December 2, 2025

Catanzani from Ripoll in early 1:8 Worlds seeding

Having taken the overall TQ at the 1:8 GT World Championship in Chile back in September, it is Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani who leads the way in early seeding at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship from Maxime Ripoll, the French Xray driver impressing onlookers with his speed here at the large Club de Aeromodelos de Chile track in Santiago.  With Catanzani the benchmark in free practice, the Italian carried that momentum into the first of the four seeding rounds with a best time of 55.443 over 3-laps with Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch his closest rival with a 55.459 as team-mate Shoki Takahata complete the Top 3 ahead of Ripoll.  With changing track conditions the biggest challenge for drivers, as things hotted up after the first seeding on a cool track, it was Ripoll who had everything perfect to go fastest with a 55.499 just ahead of Takahata.  Making a changed that didn’t do what he expected, Catanzani was 3rd fastest ahead of the Mugen Seiki of top British racer Alex Thurston.  One of the pre-race favourites coming into the 44th running of these championships off the back of a championship winning ENS season, it has been a tough morning for Capricorn’s Toni Gruber,  the German experiencing engine issues in both runs.  While the car runs fine in the warm-up out on track it loses power and when they pit they find the plug is bad leading them to believe, having had the same problem twice, that a bad batch of glow plugs is the issue.  The 2023 1:8 GT World Champion will be hoping plugs from another batch will give him a change to seed strongly over the final two practices round for tomorrow’s start of qualifying, each driver’s best two points finishes from the four rounds determining the order for the heats.

Summing up his morning Catanzani said, ‘The first one was good.  The second one we tried something different because we know the track is always changing condition but it didn’t work like we expected so we just finish the practice and got third.’  He continued, ‘We know what we have to do for the next one.’  On his pace since practice started for the event on Friday, he replied, ‘the car is really good, especially in the morning, there is no wind and the track is still cold but then in the afternoon the wind starts so the car is a little bit sliding in the rear and also because the track gets more hot.  We are still finding the good set-up for this.’  The only leading contender to have previously raced here, asked if his GT experience was an advantage, he replied, ‘Only maybe for the first day because when the fastest guys arrive on track they need less than 1-day to learn the track.’  Ask about the technicality of the track for 1:8 Onroad, the 1:8 GT drivers loving the layout and size, Catalan said, ‘It’s not simple because there is also bumps you beed to avoid so it’s technical and fast.  If you stay near the white markings you are fast but if you go too much and hit them you loose time, it is a fine line.’

Racing 1:8 Onroad competitively since 2017, Chile is Ripoll’s 3rd World Championships.  With Fontana in 2019 very much a learning process, 2-years ago in Japan he looked on target to bump up to the Semi Finals until a tyre problem put him out of contention.  With a European Championship podium finish to his credit, the 19-year-old is now making a strong impression in Santiago.  A 2-time French National Champion, he said his car has been working well and unlike his rivals doesn’t seem to be as affected as much by the day’s changing track conditions.  He explained, ‘we came here with a base set up and just made some little adjustments like the shock oils and springs, the flex on the radio plate, and the roll centre, but really small changes.  For me the car is good all the time.  We change nothing compared to this morning.’  The Max Power driver added, ‘We won’t change the car for the next one but we might change engine just to test and to preserve the best one.  I already have two good engines ready to go.’  Asked about the track, Ripoll said, ‘It is super big, super fast, and while I like it I prefer a little track and a more technical track. For me this one is easy, maybe too easy for a World Championship.’

Giving a run down in the first half of seeding, Kurzbuch said, ‘It could be better.  In the morning run we had a bit of understeer in the car but the rest was good.  For Round 2 we changed to another engine just to try everything but the setting was too rich and I could only do my fast laps at the end with the engine still too rich so we could not be competitive that one’.  Overall the 2015 World Champion said their program is going good and they have learned a lot and ‘what we have seen so far is like in almost every heat someone else is the fastest, someone gets everything right for the conditions and set-up.  I think that is the difficult part for qualifying to try to get every run everything perfect.’  On the changing conditions, the Swiss driver explained, ‘First of all the first run is cold and no wind, the second run is no wind and hot, and then we start with a little wind and hot, and then we have hot and a lot of wind, that’s the daily programme.’  On the layout he described it as ‘fun to drive, it’s perfect, it’s a good track.’

Team-mate Takahata felt the balance of his MRX7 was better in the second round due the track conditions having not made any set-up changes.  Happy with how his car has been running since arriving here for practice, the 2019 World Champion is however not a huge fan of the track finding it completely alien in terms of size compared to the much smaller tracks he races on in Japan.  Taking his World title win in the US, he said the CACH track is bigger than the now no longer existing Steel City RC Speedway in Fontana.  On car set-up he said he doesn’t plan to change anything highlight that with the track so different each run it is hard to know if the change worked or it was the track.  Overall the 31-year-old is  happy with his pace describing the new car, with which he just recently won the Japanese National title, as ‘very good’.  Making the switch from long time engine sponsors O.S to reigning World Champions Max Power this season, he said the Italian engines are ‘super strong’ here.

December 1, 2025

A decade on – life is different, but the drive & focus on winning in Chile are the same for Kurzbuch

2025 marks a decade since Simon Kurzbuch became the Champion of the World.  A driver Red RC have had the pleasure of following on his journey up through the ranks and into 1:8 Onroad racing history books, we first got to know him through the early days of the Euro Nitro Series and as one half of the talented Swiss racing duo that was himself and Silvio Hachler.  Unfortunately we would miss him claiming the biggest prize the sport has to offer, Brazil in 2015 the only 1:8 Onroad World Championship we have missed since going online in 2006.  Thankfully Simon, being the super nice guy he is, hasn’t held that against us and just before he caught his long flight to Chile we had a quick chat to get his thoughts on where he feels he is at as he attempts to become only the 3rd driver to ever win IFMAR’s original WC category more than once.  If he can pull off that feat he would also be the first non Italian to ever do so.  While legend of the category Lamberto Collari won’t be in Santiago for a chance at a 10th World title, and defending Champion Dario Balestri’s chances of a hat trick are on hold as he also wont be there, Simon did address the big talking point around this year’s 24th running of the Worlds – the absence of the entire Infinity team.  ‘I am disappointed that the Infinity drivers are not coming, it is a real shame for Kenji that none of them are coming, but no Infinity does not affect anything from my side in how we approach this race.  In the end there are still very good drivers there and you need to beat them and to beat them you need to work properly before the race in your preparations and then work hard when you get to Chile.  I have a really good focus on the race so from this side it does not change anything if Infinity are there or not.’

Now 33-years old, on where he expects his main competition to come from, without hesitation he replied, ‘Toni (Gruber), Shoki (Takahata) and (Andrea) Catanzani, Catanzani is fast and someone to really watch.  Maybe there will be some other surprises, we will see, but I think these are the guys.’  Asked the difference between the Simon of then (Brazil, 2015) and the Simon of now he replied, ‘There is not a big difference I would say.  A lot of things are the same, of course my focus outside of racing is a bit more into work.  Back at that point of my life I was studying and also had a great time with Silvio Hachler, who is a really good friend.  We studied together and could manage to do as much racing as we wanted to and it was an amazing time that time which also boosted us for good results and everything.  That is the main difference.’  He added. ‘On the other hand my father is still there racing with me and supporting me a lot.  Alex (Kempe) was also there in Brazil as support for Shepherd and now he is directly helping my father so we are looking forward to defend the title of South America.’  While the same dream team that helped him secure the TQ honours at the last World Championship in Japan 2-year-old, and this year’s European Championships, bSimon said it’s not quite the ultimate dream team, his brother having partnered his dad in executing the many pit stops en-route to becoming the World No.1 in Brazil.

Asked if 1:8 Onroad and its high revving little 3.5cc engines have notably evolved since the last Worlds, the class having had almost 50 years to perfect the concept, he said, ‘I think the engines made a big step again the last two years.  The cars have developed a bit also.  I see the difference with my new Mugen but also the other manufacturers have worked to get more from their cars so it is for sure a bit faster.’  On engine and in particular his own program with Ielasi Tuned, owner Daniele Ielasi a rival in Brazil but now one Simon’s key sponsors along with Energy Fuel, who supplied the control fuel for both the 1:8 GT and now the 1:8 Onroad Worlds, he said, ‘reliability is now on a really really good level compared to what we had over the past 10-years in our sport.’  He added this is the result of ‘development but also hard work from Daniele.’

Showing that their is no doubts over his outright speed in terms of being one of the fastest drivers on the planet taking the TQ in Japan on Infinity’s home ground only for a wing issue and engine tuning to thwart his effort in the final, Simon said, ‘this year at the Euros I could manage to TQ against all the Infinity guys and everyone so the speed is there yes, for us it is important to have a clean final.  That is the main focus and it’s been the focus for the last weeks and months in preparation to have more consistency there.  Even though in the last ENS it was not the perfect final race practice but things that happen you learn from them and they are over’.  Suffering a flameout in the last fuel stop at the ENS finale, he explained this was the result of a ‘quick & messy pit stop and lets say a lot of fuel came out and the engine flame out was due to that.’

On going to Chile armed with the new Mugen Seriki MRX7, it three years to the month since he made the switch from then German brand Shepherd after a long stint to the Japanese manufacturer, Simon gave the upbeat reply, ‘Actually it was a great season for the new car.  I could use it since ENS Ettlingen so I have a lot of experience. Durability and everything is as Mugen always was.  I think we could make another step forward with the car in the last month before that I couldn’t spend too much time on the track practicing due to other reasons. We will also get so much practice in Chile I think we will improve the car even further.  There is a lot to discover still.’

Having not yet sampled the track (at the time of our chat), asked his thoughts from what he has seen he replied, ‘It looks like Fontana (2018 WC host track).  I think the grip level will be more suitable for me than it was in Fontana because that was super high grip.  The layout in Chile looks good, and fast, so I think it will make for a proper World Championship.’  On that note we can’t wait to follow how it all unfolds at the impressive CACH facility.

Red RC’s coverage from Chile, which is presented by Capricorn, Radbody, T-Works, and IFMAR, will start on Tuesday (Dec 2nd) with four rounds of seeding practice and continue through to Saturday’s title deciding 1-hour Main,.

November 30, 2025

1:8 Onroad World Championship coverage presented by Capricorn, Radbody, T-Works, and IFMAR

Having hit a landmark of telling the story of how 50 World Championships unfolded when we reported on Marcus Kaerup’s 1:10 4WD Buggy World title win in Australia, Red RC is excited to be travelling to Chile to cover the 1:8 Onroad World Championship, our coverage presented by Capricorn, Radbody, T-Works, and IFMAR.  As we kick off the first of our next 50 World Championships, this one is special because it was IFMAR’s original World Championship category that was also the first World Championship to be covered here on Red RC back in 2007 in Argentina.  With a certain Lamberto Collari racking up the 8th of his 9 World titles, now 18-years later the championship is back in South America and having missed the last one Red RC are definitely going this time round for what in our opinion is the Formula 1 of RC Racing.  Unfortunately while Collari and all of his team-mates at reigning World Champion manufacturer Infinity won’t be making the trip to the amazing CACH facility in Santiago, we are still going to be in for the intensity that only a World Championship brings out in drivers and manufacturers.  While Japan 2023 winner Dario Balestri doesn’t appear on the entry list, it is led by three World Champions – Simon Kurzbuch (2016 World Champion, Brazil), Shoki Takahata (2019 World Champion, USA) and Toni Gruber (1:8 GT 2023 World Champion, Australia) – they will face the next generation of potential World Champions in the form of drivers like Andrea Catanzani who unlike the three World Champions has been to the track previously where he was the Top Qualifier at the IFMAR 1:8 GT World Championships back in September.

Our coverage is only possible thanks to the support of our sponsors and a specialist manufacturer born out of Nitro Onroad racing, Capricorn and its owner Patrizio Rossi have been staunch supporters of the category so we are honoured that they came onboard for this the 24th running of the 1:8 Onroad Worlds which was the founding category for World Championship RC racing when it crowned its first Champion in 1977!  A company that has been instrumental in Red RC’s World Championship coverage post Covid, US body producer Radbody, as fans of all things fast and aerodynamic, are the third of our sponsors making the fourth & final stop on the 2025 World Championship World tour possible.  Long time supporters of Red RC, aftermarket parts and accessories producer T-Works need no introduction and we are delighted to team up with them once again after they supported us last year in attending the 1:10 Nitro Touring Car WC at Huge RC in Thailand.  Having dealt with them at each and every one of the previous 50 Worlds we’ve covered, they are the ones responsible for the race that awards the greatest prize in racing after all, we are very grateful to the World governing body IFMAR for their assistance in ensuring the race with the longest history records will get an in-dept 2025 chapter update!  Red RC’s coverage will begin on Tuesday with Seeding Practice and the Opening Ceremony before we quickly get down to the serious business of qualifying with it all culminating with the crowning of a new World Champion on Saturday (December 6th).