Many of you who follow Team Pixits Racing know that I've been racing the Ultron for NRP. I was looking forward to their new car called the Rival. Looked really promising but unfortunately the project didn't pan out.
At the same time I have been following the development of the Phoenix project that started as APF and I saw the frist prototype in Starec at the Euros in 2023. It looked incredibly good in the hand of Romain Walter. 
At the Euros last summer the prototype was now a production car called the Phoenix and it was clearly the fastest and most well balanced car on the track. I was intrigued and almost a little bit jealous at how good it looked. 

So when the Rival project was paused I was really happy when Romain wanted me on the VRmodelsport team driving the Phoenix in 2026. The team has a very nice vibe, with a great atmosphere and great people. Feels like you're part of something great, a start on a journey that can turn Large Scale Offroad upside down in Europe. The team has been joined by many of the top talent in Europe, including multiple European Champions. 

This will be the car to watch out for in 2026, and you can follow along on the ride as I'm going to post as much of the details as possible about the car but also the races as usual.

2026 is going to be a great racing year for Team Pixits Racing and VRmodelsport!

I'm in the middle of starting to plan the 2026 season. I will soon have some news to share about what brand and car I have chosen to race. But that doesn't prevent me from having some fun in the meantime. I really enjoy all parts of RC, not just racing cars, but also crawlers, drones, boats, helicopters and now also Rally. I bought myself an HNR H9804 Foxhound 1/10 Rally car a couple of months ago but haven't had the time to take it out for a spin. But with some Swedish winter snow I finally got the best reason to test it. 

And it didn't disappoint! It was quite hard to control the quick car with such big steering angle a narrow wheelbase in the snow. It didn't take long until I broke the front arm, but with some superglue and an extra aluminium brace to support I was quickly at it again and slowly learnt how to control this fun car. 

I'm looking forward to do some more Rally racing with others in the area and also drive on a track or the very fun looking Rally X version where the driver runs behind the car. Looks like a blast!

The third race in the Swedish Large Scale Cup in Nyköping offered a lot of rain and challenging conditions.
Due to some problems in the production of the Rival I will now run the Ultron for the remainder of the season including the Euros. This has made me change my plans and I needed to do some maintenance work before this race as well as a complete rebuild after the race before leaving for Fehring.

The day started pretty chaotic as my car was randomly applying throttle like some one else was controlling it. This made me miss the start of the qualification round. I later figured out this was due to a glitch in the extension cord to the throttle servo. Luckily the organizer had a problem with the timing system and we needed to rerun the qualifier as all the results were gone. This saved my day as otherwise I would need to start in the B-group for the 1/8 final. Sometimes you need some luck on your side!

The track was already in a pretty bas shape when we arrived and the rain didn't help the situation. This was all about finding the smartest lines and understand how much you could push the car without loosing control. Because applying too much throttle would make you car bounce in the holes and trip over.

After winning the qualifier the time schedule had to be changed as we needed to run a new timing loop and we jumped straight into lunch.

After lunch we started with the 1/8 finals which went fine, as well as the quarter finals and the semi finals. I started first and kept the lead for the whole heats without any big mistakes or issues. As we tried to run a tight schedule and get some time back it was back to back heats without no breaks. You drive, you marshall and the you have one heat to work on your car. Fortunately I didn't run into any other problems except the car being very muddy after each race. I tried to both use water and air pressure to clean the car between each round to keep the car clean and the drivetrain running smoothly.

After all wins I started on pole for the 20 minutes final. I was very happy with how the final concluded. I ran a completely mistake free final in pretty harsh conditions. This is when I show my qualities the best, being able to find the best lines, find the limits on how much you can push the car and be smart about your driving.

After winning all the heats and the finals this meant I go another 200 points in the cup giving me the best opening yet with 600 points after 3 races. I also managed to get the price for the fastest lap of the day. Now my goals is to finish of the season with a perfect score of 800 points, that would be something I would be very proud of because it means 20 heat wins which requires everything to work both with the car and my driving.

This was a great confidence boost but now I need to do a complete rebuild of my car to make it ready for the Euros. Hopefully this time I will be able to compete and really test where I stand against other racers in Europe and not just have problems and wrench on my car all the time.

You can watch the full 4wd A-final here.

The next race in the cup will be be on August 9 in Slottsbron after coming home from the Euros.

Another “last race” with the Ultron in Sviestad, the second race in the cup for 2025. Linköping Motorstadium was celebrating 100 years so it was full activity at the whole venue with all type of motorsport and a lot of people coming by to watch.

As I had the day of at work I went fairly early to the track and that was a good thing. The car behaved weird and after some error checking I found the problem being my receiver, the antenna was broken and the reception was shaky. But after rebidding a new receiver and putting it all back together I could go out and practice. I tried some different tires and ended up with some hard worn Astro Max as the best compromise. The track is a mix between hard clay and astro. I tried some tires that were better on the clay, the MCD Micro stud but the I didn't get any braking force on the astro. Since there are some crucial astrology parts of the track where you win a lot of time if you can accelerate and break controllably. 

In the morning I just did a couple of laps practice just to make sure there were no surprises. The first qualification went fine but I didn't think I was the fastest as a local driver looked really quick. But looking at the timesheet it turned out I managed to se the quickest time and lap anyway.

Starting first in the 1/8 final I could control the race comfortably even if the next driver behind me was not far away. One bigger mistake and he would be right there with me. In the end I won with a 10 second margin.

In the quarter final I tested some different tires just to see if there was something to gain. I tried the AstroGrip this time and they were pretty much the same wit maybe a little bit better grip on the clay but worse on the astro. I raced this very clean with no mistakes what so ever.
This track was really bumpy with gravel and stones in the clay. If you push your car too hard you will just make a mistake or loose control of the car. You go faster by going slower was certainly true at this track. 

In the semifinal I once more tried another tire, this time a medium AstroMax which I used the last time at this track. I had a pretty good lead but then started to make stupid mistakes, I lost focus. I think I need marshaling twice which meant the chaser behind me was right up my back. I tried to play it self at a double jump that was really tricky as it was very uneven depending on where you hit it. But I just played it too safe and instead made a stupid mistake once more so I got passed. But being very lucky it turned out we had just finished the race on the last lap so I still managed to take the win with a second. But that was close, I learnt I can't loose focus on this track and can't play it too safe.

Starting in pole for the final I got of to a descent start but made a little wobble again at the double jump but managed to control it and keep the lead. After that we had a couple of really close laps and it was fun and tight racing. The second car made a mistake and I could pull away. After that I only rolled once, but got up on my tires by myself, during the whole 20 minutes final and I lapped the whole field.

This meant another 200 points in the cup which is a perfect start of the season as you never know what type of problems could be waiting with a new car for the rest of the season.

The Ultron is now really in a quite beaten shape with a lot of play in the steering and some cracks in some parts. I really hope this was the last race because I don't know if it holds up for another race without proper maintenance. 

This was a great day with nice weather and fun racing with some audience as well. I hade some time to take pictures and film. You can see some of that on this page.

Next race will be on July 6 in Nyköping, this will be the last race before the Euros in Austria. I hope this will be my first race with the Rival as I really want to get some testing and racing done before going down.

The first race of the season in the Swedish Large Scale Cup was organized in Halmstad at a new track. The crew had made a great effort with the track and the rostrum, offering great parking and camping as well as a cafe and barbecue the whole day. I spent a day here last year when the track was still a work in progress and I really enjoyed the layout then. They made some small changes to the layout that I think was good and it offered a technical but fun track.  

I arrived at the track the day before to do some testing. My plan was always to race the Rival for the first time but since it has been delayed I had to bring back the Ultra. But without making any maintenance during winter I wanted to make sure everything was in shape. It was time well spent as I had some problems with bent hingepins and a carburetor that was not working correctly. Sorted out those issue and made some setup adjustments to the track that is quire slippery even if it's astro. You don't have the problem of traction rolling as you have at other astro tracks.

The practice and qualifier went well with many drivers showing fast pace, especially home driver Per who knowns this track very well. The first heat was probably my worst heat of the day as I kept making silly mistakes that costs much time here. I thought I was going to have to set for second place but I managed to pass the first place driver on the last lap to get a win. 

The quarter final and semifinal went by pretty uneventful. I found my pace and minimized the mistakes that made my wins pretty comfortables with a margin. I also set the fastest lap of the day in the quarterfinal.

I didn't do any changes with the car during the day except making the upper arms longer in the rear to get some more roll and gain some traction. I also put on some softer springs, other than that I didn't have any real problems or accidents. As the track markings was made of solid planks you could easily have some major impact and break or bend stuff so I took it really easy around the track and only used full throttle in a couple of places.

Just when our final was going to start in 4wd it started to rain as predicted in the forecast. I was prepared for this and had the mindset to be even smoother on the throttle as the astronauts gets really slippery in wet. I managed to get a really good start in the 20 minute main and was able to put some space back to the field already in the first couple of laps. I then just tried to play it cool but I couldn't help my self having some fun out there with power sliding around the corners. This resulted in some mistakes but I had the margin to play with but I was also very aware that it so easy to break the car or get hit by someone else during these circumstances so I really just cruised the last couple of laps to not gamble with the win.

So the first race of the season ended with a win in all heats and a full score of 200 points. I hope this was my last race with the Ultron but as the next race is already in 4 weeks in LInköping I'm not completely confident that I can retire my Ultron yet. Then I really need to do some maintenance, but that's for another day.

Three successful years with the NRP Ultron has come to an end. I started racing with the Ultron in 2022, before that my weapon of choice was the heavily modified TPR 5ive-X. But due to lack of development of the Losi platform I choose to move on and the choice fell on the Ultron. I immidiately fell in love with how easy and agile it was to drive and how well it handled our bumpy tracks in Sweden. I started the season really well with three wins in the Swedish Large Scale Cup. I choose to drive the 5ive-X in the Battle of the Nordics to save the car for the Euros. Unfortunately I had all type of problems at the Euros and that is probably the only race that caused me troubles with the car. Coming back home to Sweden I finished with a win and a second place to win the cup for the fourth time in a row. I topped of the season with a win in the autumn at a standalone race.

In 2023 I started on the back foot with engine problems but managed to salvage a second place, the rest of the 3 races I managed to take all wins. That year I unfortunately couldn't attend the final race of the season but managed to secure the cup regardless as we allow one drop race and the result was so good in the rest of the races.

Last year in 2024 I started with 2 wins directly but had a DNF in the final of the third race in Nyköping with a broken servo arm. But up until then I had 29(!) straight heat wins which was quite amazing and a solid proof of the Ultron's consistency. Again I had to make one drop race but attended the final race of the season where I ended in second place in Norrköping. At all the other tracks I felt like I had it all in my own hands and sometimes winning with a good margin but in Norrköping I couldn't match the pace of the winner. This was at a Astro track and I think that is the only weak point for the Ultron.
But the second place secured my sixth straight win in the Swedish Cup. Something I'm very proud of but also can thank the reliability and performance of the Ultron.

In total the Ultron brought me 3 cup wins, 10 race wins and 3 second places. That's pretty solid results for a car.

For this year (2025) I will be driving the Rival, the successor of the Ultron. I have very high hopes for this revolutionary platform as it delivers many inventions that I will think will raise the bar once again. Low center of gravity and low weight as well as a much easier layout to work on with only two sorts of screws. I'm very much looking forward to get my hands on the Rival when it arrives and take it for the first run. I'm also looking forward to bring it to Fehring once more for the Euros. Hopefully this will be a different story than last time with the Ultron.

In the end I want to thank NRP for bringing the Ultron to market but also to continuously develop and push the platform forward during those years. Lets take the next leap with the Rival!

Thank you Ultron for these years, you will be missed but not forgotten!

The Large Scale Offroad season was unusual short for me this year. Only four races as I missed the season finale race due to calendar conflicts with other engagements. This year I was also doing duties at the LSOR Euros as EFRA official, this was a race I might have attended otherwise.

It started the worst possible way with some engine problems in the first race that turned out to be a fuel filter issue. This made me start on the back foot having lost many important points for the rest of the season.

I knew it was going to be tough to be able to win the cup this year as my competitors have stepped up their game every year and it's now very close racing. This meant I have to pretty much nail all the other three races left of the season.

And that was exactly what I managed to do. I scored full points in all the rest of the races, 200 points, winning all the qualifiers, all sub finals and all finals, totalling 15 heats in a row that I won. I think this is what I'm most proud of, having to setup really hard goals and then reach them and even overdeliver on them. 

As my competitors also had some races where they scored less points, as it always happens during a season, I already secured the title even before the final race. It would have been fun for it to still be open for the excitement but I'm not complaining.

Maybe there is one more “fun” race left in the season, as you can see on the picture I haven't even cleaned my car yet after the final race on August I attended. 

I have now won the Swedish RCBash Large Scale Cup, the closest we have to a Swedish championship, five years in a row. Next year is a new season and new opportunities. Since I know I have many other plans for the next summer I think I will miss some races even next year. Maybe it will be a challenge again like this year for points, but I really hope I can attend the final as that is where everything should be decided.

Finally I want to thank N-R-P Large Scale Products for producing such a wonderful car, RN Tuning engine for a great powerhouse with the RV295 Pro and finally the NRP Powerclutch that connects the car and the engine into true harmony.