Taiwanese manufacturer Hong Nor has released this optional One Piece Carbon Rear Wing Stay Set for their X5B 1:8 Buggy platform. With the X5B now available as both a Nitro or Electric kit, it is also possible to just upgrade individual parts of the kit standard rear wing mount the kit with just the universal 1:8 Carbon Fibre Wing Button or the One Piece Carbon Rear Wing Stay.
Sworkz’s Caleb Noble has won the opening round of the fourth season of the the Team Cayote and VP-Pro backed Asian Buggy Championships which was hosted by New Zealand’s Counties RC over the weekend. Having top qualified three classes, Noble went on to win all three – Nitro Buggy, eBuggy, and Nitro Truggy. It was a powerful performance from the Australian marking his move to Sworkz and JConcepts over the off-season. Noble led home Sworkz teammate, New Zealand’s Jayden Jamieson, in both buggy classes, and Kiwi Hotbodies driver Shane O’Connor in Truggy. The Nitro Buggy final was a straight shootout between Noble and Jamieson, with Jayden grabbing an early lead before Noble struck back on the cusp of the first fuel stop and, from there, driving away to a one-lap win. Kiwi veteran Mike Stratford drove a brilliant race from 9th on the grid to round out the podium and make it an Sworkz sweep. eBuggy was an easy win for Noble, dominating A1 and A2, with Jamieson trailing him home, and countryman Jonathan Coluccio (WIRC) an excellent third. Darren Perry (Masters 45+ EP and Nitro) and Shane O’Connor (eTruggy) were the other class winners. The series now moves to Malaysia’s Lap Paradise RC Raceway for April’s second round of the 2026 series.
Source: Asian Buggy Championships [asianbuggychamps.com]
Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has added his name to MIBO International’s Roll of Honour for the offroad, the previous Touring Car Champion of the Czech event denying compatriot Bartek Zalewski the double when he took the 4WD Buggy title which went down to A3. Making the switch from the onroad track across to the parallel offroad track for the fourth edition of the annual race, Orlowski would qualify second to Zalewski in both 2WD and 4WD but coming up short on winning in 2WD, a team effort would see Orlowski lead a 1-2 result in 4WD from team-mate Daniel Kobbevik. Armed from fresh tyres for A1, Orlowski kicked off 4WD with a win ahead of Kobbevik as mistakes dropped Zalewski to P5. A2 would see Zalewski benefit from fresh rubber to win with ease over Orlowski despite the pair sharing identical fastest lap times for the race. In the decider while Zalewski looked to be dealing with the pressure of Orlowski almost on his rear wing, a small mistake at the tabletop with a minute to go gave us a lead change. While Orlowski led for a lap, Zalewski would then drive around the outside of his rival after they had came off the straight but they touched on the jump and both went tumbling handing Kobbevik the lead. With Zalewski trying for another pass after they resumed, he would catch the jump and roll out of contention finishing P3, 2-seconds back on Orlowski who took the overall win on tie break from Kobbevik.
New from vintage racing accessories brand Moto-Obscura come these reproduction foam ballstud dust seals for Team Associated and Team Losi 1:10 scale vehicles. If you want your 90’s RC to be truly factory fresh, you need ballstud dust seals that haven’t, ironically, turned to dust. A direct replacement for Team Associated and Team Losi dust seals, they are available as packs of 24 pieces.
Source: Moto-Obscura [moto-obscura.com]
Xray’s Bartek Zalewski has successfully defended his 2WD Buggy title at MIBO International, the young Polish racer wrapping up the overall win with two straight wins in the opening A-Mains at the Czech Republic event. Having secured the TQ for the fourth edition of the Michal Bok organised race ahead of Michal Orlowski, A1 would see his compatriot armed with fresh tyres mount a strong challenge but a cool headed drive from Zalewski meant he kept that challenge at bay. In A2 it was the 19-year-old who had the tyre advantage and he was able to cruise to win by a comfortable margin to lock in a very popular overall victory. With another second place to Zalewski securing Orlowski the overall runner-up but the upcoming 4WD title still up for grabs, Orlowski would along with the re-crowned Champion sit out A3 to focus on his 4WD quest. This left team-mate & 3rd place qualifier Daniel Kobbevik to lead away the 8-car field. Despite coming under the close attentions of Sworkz’s Micha Vidmaier for most of the race, the 2025 Top Qualifier & Runner-up would win A3 to complete the podium line-up in Hrotovice.
Xray talent Bartek Zalewski will go for the buggy double at MIBO International as the Top Qualifier in both 2WD and 4WD. The Polish racer who is the reigning 2WD Champion of the annual Czech event and the 4WD Champion from the year before, will chase his first double title looking to emulate Bruno Coelho’s achievement at inaugural running of the race in 2023. Zalewski had the perfect event up to Q3, when Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski knocked him off the top of the timing sheet for the first time by delivery the TQ run in both 2WD and 4WD after a not so great start to qualifying. While Orlowski would of course liked to have push the TQ battle to Sunday morning’s fifth & final qualifier, Zalewski produced the fastest runs of the day in Q4 to lock in pole position for the triple finals. Daniel Kobbevik however push him hard in 2WD missing out by just 4/100ths and the Schumacher driver holds P2 overnight in both classes. In 2WD Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier sits in P2, the Austrian back up his second fastest time in Q2 with another in Round 3. Orlowski is tied on points with team-mate Kobbevik in 4WD but with the Norwegian having the faster individual qualifying time he is ranked 3rd.
The opening two rounds of qualifying at the fourth edition of MIBO International in the Czech Republic saw repeat TQ runs from Xray’s Bartek Zalewski on the event’s offroad track while over on the onroad track Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker continued his reign over touring car. With both drivers topping the morning seeding practice, Zalewski opened qualifying with a TQ run in 2WD which he duly repeated on the switch over to 4WD. Repeating the feat again in the second of the five planned qualifiers, the Polish racer leads the 2WD ranking from the Sworkz of Micha Vidmaier, the Australia opening with a P5 but improving to go second fastest in Q2. With No.2 seed Michal Orlowski struggling with his driving in 2WD, sitting only P8 after 2 rounds, it is Sweden’s Elias Johansson who leads the Schumacher challenge in third, team-mate Daniel Kobbevik suffering a DNF less than a minute into Q2. In 4WD, Kobbevik looked for a time like he might be the first to knock Zalewski off the top of the timing sheets this weekend but a mistake in Q2 cost him around 1-second and Zalewski moved a step closer to wrapping up an early overall TQ by 3/10ths of a second. With a pair of P3 runs Orlowski sits third ahead of Johansson. For the defending Touring Car Champion Volker, Xray’s Adam Iszay is keeping the former World Champion honest and got very close in Q2. Setting the third fastest time in both rounds Sören Sparbier holds third ahead of Mugen team-mate Patrick Gollner. In Stock, like the other Top Seeds, Izsay converted his No.1 starting position in to two TQ runs.
Xray’s Bartek Zalewski continues to set the pace at MIBO International, the defending 2WD Champion topping Saturday morning’s seeding practice in both 2WD and 4WD. The Polish driver set the pace in yesterday’s free practice with the Schumacher of compatriot Michal Orlowski his closest challenger after the 5-round and it was a repeat of that over the 2 seeding rounds today. In 2WD, Zalewski had almost 3/10ths of a second advantage over Orlowski with European Champion Martin Bayer completing the Top 3 ahead of Czech racer Dominik Vlasek, Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik and Sworkz’s Micha Vidmaier. In 4WD Orlowski was only 4/100ths off, with last year’s runner-up Kobbevik completing the Top 3 despite failing to improve on his SP1 time. British Schumacher team driver Ben Smith seeds fourth ahead of Bayer with Vidmaier again completing the Top 6.
