IRIS In Focus #1 : An introduction to IRIS racing and the development timeline

We’re excited to introduce a brand-new feature here on The RcRacer  - IRIS In Focus.

Over the coming articles, Mark Burgess, Team Manager for IRIS Racing UK, will be taking us behind the scenes and sharing insight into all things IRIS, from the brand and team itself through to race development, setup thinking, and life trackside.

To kick things off, we thought the best place to start was with a proper introduction to IRIS Racing and their development up to this point. 

Over to Mark...

Well, a lot has changed since the RCRacer interview back in 2015 with Andreas Myrberg:

https://www.thercracer.com/2015/09/ame-project-iris-interview-and-first.html

Let’s catch up with the basics:

• IRIS remains the brainchild of Andreas as designer so that hasn’t changed!
• Becoming the direct in-house designed and manufactured car of the RUDDOG company (owned by Sven Rudig) gave IRIS a distinct direction of where the brand would be heading.
• The branding has moved away from a primate theme to something cooler and with a stylised eye with the iris at the core.
• IRIS remains an innovating brand who chooses not to go with the flow, thinking outside the box to bring something new to the market.
• The brand’s trademark colours are red because IRIS wants to be noticed and to make a mark in the RC community.
• Some of the innovative design features from those 2015 images have been retained and evolved and are now well proven on the race track, especially the rotary dampers.
• The focus became broader with cars for both Touring Car and Front Wheel Drive (aka “Frontie”) classes, and some of the coolest RC t-shirts and hoodies at the racetrack (I am biased but they are really great quality!).
• From the original launch cars there have been evolutions and generations of the IRIS ONE through .05 .1 and the current .2 TC and FWD models.

The evolution of IRIS

January 2022

• The IRIS brand was launched on social media.

November 2022

• The first kit ONE Touring Car kit was launched.

September 2023

• The first update was released for the Touring Car as ONE.05
• In parallel an IRIS Front Wheel Drive was introduced as ONE.05 FWD
• Key upgrades were to the chassis, motor mount, Dampers, rockers, bulkheads and the upper suspension mounts.

ONE.1 September 2024

• A further update to the ONE platform released in parallel for the ONE.1 Touring Car and ONE.1 FWD
• This included bringing the significant performance gain found with Internal shock springs to the kits.
• Upgrades were available for ONE.05 to bring TC and FWD cars up to ONE.1 spec.

ONE.2 September 2025

• A release of ONE.2 kits for both the TC and FWD.
• The main focus was revised top arms and a move from pushrod to pullrod design for the shock rocker arms.
• An upgrade kit was released that would bring a ONE.1 TC or FWD up to ONE.2 specs

Want to find out more about IRIS?

Website: www.iris-racing.com
IRIS Racing Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RaceIRIS
IRIS ONE Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1714259432309364/

Future IRIS updates

I was taught to plan for success, and hopefully this catch up on the IRIS brand and cars is well received. Like, share and comment on the update please and let me know what you’d like to know more about the IRIS brand, cars and team.

There are a number of future articles that I have in mind, including:

• Technical focus on the ETS winning IRIS ONE.2 FWD chassis.
• Meet the IRIS team.
• Sharing what it’s like to race as part of the IRIS team at an ETS meeting?
• What does my role as IRIS UK Team Manager entail?
• Looking forward to the next generation of IRIS.

Mark Burgess
IRIS UK Team Manager
April 2026