DARWIN ‘Big-D’ Butingan enjoys hooning his off-road truck.

The steering can be tough and the conditions dangerous, but this kind of hooning doesn’t break the law.

Mr Butingan races radio-controlled cars that are one-tenth and one-eighth the size of a normal car.

“You can get out on the track and launch off and land or stack. That’s part of the fun,” he said.

He got hooked on the sport after watching a group in Sunshine, and has been racing for a couple of years.

His car is a CEN Matrix, a favourite with the national champions in the United States.

“My wife supports me – she thinks it’s my fourth child,” he said.

Mr Butingan is building the first off-road racetrack in Werribee for 1/10 and 1/8 scale off-road buggies, “truggies” and monster trucks.

The track will have jumps, hills and obstacles, and conform to international racing safety guidelines with barriers and fences.

“This means you can submit your race points to the world championships,” said Mr Butingan, who hopes to foster a world champion from the new track.

He says there is a large following of radio-controlled car enthusiasts around Wyndham who either travel to Geelong or Keilor for the closest off-road tracks.

Younger drivers race at Presidents Park in Werribee or the BMX track in Hoppers Crossing, but Mr Butingan said the cars obstructed the official use of those locations.

“We want a place where they can drive so they don’t upset the neighbours,” he said.

“This will be a professionally run track, maintained and ready.”

Mr Butingan wants to hold the state championships at the new track and thinks the event would attract a large crowd – around 5000 people attended last year’s national championships in Adelaide.

“We could put Werribee on the RC map,” he said.

The Riverside Ave track is expected to be completed by April.