There are two things here, one is the introduction of many different scales, classes and sub classes that can rival 1/10 off road, but IMHO 1/10 off road is definitely back on an upward trend, I believe due to costs and hassle factor being significantly less than a few years ago. The advent of brushless and lipo is the primary reason for this, and also the availability of parts/accessories etc. from HK and other parts of the world. Not sure on the EoE region. I'm from the Northwest myself but attend midwest regionals. They have so far had around 65 drivers for each of the rounds so far, which is I believe is consistent with last year. However, there are many more doing the Northwest regional series this year (I understand from the first round at Southport anyway) and the turnout for the indoor series at Chadderton was over subscribed for every round. I entered 3 nationals this year in 2 and 4wd, just to have a taster as I'm not a serious contender, and was between 19th and 25th reserve for all meetings which backs up what the BRCA are saying about entry levels being up.
2wd and 4wd are both very popular, and becoming more so I believe. It's all good for the sport of 1/10, and I agree, a site such as oOple can only help as it is IMO the least pretentious and most informative of all the RC sites I've come across.
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