The 2023 IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championships wrapped up this past Saturday and wow, the racing was absolutely intense. The silence that fell over the track as the tone was about to drop was something the rivaled the PGA Tour.
While there were many drivers expected to be in contention, the biggest surprises came from most of them not making the show and young up and comers exceeding expectations. Household names in RC seemed to have moments of brilliance, but not enough to handle the new names coming in hot.
Davide Ongaro, driving a Team Associated B74.2D to their 32nd WC is somewhat considered the new up an coming top driver, mostly by age, not experience LOL. Ongaro put on an impressive run to win A1 and A3. A3 came down to the wire with a battle between his teammate Spencer Rivkin who brought the heat at the end of main with the only 17.9 Second lap time of the weekend.
Notable names not in the 4wd main: Ryan Cavalieri, Ryan Maifield, Ty Tessman and Jorn Neumann
Unexpected names in the 4wd Main: Marcus Kaerup and Cole Tollard
The biggest surprise to me and probably to many is Tater Sontag’s incredible 2wd performance. Leading up to this event, I don’t think anyone had Tater to win the 2wd portion of the IFMAR WC. Tater impressed everyone by getting the Q2 and Q3 TQs and the sealing the deal with a P3 in Q5. Heading into the mains, tater would be challenged at the beginning and then be able to pull away. Sontag would wrap up the championship with impressive wins in A1 and A2.
Notable names not in the 2wd main: Jorn Neumann, Bruno Coelho, Ty Tessman, Michal Orlowski, Dustin Evans
Unexpected names in the 2wd Main: Tater Sontag, Brennan Shimmel, Marcus Kaerup
Final thoughts. The racing this past week was one for the record books and the level is elevating every day, every event, every year. Are we going to start seeing a changing of the guard? Are the young and up and coming drivers going to start dominating? Will there be a new group of household names? Can the power house elites that have dominated in years past step up to the field of new drivers? Only time will tell.