In a revealing and pretty candid interview with Neo Buggy, Joseph Quagraine talks about the past, present and what the future holds for the outspoken 25-year old Finnish designer meets driver. Click Read More...

Now JQ, most hardcore RC-ers are quite well acquainted with you, but for those visitors who haven’t experienced JQ’s effortless charm and charisma, tell us a little bit about yourself.
That’s funny....I think you might answer this better then! Very charming LOL. I'm 25 years old, and live in Helsinki Finland. I have been racing RC cars for 10 years soon. The only reason I started racing RC cars is because my parents thought motocross was dangerous, and RC racing wasn't so I knew I could race that (also I could afford it). I have been surprised to realise that many people think me or my family is rich. Couldn't be further from the truth, I most definitely am not, racing RC cars can be done by having a summer job. Some people think I'm arrogant but I'm not, I'm shy when around people I don’t know, and I'm part Finnish, that’s the way Finns act, it would be nice to be different but I'm not, I don't put after my posts on forums so some people take me seriously, I don’t know why I have been so fortunate to meet so many great people and to have been invited to all kinds of places all over the world to race RC cars. But it has been great. Now it would be pretty cool to actually do well at those races too! haha

Your competitiveness in 1/8 offroad stems from a trip or pilgrimage to California in 2003, you travelled and raced to improve, can you recount some of your experiences there ?
When I was 19 I took a gap year before starting University and saved up money first by working 2 jobs, and then just went to LA for nearly 3 months. One of my friends went with me for the first 2 weeks. Paul Coleman was the biggest help in making everything work out as well as it did, so a big thank you to him. Richard Saxton and Steve O'Donnell also helped me out with fuel and were really nice, as were Scott Hughes from ProLine and Joey from The Dirt. Actually everyone was supernice and most thought I was crazy because of what I was doing.

I stayed in a youth hostel in Huntington Beach and when I arrived I met 2 RC racers from Sweden, Robert Gustafsson and John Sandberg. They were sitting on the porch and recognised me. That was pretty insane that they were there, and they had arrived the previous day. I didnt know them from before but we became good friends and went racing together for about one month. After the Swedish guys left I was alone for a while but a bunch of local racers asked me to join them for some races and soon I was going to races with part of the “Big Belly Crew” as they liked to be called, Jim Pierce and “Notch” Jonsson etc, which was a lot of fun. I practiced nearly every day at KZ Speedway, or ran electric at SoCal raceway in HB, and raced all the clubraces I could all over the place. Towards the end of my stay I nearly ran out of money and thankfully Pro-Line gave me some tires for my last race there, Silver State, and Paul Coleman helped me get there. All in all I met a lot of people while I was there and they are by far the best 3 months of my life.
Would you agree that the time spent racing intensively with Pros in Cali, enabled you to improve much more than if you had raced conventionally back in Europe ?
Yes a lot more. My 3 months in California were like 2 years in Finland. Lets put it this way, when I first went to USA I immediately attended the Dirt Nitro Challenge and was way off the pace in the D main I believe. Then towards the end of my stay, I got 3rd at a race at KZ with nearly all the same drivers there. That was so great to see that I had progressed a lot. Also, before I went I had never even made an A-main in any major event in Europe. When I came back I finnished 2nd at the Euros warm up, and at the race, most people didn't even know who the hell I was! That was a great feeling. Eventhough I finished second.

So, without that ‘spark’ you would have been making Worlds 1/8th or 1/16th mains rather than semis ?
Without that spark I think I wouldn't be racing at all, because I was going to quit if I didn't get sponsored. Luckily I did well at some races in USA, and also immediately when I got back home, and suddenly I had a lot of offers and I was able to continue racing. I would not have been able to afford racing at a high level, and I have always been the same way with my hobbies, if I cant do it properly and try to become the best in the World, then I feel there is no point in doing it at all. Now I actually have my first ever hobby that I am not taking all seriously, and that I know that I'm never going to be good at, motocross. But that is only because I have always wanted to ride, and it does piss me off that I know I will never be good.



We’ve heard mutterings that you may be gracing a national series in Europe this year other than the Finnish one ?
Yes I want to race the Portuguese National Championship races. I'm going there because then my season is longer, the tracks look great, the racing level is ok, the weather is good and Portugal isn't a facist RC nation like some others I have come in contact with.

But why Portugal, and why the whole National Championship ?
Because I wont become World Champion or European Champion, or go to America and win a major event, if I sit at home in Finland looking at the snow and rain. After a couple of years of going no where result wise, I want to move forward and I think racing in a new country against new people on new tracks, effectively lengthening my season from 5 months to 7 months will help a lot.



Let’s talk a bit about Himoto, your deal with them on January 1st 2008 brought them into the spotlight, but products never materialised, can you tell us what actually went on during those 10 months together ?
A lot of nothing. And it was 9 months

Despite the obvious stress of the Himoto deal going sour, your Worlds performance in September was pretty good, you qualified direct to the semis – no easy feat...
Well not exactly what I wanted, but when taking everything into consideration it was ok. I know I beat a lot of racers that actually prepared for that race. I didn't expect to do well but I did ok. I feel that I can do a lot better and I feel like a failure because I still haven't won anything or even been on the podium in a big race. I really hope I can give it my best shot in 2009. I really want to kick some ass and prove that I'm not just another B-main driver.

Your now on the verge of a deal with Ishima Racing – a company not well known outside of continental Europe; bearing in mind flashbacks of Déjà vu with Himoto, do you think this could go well ?
I really think so, and if I get the deal signed I will put everything into it! But what I have learned is that words are just words and contracts are just pieces of paper. My new motto is: “I believe it when I see it”

We saw some JQ Products, products @ Nuremberg, can we expect a release soon ?
“I believe it when I see it” LOL No seriously I will let you know.

And finally, when do we get to see your car ?
Well I have to show it in the summer because soon all the ideas I have on it will have been released on other cars. And it would suck if there is nothing original on it when I show it and people just call me a copymaster.