IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championship

The IFMAR World Championship for 1:10th Electric Off-Road Cars (officially "IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championship"), is a world championship radio controlled car race hosted by the International Federation of Model Auto Racing (IFMAR). It takes place biennially on odd years since 1987 in its current format but inaugurated in 1985 as a championship for Stock (stock handout motor) and Modified class (modified motors and seven cells)[1] It is considered by the radio-controlled modelling industry to be the most prestigious event in the calendar that a number of mainstream hobby and toy brands have fielded factory entries.

For the 2019 Off-Road Worlds, see 2019 IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championships.
IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championship
First race1985
Duration3 rounds of 5 minute heats (A-main)
1 round of 5 minute heat (others)
Most wins (driver)2WD = Masami Hirosaka (3)
4WD = Masami Hirosaka (4)
Most wins (manufacturer)2WD = Team Associated (13)
4WD = Yokomo (7)
Circuit information
SurfaceDirt (1985–1991, 1995, 2002, 2005)
Clay (1993, 1997–1999, 2007–2011)
Blue groove (2003, 2013)
Artificial turf (2015)

The event is open exclusively to 1:10 scale electric off-road buggies with those of 2WD and 4WD drivetrain, competing separately. These are characterized by its large wheels designed for off-road driving and enclosed single-seater bodyshell with large rear spoiler.

Despite taking place under the same host and venue, the two championships are regarded as separate events, therefore in between them, the circuit is required to be rebuilt and reconfigured differently.

All the world championships took place on dirt or clay tracks until 2015 when the decision was made to run controversially on artificial turf.[2]

In the 2WD class Associated Electrics, holds distinction for the most wins for manufacturers with a total of 11; Masami Hirosaka of Japan, hold the record with three wins. In the 4WD class Yokomo holds distinction for the most wins for manufacturers; Hirosaka, holding the record with three wins.

Significance to the other Worlds events

As it is considered by the industry to be the most prestigious event in radio-controlled modelling, in an attempt to "generate sale revenue from their products”,[3] it has attracted some of the biggest brands from the hobby and toy industries that included Nikko,[3] Tomy,[4] Tamiya[3] and Traxxas.[5] Only the latter two had greater success at the A-mains with Tamiya achieving 2nd by Lee Martin in 2013[6] and Scott Montgomery's 8th for Traxxas in 1991, both in 2WD.

At the 1989 Worlds, it was claimed by Radio Control Car Action that virtually every manufacturers, who had a 1:10 buggy on the market, was represented. In a bid to defend their 4WD title the same year; Schumacher, a title sponsor, handed out their latest car, the Top Cat, to any contender who was interested in representing them.[3]

As a number of manufacturers spend a large sums of money to prepare their teams to ensure a win, as a result a number of those enforce secrecy to protect their prototypes from view. In one notable example, Team Associated, who was the only brand to field a prototype, refused to allow it to be photographed, covering their RC10 up with a towel on anybody who tried to and when forced an Australian team member to hand his film over as he managed to take a few shot of its exposed chassis during technical inspection. Losi in comparison managed to escape scrutiny as experimental two-speed transmission was kept secret and gave misleading answers to prying eyes. They switched to their conventional transmissions in the finals.[3] By the time of the 1991 Worlds, this practice was enforced by a majority of manufacturers.[7] This was in contrast to the 1986 IFMAR 1:8 IC Off-Road World Championship, when Japanese entrants from Kyosho clearly knew their outdated cars had little chance against their European competitors, freely took numerous photographs of their competitor's cars to benefit their research. The outcome became the Burns in late-1987 and then, at the turn of the decade came the highly successful Inferno series that dominated racing from then on.[8]

To prepare for the 1989 event, Yokomo technicians famously collected soil sample on the track for analysis back in Japan. They were allegedly spotted by locals wheeling around the circuit, a cart that had a video camera mounted on it to get a car's eye view of the track. The end result was a duplicate of the track that became the Yatabe Arena back home.[3] Nowadays, regulation require the circuit to be altered at over 60% of its layout, had it been used prior to commencement date and closed for a 2-day minimum, 3-day maximum prior to then.[9][10]

Good preparation is key to winning as opposed to accessibility to prototype arts as Associated learned in 1993; when they felt their standard issue, aluminium chassis RC10 was best suited to the circuit, mechanics proceeded to modify Brian Kinwald's chassis by rounding its square edges. Its suspension arms was molded from a more rigid graphite.[11]

Teams and drivers are prepared to bend rules in an attempt to win. In 1989, Yokomo's TR-31 tires, only made available to Yokomo and Associated drivers, became a subject of scrutiny due to its size, given the rate of speed its Yokomos and Associated were going.

The tires, were 2 1/4 inches tall (equivalent to 22 inch in full scale) which was illegal under ROAR regulation (maximum 2 inches) though IFMAR did not have such restrictions and was shipped in 30 boxes of tires from Japan. In comparison, Associated was quick to point out to the critics that at the 1987 Worlds, Kyosho fielded tires on its Ultima that was too wide for ROAR regulations.

Team Losi in retaliation, countered this by taking all the stops in the States to produce and ship over 100 pairs of oversize front tires, 200 pairs of rears and five sets of hand-machined aluminum wheels across the Pacific. The tires, only permitted on its JR-X2, ended with mixed results for drivers as the rim ended up being bent out of shape and discarded for Losi's standard wheel.[12][3]

Some who attempted to bend the rules were not lucky such as at the 1993 Worlds; the electric motor of Ben Sturnham's Schumacher CAT 2000 was found with a hybrid motor illegal under IFMAR regulation regardless if it was compliant with the host country BRCA's regulations, his Tanaplan motor consisted of parts by other manufacturer of approved motors including Epic can and armature with Yokomo endbell. Sturnham had his 3rd-place finish demoted to a 10th place after all his lap times was removed despite protests by Tanaplan's Martin Finnesey that it offered no performance enhancement.CITEREFHowell1993[13]

Schedule

A maximum of 150 drivers take part, each continental blocs allocated 32 entries each, the host bloc an extra 10 and the final 10 allocated by IFMAR themselves; should any allocation be left unused, it would be reallocated to the remaining blocs. The event takes place over eight days in total with the first reserved for competitor's registration followed by its opening ceremony in the afternoon then the two sets of three days for competitions.

The competitions begin with a minimum of six practice rounds over groups of fifteen consisting of ten drivers each, starting with the less experienced, this determines the number of heats required and the minimum time needed between rounds.[14] Each heat consists of drivers who are ranked in order of priority; final ranking in the previous Worlds, then those of each countries and the domestic entrants and additional entries.[15] In this case, in the 2015 Worlds, debutants Spencer Rivkin and Bruno Coehlo started at the lower-to-mid practice group 6 and 11 respectively, whereas Steven Hartson, Jared Tebo, Naoto Matsukura and Lee Martin start together in group 15 as the former two are defending champions and the latter given their performance or seeding in their home blocs whereas Travis Amezcua and David Ronnefalk, despite appearing at the A-main once previously, starts in practice group 14.[15] Usually the final rounds are used as controlled practice.[14] At the 2015 Worlds, practice rounds consisted of four rounds of open practice and two rounds of seeding practice to group the drivers together by skill level.[16] The second day of competition, following the second controlled practice, consists of four rounds of qualifying heats and for day three; the final qualifying session and race day. For each qualifying session, a group of up to ten cars start under the "staggered start" system (a driver each starting separately within of one second of being called).[17]

After each 5 minute qualifying session, the best qualifier of the round is awarded zero points, 2 and 3 points for the 2nd and 3rd fastest qualifier and so on with the most points given to the slowest qualifier. Of five rounds in total, the best three overall performances (as opposed to lap times in full-sized motorsport) counts toward the driver's overall performance, two best rounds count toward three or four rounds completed and one round count toward two or one rounds. After all the points are totaled up, the driver with the fewest points is the best qualifier, thus is awarded a TQ (Top Qualifier) spot, enabling them to start in front of each round. Should they tie in points with another driver, the one with the lowest points score of the three is used to break the tie, if this fails, then the next set of points will be used until the tie is broken. If the points fail to break the tie, then the driver's laps and time from the lowest score will be used.[18]

The groups are then split into ten groups of ten drivers in alphabets, pending on their performance in qualifying with A being the fastest of the groups[19] Race day starts with the slowest groups first, working its way to the next faster groups up to the fastest, the A-main, then progresses to the 2nd heat. Each race runs for a total of five minutes with extra time to allow the driver to complete their laps.[20] Only the A-main, the group that carries the only hope of taking the world championship title, has three heats with only two best performances that counts and a final practice in the afternoon during race day[21][22] and the rest run under a single 5 minute heat.[16]

Following the conclusion of the first championship, the event will have an off day as the circuit would have to be rebuilt and reconfigured to a different layout required by IFMAR regulations as accordingly the two Worlds are considered to be a separate events.[23] The practice would instead start with drivers who are ranked according to their performance in 2WD the day before.[24]

Venues
Year Bloc Host Club Venue Location Country Surface Source
1985 ROAR Ranch Pit Shop Ranch Pit Shop Del Mar, San Diego, California  United States Hardpack
1987 EFRA Romsey Off-Road Club Malthouse Inn Timsbury, Hampshire[nb 1]  United Kingdom Dirt [25]
1989 FEMCA Castle Hill Off Road Radio Control Club St. Ives Showground St Ives, New South Wales  Australia Dirt
1991 ROAR Team SEMROCC Racing Freedom Hill Park Sterling Heights, Michigan[nb 2]  United States Dirt
1993 EFRA Thames Estuary Model Auto Circuits Pipps Hill Leisure Complex Basildon, Essex  United Kingdom Dirt
1995 FEMCA JMRCA Kanto Yatabe Arena Tsukuba, Ibaraki  Japan Dirt
1997 ROAR Ranch Pit Shop Ranch Pit Shop Pomona, California  United States Blue Groove
1999 EFRA Rauman Urheiluautoilijat Uimahalli Rauma, Satakunta  Finland Dirt
2002 FAMAR Tshwane Raceway And Promotions Skilpad Tortoise Hall Pretoria, Gauteng[nb 3]  South Africa Dirt
2003 ROAR Minnreg RC Car Club Minnreg RC Speedway Largo, Florida  United States Blue Groove
2005 EFRA AF Model Rings AF Model Rings Collegno, Piedmont  Italy Dirt
2007 FEMCA Hakusan Ichirino RC Club Hakusan Arena Ishikawa, Chūbu  Japan Dirt
2009 FAMAR Tshwane Raceway and Promotions TRAP R/C Venue Pretoria, Gauteng  South Africa Dirt
2011 EFRA Vaasan Urheiluautoilijat Pitkämäki Race-Centre Vaasa, Ostrobothnia  Finland Clay [26]
2013 ROAR A-Main Hobbies Silver Dollar R/C Raceway Chico, California  United States Blue Groove [27]
2015 FEMCA JMRCA Kanto Yatabe Arena Tsukuba, Ibaraki  Japan Astroturf [28]
2017 FEMCA 3-Circles ARC International Raceway Xiamen, Fujian  China Dirt [29]
2019 EFRA Hudy Arena Hudy Arena Trencin, Trenčín  Slovakia Clay
2021 ROAR TBC

IFMAR World Championship Winners

Stock
Year Name Car Motor ESC Transmitter Source Report
1985 Jay Halsey Associated RC10 Reedy Novak NESC-1 Airtronics [30][31] Report

Unlimited

Split into two classes in 1987

Year Name Car Motor ESC Transmitter Source Report
1985 Gil Losi Jr. Yokomo YZ-834B Trinity Novak NESC-1 Airtronics [30][31] Report

2WD
Year Name Car Motor ESC Transmitter Source Report
1987 Joel Johnson Kyosho Ultima Trinity Monster Pure Gold Tekin ESC100 KO Propo EX-1 [32] Report
1989 Masami Hirosaka Associated RC10GX Reedy KO Propo CX-III KO Propo Esprit [33] Report
1991 Masami Hirosaka Associated RC10GX Reedy Novak 410-M1c KO Propo [34] Report
1993 Brian Kinwald Associated RC10 Reedy Novak 410-M1c Airtronics CS2P [35][36] Report
1995 Matt Francis Associated RC10B2 Reedy Sonic LRP ICS Digital Airtronics Caliber 3Ps [37] Report
1997 Brian Kinwald Losi XX-CR Trinity Novak Cyclone Airtronics Caliber 3PS [38] Report
1999 Masami Hirosaka Associated RC10B3 Reedy GM Racing V12 KO Propo Esprit Vantage [39] Report
2002 Matt Francis Losi XXX Trinity LRP Airtronics M8 [40] Report
2003 Billy Easton Associated RC10B4 Reedy Rx LRP QC2 Airtronics M8 [41] Report
2005 Neil Cragg Associated RC10B4 Reedy Ti Nosram Razor KO Propo EX-10 [42] Report
2007 Hayato Matsuzaki Associated RC10B4 Checkpoint KO Propo VFS-1 Pro Competition 3 KO Propo EX-10 Helios C2 [43] Report
2009 Martin Achter Associated RC10B4 CS Magnetic Delta CS Rocket Competition Sanwa M11X [44] Report
2011 Ryan Cavalieri Associated RC10B4.1 Team Orion Vortex VST Pro LRP SXX Airtronics M11X [45] Report
2013 Jared Tebo Kyosho Ultima RB6 Team Orion Vortex VST2 Team Orion Vortex R10 KO Propo EX-10 Eurus [46] Report
2015 Spencer Rivkin Associated RC10B5M Reedy Sonic Mach 2 Reedy Blackbox 410R Airtronics M12S [47] Report
2017 Ryan Maifield Yokomo YZ-2 DTM Team Orion Vortex VST2 Team Orion HMX Airtronics M12S [48] Report
2019 Spencer Rivkin Associated RC10B6.1DL HobbyWing XeRun V10 G3 HobbyWing XeRun XR10 Pro Elite Futaba 7PX [49] Report

4WD
Year Name Car Motor ESC Transmitter Source Report
1987 Masami Hirosaka Schumacher CAT XL HPI UNO Blue Label KO Propo CX-I KO Propo Esprit [32] Report
1989 Masami Hirosaka Yokomo YZ-870C Reedy KO Propo CX-III KO Propo Esprit [33] Report
1991 Cliff Lett Yokomo YZ-10 Works '91 Reedy Mr. M Novak 410-M1c Airtronics [34] Report
1993 Masami Hirosaka Yokomo YZ-10 WC Special Reedy Novak 410-HPc KO Propo Esprit II [35][36] Report
1995 Mark Pavidis Yokomo YZ-10 Reedy Sonic LRP ICS Digital Airtronics CS2P [37] Report
1997 Masami Hirosaka Yokomo MX-4 Reedy Tekin M-Star Red KO Propo Esprit Vantage [38] Report
1999 Jukka Steenari Losi XX-4 Team Orion Novak Cyclone Sanwa M8 [39] Report
2002 Jukka Steenari Losi XX-4 Orion Novak Sanwa M8 [50] Report
2003 Ryan Cavalieri Losi XXX-4 Trinity D5 Novak GTX Airtronics M8 [51] Report
2005 Ryan Cavalieri JConcepts BJ4 Worlds Edition Trinity Epic Shock LRP QC3 Airtronics M11 [42] Report
2007 Jared Tebo Associated RC10B44 Checkpoint LRP QC3 Futaba 3PK Super [52] Report
2009 Martin Achter Team Durango DEX410 CS Magnetic Delta CS Rocket Competition Sanwa M11X [53] Report
2011 Ryan Cavalieri Associated RC10B44.1 Orion Vortex VST Pro Orion Vortex R10 Pro Airtronics M11X [54] Report
2013 Steven Hartson Associated RC10B44.2 LRP Vector X20 LRP Flow WorksTeam Futaba 4PKS-R [55] Report
2015 Bruno Coelho XRAY XB4 16 LRP Vector X20 LRP Flow WorksTeam Sanwa M12S Report
2017 Ryan Maifield Yokomo YZ-4 SF Team Orion VST2 Team Orion HMX Sanwa M12S [48] Report
2019 Bruno Coelho Xray XB4 20 HobbyWing XeRun V10 G3 HobbyWing XeRun XR10 Pro Elite Sanwa M17 Report

Statistics

Most Wins

Drivers

Car manufacturers

Motors

ESC

Transmitters

By Member Blocs (Drivers)

Win(s) by Nations (Drivers)

Most represented in final

Note: Italics on year represents in which a driver of the country or car manufacturer who failed to score a championship title, italics on nationalities indicate host nation.

Nations (drivers)

Car manufacturers

Notes
  1. Numerous sources promoted the event as taken place in Romsey.
  2. Numerous sources promoted the event as taken place in Detroit.
  3. Because of the September 11 attacks which occurred prior to the championships, the event was delayed until 2002. See also list of entertainment affected by the September 11 attacks.
gollark: Or your system will not meet those criteria.
gollark: No, I mean, as far as I can see that requires you to have three candidates and no more.
gollark: That would limit you to three candidates.
gollark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow's_impossibility_theorem
gollark: Approval voting (basically just what we have now but you can vote for multiple people) is among the less bad ways to vote.

References
  1. "1/10th World Championships" (PDF). Rc10talk.com. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  2. "Track Focus – Yatabe Arena » Red RC – Events". Events.redrc.net. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  3. Houle 1990, pp. 41-56.
  4. Huber 1991, pp. 107-111.
  5. Waldron, Aaron. "FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Traxxas' racing heyday". LiveRC.com. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  6. "Lee Martin Takes 2nd at 2013 IFMAR Electric Worlds!". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  7. Pond 1991, pp. 38-56.
  8. NeoBuggyA 2012.
  9. IFMAR 2015, 1.5.4.
  10. IFMAR 2015, 1.5.1.
  11. Howellb 1993, pp. A7-A15.
  12. Husting 1990, pp. 47-50, 80-82.
  13. "RC10Talk.com - View topic - 1993 IFMAR Worlds Radio Race Car-Oct 1993". rc10talk.com.
  14. 1.51, p2, IFMAR 1/10 2015 Off-Road Rules
  15. https://2015epoffroadworlds.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/2wd-preliminary-starting-order1.pdf
  16. "WORLDS: Live broadcast schedule for 2015 IFMAR Electric Off-Road World Championships :: LiveRC.com – R/C Car News, Pictures, Videos, and More". liverc.com.
  17. 1.10.8, p5, IFMAR 1/10 2015 Off-Road Rules
  18. 1.7, p4, IFMAR 1/10 2015 Off-Road Rules
  19. 1.8, p4-5, IFMAR 1/10 2015 Off-Road Rules
  20. 1.10.3, p4-5, IFMAR 1/10 Off-Road 2015 Rules
  21. 1.8.1, p5, IFMAR 1/10 2015 Off-Road Rules
  22. 1.8.4, p5, IFMAR 1/10 2015 Off-Road Rules
  23. "'From Race Control' – Day 3 of 2WD Buggy » Red RC – Events". Redrc.net. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  24. https://2015epoffroadworlds.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/4wd-preliminary-starting-order1.pdf
  25. Helger 1987, pp. 16.
  26. https://events.redrc.net/2011/07/ep-buggy-worlds-open-in-finland/
  27. https://events.redrc.net/2013/09/track-focus-silver-dollar-rc-raceway/
  28. https://events.redrc.net/2015/10/track-focus-yatabe-arena/
  29. https://events.redrc.net/2017/11/track-focus-xiamen-arc-international-raceway/
  30. Tobey, Mike (September–October 1985). "1/10 Off-Road World Championships". Radio Race Car.
  31. "RC10Talk.com - View topic - Jammin Jays 4WD Prototype RC10". rc10talk.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  32. Blandin, Denis (October 1987). "Championnat du Monde Romsey" (PDF). Auto8 (in French) (27).
  33. Hustings, Gene (December 1989). "1989 1/10 Off-Road World Champs". Radio Race Car.
  34. Chaplin, Keith (October 1991). "1991 1/10 Off-Road World Championships". Radio Race Car.
  35. RCMC team (November 1993). "Kinwald King Masami: Amazing (part 1/2)". Radio Control Model Cars.Radio Control Model Cars,
  36. RCMC team (November 1993). "Kinwald King Masami: Amazing (part 2/2)". Radio Control Model Cars.
  37. Husting, Gene (November 1995). "Yet Associated and Yokomo Dominate: The 1995 IFMAR 1/10 Off-Road World Championships". Radio Race Car.
  38. Howell, John (December 1997). "1997 IFMAR Off-Road Worlds". Radio Control Car Action. Air Age Media.
  39. "IFMAR Off-Road Worlds" (PDF). R/C Car. November 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-05.
  40. Lionel Troyon / adaptaweb. "RC Infos ¦ Site informatif sur le modélisme". rcinfos.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  41. Lionel Troyon / adaptaweb. "RC Infos ¦ Site informatif sur le modélisme". rcinfos.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  42. Higgins, Matt; Vieira, Peter (November 2005). "IFMAR Electric Off-Road Worlds". Radio Control Car Action. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  43. "2007 IFMAR off road world championships - Japan - oOple.com". oople.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  44. "EP Off Road 2WD Progress Report". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on December 13, 2009. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  45. "Cavalieri gets his 2WD World title » Red RC – Events". redrc.net. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  46. "Jared Tebo is 2WD World Champion". neobuggy.net. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  47. "Rivkin takes 2WD title at Yatabe". neobuggy.net.
  48. "China to host 2017 IFMAR EP Offroad Worlds". Red RC. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  49. "Spencer Rivkin takes IFMAR 2WD World Championship". Red RC. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  50. Lionel Troyon / adaptaweb. "RC Infos ¦ Site informatif sur le modélisme". rcinfos.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  51. Lionel Troyon / adaptaweb. "RC Infos ¦ Site informatif sur le modélisme". rcinfos.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  52. "2007 IFMAR off road world championships - Japan - oOple.com". oople.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  53. Henk Lamberts. "4WD Report". trap.co.za. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011.
  54. "Neumann & Tebo join Cavalieri on World Championship podium » Red RC – Events". redrc.net. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  55. "Hartson wins A3 Thriller: World Champion". neobuggy.net. Retrieved 26 November 2015.

Bibliography
  1. Howell 1993, p. A15.
  2. Howellb 1993, pp. A7-A15.
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