The Domination of the Worlds
A decade of domination! The top four finishers ALL choose Pro-Line, at the IFMAR 1:8 Off-Road World Championships. This sweep marks Pro-Line’s decade of 1:8 Off-Road World Championship domination.
When the dust settled, Pro-Line’s Revolver in M3 compound on a Velocity V2 wheel was the tire of choice for Pro-Line team driver, Atsushi Hara, the 2008-2009 IFMAR World Champion.
Celebrating a decade of domination in 1:8 Off-Road Racing, Pro-Line has won 5 consecutive IFMAR World Championships with their top-selling tires. In fact, Pro-Line tires were chosen by 8 out of 12 drivers in the finals, finishing 1st through 4th. It was not just the tires that dominated the finals - Pro-Line foams, V2 wheels, high down-force wing, Crowd Pleazer body, and High Flow Air Filters were used by the finalists as well.
From Design to Development to the Race Track by Scott Hughes
Six months prior to the World Championships, we knew we needed something more… something that would be revolutionary. We wanted to make a tire that would last longer and work better in a multitude of conditions. After several late night sessions of hashing out design after design, and much input from team drivers, we developed the Revolver. An IFMAR World Champion, Billy Easton, contacted Pro-Line about working together on some future projects. The timing was perfect and we presented a tire concept that would fill a void in our tire line. We wanted a tire that was directly in-between the Hole Shot and Crime Fighter tread in size.
After numerous drawing reviews and rapid prototype samples, the Revolver was introduced to our tool room and production personnel for immediate creation. Official production samples rolled off the floor 1 week before departing for the worlds. This lead to a private test session for team drivers on September 5th. Here’s what a few of them had to say:
“The Revolver is amazing. My car was more stable and worked better on this surface then any tire I have ever ran.” – Ryan Cavalieri
“The Revolver lasted and worked much better than anticipated. I think we have a winner.” – Chad Bradley
“I like the fact that it fills a void in our tire line. Another tire to choose from when going to a big event. Great job!” – Jeremy Kortz
It felt like we had something special going into the worlds, but just how special was it? After securing 8 out of 12 spots in the main, each driver chose to run the Revolver in the finals warm-up. There were 3 minutes of warm-up prior to the drivers’ introduction and 3 minutes of warm-up after the drivers’ introduction so there was plenty of time to figure out the best tire set-up.
We learned during earlier finals from many of our team drivers that the Revolver was working really well and the wear seamed better than other tires. It made sense to have each team driver try these during their 1st warm-up. Nothing short of “maximum best,” as Atsushi Hara commented after running on Revolvers for 3 short minutes. “I know they will be the best tire in the finals,” he continued to say.
When the 60 minutes of action-packed, position-swapping final commenced, Pro-Line’s own Atsushi Hara crossed the line to take home the 2008 IFMAR Championships. He was followed by Mike Truhe, who reached for Pro-Line Crime Fighters in the front and Bow Ties in the rear, and Renaud Savoya and Jared Tebo, both on Revolver M3 tires.
The facts speak for themselves, no other manufacturer, in any segment, was as well represented and as dominant in the finals as Pro-Line. Pro-Line is the only tire on the market to win the last 5 IFMAR 1:8 Off-Road World Championships.
• Pro-Line tires secured 8 out of the 12 spots in the final
• Pro-Line foam secured 7 out of the 12 spots in the final
• Pro-Line V2 wheels secured 7 out of 12 spots in the final
• The only item common on the top 4 drivers in the final was Pro-Line tires
• Pro-Line tires are the only tires in the past 10 years to win 1:8 Off-Road World Championships...The winning tires: 2000 - Crime Fighter;
2002 – Knuckles;
2004 - Knuckles 2.0;
2006 - Bow-Tie;
2008 - Revolver
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