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.’