Signed, sealed, & delivered – Orlowski is double TITC Champion

He came as a TITC Rookie last year and dominated, and returning to Bangkok for the 22nd edition of the iconic race this year Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has just become a double champion of what many call the hardest race in the world.  With the large crowd denied a showdown in the opening A-Main, Coelho’s challenge lasting less than a full lap as he crashed out, instead of getting the duel we all wanted to see in A2 Orlowski put on a display of dominance to become only the seventh repeat winner of the race.  While the Polish racer pulled clear, behind, Coelho would come under pressure from fellow multiple TITC winner Akio Sobue before finally getting out of the clasps of the Japanese driver but such was Orlowski’s lead there was nothing he could do to keep alive the chances of a record 5th TITC title for this year. While A3 was expected to be just a formality to determine completion of the podium each side of Orlowski but Coelho would suffered a rear wing failure that sent his car flying off the track and into the tyre barrier, his race done and only 7th overall to show for his week long effort as Orlowski’s biggest challenger.  With Sobue fending off the Awesomatix of Simon Lauter it was the 2-time TITC winner on the second step and former TITC Open Brushless class winner Lauter claiming his first major international modified podium finish ahead of Marc Rheinard.

First giving a run down on his A2 win, Orlowski said, ‘The car was perfect I used a little bit less glue on the sidewall compared to the first one which we decided on with Mattia (Collina) and the key for the run was to time the tyre prep because of the drivers presentation and I left Mattia alone in the pits with my car and he did a perfect job with timing which I thing gave me the advantage at the beginning to pull away.’  Able to join Scotty Ernst in commentating on A3 for the RC Race Media livestream, on achieving back to back wins with pretty much another dominant performance, asked how that he replied, ‘It feels pretty good.  You know, everyone is saying this is the hardest race in the world to win, sometimes even harder than the World Championship, so I am very happy to do it twice in a row.  It shows last year wasn’t just some luck or something else.  It just shows how great of a team we are and how great our car, electronics, and the team around me are.’

Congratulating Sobue on his second place, a repeat of his 2024 result, he responded with, ‘It’s not bad, I’m happy but it was not so easy for sure.’  He continued, ‘Bruno had a good pace and left no space (to pass) but I see his wing and him take off on the straight and his car flying after which I touched a bit the curb which unsettled my car.  But after that I was able to keep it all good to the end.’  Having challenge Coelho in A2 he explained, ‘After A2 I watched the video (of the race) to see where my car is fast and where Bruno was fast and from that I  made my plan.  I think on the left side my car was a little better than him and also in front of the drivers’ stand was better and better for me. At the beginning of the straight I can catch him but at the end of the straight I tried put a little more pressure on him but his wing then came off and he went flying.  I am lucky and he was unlucky but I am happy to get this result.  With my team-mate Hayato (Ishioka) also in the A-Main I think this is a good start to our preparations for the World Championship.’

Taking a very popular podium finish, reacting to his impressive showing on his second Modified appearance, Lauter said, ‘For sure the best result of my career.  Obviously I got World Champion in Stock but I think on the international market this is even higher validation, I’m not sure it depends on how others judge.  I’m just super excited to have made it.’  The German continued, ‘I think all day I drove very good compared to the other days were I always had some small bobbles and of course it is a little luck that Bruno had bad luck in this case.  I had huge profit from it and I knew then OK I just need to keep P2.  I also knew that if I attack Akio I could even take second overall but at the same time I had to watch the mirrors because Marc (Rheinard) was behind and if he got me or I touched Akio in some way he would snatch the podium away from me again, so it was this mixture that was important in this case.  I honestly don’t care what I got, P2 or P3, because it is a podium and that is what counts, I will take this.’  Set to race Modified at the upcoming World Championships in China, the reigning Pro Stock World Champion said, ‘I had some rather bad races in the past with some ETS and smaller races where I was not the luckiest, but also driving wise not the best, and I think this is a good sign to show the momentum is back and I am prepared for the World Championships now.’

Explaining his A3 crash, Coelho said, ‘The screw of the wing just came out and it took off on the straight because once the wing pops off the car completely loses the rear.’  On his A2 performance, the World Champion unable to challenge Orlowski at all, he said, ‘We got all the tyres for the event at once and then the extra 2 sets for the finals we got later on and this is the sets I use now and my car is maximum stuck in the rear and understeering.  We had to change the set-up a lot again for this run (A3) to get the steering again that we have being removing all week.  So I am not sure if it is the tyre or not or just a coincidence that all my the team was struggling for steering all week and I had a bunch of steering and in the rear it was super loose, and now, with the tyres from the organisation later on we have no steering.’   He concluded, ‘It’s a very disappointing result as we wanted to have a better result than this but it is what it is and we have to learn with the mistakes and keep moving forward.’

In the Open Brushless class, having come close last year, German Lukas Ellerbrock got the job done by also wrapping up the overall victory in A2 with a win ahead of team-mate Oliver Bultynck.  The Belgian would go on to win A3 to make it an Awesomatix 1-2 with the Xray of Thai driver Natthawat Rungcharat securing third at RC Addict.

Easy A1 win for Orlowski as Coelho crashes out

Michal Orlowski has won the opening A-Main at the TITC, Schumacher’s defending Champion getting the win a lot easier than expected as main challenger Bruno Coelho crashed out on the first full lap.  Starting from second, Coelho piled the pressure on the Top Qualifier on the opening lap but on the first full speed entry into the sweeper at the end of straight, the cars having lined up for the start a lap earlier on the straight, he came in too tight launching his Infinity over the kerb and into the outside.  Breaking a corner off the car, his A1 challenge was done much to the disappointment of the crowd lined-up around the track.  While Orlowski gapped the field, the pressure now off the Polish driver, the attention was on the battle for second, Akio Sobue and Simon Lauter gapping 5th place starter Marc Rheinard.  While Lauter looked like he might have something to mount a serious challenge on Sobue’s Axon over the final laps of the race, a number of small mistakes mean’t the Awesomatix driver couldn’t get close enough to attempt a pass.  With Rheinard finishing 4th it was Viktor Wilck who was the top Infinity in P5 while Xray’s Jun Sawada rounded out the Top 6.  In Open Brushless it was also an easy win for Top Qualifier Lukas Ellerbrock, his effort made easier by early contact behind him between Oliver Bultynck and Natthawat Rungcharat.  With RC Maker’s Shimazaki Shinya taking up second he would later crash out allowing Rungcharat’s Xray through to second with Bultynck’s Awesomatix getting 3rd.

Reacting to straight forward win, Orlowski said, ‘I was confident about my pace but for sure after Bruno’s mistake that was one less car on the track but the car felt really good and I could just drive around, try stay off the curb, and don’t take any risks on the sweeper and stay in front.’  He added, ‘The felt maybe a little too conservative on the front sidewall glue, maybe I did that a little too much, so probably a little less for the second one, and apart from that we will try repeat the win again.’

Asked about his error, having yesterday made is intentions clear that he would be giving his all to try and find a way passed Orlowski, the World Champion, who was piling on the pressure on the leader, replied, ‘the car was very good at the beginning and on the warm-up lap, so for the half lap I did it felt pretty good and I tried to gain some advantage at the end of the straight.  I turned a little bit too hard there, touched the curb and went into the barrier.  I f##ked it up.’  Looking to A2 and asked if he felt he had the car to take the challenge to Orlowski he said, ‘I don’t know in 5-minute but at least in the beginning the car felt good so we will see what we can do.’

‘I got lucky because Bruno crashed.  I didn’t overtake but I am happy with 2nd’, was Sobue thoughts on A1.  He continued, ‘My car is super easy in these conditions and easy to keep in the racing line but Michal is a bit faster so I need more pace for the 5-minutes’.   Twice a winner of the TITC, on what he might change to find that speed he replied, ‘I am thinking what we can try because I don’t really know what the track condition will be like for A2’ – there being a 4-hour wait between A1 and A2.  Asked about the late challenge from Lauter, he said, ‘he did put me under a bit of pressure but I knew I was OK because he is a nice guy.’

A driver rising to the occasion this weekend and very pleased with his opening race, Lauter said, ‘That was a good one’.  The German continued, ‘I immediate felt my car was great in the opening lap and saw that I pulled a little gap on Marc which helps because you can get a little bit more confident and more attacking to the front.’  The 2024 TITC Open Brushless winner added, ‘At the end of the run my car is incredible compared to Akio because I had more pace.  But pushing more, I did more small mistakes and all that stuff but I’ll take this P3 for sure because I still think there will be another carnage in front so it is important to be there in the right position at the right final and right now I feel very confident.’

Orlowski to defend TITC title as Top Qualifier

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski will defend his TITC title in Bangkok tomorrow from pole position after taking a somewhat anti-climatic final qualifier at RC Addict this evening to become Top Qualifier once again at the iconic race.  His closest challenger, Bruno Coelho had injected a level of excitement into proceedings when he took the penultimate qualifier to set the stage for a showdown but the World Champion didn’t have the pace in the ‘Happy Hour’ evening conditions to prevent Orlowski taking his fourth TQ run of the event.  While Orlowski and Coelho have the edge on the rest of the field, Akio Sobue again put in another Top 3 run and that’s where the 2-time Champion will start from, many predicting the Axon driver might in fact have locked in the best grid position should, as we have seen in the past, fireworks go off at the front.  A great day from Simon Lauter sees the race’s 2024 Open Brushless class winner line up fourth on the grid ahead of team-mate Marc Rheinard, the chances of the 3-time World Champion winning again in Thailand two decades after his single TITC win looking a tall order.  While many full factory drivers had their struggles and failed to make the A-Main, Korean racer Ji-Heon Yoo made Awesomatix the best represented manufacturer on the grid securing P6 ahead of Infinity’s Viktor Wilck, Xray’s Jin Sawada, Axon’s Hayato Ishioka, and Tamiya’s Souta Goto who got the tie break on the Mugen Seiki of 2024 Top Qualifier Ronald Volker to complete the grid.  In Open Brushless having qualified & finished P2 last year, Lukas Ellerbrock is the Top Qualifier ahead of Awesomatix team-mate Oliver Bultynck who TQ’d the final qualifier.  Winner of Q4, Thailand’s Natthawat Rungcharat starts 3rd for Xray.

Summing up the final qualifier Orlowski said, ‘The last run my car felt a little bit better than the run before.  I was starting behind Bruno so I just wanted to close in a bit and just stay there but I could see I was catching and he was pushing real hard and making some mistakes so once I got in front I just could cruise around.’  On his second consecutive TQ honours he continued, ‘I am happy to be on pole again but tomorrow is a new day, different track conditions and we are all getting new tyres, so hopefully the car works well.  We will see if we are going to adjust it in anyway for the conditions but basically we need the car and tyres working well tomorrow and to deliver.’

Reacting to his Q5 performance, Coelho said, ‘We knew it would be hard to beat Michal on these conditions so we gave it our all and unfortunately it was not possible, but tomorrow is another day and I think that is the key words’.  A race where no one remembers second place, he added, ‘Anything can happen tomorrow, we will give our all.  If we crash we crash’, a full statement that he is all in to become the race’s most successful driver, an honour he currently shares with Atsushi Hara.  With his IF14 Speciale strong in the warmer conditions while Orlowski’s Schumacher prototype has a distinct advantage in the cooler conditions, asked about the finals, the first up just before 11:00 in the morning local time, Coelho whose last TITC win came from P2 on the grid replied, ‘Our car is working pretty good on hot conditions but I don’t know the weather for tomorrow yet, I didn’t check, but if it is hot we normally have a better car but we will still work to improve more on that with the car set-up.’

‘I’m happy with P3’, was Sobue’s response when asked about his starting position.  Winner here in 2018 and 2020, both times with Infinity, he continued, ‘In the last one the car was a bit difficult, still stable, but I needed to be careful of the white line and also I made many smaller mistakes that cost me time but I am happy with my position for tomorrow.’  Asked about the finals, the 2022 World Championship podium finisher said, ‘You know some times P3 is the best position, some times, but I will try to catch the front guys and if I have pace I will go in the fight, I will do my best.’  On his pace in comparison to the Top 2 he agreed he was a little bit behind but he said as a driver he has many many little mistakes so there is potential to improve stating ‘the car is really good’, his car running a number of prototype parts for an upcoming TC10 kit revision.

‘I am absolutely stunted about this’, was how Lauter reacted to claiming P4 on the grid, the German qualifying 9th on his Modified debut last year.  On his final qualifier he said, ‘basically it went like the others.  I had some driving mistakes still so I think the car is better than the driver at the moment, it also means if I keep it clean tomorrow in the finals there is a good chance to be in the mix for the podium at least.’  He continued his game plan is to ‘survive the first laps and then see if something happens in front or not.  I have Marc behind which is super hard because he is probably in race craft the best or one of the best out there but still I was faster today on 5-minutes, all the time I had a mistake I could recover something from him.  He is my team-mate so for sure he will be more cautious with me than other guys.’   Asked as a former Open Brushless winner, winners not allowed to defend that win, about how he is enjoying the step up to Modified at the TITC he replied, ‘I only participated once in Open Brushless class but while I enjoyed it Modified is a different level and I think that is clear to everyone.  Open Brushless is close and you need to drive good but Modified is even closer and if you don’t drive perfect you have no f##king chance.  Those guys in front are basically Aliens, I think everyone know this from ETS, Worlds or what ever but at the same time this means something can happen at the front and especially at this track so I think there is quite a chance for a podium.’

Calling his Q5 run ‘the same story’, Rheinard added, ‘it doesn’t feel like my car anymore since qualifying, I am completely lost.’  Putting it to him that race craft is his thing he replied, ‘but from 5 I don’t know. I know it is good that Bruno is behind Orlowski and in the day time the gap isn’t that big so for sure something can happen but my pace is just not there and there must be a lot happening in front to get a result.  He concluded, ‘I will be still there, I will still try my best but I am not so confident right now.’