History
From the "big small" racing series to World eX
World eX is organized by the RCCO. The “big small” slot racing series RCCO has been around since 1991. It started as an editorial championship of German special-interest motorsport magazine “rallye racing” and developed over the years into one of the most popular slot racing series in the world. A special feature of the RCCO has always been the involvement of the industry. From day one, the teams and the series have been supported by car manufacturers and partners from the world of mobility and real motorsport.
#VisionRCCO – Driving The Future
Since the beginning, RCCO participants had done what is customary in slot racing: they have recreated models of racing cars as faithfully as possible – in the case of the “big small” racing series in the larger scale of 1/24. And it is precisely this that has repeatedly led to problems. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Group C racing cars of the time were almost unbeatable due to their favourable dimensions for slot racing. A change in the rules provided more variety, but also made a “Balance of Performance” necessary, for example, to allow a flat GT3 sports car to compete against a World Rally Car with equal opportunities. But as in real motorsport, this works more or less well depending on the racetrack.That’s why the idea matured within the RCCO to create its own vehicle category. The name of the project: “Vision RCCO – Driving The Future”. The specifications were formulated relatively quickly: All parameters relevant to slot racing performance – primarily length, width, height, wheelbase, track width and overhangs – should be identical, but the vehicles should still have a clear brand identity.
The renowned automotive designer Helmut Schmid, a passionate RCCO slot racer and responsible for design at Volkswagen Motorsport for many years, sketched out a set of rules on a blank sheet of paper for the “Vision RCCO – Driving The Future” project, which produced highly diverse-looking electric concept cars and yet ensured a level playing field. The slot car races from 2017 to 2019 with the ABT Vision RCCO, the Audi e-tron Vision RCCO, the KTM X-BOW Vision RCCO, the Lamborghini Centenario RCCO, the Schaeffler Vision RCCO and the Volkswagen Golf GTE Vision RCCO were, in this respect, the most exciting in RCCO history and the base for World eX and the eX ZERO.
From Slot Racing to Sim Racing
When the #VisionRCCO project was created, RCCO had always in mind to translate the slot car idea into the virtual world. To get some early knowledge, a small group of RCCO slot racers started practicing and competing with the Audi e-tron Vision Gran Turismo on the PlayStation. The first ever virtual test race of RCCO was staged on December 16, 2019 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria which eventually led to the creation of the RCCO E-Sport Series which later was rebranded into RCCO World eX Bizz before becoming the RCCO World eX Championship in 2024.
In hindsight, it was a lucky coincidence for the RCCO, as COVID-19 halted all slot car activities at the beginning of 2020. Thanks to the RCCO E-Sport Series, activities were able to continue seamlessly. The series was also the base for the RCCO #RaceHome Charity Racing Series which saw competitors of the RCCO E-Sport Series compete with Audi factory drivers from the DTM during the first lockdown period.
Work on the eX ZERO and World eX had started just before COVID-19 when Le Mans winner and DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller joined the RCCO. The virtual electric prototype was launched at the IFA in Berlin in September 2020 and raced in the RCCO World eX PRO Championship in 2021 and 2022.
The RCCO E-Sport Series also switched to the eX ZERO in 2020 and has since then grown into a unique sim racing community which continues the heritage of the “big small” RCCO slot car series with its primarily focus of bringing together great people.
The RCCO was founded by motorsport journalist Thomas Voigt in 1991 and has had different owners in its long history. Since 2024 the RCCO is part of the Racing For The Climate e.V., a German non-profit organization which is promoting activities in motorsport which reduce the carbon footprint.
