‘It’s going to be super hard’ – Coelho

This time last year Bruno Coelho successfully defended his Electric Touring Car World Championship title with a dominant performance in Italy.  His rivals were always battling for second place.  Tomorrow he will begin the defence of another of his World Championships when he looks to retain the 4WD Offroad title he won for Xray at their home track in Slovakia in 2019.  This time however one could say the Portuguese ace is the one on the back foot this time as the battle will take place at the home track of Spencer Rivkin on a surface that generally should favour US drivers over the Europeans.  Coelho is fully aware of this admitting, ‘It’s going to be super hard’.

Fresh from racing at the 1:8 Nitro Buggy European Championship last weekend in Spain were his race was cut short by a mechanical failure, Coelho together with the rest of the Xray team has spent the days leading up to these Worlds at SDRC in California trying to getting himself dialled back into 1:10 offroad.  A driver who represents Xray both in offroad and in onroad, winning the TITC and European Championship touring car titles in 2023, he said the switch to 1:10 offroad is always the most difficult one but he enjoys it as the category is still the ‘one I have so much to learn in’.

Attending the Worlds Warm-up Race at Hobby Action RC Raceway in Arizona back in May when the final results went well under the radar, Coelho said while there was an element of bad luck to him being in the B-Main, doing the race was never about results.  ‘We didn’t count it as a race but as opportunity to take the most information from it and learn’.  His first time to Hobby Action and experiencing its unique dirt surface, he said he has ‘never driven on such low traction’.  Describing the tyres as ‘weird slicks’, the team tried to learn as fast as they could staying on a few days extra after the race with one big take away being that the ‘small details are critical’.

Winning the first of his two 4WD Offroad World titles in 2015 on an astro turf surface at Yatabe Arena, the Hobby Action track presents a combination of surface and tyre Coelho says ‘you will find in no other part of the World but America’ and he knows this gives the US drivers ‘a bit of an advantage’.  Acknowledging the Team Associated 2WD car is ‘very good there’, he added, ‘we know our car perfectly, it is more we don’t know what the surface and what it will do on the day.  I will try to be on point’.

Despite the challenges of the surface, the Portuguese driver says he has the ‘same goal as every race – try to win’ adding the ‘result that comes is the result that comes’.  Unlike his rivals, Coelho would have preferred the event to be starting with the more traditional timetable of 2WD first so as to give him more time to learn the track surface and be more ready for 4WD.  While open about his preference for 4WD over 2WD, he said he is there to fight for the win in both categories.  Tomorrow (Sunday) will write the opening chapter of these World Championships as the four year wait finally comes to an end.

2023 IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship coverage presented by Ruddog

The first of four World Championships Red RC will attend this year, our coverage from 1:10 Offroad in Arizona is being supported by Ruddog.  Founded in 2006 by Sven Rudig, himself an avid offroad racer, Ruddog is steeped in offroad racing history being a distributor for 31 times World Champion manufacturer Team Associated and iconic offroad tyre brand JConcepts to name but a few.  In addition, they have developed their own product ranges such as Ruddog Racing, a new line of electronics offered by the German company that already has a European Championship title to its credit in touring car.  Revolution Design Racing Products has established itself as a designer & producer of high-quality tuning parts and are popular upgrades among offroad racers.  Red RC’s trackside coverage of the 1:10 Offroad World Championship will kick off on September 10th with the start of the 4WD action and conclude on September 16th when the 2WD Champion is decided.

World Championship Schedule
4WD Buggy
September 9 – Check-in, Pit Setup, Tyre purchase and tyre tech
September 10 – Open Practice and 2 rounds of controlled practice
September 11 – 1 round of controlled practice and 4 rounds of qualifying
September 12 – 1 round of controlled practice, 1 round of qualifying and Mains

2WD Buggy
September 13 – Track Closed, 2WD Buggy Tyre purchase and tyre tech
September 14 – Open Practice and 2 rounds of controlled practice
September 15 – 1 round of controlled practice and 4 rounds of qualifying
September 16 – 1 round of controlled practice, 1 round of qualifying and Mains