It was a bit of a rocky start to the 2026 PNB. We worked together extremely well in the pits and on the track to get quicker all weekend. Each of us in the Tekno pits seemed to have moments of greatness and then an inconsistent run either placing us back on the grid or with a bad start in the A-Main. My Tekno truggy felt great in the main and I battled for the win and ended up 3rd on the podium. Our main issue was not going to bar tires sooner because the track was in amazing condition and we learned that quickly in the Truggy main. In the end, Dakotah got us with a couple of laps to go, but for the most part I was happy with run.

In the E-Buggy class, the Tekno buggy felt solid and the JConcepts tires were gripping the dirt well. I was comfortable but not perfect and climbed out a bit of a hole and grabbed the last spot on the 5 driver podium. It wasn’t a perfect run, but coming from 7th wasn’t ideal in a single A-Main and Joker laps to monitor. Overall, the control felt good courtesy of the Cayote electronics and FlySky radio and I’ll be ready for the next event. Congrats to Spencer Rivkin on taking that victory.

Paul Wynn got us all hooked up with JConcepts Overdose tires for the Nitro Buggy final and Tanner Denney helped prep to get main event ready. This is the one I let go with a mistake in the sweeper that resulted in a 55 second lap. After some frustrating laps getting back going, I settled in and felt out the car, engine, and tire package and was pleased with the feeling. It’s not easy battling for 10th when the equipment was podium ready. But, that’s racing! Congrats to Dakotah on taking that one at the end and to Brandon Rose on damn near pulling off the win. Also, shout out to teammate Seth VanDalen getting his Tekno into 3rd.

I can’t really complain about the event, we had a good weekend. A few things I would do differently and we will take that into the next event and see if we can get back on the top step. Thanks to Tanner Denney in the pits, Paul Wynn and Hannah Hardison for the JConcepts support, and Troy Hanson from A-A-Main and Cayote along with the great Tekno team and pit area. As always, thanks to Dave Leikam for events like this and Elite RC Productions for the great direction and live coverage.

Next race, North Georgia Shootout. 
________
Tekno RC
JConcepts
Cayote 
FlySky
ProTek RC
VP Fuels
Flash Point
RM2
Hobby Action
A-Main Hobbies
Drakein
Factory Tracks
Stick-It One

Neoland 2026 done 🫶🏻

P1 nitro buggy
P7 eco buggy

First of all congratulate Miguelo, Laura and the whole Neoland team for again doing one of the best races of the calendar! Thank you!

Regarding the race a complicated weekend in which we tried many things for the final mind give the key to the nitro final 🔥

In echo we had some problems on our sleeves and came out P5 in a difficult track to advance we did not manage to improve the result and finished P7

In nitro after starting the final and finding myself very comfortable, we squeezed and managed to make P1 and a very good final.

My HIGHESTRC with the new SWORKz RC 321 extreme motor, REDS RACING wheels overdose in silver composite, JConcepts Inc B251 servos and Flysky RC Model transmitter ran perfectly for the 45 min run.

Congratulations to ronnefalk for his win in echo, my team mate Elliot boots for P3 in nitro and to Davide Ongaro for P2 in nitro.

Thanks to the whole sworkz team for the help this weekend, to my dad for working hard all weekend and to micha for the help in the pits 🫶🏻

See you this weekend in San Roque for the second test of the Andalusia championship!

#sworkz
#jconcepts
#reds
#highest
#nitrolux
#kanarc
#rcproject
#tworks
#flysky
#maugrafix
#kustomgraphics
#smartworkshop

📝LESSONS FOR THE WORLDS?
Six months from now, we’ll have crowned the 2026 IFMAR 1/8 Nitro Buggy World Championships, at Thornhill USA. Six months seems like a long time, but it really isn’t. And with the Worlds the nearest thing that R/C has to an Olympics, it stands far above any other race.

All of that made this weekend’s two big international races super important as we pass that six-month mark. Most of Europe’s best gathered in England for Neoland 26, the reboot of the famed Neo Buggy race, once universally lauded as the unofficial indoor worlds.

Meanwhile over in the US, most elite US racers were at the Psycho Nitro Blast, the next major race after last month’s Dirt Nitro Challenge.

Both races took place indoor, both featured high quality fields. What, we wonder, can we learn from these two events as the countdown to the Worlds goes inside the six-month mark? Here’s a few things we’ve noticed.

THE BIG FIVE
It seems obvious to say, but there are “the big five” in play this year – the five drivers most likely to influence the ultimate outcome at Thornhill. Defending World Champ Davide Ongaro, 2016 WC David Ronnefalk, the man twice on the podium Juan Carlos Canas, and the two US giants of 1/8 offroad – double 1/10 World Champ Ryan Maifield, and perhaps the best driver of all time yet to win a Worlds, Dakotah Phend.

Between them, those five have dominated major 1/8 races for well over a decade, and anybody with designs on a win later this year will have to deal with those five.
Of those five, Phend and Canas came away with the nitro buggy wins this week, Canas overcoming a relatively anonymous run through qualifying, while Phend dealt with a strong-starting Brandon Rose via consistency, pure pace, and a better fuel strategy.

Ronnefalk was an unexpected arrival at Neoland, making the start after the ISTC Worlds postponement, but the result was perhaps his best 1/8th race in quite some time – winning eBuggy, top-qualifying Nitro, and well in the mix until mid-race when a wrong tyre choice left him struggling. On the flip-side, Ongaro had been thereabouts all week, but looked stronger and stronger as the 45-minute main ran down, fastest of all over the last few minutes.

Maifield was the one member of the big five who had something of an off week by his usual (phenomenal) standards.

THE INTERVIEWS
It’s always interesting to pay attention to what is said (and unsaid) in driver interviews at races like these. Two interviews caught my attention.

First, I heard Spencer Rivkin talk early on at PNB about “having a few new parts of the car”. He wasn’t specific, but went on to put together a pretty strong 1/8 weekend, winning eBuggy over team-mate Rose, and finishing top 5 in nitro. Put Rivkin’s comments and results together with Rose’s pair of second places, Ongaro and Kaerup’s speed, and persistent rumours about a big update from AE – and there’s something to be excited about for AE fans over the next six months.

The second interview I found particularly interesting was Davide Ongaro after finishing second in the Nitro Buggy final at Neoland. Asked about his late pace, Ongaro matter-of-factly commented that he was set up for a 60-minute final, and practicing for the World Championships (which of course has that hour-long main). Ongaro, perhaps more than any other driver, seems to build his whole racing calendar and schedule around the World Championship. It’s no accident that he’s won three in a row (and finishing 6th as a 14-year-old in 2016). That kind of mindset, using a major international race to “practice” for the Worlds format, shows a rare dedication and commitment.

THE NEW CROP IS COMING
While the big five might garner the headlines and attention, there’s been a lot to like about the next crop that’s coming this week, as well. Camden Lime (eBuggy) and Seth Vandalen (Nitro) had taken wins at DNC just a few weeks back and finished top five at PNB, for example. They, along with Brandon Rose, Mason Fuller, and the likes of Burak Kilic (absent from Neoland) and Marcus Kaerup will not be prepared to wait their turn behind the five we mentioned above.

SCHUMACHER TO 1/8?
The third interview that we listened to very closely this week came from Schumacher’s off-road engineer Tris Neale, during RC Racing TV's Neoland coverage. It’s well known that the British manufacturer has been dabbling in 1/8 over the past few years, but Tris’ interview outlined their plans quite clearly. They ran their own prototype platform at Neoland – one of the young engineers Daniel Robins behind the wheel – as a data gathering exercise.

The plan, outlined by Tris, is for an eBuggy version of the car to be available first. Neale named a 2026 release date as the plan, and a tilt at the EFRA eBuggy Euros as part of the schedule, with a Nitro platform to follow, potentially early in 2027. Is the Worlds on the schedule? Time will tell, with Tris suggesting they’d like to be at Thornhill (with drivers like Orlowski and Kobbevik keen), but it will be very much budget dependent after an expensive 2025 1/10th offroad season, and the cost of the now-postponed ISTC Worlds to be factored in.  Personally, I’ll be surprised if we don’t see at least a small presence at Thornhill.

WHAT ELSE?
There’s a bunch else we could talk about: which chassis manufacturers would be happiest (XRAY, SWorkz, AE?), the tyre game that continues to hot up in the only open-tyre category left in the mainstream RC classes, whether Neoland’s track layout and surface is more representative of Thornhill than PNB, about other upcoming races (attention turning to Asia over the next couple of weeks, for example) and more.

But 6 months is both a very short time, and a very long run-up to the Worlds, and we’ll save some of those topics for later. The 2026 IFMAR 1/8 Offroad Worlds definitely has our attention, so we’ll be watching every major 1/8 race through that lens, and will be back regularly with more reflections on the run-up to Thornhill.

📸Photo by JConcepts Inc

NeoLand 2026 🇬🇧

Really happy to make both Pro A-mains with my Team Associated rides this week 🙌
E-buggy mains were mostly watching from the side since had 2 unfortunate equipment failures in A1&2 – For sure had more to give since had good starts and climbing close to top5 everytime before needed to retire

Nitro main was something I was really looking forward to – first proper long main running with the big dogs. Unfortunately, it never really took off since maybe made the wrong tire call, so it turned into surviving from lap 1 and staying out of the way of the faster guys until the last time crossing the line.

On the positive side, the cars were working awesome all week and the engine felt really good. Still learning with Matrix tires as this was my first race with them, but definitely a lot to take away and improve for next time.
Overall, a great event and a lot learned 💪

Huge thank you to Craig for the help in the pits and on the gun with Max! And all of the team for continuing to push forward.

Already rebuilding and leaving for EBM race in LA Speedway Racing Club e.V. this weekend!

———————————
Team Associated
Ruddog Racing
Matrix Racing Tires
Xtreme Aerodynamics
REVOLUTION DESIGN RACING PRODUCTS
#FactoryTeam
#NEOLAND

Neoland 2026 at the fabulous Harper Adams University is done🔥🇬🇧

What a great event Miguelo Izquierdo Rodriguez and Laura Remesal Gamez put on, good job guys😎

It was so nice to come back there, great memories and races.

About our race, pace was good, everything was good. Had a great fight with David Ronnefalk for the win in A3 of ebuggy, which a small mistake cost me the P1, so ended P2 overall🔥

In nitro, all was good, first time with Matrix Racing Tires there and of course it was difficult to choose compound and tread. But overall was a good final for me, just need to find the fast rhythm early.

I’m happy about how we worked as a team to find the right balance of both cars, and this will pleat for sure a big role later this year.

I want to say thanks to my family, girlfriend helping my dad during fast pit stops, all AE team (Brent Thielke, Craig Drescher), all friends and of course all my amazing sponsors🫶🏻

#DO94
#WeAreAE
#TeamAssociated
#OSSpeed
#Matrixtyres
#Hobbywing
#TeamEAM
#Energyfuel
#Sanwa
#Arrowmax
#ToolkitRC
#ONGProducts
#TRC
#Tworks
#Ruddog
#Rockdesign
#Stickit1racing

Back home from the Neoland, what an incredible event Miguelo Izquierdo Rodriguez, Laura and their team put on at Harper Adams👏
Already looking forward to the next edition 2027.

My race could have gone better, but with changing track conditions all the time it was hard to find the right setup and tire compound for the conditions. We have learned a lot and gained a lot of knowledge for the next events. Overall I finished P20 in Electric and Nitro and took P1 in Electric 35 class with my WIRC Professional RC Cars SBX4E. Congrats to all winners. See you all at the next race.

Team Cayote
HIGHESTRC
Gens ace RC
XTR Racing S.L
6mik-Racing
REDS RACING
Calvin Kong
StickitONE
#RK_Print
#tworksasia
#neumannracing
#flysky

¡ @neoland_race 2026 ya es historia!  

20 años después de mi primera final A, sigo con la misma ilusión de estar ahí, compitiendo tanto en Nitro como en eléctrico… y más aún sabiendo que es mi último año en esta carrera.  

Las finales no salieron como me hubiera gustado, pero cuando arrancas desde atrás, estas cosas forman parte del juego.  

Eso sí, no puedo estar más orgulloso del equipo. Sworkz ha estado a un nivel brutal: @canas_rc marcando un ritmo imposible de seguir y @elliottbootsrc firmando una increíble P3. Y ojo a @mattia.politorc , que sin ese problema mecánico habría estado peleando también por el podio.  

Mención especial para AnsweRC: más de 35 pilotos representando la marca… ¡una auténtica locura! 😍  

Y para cerrar, chapeau para Miguelo, Laura y todo su equipo. Tomar el relevo de la Neo y montar un evento así en su primer año tiene muchísimo mérito.  

Españoles por el mundo del RC: cada vez somos más, carrera tras carrera. Ojalá sigamos empujando juntos, creyéndonoslo de verdad, porque lo que estamos construyendo es algo muy grande… y el futuro del radiocontrol pinta espectacular. 🔥

🇬🇧NeoLand 2026 is a wrap!  

20 years after my first A final, I’m still incredibly happy to be lining up and competing in both Nitro and Electric… especially knowing this is my last year racing this event.  

The finals didn’t go the way I hoped, but when you start from the back, that’s just part of the game.  

That said, I couldn’t be prouder of the team. Sworkz was on another level: Canas showed an unbelievable pace that no one could match, and Boots delivered an amazing P3 finish. And shoutout to Polito as well — without that mechanical issue, he would’ve been fighting for the podium too.  

Big credit to AnsweRC as well: over 35 drivers representing the brand… absolutely insane! 😍  

Last but definitely not least, hats off to Miguelo, Laura, and the whole team. Taking over the Neo legacy and delivering an event like this in their very first year is seriously impressive.  

#rc #rclife #radicontrol #neobuggy