  Clearly delighted and at the same relieved after his A2 win he described the race as ‘phenomenal’.  The 17-year-old continued, ‘racing with Kyle and Caleb and all those guys is awesome fun.  I was nervous which I don’t get that often and trying to keep it all together for 6-minutes felt very long.  It’s all to play for tomorrow.  I have a 1 and a 3, Kyle has a 1 and a 2 and then Caleb has a 2 and a 3.  On the amount of driver errors in particular in A1, Toia said, ‘you can just make small mistakes and it will push you all the way over to the pipe, there are so many off cambers you just slide if you are anyway off the apex.’

Summing up his A1 win McBride said, ‘I had a super clean run, I had one little mistake at the start but got back in the lead and it was pretty much like flawless from there, no mistakes.  The car felt amazing, I did my fastest lap I think probably of the weekend for myself in eBuggy.’  Having taken the final eBuggy qualifier in the morning, asked what the turn around in performance today was after a so so day in the category yesterday, he replied, ‘I changed a couple of settings in my ESC which made the car a little bit easier to drive and gave it that feel closer to my nitro buggy.  We were testing stuff in electric yesterday, so using that as a bit of a test class because nitro is my main focus, but I think today I am getting more confidence and for sure the with the rough conditions dialling back the ESC made a big different.  Some suspension stuff we found in Q3 with Nitro we just put the exact same on electric and that was it.’  On A2 he said, ‘that was a lot more complex, my car was good but I think the track was a lot dustier,  I would have to double check but my lap time was almost half a second slower so going probably have to look at that tomorrow because my car felt more skittish and skatey in the back.  I probably could have snatched the win but I crashed to much and yeah Logan ran a great race.’

March 22, 2025

McBride Top Qualifier at Asian Buggy Championships season opener

Kyle McBride is the Top Qualifier at the season opener of the Cayote supported Asian Buggy Championships.  The Australian secured pole for tomorrow’s 45-minute Nitro Buggy A-Main when he took the fourth & final round of qualifying in New Zealand this morning.  After yesterday’s 3-rounds of qualifying at the Counties RC Car Club track produced three different winners, it set the stage for a four way battle for the overall TQ between McBride, Sworkz’s Jayden Jamieson, Mayako’s Jayden Edmunds and WIRC’s Kasey Dawson.  Having ended yesterday with a TQ run in Q3, mistakes costing him dearer in the opening two heats, McBride would make his intentions for Day 2 of qualifying very clear early on as he kicked things off with his first TQ run in the final eBuggy round.  With the top heat of Nitro Buggy bringing a close to qualifying, McBride delivered the only 10-lapper to take Q4 ahead of Tekno’s Caleb Noble, Edmunds and Jamieson.  Overall it will be Jamieson who will start from P2 ahead of Edmunds, Noble and Dawson with Logan Toia’s HB Racing buggy completing the top half of the starting grid which features buggies from 6 different manufacturers!  While it was a double TQ run morning for McBride, Noble again his closest rival, the honour of Top Qualifier for the triple A-Main of eBuggy goes to Logan Toia with McBride starting P2 and Top Seed Dawson third.

A podium finisher at the season opener last year, Kyosho’s Ryan Lutz taking the win, on his Q4 run McBride said, ‘It was a solid run.  I had one mistake over the double but apart from that it was clean.  The track definitely felt like it got a bit of grip this morning.  The car was good, it probably started to get a little edgy on the rear so we’re maybe going to have to adjust that a little and try something for tomorrow but overall it’s good and I’m happy.’  Asked his thoughts for the final, the former factory AE driver said, ‘honestly, just get out there and get a clean first 5-minutes.  I know my car is fast and it’s just about not making mistakes at this track.  The track is definitely starting to get rough in some sections, don’t know how much worse it will get from here.  Obviously there are lower finals today and more tomorrow so that could change definitely.  I think the grip will probably stay the same, we’ll just have to wait and see if it gets dustier with the longer finals.’   Asked about tyres wear he said, ‘tyre wear is very low here.  The first day we ran one set of tyres on both cars all day and they were completely fine.  Our run time is very good, our engine program is fantastic so no changes need to be made there.’

Feeling under the weather today having all but lost his voice, getting a quick run down on his Q4 effort Jamieson said, ‘It was a bit slow.  I chose too soft a tyre as I thought it was a bit more damp than it was and then lacked a bit of steering cause the rear was so gripped up.  So I will make a few little tweaks and hopefully we get some steering.’  He added, ‘feeling real shit didn’t help’ his performance either and the plan between eBuggy A-Mains was to sleep most of the day in the hope of feeling better for tomorrow.

Summing up his Q4 effort, Edmunds said, ‘One mistake cost me the TQ but still I start 3rd and anything can happen in a 45-minute main’.  Asked his approach for the final he said, ‘I normally settle into a rhythm, I sort of struggle with the short stuff and little mistakes really cost you where as in a 45-minute they are not a massive deal.’  On his car, the Mayako Youth Mentoring Program driver said, ‘I think I’ll leave it pretty much the same.  I’ve got a harder set of tyres so that’s what I’ll do for the Main, I’m happy with the car.’  On tyre wear and run time, the 19-year-old explained, ‘there is not much tyre wear here at all really so that’s not a problem and we’re good on run time.’

With Q4 his best result of the weekend, reacting to the run Noble said, ‘It was going really well ’til I got trafficked, that’s what I am going to call it.  Someone didn’t move, they came off the line and as I went to go past they came back on the line and I drove into them which cost me 3-seconds or what ever but it cost me a 10-lapper again.’  A race winner in the Asian Buggy Championships last year, but somewhat struggling here this weekend, on his buggy he said, ‘the car was little better and I was somewhat in the hunt for the TQ but I can’t help other people’s decisions I guess.  For the final I think we will maybe go a little stiffer in the shocks, the car was a lot better so I guess I can’t ask for too much more.  We’ll see if we can make some progress in the final, it’s 45-minutes long so consistency will be key.’

‘Stoked with the TQ and the first Kiwi to TQ a class at ABC so I couldn’t really be happier’, was Logan Toia’s reaction to securing pole for eBuggy.  Asked about the final qualifier, the 17-year-old replied, ‘It was horrible.  I kind of confirmed my suspicions of what was wrong with my nitro buggy after trying some stuff on my eBuggy and it made the eBuggy pretty bad so I’ll just go back to how its been all weekend.’  On nitro, him starting P6 directly ahead of his younger brother Dylan, he added, ‘I feel am getting there.  I feel like I have got a good race car so I am confident for the final.  What I tried on the eBuggy helped to improve the nitro buggy and in the last qualifier I was able to hit my marks all the time.  I had one mistake, I tried to change my line to pass a car and hit a rut and endoed over the jump but other than that it was a flawless run.  There is no issue with the car.’