Track Focus – Welkom R/C Arena

Track Name – Welkom R/C Arena
Host – Antonio Caroli
Country – South Africa
Location – Welkom (2.5 hour drive SE of Johannesburg)
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Indoor asphalt

2018 marks the 10th running of the 1:10 Electric Touring Car World Championships.  Reaching such milestones should always be a special occasion and thanks to one man’s vision that it definitely happening as the event is set to take place on its greatest stage yet – the Welkom RC Arena.  When announced during the previous World Championships, hosted by China, that South Africa was going to be the destination to decide who is officially the World’s No.1 driver, what has greeted drivers on their arrival to Welkom didn’t exist, it wasn’t even an architectural drawing.  With the build started in July of last year, the final result is a track that can firmly lay claim to being the planet’s most impressive indoor onroad facility – yes the 2018 IFMAR World Champion will be decided on an indoor track for the first time since the inaugural running of the event at Yatabe back in 2000.  Don’t however let that fool you into thinking that means it is a small track – there is nothing small about Welkom RC Arena.  The building covers a floor space of 3500 sq metres, the huge track, which is up there with some of the best known outdoor tracks in size, is laid out in an area 70 metres wide by 32m deep for a lap length of approximately 320 metres. The facility also boasts a second floor which houses its restaurant and seating covering a total of 1200 sq metres.  The high drivers stand is 20 metres long and has a unique feature in that each of the 14 drivers positions are separated into individual cubicles.

The visionary behind this impressive Welkom RC Arena is Antonio Caroli.  An RC racer who is also the distributors for Xray in South Africa, when he originally made his application for the World Championships it was to be held at an existing track which he intended to expand.  On working on plans for the extension they couldn’t get the existing structure to work quite how we wanted and so the decision was made to use adjacent land and build from scratch with a whole new project.  In July 2017 the build was started. The asphalt was the last major part of the construction to be completed with a section of the first floor level designed to be higher in order to allow the specialist machinery access to lay the race surface inside the completed building structure.  With the official Worlds Warm-up Race held at the end of April, Antonio said the track was only 75% complete then and with the asphalt laid only 2-weeks earlier this is one of the reasons the event hasn’t attracted more participants. Given the efforts Antonio has put into creating a world class facility for our hobby and the industry it is a real shame more drivers are not here to be part of the event.  Having also constructed an outdoor dirt track as part of the facility Welkom RC Arena will apply for the 2020 1:8 Offroad World Championship and based off the show it has put on so far its would have to be a very serious contender.

Asked his thoughts on the venue, reigning World Champion Ronald Volker replied, ‘An awesome, amazing facility’.  He added, ‘its a long lap and a good layout although I am not sure about the red and yellow curbing.  You want to go on it for a shorter lap but sometimes they can make the car unbalanced’.  On specific areas where time might be lost and made on the track he said, ‘the chicane (on the right side of the track) is narrow and you enter it fast so you could touch it and fly off there but there is no specific bit where you could gain time.  All the performance is in the car’.  Winner of the Warm-up Race, Bruno Coelho said, ‘It’s an amazing facility.  There are no words to describe it for people that are not here’.  He continued, ‘It is a big track with a 23-second lap time.  Its got fast parts, its got technical parts but you cant use the curbs.  You might make a tenth over the curbs one lap but lose 3 or 4 tenths the next time round so its best stay off them.  The driver stand is high which I like and the divides are a good idea’.

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