September 4, 2025

’25 1:8 Elec. Offroad World C/ship Chassis Focus Index

2025 will go down in the history books as the year that IFMAR staged the inaugural 1:8 Electric Offroad World Championship with 116 drivers from around the world travelling to Portugal last week for 5 days of action at the Barcelos Buggy Arena track located in the north of the country.  While 1:8 Nitro Buggy is the established blue ribbon category of offroad racing, 19 World Champions having been crowned so far, eBuggy is a hugely important market for the industry for both chassis and electronics manufacturers.  Many manufacturers were very open about how eBuggy kits generate more main stream sales than nitro, all thanks to its plug & play and no mechanic required simplicity.  Now the category has its first World Champion and a very worthy one at that in Danish talent Marcus Kaerup, the 17-year-old’s win bringing Team Associated’s tally of IFMAR World titles to an impressive 34!!  While not achieving the same size entry as nitro, which enjoys capacity 180 entries, the first eBuggy Worlds was successfully executed and set a strong foundation for future editions, the United States the stage for the next eBuggy Worlds in 2027 (P.S. IFMAR can you please allow trackside commentary next time so everyone can experience an atmosphere that a World Championship deserves!).  During our coverage, which was made possible thanks to electronics manufacturer Team Cayote, we managed to photograph buggies from 8 different manufacturers for our ‘Chassis Focus’.  Interestingly, such was the desire to become the first ever 1:8 Electric Buggy World Champions, and have an edge on their rivals, two manufacturers only allowed their cars to be photographed after the event was complete on Saturday evening.  With 13 drivers lining up for the triple A-Main, buggies from 7 different manufacturers added great variety with Team Associated, Xray and Sworkz sharing the honour of most cars in the final with 3 each.  We have compiled the 8 buggies we got our hands on in our latest Chassis Focus Index –

Marcus Kaerup – Team Associated (TQ/Champion)

Elliott Boots – Sworkz (Q4/P4)

Bruno Coelho – Infinity (Q14/P8)

David Ronnefalk – Xray (Q5/P9)

Pekko Iivonen – Mayako (Q11/P10)

Joao Figueiredo – Tekno (Q12/P13)

Burak Kilic – Mugen Seiki (Q20/P22)

Gabriel Astorino – WIRC (Q59/P58)

August 30, 2025

Chassis Focus – Marcus Kaerup (Team Associated)

Chassis – Team Associated RC10B4.1e
ESC – Hobbywing Xerun XR8 Pro G3
Motor – Hobbywing Xerun 4268 2200KV
Battery – Team EAM 7700mAh
Tires – Hot Race Sahara
Radio – Sanwa M17
Body – JConcepts S15

Notes – Marcus’ World Championship winning buggy is fitted with +5mm Shock Standoffs from Ruddog.

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August 30, 2025

Kaerup rules in Portugal to become first eBuggy World Champion

Marcus Kaerup is the first ever 1:8 Electric Offroad World Champion, the 17-year-old taking his first World title with a dominant performance today at the Barcelos Buggy Arena in Northern Portugal.  Taking Team Associated’s tally of IFMAR World titles to 34, Kaerup secured the victory when he backed up his impressive opening A-Main win over Michal Orlowski by again ruling proceedings in A2, this time ahead of none other than back-to-back-to-back 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Champion Davide Ongaro.  Having announced his talents to the world by making the finals of both 2WD and 4WD at the 2023 1:10 Offroad Worlds in Arizona and again at last year’s 1:8 Nitro Buggy Worlds in Redovan, this week the likeable Dane delivered on what was widely tipped as he made first entry into the sport’s history books.  With Kaerup taking the top step on RC’s newest World Championship podium, it was Orlowski with the A3 win, and Ongaro, who got to stand either side of him.

‘It’s crazy unreal.  I don’t know what to say’, was Kaerup’s response when asked had the significance of what he just achieved had even started to set in yet.  On his A2 drive he said, ‘I got a good start and Michal crashed so I was able to pull a small gap but I made a small bobble so they caught up again.  After that I was then able to hit my lines and find the rhythm early on and get away.’  Asked how he dealt with the pressure of closing in on the biggest prize in the sport, he replied, ‘On the second to last lap I cased the quad and I was asking Brent (Thielke) when the hell does this end.  And he was like ‘there is 30-seconds to go, don’t worry, don’t worry’ and I was like ‘OK’ and thankfully I got across the line first.  The relief then was crazy.’  Marcus is the son of former European Electric Touring Car Champion Jonas Kaerup, who unfortunately wasn’t in Barcelos to witness his son’s win but did however get to share the momentous occasion via an RC Racing TV’s livestream studio link up.  Joking that his dad never achieved what he just did Kaerup said he was looking forward to celebrating with him when he gets home.  Thanking Team Associated for their support, asked how long he has driven for the American brand he replied, ‘all my life.’  Pointing out the AE logo replacing the ‘ae’ in the surname of his race body name decals, he added, ‘it was a calling from when I was born’.  On achieving Associated’s 34th World title he said, ‘BT is going to be busy on Monday morning a new batch of ’34’ t-shirts’, to which the AE Team Manager, and avid cyclist, said, ‘first thing Monday morning we are going cycling, a celebration ride for my new World Champion’, this a tradition Thielke apparently has with his title winning drivers.

Reacting to claiming the runner-up spot, Orlowski said, ‘For sure not what I was hoping for but at the end of the day it’s 1:8 scale, we don’t have a car yet and we are such a small team against guys racing this class only.  Coming here from the Touring Car Euros I really felt the tiredness today, a little too much maybe, we need to recharge the batteries.’  The reigning 1:12 World Champion and one of the the sport’s most versatile racers, he continued, ‘all in all I guess if I look back at it we are happy to finish second, of course one spot higher would be better but I am really proud of finishing on all these podiums in all these classes.  Now I need some holidays.’  Finishing second in A1, on his A2 he said, ‘we made a change to the car and I think the pace was better but it was very hard to drive, still Marcus was super fast so I don’t think I would have been able to put enough pressure on him.’  On his win of the third encounter, which he looked to have thrown away with a late mistake approaching the final minute only for Ongaro to have a mistake too, he said, ‘A3 was good.  I made a small adjustment to the car.  It was really good on the flat stuff but really struggling on the bumps but it was still good and I was pulling away and feeling good but I just cased the triple.’  He added, ‘I had no idea how long was left, it was a mistake on our side, we should have been using the headset from the beginning but I thought it would be uncomfortable for me.  I am not used to using a headset but with no announcements what so ever and everyone else using the headsets I think this information during the run is a benefit.  The next time we will be using the headset, I will get used to having it on my head, so we have better information and know when to push, when to drive smoother.  I just didn’t know how long til the end and lost my concentration for a split moment.’

‘Probably the worst race weekend ever’, was how Ongaro summed up his championship effort.  The reigning 1:8 Nitro Buggy and 1:10 4WD Buggy World Champion explained, ‘We never struggle like that at a World Championship race.  I was a bit unlucky at the end, I don’t know if I hit a bump but my car just flipped so OK P2, P3, it’s pretty much the same but it would have been better P2 cause Marcus won.  First & second would be good but anyway P3 considering where I started on Tuesday when I was 45th or 50th place I can say I am happy. We will come back stronger for sure.’   Asked about his finals, on A1 the Italian said, ‘we went with the same tyres as the shakedown this morning which I think was super fast but the conditions of the track were completely different so I lost a lot of grip and then I had some bad luck with one guy especially on the rostrum.  For the next two I just say ,OK just leave that behind and focus on trying to do my best, and this is the best result I can do today.’

View our event image gallery here.

August 30, 2025

Chassis Focus – David Ronnefalk (Xray)

Chassis – Xray XB8e ’25
ESC – Cayote Crest 8 Evo
Motor – Cayote 1900KV
Battery – Cayote 6500mAh Shorty
Tires – Hot Race Sahara
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M17S/Hitec DB951WP
Body – Xray Easy

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August 30, 2025

Chassis Focus – Burak Kilic (Mugen Seiki)

Chassis – Mugen Seiki MBX8R E
ESC – LRP iX8
Motor – LRP X44 1950Kv
Battery – LRP Mid Size 7000 Shorty
Tires – Hot Race Sahara
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M17S/SanwaPGS XB2
Body – Ultimate

Notes – Both Burak and his brother Berkan are running a modified chassis layout created by their father.  The car has a 3D printed radio box and battery holders with the original MBX8R E chassis also machined by their father for mounting of the new layout.

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August 30, 2025

Kaerup cruises to A1 win at eBuggy Worlds

Marcus Kaerup cruised to an unchallenged win in the opening A-Main of the IFMAR eBuggy World Championship in Portugal, the Team Associated driver finishing almost 6-seconds ahead of Michal Orlowski.  Leading away the 13 car field, the Top Qualifier together with Orlowski quickly gapped the chasing pack, the lack of any trackside commentary & a Wimbledon-esque ‘quiet please’ announcement at the start of the race, would set the tone for what was to follow.  While Orlowski initially looked like he might provide some entertainment in chasing down Kaerup, he would get hooked up on a pipe early on allowing the Dane to gap him.  With Kaerup getting it slightly wrong at the quad and also catching the piping as he completed his 7th lap, this was Orlowski’s opportunity and while he entered the first corner on the leader’s rear wing he couldn’t stick with the leader.  With the only other notably moment of the race being a mistake by Ongaro on lap 2 that promoted Elliott Boots and David Ronnefalk to third & fourth, the procession continued.  For the Nitro Buggy World Champion Ongaro his race would get even worse as he and Juan Carlos Canas clashed, the Italian clearly annoyed by the incident after the race.  With a mistake from Orlowski, that saw him go off the track, he rejoined ahead of Boots but the Sworkz driver never posed a threat.  In the end the British driver finish third 7/10th of a second behind Orlowski and more than 3-seconds up on Ronnefalk.

Summing up his A1 effort Kaerup said, ‘That was intense with Michal, then unfortunately he crashed and I could cruise away to the finish line.’  He continued, ‘I had to find my rhythm the first 3 or 4-minutes but once I got there I could really push on.’  Looking to A2, when he could potentially become the first ever 1:8 Electric Buggy World Champion, the 17-year-old said, ‘We’ll go with the same strategy, just keep it within the lines and drive around.’  Asked about how the track is today, the Barcelos area again experienced rain overnight, he said, ‘It’s a bit more loose, the line is very very narrow so you don’t have to go to much on the outside to lose a couple of tenths, so it is very hard.’

Asked how he felt his race went, Orlowski said, ‘It was OK.  We made a change to the car trying to give it a bit more traction but definitely my car was worse than it was yesterday during the qualifiers, and I think the track conditions are quite similar so we will go back with that and maybe adjust the car to these conditions but I am sure the track will keep developing over today.’  With Ryan Maifield, who was marshalling the A-Main, offering the Schumacher team driver some set-up advise based on what he saw the Polish driver’s buggy doing, Orlowski continued, ‘It is nice to get a second in the bag when you are really struggling to get around the track.  It wasn’t how I wanted my car to feel’.  On his mistake, when he ended up off the track, he explained, ‘I had that mistake trying to just keep up with Marcus so I am happy to get second with not a perfect run.’

‘Third is pretty solid’, that was Boots’ reaction to his race.  He added, ‘We went on probably too soft a compound, it was good at the start but then they went off and it became a bit edgy so as you could see I dropped off a bit from the other two just to survive really and bring home decent result.’   For the second encounter here at the Barcelos Buggy Arena, he said, ‘we will go up in with the compound and leave the car as it is.  It feels pretty good.  I’ll try not to get involved with everyone else’s mess and stay clean and run my own race really.  We got a 3rd as a banker so just need to back that up with another good result.

View our event image gallery here.