User:Donnie Park/2016 IFMAR 1:8 IC Off-Road World Championship

The 2016 IFMAR 1:8 IC Off-Road World Championship (also known as the 2016 IFMAR 1/8 Nitro Off-Road Worlds) is the upcoming 16th edition of the biennial IFMAR 1:8 IC Off-Road World Championship for 1:8 scale nitro powered off-road buggies sanctioned by the International Federation of Model Auto Racing (IFMAR) to be run over 8 days in total on 2nd through 9th October 2016.

The  [championships]  was organized by the  [organizer]  on behalf of Remotely Operated Auto Racers (ROAR) and hosted by the RC Tracks of Las Vegas, taking place at their own circuit in Las Vegas in Nevada, the United States. It will become the third IFMAR Worlds to take place in Las Vegas, the first to take place in a purpose built track, not in a temporary track adjacent to a hotel. It will be the first IFMAR Worlds to take place in the US since 2008, per bloc rotational order.

The first day of the event was marred with controversy on it's first day when virtually every competing drivers fielded the now illegal rear wings as manufacturers had not being aware of a rule change enforced in April 2014. The situation, dubbed Wing-gate, was resolved when drivers were presented with two choice, fit a wing of the sole competing brand who complied with the regulation (Kyosho) or insert cannards to extend the size of the side air dam.

HB Racing's Ty Tessmann of Canada, is the defending champion and was considered to be one of the favorites to win which would had made him the first double champion since 1994 and the first back to back winner in it's 30-year history but finished third behind Spain's Robert Battlle, who had been hospitalized before the first day of competition. The  [class]  class was won by Sweden's David Ronnefalk, who helped the now renamed HB Racing to defend it's title, months after the parent company, HPI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and subsequently brand's sale to Neidhart SA.

http://www.jmrca.jp/ifmar_world/2016/wc2016-3.htm

http://www.circusrc.com/category/courses/championnat-du-monde-2016/

http://www.neobuggy.net/category/racing/events/2016-ifmar-worlds/

http://events.redrc.net/tag/2016-ifmar-18th-buggy-worlds-usa/

http://ifmar.liverc.com

Drivers
http://news.efra.ws/fileadmin/news/2016/09/Drivers%20list%20for%202016%20WC_Las%20Vegas%20.pdf

A total of 162 driver from 34 countries took part with host country Italy having the most entries per nation with 24 drivers and the United States with 23 drivers.

Kyosho and Mugen Seiki was the most represented car brands with 47 cars (21%) each. O.S. Engines is the most represented engine brand with 59 drivers (25.2%) followed by Red Racing at 31 drivers (13.2%)

Promotion
Many brands introduced their own special editions of their existing products to commemorate their participation such as the REDS' R7 Evoke Worlds Edition which features a "Welcome" portion of the Las Vegas sign stylized as as "Vegas" on the cylinder head and O.S. Speed's B2101 Las Vegas Edition. The five stars and stripes on the cylinder head reflects to it's record five wins.

Rule changes
with another 10 to be allocated to who

Classification
Prior to 2016, IFMAR regulation stated a maximum number of entries be 180 drivers but can be accommodated to allow 216 drivers if the track and drivers stand facilities can accommodate that number. It was proposed to allow for 234 entries

53 drivers from each bloc with an additional 10 for the host bloc

Reactions
On the first day, virtually every competing drivers were found to have illegal wings on their cars as

despite the rules being enforced 28 months earlier (April 2014)

the only manufacturer to comply was Kyosho, therefore with the exception of the 47 drivers driving for the brand, the others were given a choice of replacing their wings with that of their sole complying competitor (obtained at a hobby store at $30) or insert a canard onto their offending side dams

many of the race favorites, such as 2016 ROAR Nationals champion and Team Associated's Spencer Rivkin, chose to opt for the former; whilst some such as teammate Ryan Cavalieri opted to modify their wing

dubbed Wing-gate

some drivers

During the qualifying runs, the track began to deteriorate with rough patches and pothole s developing all over, making the track even more challenging to drive on as the days progresses. As IFMAR regulation prohibit track maintenance except for watering the track, drivers have no choice but to avoid them or skillfully navigate them. Some drivers including David Ronnefalk voiced their displeasure, via social media, at the track requiring regular watering between sessions as they believed it gave some drivers an unfair advantage.

Ryan Maifield stated

In the lower heats, concerns turned to the length of each qualifying rounds to the as drivers was forced to run under artificial lighting on a radically different condition track unlike some of their experienced peers who ran some hours earlier under daylight