The History

Nitro is the Glory! Well now it is but it took almost a decade after the first ever IFMAR Worlds in 1977 for there to be a ⅛ Nitro Buggy Worlds .

1986

1986 would be the first year for what is now the pinnacle, the flagship, the upper echelon of RC Racing which is Off Road Nitro Buggy or IC Buggy as IFMAR names it.

The first race took place at the Mini Circuit de Montbonnot in Grenoble France by the Radio Automobile Club de Grenoble. The winner was Frederic Veysseyre from France driving a Yankee buggy and Cipolla engine.

I bet at that time nobody would expect this class to become the most coveted race to win in RC!

1988

1988 would see the race stay in Europe and moved to Mantua, Italy this would be the first of 4 WCs for Italy as well as the first for Italian Maurizio Monesi with a Garbo Roadfighter buggy and Mantua T4 Motor

1990

1990 the Worlds went east to Bangkok, Thailand and also this would be the first win and start of the Japanese dominance, not just with drivers but also the manufacturers Kyosho & Mugen. The first win would go to Mugen Seiki and Japanese driver Koji Sanada.

1992

Back to Europe !!! This time in Germany at the MSC Eschbach in Usingen. Eschbach. Japan would win again with Kunihiro Toge, this race would also be the start of the Kyosho Era as Inferno Burns / OS Max combo platform would take the win. This marks the beginning of the Golden Dynasty of Kyosho and their utter dominance on a world stage that has yet to be replicated by a company yet.

1994

Italian Maurizio Monsei would become the first and so far only 2 time winner of this race, 6 years after his first win and driving a Kyosho Inferno powered by an OPS motor. EFRA would be the host again and the race would take place in Kirchschlag in der Buckligen Welt, Austria.

1996

Jolly Olde England would be the host in Beaulieu in Hampshire. Alex Laffranchi would take the win giving Italy its 3rd win. Alex would wheel a Kyosho Inferno MP5 to the win thus giving Kyosho their 3rd win in a row !

1998

Legend Daniel Reckward would break up the Italian/Japanese stronghold and become the first and so far only German driver to win. The race took place in Coimbra, Portugal, Kyosho would record win #4 The Inferno MP5 was the magic. This marked the year of engine company RB with the WS7 and first win for them.

2000

USA USA USA finally a Worlds in America. Richard Saxton was in charge of the event and he went all out. The race was held on a one off track built in the parking lot of the Silverton Hotel, Las Vegas, the dirt trucked in, drivers stand built and every thing built from scratch. It was said this race cost over 90K to Host in 2000 approximately 150K in 2022

This Worlds also saw the Americans with 5 drivers in the final and was probably the start of the Americans being considered valid contenders in what had been a Euro/Japan dominated 14 years of World Championships.

Richard Saxton was considered the best in the USA at this point and did not make the A final! Kyosho Designer Yuchi Kanai would win and etch the Kyosho name in the Halls of Glory built by the Rc Gods.

2002

USA would not have to wait long; they would get their first win in Punta Del Este, Uruguay. With Legends like Miguel Matias, Richard Saxton, Yannick Aigon, Jeremy Kortz, Chad Bradley and more at this time nobody expected Greg Degani to become the USA’s first ever ⅛ NItro Buggy WC.

True to Degani’s Mantra about practice makes perfect, Greg went to the warm-up race and also went down to Uruguay for a week to practice on his own dime. This would then lead to him qualifying second going into the semis. He would then start 4th on the grid for the final, Chad Bradley would take the lead for the first 9 mins , his exhaust pipe broke and Chad was out. Richard Saxton would take commanding lead, Greg would catch The King at the 30 min mark, but the pressure and excitement would cause Richard to miss not one but 2 pit stops and run out of fuel. This would make Degani the First USA Champion and give Kyosho win #6 with the MP 7.5 Kanai 2 chassis.

2004

Furulund, Sweden was the host at what is now Jessica Palsons Home Track Fururing Raceway.

The USA was going into this race as the favorites like Mark Pavidis, Greg Degani,Jeremy Kortz,Chad Bradley, some of the best drivers in the world at that time.

The French Driver Yannick Aigon was widely considered to be the best driver in the world going into this Worlds. Unfortunately after winning his Semi by a lap, Yannick’s fate was sealed at the scrutinizing tent, Aigon’s fuel tank was .5cc over the limit and was disqualified.

To everyone's surprise the unknown French Driver Guillaume Vray driving the Mugen MBX 5 ProSpec would be the winner after 60 minutes. Giving Mugen their 2nd win !

2006

Jakarta, Indonesia would be the host country and a handful of the top drivers refused to go due to safety reasons but funny enough an American would win this race.

Mark Pavidis would take the win in what was an action packed 60 min final. Yannick Aigon would take a commanding lead for the first 45 mins but after a crash the turn marshal accidentally flamed his car out, Aigon’s race was done. 10th scale Specialist Scott Hughes would take the lead but he would make too many mistakes and hand it to Mark. Win #7 For Kyosho.

2008

Back to America!! The Farm 2 Charlotte, North Carolina. Lance Norick went all out with a track built years in advance with the goal of holding a world championship. This worlds was very important. We saw the passing of the guard with Maifield, Cav, Tebo and others taking over from the attitude era drivers, AE and TLR had Buggies and were the favorites to win.

This would be the first Worlds Streamed by Live RC, that would change how we watched and experienced RC Racing ! Also this was when the era which was forged around the 3 Drivers Ryan Maifield, Ryan Cavalieri & Jared Tebo would take off to the heights they are now.

Mike Truhe was the fastest all weekend and was the favorite to win, but Japanese On Road Superstar Atshushi Hara would take the win with one less pit stop For HB Racing. This would also mark the start of HB Racing becoming a contender and force in the RC Racing scene. Also this was the first time the world would see a 14 year old Canadian named Ty Tessman in the A final. So as you see 2008 was a very important Worlds.

2010

Pattaya, Thailand would be the host. The facility was impressive, the track was equally impressive. It featured Lots of jumps, an uphill banked turn straightaway , funky oiled surface but the real car killer was the little metal wire fence that separates the track lane!! This Wire Fencing made it so easy to break your car and was what made this track unique.

HB Racing’s Atshushi Hara almost made it 2 in a row but young Kyosho driver Cody King would straight up beat Hara after 60 mins, in what is considered to be one of the best head to head battles between 2 drivers in a World Championship RC Racing atmosphere. This would give the USA their 3rd win and Kyosho its 8th WC. They have not won one since……

2012

Finally they go to a FAMAR Country!! Buenos Aires, Argentina at Speed Paradise would be the host of the 2012 Worlds this would mark the Euro resurgence as Elliott Boots of the UK would TQ but unfortunately not make it to the A Final. Spaniard Robert Batlle drove a masterful 60 mins for Mugen, Europe and Spain! This was the start of the Euros getting back to the form they had in the early years with new young drivers on the scene they were taking the challenge to the Americans who enjoyed a period of domination. 3 Wins for Mugen !!

2014

Oh Canada!!!

Ty Tessman would drive his HB Racing Car to an impressive win in Messina, Italy. The pride of Canada’s RC would take the win after a dominant Ryan Maifield then driving TLR would have a servo go out. The Messina Track was famous for its unique concrete-like surface. And Fuel drama prior to the race. The Win would put Ty on top of the RC world for the next couple of years and he had the results to back it up, he was considered the best in the world at this time.

2016

What happens in Vegas Stays In Vegas!! That's right 2016 saw the Worlds in Vegas for a second time. Chris Tocco built the RC Tracks Of Las Vegas, the facility was very impressive with a view of the Vegas airport in the background.

This track was rough !!!!!!!!! Lots of Character as they say, I was told there were holes 2 feet deep in some places. HB Racing was riding the Tessman wave and Ty was looking very confident starting in the pole position with teammate David Ronnefalk starting 3rd . There were some early battles with Tessman and Ronnefalk and a good bit of time where we saw Tebo and David battle it out and switch positions for a few laps.

After the first fuel stop Ronnefalk would take the lead and never look back, he would cross the finish line 14 secs ahead of second place Robert Batlle. The Viking was Born !!! HB Racing would get win #3!

In 6th place was a very young Mugen Driver named Davide Ongaro little did we know what The young Italian had in store for the RC Racing World.

2018

The longest Worlds ever !!!! This Worlds took place in Perth, Australia at the Model Off-Road Buggy Club of Western Australia. Due to the long distance this race was made scheduled for 10 days with an extra 2 days of practice.

Ryan Maifield was in great form after a great 2017 and 2018 with Mugen Seki Maifield looked to have everything needed to finally win this race. Ryan along with Tessman, Ronnefalk were all the favorites to win. After his impressive wingless win at the Neo Race in 2017 now Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro was also a favorite to win.

Tessman was the TQt of qualifying followed by Ronnefalk.Ongaro and Maifield. After the semis it was The American Ryan Maifield would start on pole with Ronnefalk 2nd Tessman 3rd and Ongaro 4th.

Maifield would take the lead at the start of the 60 mins with Tessman, and Ongaro in tow Ronnefalk. These 3 would battle it out for about the first 15 to 18 mins, on lap 33 Davide Ongaro would take the lead and drive on to a 22 second victory over Ty Tessman followed by Ryan Maifield.

This would give AE their first 1/8th Championship and Italy their 4th World Championship bringing them even with Japan.

This race would also see after race drama as Davide Ongaro’s car was impounded after the race. Allegations of gyro use had been stewing since early 2017 and it all came to a a boiling point. Ongaro's car was stripped and no evidence of gyro use was found and he was then declared 2018 World Champion and goes into the 2022 Race as the Champion.

2020

Postponed due to Covid

In conclusion as you can see the Nitro Buggy Class has been the hardest class to win and we have only had one 2 time winner and never consecutively. There are drivers with Multiple 1/10th Off Road World Championships and you see this in on road as well.

In my opinion this makes ⅛ Nitro Buggy the Glory and the hardest Championship to win. Hopefully this brief history gives everyone some insight into the Worlds. Mic Craddock had a series of blogs from his World Championship trips he has been to a lot of them. They used to be on Neo Buggy and gave lots of info about the race I hope we can get that back.