IFMAR confirms Turf Worlds for 2015 with complete rule change

0 Dec. 15, 2014, 7:10 a.m.

12/15/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

ROAR issued a press release last night confirming the date for the 2015 IFMAR Electric Off-Road World Championships to be held at the legendary Yatabe Arena in Tsukuba, Japan, admittedly a few days later than planned due to a vote that wasn't documented. Due to the original date of September 26 through October 3 conflicting with the All-Japan Model and Hobby Show in Tokyo, scheduled for September 25-27, IFMAR honored FEMCA's proposal to change the date to accommodate JMRCA officials that are scheduled to attend both events - and surely a few drivers as well!

In addition to the date change, IFMAR has issued changes to rules 5.1 and 5.2 of the 1/10-Scale Electric Off-Road World Championship - which specifically describe the acceptable standard of track surface and layout.

Rule 5.1, which describes the surface to be used for the Worlds, was amended to provide for a track that is either partially or entirely covered with artificial turf (or Astroturf). Other materials may be used in order to build track features, such as jumps, but must not make up more than 20% of the length of the track.

The rule previously stated the surface must be made of packable, rock-free dirt, comprised of top soil and clay with a small amount of sand. In fact, the rule used to clearly mandate that the track surface had to be easily broken and repaired - a far cry from the asphalt-hard tracks of the last few Worlds!

The rule change required a majority vote from the four member blocs, with only ROAR voting against the rule change while it was approved 3-1 by EFRA, FAMAR, and FEMCA.

Aside from converting the figures describing the expected straightaway length to metric, from "80 ft. to 100 ft." to "25 to 30 meters," rule 5.2 got new verbiage as well including a small clause that says jumps must have a smooth transition - perhaps brilliant foresight should jumps now be exclusively made of materials that can't be reshaped easily (like dirt). The rest of the rule, which requires the use of single, double, and triple jumps as well as stutter bumps or moguls, was cleaned up to read more easily with less chance of misinterpretation. All four member blocs voted unanimously in favor.

Official press release is uploaded below.