The SWORKz brand has been around for sometime now, my first time learning about the brand was when AMain Hobbies was the distributor, Marty Korn was the USA Team Manager and in February 2014 SWORKz signed Atsushi Hara on a 3 year contract. The Hara/SWORKz relationship would not last the 3 years and the split came in October 2015, the brand never really took off in the USA and after the Hara split and all but disappeared in the USA.

While the brand faded in the USA in Europe there was a resurgence in the making when Austrian businessman Max Sonnleitner would step in and purchase the brand in 2016. With a new passionate owner and the financial backing SWORKz started the journey to where it is now.

The beginning of 2018 saw SWORKz jump back into the racing scene in Europe by signing Austrian Martin Wollanka and German Jorn Neauman both were fast and making A finals at big Euro races at the time. One year later they signed a very young and up and coming Spanish racer named Juan Carlos Canas from Mugen.

2 months into the 2019 season would see the shocking departure of Elliott Boots from Kyosho to SWORKz and this now gave the company a driver capable of winning. They didn't have to wait long. Elliott would win the 2019 SilverState, Boots looked to take the world by storm with the SWORKz but after SilverState the brand grew in Europe but still struggled in the USA.

Fast forward to 2022 and SWORKz is turning into one of the powerhouse companies in RC. The brand is strong in Europe and growing worldwide. Tim Lime has done a great job in the USA over the last 2 years and the brand is growing. They have a new distributor with Beach RC and the USA team now has top drivers like Joe Bornhorst, Tanner Denney, Spencer Heckert and Camden Lime.

Juan Carlos Canas

With all this talent on the SWORKz there is still one driver that is shining just a bit brighter than all his team mates at the moment and that is Juan Carlos Canasa or JCC for short. The 21 year old has found some fine form in the last 1.5 years.

The young racer from Spain has been the first Spanish racer to challenge Robert Batlle’s long time dominance at the Spanish Nats. I truly believe that Canas is a product of Batlle’s success that then increased the level of Spanish racing at the moment.

JCC goes into this Worlds as one of the 3-5 drivers that can win this race. At the worlds warm up Canas was blistering fast and set the TQ, he would have to settle for a 5th after starting from the rear of the field due to him having to race the LCQ to get into the final. RCGP Italy Canas was on fire and outright beat his nemesis Davide Ongaro in his home country at the OspyTeam track.

In Portugal at the Euros Canas would take TQ and win his semi final and start on the pole position the even, JCC looked unbeatable all week but bad fuel mileage would be his undoing and he would not add a Nitro Euro Title to partner his Ebuggy title he won earlier this year.

RCGP UK would see the usually quiet and calm Canas get frustrated for the first time that I have seen and he would show his displeasure to the referees. Whether it was a crack from pressure or frustration from the Euros we will never know but nonetheless Canas was very fast at this race and would suffer a DNF in the 60 min final.

Canas can win this Worlds he has plenty of time at the Redovan track and he has also put his racing into another gear the questions is not about his ability and pace to win. JCC and his father have put in a lot of work and you can see it paying off. Can Canas perform for 60 mins under the highest pressure he has ever been in and cross the line victorious?

Many think he can and that makes him SWORKz best chance at their first worlds IMHO.

Elliott Boots

Elliot is no stranger to the Redovan Track. Boots would take his second Euro title at Redovan back in 2016 . Alsp he is no stranger to the World’s but Unfortunately for Elliott the Worlds has not been too kind to him.

He would TQ the race in Argentina back in 2012 Elliott would DNF in his Semi and not race the 60 Min final.

2014 would see him once again not make the final after he flamed out in his Semi.

2016 looked to be his year as he qualified 2nd behind Tebo after the Semis Elliot would start mid pack in 5th and slide back to last before the first lap was complete. He would have to settle for a lackluster 10th.

2018 would not be any better for Elliott as he would not make the final.

Fast forward 4 years and a lot has changed for Boots. He now spends most of his time living in Italy working closely with the Rossi family and REDS Racing, he has Verry as his mechanic and he has a brand new baby.Botts looks happy in life and RC and continues to shop why he is a 2x Euro Champ and Silvetstate Champion.

Boots finished 4th at the warmups and 8th at the Euros this year he has also shown incredible speed at the RCGP Euro Rounds and just won back the UK National Title. Is this the year we see everything come together for boots and become the first UK WC?

Joe Bornhorst & Tanner Denney

To be honest this is a hard one to predict let's start with Joe.

Joe joined SWORKz this year and was very impressive at the DNC. He was fast all week and would settle for 2nd in Nitro Buggy at the DNC. He looked a lot more relaxed and rejuvenated at his new team and has stepped into the top dog role easily at SWORKz USA. RCGP at S&B Raceway Joe looked equally impressive and dominated the first days of the event.

As impressive as Joe has been this year the big Win has still eluded him and he has seemed to taper off a bit mid season but a top 5 finish 4 weeks ago at Wicked Weekend could give Joe the confidence needed to make his first Worlds Final. We shall see how Redovan treats Bornhorst but it will not surprise me to see Joe to be on pacer or in the final.

Tanner Denny is another enigma, he too made the switch to SWORKz in 2022. I would say his 2022 has not been as good as his 2021. Denny is very fast and has shown glimmers of brilliance in his career,he has shown he can race and beat many of his peers.

Tanner has been holding down a full time job and doing RC semi professionally on the side. Rc Racing is hard as it is and competing against guys that do this for a living is even harder, so I feel a Semis showing for Denney would be great. He has the potential for more but the level of competition will be too high and tight and i would be pleasantly surprised to see denny in the fight for a spot in the A final

Spencer Heckert & Camden Lime

Both are great young racers. It will be interesting to see how they do against the other young racers at this race. The Semis would be a realistic target for both but very hard to do . I look forward to seeing Camden and Max go at it as the last time these two met was at DNC 2018 in the Open class which Max won. I see both Camden and Heckert in the ¼ finals directly with the possibility of bumping to the Semis. Anything after that is icing on the cake.

Leo Valente

The young Italian has been impressive ! He was very fast at RCGP Italy and was fast at the warmups and would finish 13th in the A final IMHO, which was a great result for Leo.

Unfortunately things have quieted down for the young racer as he did not attend the Euros in Portugal. We have not heard much about Leo recently but he's going to be in Redovan next week. Let's see how he does .

The Wonder From Down Under Kyle McBride

The man from Australia just signed with SWORKz at the beginning of the year. Kyle is one of my dark horses. You can never count Kyle out; he shines on the World’s Stage. He has made the IFMAR Worlds Final each year since 2010 and his best position was 3rd in 2010. Kyle just seems to be able to step it up a notch on the international stage.

As good as he is internationally it has also been one of his downfalls, coming from Australia to travel to these races does not come very often for Kyle due to budget. We have always said Kyle needs to move to the USA or Europe for a year or two to compete against fast racers on a regular basis.

Kyle did attend the Warm Up race in June but would finish in a 36th, while I'm sure he learned a lot to help him at the race next week. I believe this is a pivotal point in the young Ozzies career while a win seems far off I believe McBride can still make the A final and of he gets a good momentum can be one of the guys to come up and snatch it away from everyone and do it for the Australia and the Thylacine!

Kyle will need a good Worlds if he wants to continue to be a pro racer and stay relevant internationally I believe, maybe this is the motivation needed for Kyle to succeed and reach the glory that has escaped him for many years.

SWORKz is growing there is no doubt a Worlds win would solidify their position as a PowerHouse in the RC Industry will this be the year they can do that after painstakingly rebuilding for the last 6 years.

IMHO Juan Carlos Canas is their best bet but never count out Elliot Boots,McBride or Joe Bornhorst!