February 28, 2026

MIBO International TQ double for Zalewski

Xray talent Bartek Zalewski will go for the buggy double at MIBO International as the Top Qualifier in both 2WD and 4WD.  The Polish racer who is the reigning 2WD Champion of the annual Czech event and the 4WD Champion from the year before, will chase his first double title looking to emulate Bruno Coelho’s achievement at inaugural running of the race in 2023.  Zalewski had the perfect event up to Q3, when Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski knocked him off the top of the timing sheet for the first time by delivery the TQ run in both 2WD and 4WD after a not so great start to qualifying.  While Orlowski would of course liked to have push the TQ battle to Sunday morning’s fifth & final qualifier, Zalewski produced the fastest runs of the day in Q4 to lock in pole position for the triple finals.  Daniel Kobbevik however push him hard in 2WD missing out by just 4/100ths and the Schumacher driver holds P2 overnight in both classes.  In 2WD Sworkz’s Micha Widmaier sits in P2, the Austrian back up his second fastest time in Q2 with another in Round 3.  Orlowski is tied on points with team-mate Kobbevik in 4WD but with the Norwegian having the faster individual qualifying time he is ranked 3rd.

Reacting to his double TQ after a close very 4WD encounter, Zalewski said, ‘In 4-wheel I felt some pressure from Daniel because we finish I think 4/100ths of a seconds between us.  In 2WD I had a confident qualifier and I am very happy to grab overall TQ in both classes.’  With Q5 now only a formality for the 19-year-old, looking to the finals he said, ‘obviously Daniel is a threat but I also expect pressure from Michal and Micha in 2WD also, he is going well and is there.’  Super confident in both his Xray buggies he said any changes for the finals will be really small and his focus for the Mains is to ‘just drive clean finals and I should be fine.’

Still chasing his first MIBO win having twice been a Top Qualifier in Hrotovice, asked about the end to Saturday’s qualifying action, Kobbevik said,’ I had one DNF in each class today so it was nice to get a good run in both for the last one.’  A double runner up to Zalewski  at the MKGP in the UK earlier this month, he continued, ‘In 4WD it was super close in the last one.  I had a clean run starting in the back in traffic but the car was much better now.  We changed the whole and that help a lot.  It was a bit difficult to drive as I told you earlier so we went a different path with the set-up and it seems like that is better.  So I think we are looking strong for tomorrow.’

Widmaier was positive about his day saying, ‘I am super happy with my Q3 run in 2WD.  I just put on new tyres and tyre to make no mistake.  Asked if he achieved that the Austrian replied, ‘I lost a little time on lapping cars but I made no mistakes.’  While he suffered a DNF in Q4, being in the fight for P2 on the grid asked if he felt he could get ahead of Kobbevik he said, ‘I mean it is super tight and it will be difficult but for sure I try my best and push hard in Q5 to see whats possible but I would say if I am in the Top 3, Top 4, in 2WD I would be super happy.’  On 4WD, he said, ‘I did P3 in the last round so now I have a 4th and a 3rd and something like a 10 so same like 2WD I will  push hard in Q5 and see what we can get.’

Asked about his final two efforts of the day, Orlowski said, ‘I just had to lets say run the less preferred tyre strategy to use new tyres earlier because of the poor first rounds of qualifier.  We got some good points but to be on Bartek’s pace we all need to push super hard and go above the limit and then we are going on two wheels or making some small mistakes.’  He continued, ‘I think now we just need to pull some magic out on the track and start behind him and hope for a mistake.  I don’t think we can do anything more with set-up.’

February 28, 2026

Volker Top Qualifier at MIBO International

As a two time winner of MIBO International, Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker will chase a third win of the Czech race tomorrow from pole position after claiming the overall TQ honours will a perfect day on the carpet.  While it was Xray’s Adam Izsay who set the pace in Friday’s free practice, Volker made Saturday his own kicking off official proceedings by topping the 2 seeding rounds.  Leading away the top heat of Modified qualifying, the German then completed a clean sweep securing the TQ in Q3 before capping off the day with a fourth TQ run in the penultimate round.  With one last qualifier in the morning, Volker will look to repeat the 5 from 5 he took last year on his way to victory over Michal Orlowski.  Behind the 2016 World Champion it is Iszay who holds second overnight but three drivers recorded runs to the second fastest times and between Iszay, the reigning Stock Champion who will defend that title from the TQ, MIBO International debutant Sören Sparbier, 2025 podium finisher Patrick Gollner it is still all to play for to see who starts directly behind Volker.

Reacting to his TQ Volker described it as ‘a perfect day pretty much.’  He continued, ‘the car actually improved for the last round.  I copied one small detail from Patrick (Gollner), I also improved myself, and felt even more confident with the car.’  He added, ‘Overall I am happy that Patrick and Sören had really good runs as well and are fighting with Adam for P2.  I’m satisfied both for me and them.’  Changing his LRP powered  MTC3’s diff and spool position for Q3 asked how that changed felt he said, ‘the lap times where slower, the 5-minutes was slower but I think the track was just slower because everyone went a bit slower but the car feeling was good.’  On the change suggested by Gollner he said, ‘I changed the shock position for Q4, Patrick and Sören run it and I was running a different one.  Surprisingly it gave me even more confidence and made me feel more confortable with the car.  I was actually making driver mistakes because I was so confident with the car.  I almost pushed too hard.’

Summing up his four qualifiers, Izsay said, ‘Stock was very good, the four rounds the car was great.  In Modified I had a very good first two rounds, was close to Ronald being less than a second off in both.  In the third round we tried a set-up change and it didn’t work as well so I reworked it back to my previous set-up for Q4 and had new tyres so I broke them in for tomorrow.  Ronald already has the TQ so we’ll try to secure the second place on the grid.’  Asked if from second he felt he could put Volker under a bit of pressure in the finals, the Hungarian said, ‘It will be difficult but anything can happen.  There will be so many lapped cars, so much travel, and to be in the lead is for sure more pressure than to follow, so anything can happen for sure.’

Ending the day with his best qualifier, P2 in Q4, Gollner said that having tested different additives over the day he returned back to the normal PHUB additive and it worked out in making him more consistent that Iszay and Sparbier in round 4 and he could get a P2.  For Sparbier, having run a grey body all day, feeling the fatigue of 12-hours at the track, he switched to a 2 gram heavier body painted in his race colours scheme in order to try make it easier for him to see.  While he got another P3 for the round it would be his slowest time of the day.  Equal on points with Izsay, his rival has the current tie breaker counting a pair of seconds and a P4 so Q5 will be critical for the 19-year-old German.

February 28, 2026

Zalewski & Volker on top after opening 2 qualifiers at MIBO

The opening two rounds of qualifying at the fourth edition of MIBO International in the Czech Republic saw repeat TQ runs from Xray’s Bartek Zalewski on the event’s offroad track while over on the onroad track Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker continued his reign over touring car.  With both drivers topping the morning seeding practice, Zalewski opened qualifying with a TQ run in 2WD which he duly repeated on the switch over to 4WD.  Repeating the feat again in the second of the five planned qualifiers, the Polish racer leads the 2WD ranking from the Sworkz of Micha Vidmaier, the Australia opening with a P5 but improving to go second fastest in Q2.  With No.2 seed Michal Orlowski struggling with his driving in 2WD, sitting only P8 after 2 rounds, it is Sweden’s Elias Johansson who leads the Schumacher challenge in third, team-mate Daniel Kobbevik suffering a DNF less than a minute into Q2.  In 4WD, Kobbevik looked for a time like he might be the first to knock Zalewski off the top of the timing sheets this weekend but a mistake in Q2 cost him around 1-second and Zalewski moved a step closer to wrapping up an early overall TQ by 3/10ths of a second.  With a pair of P3 runs Orlowski sits third ahead of Johansson.  For the defending Touring Car Champion Volker, Xray’s Adam Iszay is keeping the former World Champion honest and got very close in Q2.  Setting the third fastest time in both rounds Sören Sparbier holds third ahead of Mugen team-mate Patrick Gollner.  In Stock, like the other Top Seeds, Izsay converted his No.1 starting position in to two TQ runs.

A very pleased looking Zalewski summed up his perfect start to qualifying by saying, ‘It is all going really good, my cars feel really strong and everything is running perfect’.  On his own performance the defending 2WD Champion said, ‘I had some small driver mistakes but nothing big where the car touched something but combined it was a few second lost but everyone is making small mistakes.’  Asked how the track is evolving he felt, ‘the grip is changing and is getting lower and lower so we need to watch that but for the next one I will just refresh the car and leave the set-up as it is and to be on point with my driving will be important.’

On his 2WD performance Vidmaier said, ‘so far I am happy with how it’s going’.  A driver who has attended the last three editions of MIBO International, on this year’s track layout he said, ‘In general it is fun to drive.  It’s super flowing so you need a good rhythm to time the jumps well and alway be on the line because if you are a bit off you lose a lot of time or you make super easy mistakes.’  On his 4WD performance he said, ‘the first qualifier was not that bad but it’s a little more difficult to drive than 2WD for me but it’s OK.’  Looking to the second half the day’s qualifying, the fifth & final round taking place on Sunday morning, the 24-year-old said, ‘I think 2WD I will keep the car like it is but 4WD I am thinking what I can change to make it more easy to drive.’  Asked if he was running anything new on his cars, most teams testing new parts here in Hrotovice and requesting no detailed photos be taken, he revealed that they are trying a number of new parts on the 4WD to evaluate if they are better for carpet.  His 2WD he said is ‘more or less the kit car but I am trying a little different gearbox with the motor more forward but this is just a small detail.  For example Dominik (Vlasek) is running his completely standard’.  Vlasek opened his 2WD qualifying with an impressive P2 ahead of Kobbevik.

On his 4WD qualifying, opening with the second fastest time in both rounds, Kobbevik said, ‘A pair of twos was ok.  The first one was just consistent, Michal and Bartek were quicker and fighting for the TQ so I got a second there.  In the second one it was quite good.  I was leading until maybe 1-minute left and then I had a 1-second crash and I finished .3 behind, so yeh its definitely going in the right direction with 4WD.’  He explained, ‘ 2WD is a bit more difficult now.  I tried some stuff on the 2WD and I got a 3 in the first which was not too bad but in the second one someone crashed in front of me and I could not avoid them and broke my car.  Lets see for the next one.’

Summing up his start to qualifying here on his MIBO International offroad debut, Orlowski said, ‘I am struggling a bit.  2WD I had some issues with traffic in the last one which cost me a Top 3 and the first one I just crashed a lot.  4WD has been OK and really close, I just made a few small bobbles in Q1 & Q2 and dropped to third so we are just trying to make the car more comfortable at that pace.’  Asked how the track conditions are, the multiple EOS Champion said, ‘I think the grip is getting a bit lower because you can see the fluff coming out of the carpet but it’s nothing major.’

‘I had no mistakes but Adam was quite close, quite fast, and seems quite strong here’, was how Volker his qualifying so far.  Chasing a third MIBO International title in touring car, the German added, ‘I did a small change for Q2 and also changed a set of tyres and it didn’t work as well as Q1 but anyway now for Q3 I will change my diff and spool position to test that.’  On the track conditions, he said while it is getting slightly faster each round, ‘the grip is good and consistent’.  Running 9-second lap times, asked if traffic has been an issue for him, the multiple ETS race winner at this venue, said, ‘the traffic has been fine because everyone is respectful of the leaders and there is good race direction from Zdenko (Kunak – former International Touring Car racer) but it is also critical for them when opening as they have to go off line.’

February 28, 2026

Zalewski top seed in Czech Republic

Xray’s Bartek Zalewski continues to set the pace at MIBO International, the defending 2WD Champion topping Saturday morning’s seeding practice in both 2WD and 4WD.  The Polish driver set the pace in yesterday’s free practice with the Schumacher of compatriot Michal Orlowski his closest challenger after the 5-round and it was a repeat of that over the 2 seeding rounds today.  In 2WD, Zalewski had almost 3/10ths of a second advantage over Orlowski with European Champion Martin Bayer completing the Top 3 ahead of Czech racer Dominik Vlasek, Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik and Sworkz’s Micha Vidmaier.  In 4WD Orlowski was only 4/100ths off, with last year’s runner-up Kobbevik completing the Top 3 despite failing to improve on his SP1 time.  British Schumacher team driver Ben Smith seeds fourth ahead of Bayer with Vidmaier again completing the Top 6.

‘The pace is still good, both cars are working really good’, was Zalewski reaction after the completion of seeding.  The 19-year-old continued, ‘the cars are easy to drive and fast, so it’s all really good right now.’  Asked about the track layout in terms of difficulty in running an error free 5-minute qualifier, the double winner of the MKGP in the UK earlier this month, replied, ‘It’s not extremely difficult to make a clean 5-minutes on this track, so I hope it will be all good for qualifying.’

Orlowski summed up seeding with, ‘It was OK’.  The previous MIBO International Touring Car Champion continued, ‘we just made small changes each run.  The track is quite high grip.  It’s fresh carpet and the temperature is quite nice here so the grip is pretty high and we are trying to make the car easy but then there is a lot of twisty turns we need the steering for.  So we just making small changes from the set-up we have been running all Winter.’  Feeling both his cars are running equally good, he said, ‘Bartek is faster on 3-laps but with both cars I am able to do clean runs so we will see if that is enough for qualifying.’

Summing up seeding, Kobbevik said, ‘It was quite consistent but not I’m not at the pace of Michal and Bartek yet.  I trying to figure some stuff out which is not too far away but hopefully I can find this small adjustments that make it a bit easier & faster.’  Asked what he felt he was lacking in his buggies, the World Championship finalist explained, ‘right now it pace and also the confidence going around the track.  The track is quite open and not too difficult.  Last year it was a lot of 180s, the tabletop was difficult, now it has a lot of flow and speed.  So looking at the track you would think its easy but you need to go so quick and the first mistake its a complete disaster and from the middle of the track you can end up on the back straight.’   On which buggy he is more comfortable with, the Norwegian said, ‘maybe the are the same but the 4WD is I feel like a bit faster so that’s nice.  The 2-wheel I am doing some drastic changes every run and sometimes they are good and sometimes bad.’

February 28, 2026

Volker tops seeding at MIBO International

Defending MIBO International Champion Ronald Volker has topped Touring Car seeding in the Czech Republic this morning, the Mugen Seiki driver fastest ahead of Xray’s Adam Izsay who had set the pace in yesterday’s five rounds of free practice.  Making his MIBO debut, it was Volker’s young team-mate Sören Sparbier who completed the Top 3.  In the first of the two seeding runs on the new for 2026 Racestar’s built track, it was a very Mugen affair at the top of the timing sheets with Volker fastest from Sparbier and last year podium finisher Patrick Gollner with Izsay only managing P4.  With the track’s new carpet continuing to grip up, Volker would knock another 2/10ths off his time in SP2 with an improved Izsay the only on to manage to join him on 29-seconds for his 3-consecutive fastest laps.  Gollner will carry the No.4 for seeding ahead inaugural 2023 MIBO podium finisher Oliver Havranek with the Yokomo of Christopher Krapp, who stripped a spur gear in SP2, completing the Top 6.  In 17.5 Stock, Izsay continued to set the pace in Hrotovice, topping seeding from the Mugen Seiki of German Phil Langer and Austrian Tobias Sutrich.

Summed up his morning of seeding runs, Volker said, ‘I made some changes with the flex and it not only improved for the 3-laps but also for the 5-minutes.’  Asked if he added or took away flex he replied, ‘Let’s say my flex was too stiff for the first seeding and even with the grip getting slighter higher I made a bit more flex.  The tyres are also getting more grippy as they get older.  Normally less flex is good for high grip but I just didn’t have enough flex at all.  So I improved this for the second run and the consistency was a lot better.’  Looking to Q1, drivers getting 5 rounds which Volker managed a clean sweep of last year to TQ ahead of Michal Orlowski, he said, ‘I will for sure continue to make small changes to learn.  Adam had a pretty good run (in SP2) and Sören and Patrick have really good pace too so its good to have them close to the top.  Also it was good to see Phil Langer P2 in Stock after seeding which was a major improvement after some changes to his car. So as a team we are looking strong for qualifying to start.’

On his seeding efforts, Izsay said, ‘Stock was good, the car was working wel,l but in Modified I had some struggles in the first one but then I changed back to my P5 set-up from yesterday evening and it was good the second run.’  The Hungarian, who now lives in Slovakia due to his full time R&D role with Xray, added, ‘I think the pace is OK, Ronald is a bit ahead.  Maybe the 3-lap pace is similar but he is more consistent so I’ll try change a few small things for Q1 and hopefully close the gap to him and race it out with the other guys who are fast as well.’

Opting to run an aluminium chassis on his MTC3 while both Volker and Gollner are running a steel version, Sparbier summed up his seeding as ‘OK’ pointing out that ‘Adam was a bit faster in the last one but I think on 5-minutes I am better’.  Adding a little more glue to his tyres for SP2, on his decision to run an alu chassis, the 19-year-old said, ‘I think the steel is too easy to drive as I like the car to be a little bit aggressive which suits my driving style better.’  His first attendance at MIBO International, asked how he is finding the track layout, the German said, ‘I think it is really good.  It’s not big but I like it.’

February 27, 2026

Zalewski & Izsay top first day of MIBO International

Xray’s Bartek Zalewski and Adam Izsay have set the early pace at MIBO International, Zalewski proving quickest in 2WD & 4WD Buggy while on the opposite side of the sports hall it was Izsay who mastered the onroad track to top both Modified and Stock Touring Car.  A race concept that Michal Bok came up with when racing at the 2022 IFMAR ISTC World Championship in Italy, 2026 marks the fourth edition of MIBO International and has again attracted a capacity entry who this year have been treated to two new tracks prepared by Polish track builders Racestars.  Switching from last year’s red infield to blue, drivers on both sides of the central drivers stand have been complimentary of the layouts created by Pawel Kowalski.  With fresh new black carpet and completely new jumps, on the offroad track it was the Schumacher pairing of Michal Orlowski and 2WD Top Qualifier of the last two MIBO races Daniel Kobbevik who were closest to Zalewski over the half day of practice.  Officially a 2 & a half day event, practice only gets underway at 15:30 local time to allow racers use Friday morning for travelling to Hrotovice in southern Czech.  In Modified Touring Car it was defending Champion Ronald Volker and his Mugen Seiki team-mate Sören Sparbier who were closest to Izsay’s fastest 3-laps which he set in the 5th & final round of free practice.

As the defending 2WD Champion, Zalweski was pleased with his start to the weekend.  Already off to a strong 2026 season having taken the double win at the MKGP in the UK earlier this month, the 19-year-old Pole said, ‘today went really good, the cars felt good at the end of the day.  From the start it wasn’t perfect but we made some changes in our set-up and right now it is perfect.’  On the track layout he said, ‘It’s a lot different to last year.  The jumps are also different but I am really enjoying the track.  It’s a really cool track and today was a really good start to the weekend.’

Having contested the previous 2 editions of MIBO International racing touring car, winning on his debut in 2024 but joking that Volker was too fast for him last year, Orlowski is this year making his offroad debut at the event.  However as a venue that previously hosted EOS races and the MIBO Cup, he has previously raced the category here at the Sport V Hotel, stating, ‘I was here many years ago so it’s nice to drive again on the buggy track.  It’s a nice track.’   On his way to dinner, everything under one roof being one of the unique attractions of the race, he, continued, ‘It’s been a busy day with loads of practice’ – drivers getting 5-rounds per class.  With leading British racer Ben Smith and Swede Elias Johansson joining him and Kobbevik this weekend, last month’s EOS Daun double winner said, ‘We have been working well as a team and the cars are feeling good’, adding, ‘Bartek is very fast but we will see what we can do about that tomorrow.’

Summing up his afternoon of practice, Izsay said, ‘The track is really cool.  I think the layout is nice and has a good flow.  The chicane in the middle is a little difficult to get right and you can gain or lose a lot of time there but overall it has a good flow and for the last two runs the grip came up.’  On his cars he said, ‘the last two runs were pretty good.  We improved the car step by step over the day and I am currently top in both Stock and Modified so that is a nice way to end Day 1.’  Asked about running two classes, the reigning European Stock Champion said, ‘today it was very busy like always but from tomorrow with 5-minute runs and more breaks in between runs it should be ok.’

Having dominated last year’s event topping all five qualifiers on his way to taking the title from Orlowski, Volker was pleased with how he and the team ran through the five rounds of practice.  With last year’s podium finisher Patrick Gollner pitting directly in front of him again this year,  Mugen have also brought Sparbier along for his MIBO International debut.  Asked how he felt practice had gone, Volker replied, ‘It went well, we worked well as team.  At the end we were breaking in tyres for tomorrow but before that I think we made some good progress.’  On the track the former World Champion said, ‘the track is real nice and flowing, a bit fast lap time wise not driving wise.  It is really nice looking already with what the Racestars guys have done and despite the chicane in the centre it is very flowing.’  He added, ‘Unfortunately the lap time is almost below 10-seconds but you can’t do much because with the size of the track and the speed we now have but its definitely a nice flowing track and very good looking, they have improved it nicely this year as they have with the offroad track which looks really nice.’  On how his car is running he explained, ‘I tested small things but I was already happy with my starting set-up.  It was really good in the middle part of practice but then we used the end of the day to break in tyres and I think Adam did the opposite.’

With 2026 marking the first time MIBO International has brought in an outside track builder, Pawel from Racestars explained, ‘This time because it was our first time here we came on Monday morning to have enough time to build the track and fixed any issues we might encounter because you know when its your first time in a new place you might need extra support.’  He continued, ‘It took three days to make the offroad track perfect, the onroad was basically a standard build so there was not so much issues and the track crew from MIBO helped us a lot but the offroad track we spent lots of time making it look great and we are test our new Raivo Racing barriers.’  On the new barrier system that is produced specifically for building RC tracks by a major plastics producer in Poland, Pawel said it is an alternative to the common US made system that they will be able offer to clubs across Europe for almost half the cost.  One of the elements of the offroad track he is most proud of is the corner table top, explaining, ‘It doesn’t have the shark in the middle like a normal corner jump which of course drivers hate so we said lets try to make it in a way the drivers like so I removed the shark and replaced it with a triangle.  Martin Bayer, I think he always speak to the truth to me, said to me he has never driven on a better layout, he said it is super flowing and a nice layout so I hope the drivers enjoy the weekend.’  With the black carpet brand new for the event, the grey carpet covering the new modular jumps is from last year’s MIBO track.  Revealing that he has designed the layout for the upcoming 1:12 World Championships track at Hongyu GDC in China, on the MIBO onroad track layout he said, ‘It’s bit too fast because the drivers in the top heat of Modified go under 10-seconds so it might be an issue for quali with 10-cars.  It’s our first time but next year we do a little more technical layout to add 2-seconds more.’