Orlowski is Top Qualifier in Bangkok

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski is the Top Qualifier for the IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championships after a super close and exciting final qualifier this morning at Huge RC Circuit in Bangkok. With the Polish driver going up against the defending World Champion in the fight for pole position for today’s title deciding finals, it initially looked like Coelho had delivered the Round 6 TQ run for a perfect counting score but after a few seconds there was a roar from the crowd as the software finally updated the track’s giant screen and Orlowski went to the top by just 0.085 of a second! His third TQ run of the event, the result is a repeat of the 2024 World Championships in California where the overall TQ was also decided in the final round where Coelho also started from P2. Third for the final round, that is also where Marc Rheinard will line up on his World Championship debut for Xray, the top 3 the same three drivers who made up the podium 2-year-ago at Finishline RC Raceway. For the final qualifier it was another impressive run from 1:8 Buggy World Champion David Ronnefalk who despite showing some offroad habits when he jumped a curb was fourth fastest ahead of Awesomatix Lucas Urbain. In terms of outright pace it was the RC Maker of Antoine Brunet who put down the fastest lap with today already a much hotter day then yesterday.  The French driver also secures the Australian manufacturer their first World Championship final start.  Overall behind the Top 3 it is Jin Swada who lines up P4 ahead of Q1 winner Simon Lauter, the Awesomatix driver ending qualifying with a P6 run. The second half of the grid is completed by Ronnefalk, Urbain, Brunet, Axon’s Akio Sibue, and Infinity’s Soeren Sparber.

A driver who is very much game face on today, reacting to his TQ securing qualifying performance, Orlowski said, ‘It was very close.  It was funny with the screen changing very late but…..’.  After a short pause the reigning 1:12 World Champion continued, ‘at the end of the day there are three more races so it doesn’t matter much.’  Asking the 25-year-old what the track conditions are like today, he replied, ‘it feels warmer but honestly we made some changes for the morning to try and find some more speed compared to yesterday and the car has been feeling much better but it also felt better in the morning (free practice run) so we’ll think if maybe we can make some small changes to find a little more speed but the overall car is feeling very nice.’

A driver who has won 2 of his record sharing 3 Touring Car World titles from 2nd on the grid, Coelho reacted to the Q6 result with, ‘very close’.  He added, ‘It was a good clean run but I just had a bobble at the last lap’.  He added, ‘the track today is much hotter and it has changed a little bit the conditions.’  Chasing his fourth consecutive World title, his first coming in South Africa in 2018 when he beat the then reigning World Champion and Top Qualifier Ronald Volker, asked his thoughts on actually racing on the unique Huge RC Circuit, not directly answering the question, he said, ‘as we see in qualifying there are a lot of up & downs so it can change at any second so I will just be ready for anything that happens in front.’  On his car’s performance, given today’s temperatures, he said, ‘for sure yesterday I felt the pace was better but we’ll make some little changes for the first final and we’ll see,’

Getting the third place on the grid he was after, on Q6 Rheinard said, ‘that was all I could do, and I am happy with P3 in the end.  The car was pretty good but it felt like less grip to be honest but the times were OK I just lost a bit in the middle of the run.  I just had some rough laps driving wise, but I am not far off.  The first 3-minute I was just within a couple of tenths with the top guys.’  The most experienced driver on the A-Main grid, this his 10th ISTC Worlds Final, he added, ‘Finals are a different story.  Michal and Bruno have already some races were they had some trouble here & there so like Scotty (Ernst) always says ‘three is always a good spot to be.’  Winning A1 in Bakersfield from P4, the German said, ‘yeah it would be nice to repeat that but everything can happen.  I mean on this track you see many crashes even if someone in the back crashes you cannot avoid it on the straight.  I think it is wide open not only Top 3, everybody is fast and so many things can happen in one final.’