At only 16, Philip Mortstedt was already the man behind Neo-Buggy.
Look where he is now, five years later!

 

 

 

MyRCBox.com: First of all, I'd like to thank you for the interview. I know you are a busy guy, thanks for your time.
Philip Mortstedt: No Problem, happy to do it, and thank you for the opportunity.

 

MyRCBox.com: You are the man behind www.neo-buggy.net, the biggest news site dedicated to RC on the web. How did it start?
Philip Mortstedt: I think like many I got sucked into RC unknowing what was to await me. I think summer 99 I got a Kyosho wild dodge ram to play around with a bit, this survived for about a year until I saw an ad in a comic for an inferno, and a pic of some dude with a trophy. I went into town to the hobby shop and realised the guy behind the counter was the same as in the comic advert (Magnus Amilon, multiple Swedish champ) Anyway I got a 7.5 which had just come out and loved driving it for 2000, I entered my first race in 2002, and well...the foundations were laid for my love of the sport, but that didn't make my skills any good! I raced in 2003 a bit, but since then it's been on a basher level and recent years I have found working with it more enjoyable, attending and watching races rather than driving myself. Late 2002, the door opened a bit when I was in charge of the Gossip page of TWF8.com the forerunner to many 1/8th sites and original "Big Bang" After a few months I branced out and Neo-Buggy went online on 14th January 2003. At the time being 16, the name buggy is quite self explanatory, but Neo...I confess at the time the Matrix was popular, and the name also carries old Biblical meanings such as "The One". Anyway, now it has been established as a brand name. That's pretty much a rough guide to how it all began for myself and the website.

 

MyRCBox.com: Being only 16 when you started, how your project was seen by others?
Philip Mortstedt: At the start, it's always considered small and a nice thing to do on the side, but as it has grown you get people contacting you saying they appreciate your work, which is fulfilling.

 

MyRCBox.com: What's your biggest news, the news you are the more pround of?
Philip Mortstedt: Hmmm...that's really tough, there have been so many, its hard to really identify one stand out. I am very proud of the 2004 worlds week, everyday at the track taking photos and then in the evenings uploading photos and videos until late at night, 5 days in a row was very tough, but it worked well and I think for the first time I tried a semi-live-ish update of the final. Basically the net connection was horrible, and could only post the top 10 order of the final every 5mins of the hour long final. With 5mins to go the site crashed LOL! But it was the first time it had been attempted in that class. Other than that I am proud of the site as a whole, and it's continuing popularity.

 

MyRCBox.com: I assume you are a mix between a writer, a reporter, a photographer and a web master. What is your "real" job at NeoBuggy?
Philip Mortstedt: I think it's fair to say I dabble in all those roles! In many ways the site is v.heavily reliant on myself, however I have several people who help out to keep the site running, and we will start to introduce more contributors to try and bring the racers closer to the action and behind the scenes goings on. A big part of the site is also the advertising and revenue side which involves more than just sticking an flash banner up and getting paypaled.

 

MyRCBox.com: Never been discouraged by the "marketing" aspect of web sites?
Philip Mortstedt: No, I have to say I love it! It's the thrill of getting an account and delivering above expectations to the client which I find very fulfilling. I used to work for a social network site on the marketing team back in 2006, so I think it really developed there. What is discouraging is some companies not believing in online advertising, and paying in product, I think it's fine if you race but personally speaking, moving away from that can only benefit RC web sites as well as promoting professionalism.

 

MyRCBox.com: With all the success of NeoBuggy, never wanted to go with an online web magazine?
Philip Mortstedt: The thought has crossed my mind several times, I think there is a reason why after 5 years the site's function hasn't changed. Being predominantly news driven is what we do well, although we have done a few reviews in the past which were successful, but in retrospect working with web based content means we are not bound by printing deadlines, and also we can be much more flexible with what is written or what is not! Recently there has been a lot of new RC sites that have appeared, this makes the market more competitive so maybe a more complete solution would be of interest.

 

MyRCBox.com: You are well know in Europe and in North America, do you see any difference between RC is Europe and RC in North America?
Philip Mortstedt: I can only speak for 1/8th offroad, the biggest difference is the popularity of truggys stateside, it really hasn't taken off in Europe at all. Speaking from a racing perspective its quite clear that for a number of years California has become "a factory" for producing great 1/8th offroad drivers. Just the number of new faces in recent years has changed the racing landscape a lot. Also the influx of ex and current electric drivers has had a great impact, almost all of the top US guys at the moment have a strong background in electric, e.g. Truhe, Drake, Tebo, Cavalieri, Maifield. That is something that is happening on a much smaller scale across the pond, a few electric drivers have made the move to 1/8th but not had the same degree of success as their US counterparts, Yet.

 

MyRCBox.com:The Neo’08 race is just over, what is your appreciation? This was a lot of work?
Philip Mortstedt: I have to thank everyone involved who made it a success, as the organiser I take credit, but the event was a huge operation and everyone played a vital part in ensuring it ran well. The weather was definitely not on our side, freezing temperatures and weather conditions which I have never seen in late March in the UK. The first ideas were thrown around from May 2007 onwards, then step by step going through the process of getting sponsors for the race, entry limits, budget calculations, timetable work and much more. I have to say, not as the organiser but as someone who has been to a fair few big races, that from an organisational point of view the race ran like clock work. I am especially proud that we accomplished the 12 hour non-stop 3 qualifying rounds on the Saturday, ending just 4 minutes behind schedule From 8 till Late!

In retrospect, would I do it again ??? Let's see...I'm 21 so lots to see and do!

 

MyRCBox.com: You're only 21 and you accomplished great work in the past 5 years, what's next for you in your career?
Philip Mortstedt: Well, continue with neo-buggy, it's a great time for 1/8th at the moment, so no plans to move on just yet!

 

MyRCBox.com: I saw on your web site a poll concerning an electric 1/8 buggy class for next year. Will we see this class next year?
Philip Mortstedt: I have seen some conversion kits recently, it was an idea that was proposed, but nothing decided. Personally I think it would be quite cool, we did a small Truggy class at the 2006 Neo, but Truggy in Europe hasn't taken off as was expected. We will have to see if there is a race, and if the timetable is kind to us, and if there are people who want to do it!

 

MyRCBox.com: Do you think Lipo/Brushless buggies is the future?
Philip Mortstedt: I think it's a natural development we will see in within 2 years for sure, will it take off? Hard to say. Faster, yes. But runtime?? I don't know.

 

MyRCBox.com: We can see you at many major events, do you race sometimes or races coverage and your web site are taking too much of your time?
Philip Mortstedt: Splitting work on Neo-Buggy and my other job doesn't allow me to attend as many large races as possible, but I try and make sure we have someone at the larger events photographing and/or reporting back to improve the coverage online. Just keeping news updated takes too much time!

 

MyRCBox.com: Does it mean more coverage for the US races?
Philip Mortstedt: Well generally there are more US races, and of course the worlds plays a big role as well.