The world championships: a disputed first, then one class at a time.

The idea of a world championship came before the world body. Races described as "world" events were run in 1977 and 1979, while IFMAR was only founded in 1979. Whether the first of those races counts as the first world championship depends on whose list is read. After that, IFMAR added classes one by one, and the first year of most of them rests on Wikipedia or trade-press history features rather than on an IFMAR document, because no IFMAR results archive was found.

Which race was the first world championship?

The record gives three views:

• IFMAR's own history page lists a 1/8 IC track race at Pomona in 1977 and a 1/8 IC track event in Geneva in 1979 as events, then names 1981 as the first IFMAR championship.
• Red RC (8 September 2011) agrees with IFMAR: the first IFMAR World Championships were held for 1/8 on-road in Indianapolis in 1981, two years after IFMAR was formed.
• Wikipedia's IFMAR 1:8 IC Track page calls the 1977 Pomona race, at Thorp Raceway, the inaugural 1:8 IC Track World Championship, and lists Geneva 1979 and Indianapolis 1981 as the next editions.

Wikipedia's list of results for these three races:

There is more uncertainty around 1977 and 1978. Wikipedia's IFMAR page lists 1977 winners in two separate 1:8 track categories, ROAR's Sport IC Track (Butch Kroells) and EFRA's Group C IC Track (Michele Baruzzi), each footnoted as a "World Cup", and a 1978 Formula IC winner, Phil Greeno. Wikipedia's article on Ted Longshaw says he organised the 1977 race in California at EFRA's request and that European drivers attended, and that Monaco hosted a "World Cup" race in 1978 under a compromise with EFRA. These points rest on Wikipedia alone and are unconfirmed.

Associated Electrics, a maker, claims its RC100 took the first five places at "the first IFMAR World Championships" at Thorp Raceway in Pomona. Its page gives no year, and IFMAR itself does not call the Pomona race an IFMAR championship, so this is a maker's claim using a label IFMAR does not use.

The first world championship in each class

These are the first years each source gives. They are not merged into one list of "class introduced" dates, because the sources differ on what counts.

1/12 electric, 1982 and 1984

LiveRC (Aaron Waldron, 6 October 2014) calls 1/12 IFMAR's oldest electric class. Its table lists Kent Clausen (USA, Associated, Yokomo motor) as 1982 Stock winner and Arturo Carbonell (USA, Delta, Yokomo motor) as Modified winner, at Anaheim. In 1984, at Herning, Denmark, Bud Barto won Stock and Tony Neisinger Modified. From 1986 the table lists one winner per edition, and it runs every two years to 2012, at Heemstede.

The 1985 off-road Worlds

Wikipedia says the first IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championship was held from 6 to 11 July 1985 at the Ranch Pit Stop in Del Mar, California, with Jay Halsey (USA, Associated RC10, Reedy motor) winning Stock and Gil Losi Jr. (USA, Yokomo YZ-834B, Trinity motor) winning Modified. Other lists of the venue were not read and no IFMAR record of it was found, so the venue rests on Wikipedia alone and is unconfirmed. Associated claims the RC10 took the first three places at that first championship; because Wikipedia lists a Yokomo as the Modified winner, the claim can fit only one of the two classes. More on this event is on off-road arrives.

The first eBuggy Worlds: 2024 or 2025

Wikipedia's 1:8 IC Off-Road page says in its text that a 1:8 electric off-road World Championship was added in 2024, while the same page's navigation lists the class from 2025. Red RC (30 August 2025) reports that Marcus Kaerup became the first IFMAR 1:8 Electric Off-Road World Champion in 2025 at the Barcelos Buggy Arena in Portugal, and Hobbywing, a motor and speed-controller maker, also calls the 2025 event the inaugural one, though its news page (5 September 2025) names the venue as the Barcelona Electric Off-Road Arena. IFMAR's own page on it was not found.

Other early editions

Wikipedia's 1:8 IC Track list places the 1985 edition at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Japan, won by Rody Roem (NED, Serpent Quattro), the first edition in that list held in the Far East. It says early editions of the class were mainly dominated by American and British makers.

The 2026 world championships

Red RC wrote on 7 July 2026 that IFMAR was holding four World Championship events in 2026. Their status on 30 October 2026, from trade press, an IFMAR release reposted by LiveRC, EFRA's 2025 minutes and Wikipedia (IFMAR's own results pages were not read):

• 1/12 electric, Foshan, China: cancelled. IFMAR's release says the rescheduled Bangkok event covers 1/10 ISTC only, and that IFMAR will seek 1/12 hosts for 2027.
• 1/10 ISTC electric touring car: moved from Foshan to Bangkok, Thailand, with open practice on 11 November and qualifying and finals from 12 to 14 November 2026; upcoming.
• 1/5 Large Scale, Lostallo, Switzerland (27 July to 1 August): finished. Red RC (1 August 2026) reports Emanuele D'amico won what it calls the 12th IFMAR 1:5 Touring Car World Championship; this rests on one Red RC report.
• 1/10 IC touring car, Gubbio, Italy (4 to 12 September): finished. Red RC reports Naoto Matsukura won; a LiveRC headline of 14 September 2026 also names him champion, and Wikipedia's page on him, as summarised by a search, lists the 2026 Gubbio win.
• 1/8 IC off-road, Texas, USA: finished. Red RC (4 October 2026) reports David Ronnefalk won. Red RC's April 2026 report called it the 20th running of the class, 40 years after the first in 1986. Sources differ on the place (Austin, Texas, in EFRA's 2025 minutes; Hutto, Texas, in Red RC's September 2026 coverage) and the start date (26 September in Red RC's June 2025 calendar and on Wikipedia; 27 September in Red RC's April 2026 report and EFRA's minutes).

Full results, venues and the most recent champion in every class are on IFMAR World Championships 2026 and recent world champions.