Coelho remains in control in Bangkok with Orlowski closest to pace

Infinity’s Bruno Coelho remains in control in Bangkok, the reigning IFMAR World Champion’s IF14 Speciale fastest in all three free practice rounds so far at Huge RC Circuit.  Further back than expected in the first official practice of these IFMAR ISTC World Championships, Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski would get into the groove to be closest on pace in the the 2nd and 3rd rounds, the gap however still a considerable 4/10ths over each drivers’ best 3-consecutive laps.  In FP2, it was the Axon prototype of Akio Sobue who set the fourth fastest time from Marc Rheinard’s Xray and Simon Lauter’s Awesomatix.  Second fastest in the opening practice, Rheinard would come together with team-mate Alexander Hagberg after the Swede got out of shape, and then making a set-up change for FP3 it would be in the wrong direction.  With the track continuing to improve as the new sections after the layout change start to grip up, Coelho stepping into the 40-seconds for his 3-laps, French RC Maker driver Antoine Brunet set the 3rd fastest time ahead of Lauter and Xray’s Jin Sawada who set identical times.  Third fastest in FP1, a diff change in FP2 on Ronald Volker’s RC Maker didn’t prove fruitful and trying other changes in the latest round he declared they have a bit of work to do.  In Stock, Oliver Bultynck is the benchmark, the Belgian’s Awesomatix topping all three rounds.

‘Two solid runs again, we are have two cars and both are pretty OK I would say’, was Coelho’s summary of FP2 & 3.  Chasing title No.4 this week, he added, ‘We just now need to decide which one we are going to race.’  Running different set-ups on each car, he explained, ‘one is more safe and the other is more aggressive and we just need to see the direction the track is going.  We don’t know if there is going to be more traction or not.’  Asked how he feels the track is evolving, the humidity having gone up noticeably since lunch time, he said, ‘for sure the traction is going up.  I think now it is a little more stuck compared the first and second, now it didn’t really go up more compared to earlier, which is normal.  For sure the track will improve through the event and the grip for sure is going to go higher & higher.’   Asked if higher grip presented them with an issues, he wasn’t concerned saying, ‘It should be fine.’

Asked for a run down of where he feels he is at, Orlowski said, ‘we are in second and everything is going well.  We are running one car to see the 5-minute pace and obviously the track is a little different to testing but that was expected.’  The Pole continued, ‘We are adjusting the car towards the conditions keeping in mind the track will keep developing so so far everything is working well.’  Describing the new layout as ‘awesome’, he added, ‘I really like the left hand section, the twisty part, and you can really gain some time going through there.  If you are going safe you are just going slow.  The right side is mostly similar to what we had before.’  Asked if they were just working through their program for today, he said, ‘yes, we knew the track would be different so we started the same as we finished testing and we are adapting the car for the conditions but not going too crazy.  Just trying to keep up and understand how the track is changing.’

Asked about his Top 3 run in FP2, Sobue responded with, ‘not so fast but the car felt good and the lap times were ok but for sure Bruno is super fast at the beginning with his lap times and also consistent.  Also Michal is good.’  The Japanese driver, who was on the podium 4-years ago in Italy, continued, ‘For me I made a stupid mistake after 2-minutes.  I took too much curb and I flipped the car and it was broken.’  On the 3rd of his 5-scheduled runs today he explained, ‘now there was a big change in conditions and while our car was OK it felt different and the driver needed to adjust.  We need now to change the set-up for the next one, there is more rubber now in the track and the car feels more stuck.’  Describing the new track layout change as ‘good’, asked about the new car his Japanese chassis sponsor is using here, he said it has quite a few new updates since the TITC but added a new car kit release is some time away.

Reacting to his impressive pace, Brunet said, ‘It was a pretty good run after we did some changes with my mechanic.  We improved the car a lot from FP1 and FP2.’  Asked the main changes made, the 29-year-old said, ‘we just went back to our IPD set-up from Sunday and Monday and it seems a good way to go so we will continue like this and we’ll see for FP4 & 5 what else we can improve.’  Asked his thoughts on the new track layout he replied, ‘It is pretty technical but the grip is still weird compared to IPD because that layout wasn’t changed for a year.  We need to see how the grip will change for the rest of the week but it seems it is in a good way for qualifying.’

World Champion gets things underway at top of time sheets

With some having completed double digit days of testing and others just two days of IPD, with the 13th running of the IFMAR ISTC World Championships official getting underway in Bangkok today on a new layout it was Infinity’s Bruno Coelho who topped the opening times.  Chasing after a 4th consecutive World title here this week at the unique Huge RC Circuit, the Portuguese driver set the fastest 3-consecutive laps as well as the only 13-second lap on the new World title deciding layout.  With the layout getting a generally positive reaction, it was Marc Rheinard, winning last time Thailand hosted these Worlds 18-years ago, who set the second fastest time for the reigning World Champion manufacturer Xray.  Suffering a heavy crash towards the end of the run which ended his first free practice early, 2016 World Champion Ronald Volker set the 3rd fastest time for RC Maker.  Making it four different manufacturers at the top of the times it was another World Champion with Awesomatix’s reigning Pro Stock Champion Simon Lauter living up to expectations of the German being one of the pre-event title contenders come Saturday.  A driver who has already tasted World title success at Huge RC Circuit when he won Nitro Touring Car here in 2014, Alexander Hagberg backed up Xray’s performance with P5 ahead of Axon’s Akio Sobue.  Another of the pre-event title favourites, Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski opened with the 8th fastest time behind Xray’s newly crowned 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Champion David Ronnefalk.

Summing up his first run on the new layout, having tested for more than a week on the old one, Coelho said, ‘It was nice to learn the new layout which is quite different compared to the previous one.’  Asked if he liked it, he replied, ‘Yeah I mean the left part is more a bit boring because you can not hit the throttle, you just need to let the car roll there.  I prefer the right side, it’s more my style but in the end it is OK.’  On his cars, this his ISTC Worlds debut for Infinity after 5 of them with Xray, the 2026 European Champion with the IF14 Speciale, said, ‘both cars worked pretty good.  We’ll make some small changes for the next round but focus is on still learning the track and seeing how the set-ups work.’

Looking pleased with his start to a day that will be made up of 5 free practice rounds, Rheinard described his effort as ‘not bad actually’ adding ‘it was pretty good and I drove only 1 car compared to Bruno who drove two so for sure the second car on the track is faster’.  The 3-time winning of these championships, a record he shares with Coelho, on his car he said, ‘It was pretty consistent, no big drop, I just need to make small changes, reduce some more power for this layout and get the car more rotated in the rear.’  He added, ‘Actually for the second run we don’t need to change too much cause the track changes more than the set-up will.’  On the podium in the US two years ago, on the new layout the German said, ‘I really thought the lap times were going to be longer but in the end I think it is going to be a faster layout than what we used to drive.  It’s more technical, slower corners, but faster lap time wise than what we ran on in practice.  So it’s a mix, fast on & off the straight and then technical in the middle.  I think it is good.’

Giving on a run down on his FP1, Volker said, ‘I was running two cars, the first car was similar to IPD, off pace and not a good feeling but on my second car we tried a new set-up, everything new basically.  I was very happy, so this is why I was up to P3.’  Explaining his crash he said, ‘Unfortunately (Mattia) Collina sided in front of me and I got collected and some stuff was broken on the front of the car so I on one hand I feel happy because I had pace but on the other hand it just sucks to start with such bad luck.’   Positive about the track changes, the German said, ‘I like the new layout a lot because I prefer hairpins and chicanes anyway and this suits my natural driving style a bit more.  Despite also not having a great (pre event) practice, I was hoping for any new layout but I am real happy with what they changed and how it is now.’

Asked his reaction to the first proper run of these World Championships, Lauter replied, ‘Mixed’.  He continued, ‘I think grip is very low so you just use the first run to get used to the new layout and the feeling for everything.  It is always important to get a feeling for the new distances on the rostrum, braking points, all that stuff.’  A driver who has established himself as a Modified front runner since permanently stepping up from Pro Stock after his WC win in Bakerfield in 2024, he added, ‘I think it’s very hard to judge things on the car because there was some guys running 2-cars, many guys running one car, and obviously the second car is always better so all god for now and we’ll see what progress will be made on track especially during the day.  We will see whether we get similar grip levels to IPD days or practice before, then we start to adjust but I think we are on a good base so nothing too big to worry about for now.’  A driver who ran just one car, asked about the track layout he said, ‘I think it is an interesting one.  I think it will be a challenge, not the usual style of big tracks where you just full send it and have hairpin stuff.  It’s still somehow edgy but in a different way I would describe it.  Overall corner speed is a lot lower but I like it.  It will be a challenge for everyone and we will see who manages best.’

Yokomo comeback with ‘Power from the Headquarters’ – ISTC World Championship

There was a time when we would attend either electric onroad or offroad races and Yokomo would be mentioned in the opening paragraph of every race report, they were a real force.  That hasn’t however been the case now for a number of years but 10-years on from winning the IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championship, that race in China giving us the iconic photo of Ronald Volker’s mechanic Yukijiro Umino reaction to what a world title means to everyone involved, there are positive vibes coming from the Japanese manufacturer’s camp here at Huge RC in Bangkok.  With team leader Christopher Krapp admitting they are realistically not here with a chance of winning the 2026 World title, compared to 2-years ago there is a new energy in the team and a desire from the top management for the historic racing brand to return to being taken serious again as producer of competition level cars.  On arriving in Bangkok, less our luggage, returning to our hotel after buying some necessary supplies, the first RC racer of these Worlds we’d meet was Krapp.  A driver we have respected for always being personable, as always the German had a friendly handshake and positive energy but it was even more positive this time as he proudly introduced Yokomo’s new Managing Director and new Designer.  While many manufacturers are contesting these Worlds with skeleton crews, Yokomo is taking the opposite approach.  With Krapp and his crew hungry after their travels and looking for a food recommendation, pointing them in the direction of some good local street food we joined them for a catch up and that led to an interesting insight that we would follow up on the next day at the track on how Yokomo wants back in the game.

The last time we spoke with Krapp was at the beginning of the year when he raced at the annual MIBO International Race in the Czech Republic and it turns out he’s had a lot going on since then.  In August he became a father to his second daughter, and while a break from racing was planned for this special moment, it would be longer than planned as he suffered a slip disc that would require him to undergo surgery in September.  Less than ideal preparations for leading a manufacturer going into a World Championships.  Interestingly like Red RC, this is Krapp’s 9th ISTC World Championship both of us having made our Worlds debut in 2008 when it was also held in the Thai capital.

Having followed his progress ever since then, he made the D Main but two years later in Germany finished 4th in the World, and enjoyed one of the best race win celebrations when he won his first ETS race in Gran Canaria in 2012, asking him about this new enthusiasm for racing from Yokomo he replied, ‘I have been with Yokomo 10-year joining them in 2017 after the Worlds and I have been through many scenarios in Yokomo with like 3 owners.  I was there with the old owner Tom Yokobori, then we had two owners and luckily the new owner we have right now is having a new push in the top end scene.’  He continued, ‘The last 3-4 years I still competed in races but the development and everything was slow but right now the focus is more to the top end racing and that’s why they have sent Kazuki Yamashita the new designer and Daisuke Yoshioka, who was well known before as a top driver, and is now the Managing Director.  Having them here is cool.’  The 5 time Worlds Finalist added, ‘sure we are a small team, but a unique team, and it is just good to be present here and to have the power from the headquarter.  We are in the right direction right now.  You can see this with the signing of Luke (Holdsworth – Top British 1:10 Offroad racer) in the UK and we are here now testing new parts were as in the past years it was just the kit and that’s it.  The development is going better and is more active and hopefully we are going to be back were we belong because Yokomo is still an original OG brand.  Personally I have also just signed a new two year contract with them so really looking forward to this race and the future.’

On expectations for these the 13th running of the World Championship, Krapp said, ‘My aim is not to win to be realistic, I mean I was a podium finisher before but I know it is not going to work because all the other guys here are here for like weeks but still I am fit now again.  The surgery went well, and I can still drive good.’  Sharing the podium in Gubbio in 2022 with Bruno Coelho and Akio Sobue, he added, ‘I am doing good times and just trying to adapt everything to the unique conditions here because it is very strange let me say compared to the conditions we have in Europe but as a team we are working well.  We are not at the top top but I am doing good times and looking forward to the event.’  Asked if this event is a new motivation for him and the team, he said, ‘Yeah 100%, the last one was in America and we had a bigger team there but at that race already decisions were made so the motivation was not that high because we didn’t have the power from headquarters and obviously now for myself its great, I’m 34-years old and a well known racer who has done many races and to know you have the backing from headquarters and that you have the support is huge motivation.’  He added, ‘I still have it in my fingers and I know with the right support I can still make top result so for myself personally that’s a big boost.’  Asked about the first day of IPD, he replied, ‘It was a bit hectic today but I guess we have the first day already done and I am looking forward to more smooth running at the real event because now we are running two cars in 10-minutes so it is very very hectic.  I am looking forward to having more time when the Worlds actually starts.’

IPD Day 1 in the books – ISTC Worlds Chit Chat in Bangkok

The first of 2 days of IPD (International Practice Day) was completed at Huge RC in Bangkok today ahead of the IFMAR ISTC World Championships which officially gets underway on Wednesday, but taking today as a day to chat & catch up with what is a full house of drivers it seems there is a bit of a mixed view to the introduction of IPD to the category.  Around for a number of years now in nitro onroad, it has merit to give drivers not in the position to attend the track for pre-event testing an opportunity to get extra track time as part of a single trip to the host track.  In the case of nitro however the tracks are usual permanent.  Think Gubbio, the Nitro Touring Car Worlds was held on the same layout this year as was used to decide the World Champion back in 2016 – both great events but neither won by Italians who had raced there many times more than their rivals over the decade in between!  With a number of Pro drivers having done up to 10-days of practice leading up to IPD, one driver rumoured to have run 150 batteries in that time (that’s a lot of tyres), sure it is great for the rest of the drivers to get the two days to try catch up with set-up but the main talking point seems to be that all the testing is on a layout that won’t even be used for the event!  On Tuesday’s registration day, 2002 ISTC World Champion Surikarn Chaidajsuriya, owner of Huge RC, and his crew will change track layout and the changes are pretty significant with a number of leading drivers saying the new layout will make for a much slower lap time and require a set-up change to get more steering as the track tightens up.  Sure these guys are the best in the world and they will probably figure it out by Wednesday lunch time but many, both who came for a week or more of pre-event running or just the IPD, feel that had the race layout been done for IPD it might have encouraged teams to just come for the IPD.  One driver pointed out also that had the race been held in Europe or the US, teams might have viewed the costs of an extra week of testing differently so for sure its sometime that maybe needs to be reviewed going forward.  While World Championships are extra special events and teams go above & beyond for this once every two years opportunity to take the greatest prize, it is interesting to note that event duration was a point that was raised at a Section Meeting held during the recent IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy Worlds in Texas.  The majority feeling that event is too long as the ISTC Worlds just got three days longer.  That said racers and manufacturers have for years complained and looked to have the Nitro Onroad Worlds made shorter yet the 2027 calendar lists the event as 10-days!

Apart from the discussion on IPD, it was good as always to catch up with the categories first World Champion Atsushi Hara.  Running both an Awesomatix and a Tamiya over the last week of open testing, he says he is likely to race the Tamiya as one of his sponsors Zero Tribe has been developing a range of option parts for the 421X so this choice of car makes more sense to run.  Hara is also pitting next to the Tamiya Racing Factory team so any help is at arms reach.  While chatting to Hara, TFR designer Kiyo Suzuki confirmed to us they have brought a number of new parts here which we hope we might get permission to include in a chassis focus.  In terms of cars, being a World Championships new & prototype parts and even all new car are of course expected but as reigning World Champion Bruno Coelho called it, this Unicorn track is so different to anything else they race on it is actually hard to gauge the performance of new parts.  He highlighted how car brands that have been the best at all other races this year are struggling here and then cars that have not been good come here and are straight away on the pace.  One of the drivers who has been here almost 2 weeks already, on his own program he told us Infinity have a number of new parts some of which have helped improve his car for the unique conditions of the indoor asphalt track.

Having unveiled the car with which they would return to Touring Car competition at the last Worlds in Bakersfield 2-years ago, Team Associated have come to Thailand with a completely new car with all American line-up Ryan Cavalieri and Bryce Butterfield charged with driving them.  They are supported by 1Up Racing’s Randy Caster who is officially here as mechanic for Cavalieri.  Sharing the same air conditioned pit room with Team Associated is Jacob Cruz.  With his Mugen Seiki team making a strong showing with their then pre-production MTC3 at the 2024 WC, this year its just the rising star of those Worlds who flies the flag for the Japanese manufacturer.  With the departure this year of Ronald Volker as a driver to RC Maker and Robert Pietsch as designer to Infinity, the talented US teenager is working with their standard car, with just his mechanic dad for technical support.

Serpent, who enjoyed a very strong 2024 Worlds with Dominic Greiner making the final, are here but also a much downsized team with just the German as their solo entry and running also running standard version of their latest car.  Without a mechanic or any engineering support trackside, Greiner has had to revert to running just one car in IPD – most drivers using two cars over each round of practice.  It’s good to see Yokomo here with key support from Japan (we’ll have separate article on this), and led by 2022 podium finisher Christopher Krapp they have new parts they are evaluating in IPD.  A manufacturer who has become a genuine contender with the release of its SP2 and signing of Volker over the Summer, RC Maker owner Ryan Maker told us their team cars are pretty much standard for the race given how new to market it is.  The Australian’s level of excitement around these World Championships came across so positively when chatting with him today as he senses a good result is real possibility.

in the Xray camp, Martin Hudy confirmed they are running what will be the 2027 model release of their X4.  Chatting to their long time factory driver Alexander Hagberg today, Huge RC a very special place for the Swede who won his first World title here in 2014 in Nitro Touring Car, it seems he might have a future in the fashion industry!  He said the recent release of AH t-shirts proved much more popular than he expected with RC fans from around the world ordering them.  Not surprising to us really as he has put some good work into building himself into a brand with his tech insight videos and race track insights.  His name even came up in conversation at the Buggy Worlds in Texas as a driver who brings great value to his sponsors.  With the indoor season kicking off we might expect to see a hoodie added as part of the AH Winter collection!!

Reminiscing with Hara about Red RC’s first electric World Championships attendance being Thailand in 2008 when 1:12 and Touring Car ran as a back to back event, and then also sharing the same asphalt track, we got confirmation from IFMAR that they will announce the host venue for rescheduled 1:12 Worlds this coming week.  Expected we understand to be scheduled for the back end of 2027, IFMAR said they have a meeting planned here in Bangkok to finalise the details after which the host will be revealed.  With 2026 due to see the two categories brought back together, the cancellation of China left them without a host as Huge RC stepped in to run the ISTC Worlds but unable to provide a carpet track.  Having issued a provisional 2027 World Champion calendar recently, details for 1:12 will complete the 5 race schedule.

Red RC’s coverage of the 2026 IFMAR ISTC World Championships will officially begin on Wednesday.