April 23, 2026

Nguyen top seed at Malaysian ABC encounter

Making his Asian Buggy Championships debut as the 1:8 Offroad Championship makes its first stop in Malaysia this weekend, Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen has topped seeding at the impressive LAP Paradise RC Raceway in Johor Bahru.  With rain briefly interrupting proceedings during the second of the two seeding rounds, the 15-year-old American talent set fastest two consecutive laps in both Nitro and eBuggy.  Behind it was Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen who the closest challenger, the Finn half a second off on a track with 38-second lap times.  Having dominated the opening round of the Team Cayote/VP-Pro back ABC in New Zealand in March, new 2026 Sworkz signing Caleb Noble completed the Top 3 just 0.08 of a second off Iivonen.  In was an another of the championship’s Australian regulars and race winners Jayden Edmunds also driving an Sworkz in fourth with Ken NG, a key figure behind Round 2 host track, completing the Top 5.

Describing the track as ‘big’, Nguyen added it also had ‘a lot of traction’ and for him it was also ‘kind of technical’.  Liking the track’s elevation changes, he added this was a feature that was quite different to the US.  On topping seeding, the Asian Champion having won back to back FEMCA titles in Vietnam last year,  explained that in terms of his Kyosho buggies the main work has been on his diff set-up and choosing the right tyres.  Running JConcepts’ DirtWeb 2 tyre, he is running it in clay compound and they are working to his liking but he said they are only lasting 10-15-minutes before coming a slick but he wasn’t too concerned as they are ‘still pretty fast when they are bald.’

Asked about seeding, Iivonen said, ‘We got some rain but I think the track cleared up quite well.   After that it was maybe slightly more slippery and the lap times were a bit down but I think our cars are working quite good.  Small changes here and there and I think for tomorrow’s qualifiers it will be really good.’  Asked his thoughts on the track, its black bitumen emulsion surface making it almost look like full asphalt when you first arrive, he said, ‘the track is super nice, I really like it.  It’s super high grid, definitely more than we have in Europe.  It is quite extreme.’  Regarding qualifying runs, 3 5-minute rounds on tomorrow’s schedule he said, ‘To do a clean lap is not too bad so it should be quite good to do a full 5-minute run but the problem is if you need a marshal it can be fast or slow so you never know what is going to happen there.  You definitely don’t want to crash’ – as is common in Asia the event is providing its own marshals for the event.  On tyre choice, Iivonen said he is running Jetko J1 rubber following local advice that they were the best and having tried other brands he said ‘the Jetkos have been the fastest so far so I’m sticking with them for now.’

Summing his Thursday’s performance Noble said, ‘Seeding was pretty good and I am pretty happy considering I am on a tyre I am not 100% sold on compound wise.  I am just reserving my clays for qualifying and onward’.  Running JConcepts blue compound Dirtweb 2, he said, ‘they are fine, just not as fast as clays’.  He added, ‘I’m happy with third, it was nearly 2nd in the second round, so happy with that.’  On the track and its 3D elevation layout he said, ‘I am really enjoying it.  I am really enjoying the elevation, the grip, I am really really having a good time.’  Asked about his confidence after his domination of Round 1 at Counties RC in Auckland, the 19-year-old replied, ‘we definitely got stiffer competition with Phi and Pekko here but I think I’d be happy to get Top 3 and that’s a realistic goal.  If I can fight with those two I think that would be a huge step from 12-months ago in the Philippines.’  On his switch from Tekno to Sworks for the new season, he said, ‘I’m loving it.  I am really enjoying the car, really enjoying the platform, and learning every day with it and getting faster and faster.’

April 23, 2026

Nguyen to make Asian Buggy Champs debut at first Malaysian encounter

Young Kyosho star Phi-Long Nguyen will make his Asian Buggy Championships debut this weekend as Malaysia hosts the latest round of the Scotty Ernst promoted championship for the very first time.  Now in its fourth season, reigning back to back FEMCA Champion Nguyen will join ABC championship regulars at the impressive LAP Paradise RC Raceway for the second of the 4 round Team Cayote/VP Pro backed 1:8 Offroad Championship.  The American will be compete against Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen, Sworkz’s Caleb Noble, who dominated the season opener in New Zealand in March, team-mate Jayden Edmunds and Mayako’s Logan Toia.  On his Asian Buggy Championships debut the teenager said, ‘The series as I have seen in the past is amazingly organized and well run with Scotty behind the mic the world will be heard. Lap Paradise looks like a perfect track to improve on high traction and we can’t wait to visit Malaysia which is another beautiful Asian country.’

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]

March 1, 2026

‘We made the impossible possible’, Orlowski leads Schumacher 1-2 at MIBO International

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has added his name to MIBO International’s Roll of Honour for the offroad, the previous Touring Car Champion of the Czech event denying compatriot Bartek Zalewski the double when he took the 4WD Buggy title which went down to A3.  Making the switch from the onroad track across to the parallel offroad track for the fourth edition of the annual race, Orlowski would qualify second to Zalewski in both 2WD and 4WD but coming up short on winning in 2WD, a team effort would see Orlowski lead a 1-2 result in 4WD from team-mate Daniel Kobbevik.  Armed from fresh tyres for A1, Orlowski kicked off 4WD with a win ahead of Kobbevik as mistakes dropped Zalewski to P5.  A2 would see Zalewski benefit from fresh rubber to win with ease over Orlowski despite the pair sharing identical fastest lap times for the race.  In the decider while Zalewski looked to be dealing with the pressure of Orlowski almost on his rear wing, a small mistake at the tabletop with a minute to go gave us a lead change.  While Orlowski led for a lap, Zalewski would then drive around the outside of his rival after they had came off the straight but they touched on the jump and both went tumbling handing Kobbevik the lead.  With Zalewski trying for another pass after they resumed, he would catch the jump and roll out of contention finishing P3, 2-seconds back on Orlowski who took the overall win on tie break from Kobbevik.

‘We made the impossible possible with Daniel’, was how Orlowski described his team’s 1-2 at MIBO International.  The Pole continued, ‘We have been working super hard with Ben, Eugene, and Elias on the car and by the end of qualifying and for the finals we got it the best we could.’  He added, ‘We needed to put Bartek under pressure and pressure him into mistakes.  We worked together with Daniel on tyre strategy and on the track as well trying too help each other.  At the end we were quite lucky with how it all happened on the track but we did everything thing perfectly and with some luck we were able to 1 and 2 with our cars so we are very happy about that.’

Asked to sum 4WD Kobbevik replied with it, ‘It ended good’.  He continued, ‘It has been an up and down day for me.  I struggled to find the confidence and the right way around the track let’s say.  I couldn’t improve in the final qualifier so Michal went ahead of me on the grid in both classes but I still think it was a good end to the weekend with a 2nd (4WD) and a 3rd (2WD) after fighting like crazy all weekend.’  The World Championship finalist added,  ‘I am always trying to find more speed and I worked very well together with Michal, Elias and Ben to try and achieve the best possible set-up for this track.  I feel like we improved a lot but I want to improve even more because it doesn’t feel perfect let say.’  Asked where the final improvement came from he explained, ‘We did a huge change on the 4-wheel for the front and the rear with the geometry and it seemed to be a lot better, making it faster and more drivable as well.  It was difficult to get a good feel out of the car before that and I was struggling with the lap times which is not a good deal.  The A3 win and podium was a good way to finish.’

Clearly disappointed to miss the double, the 19-year-old always having huge fan support at MIBO International, Zalewski said, ‘The car felt good for most of them.  The first one though I had used tyres compared to the Schumacher guys and oil was on the track so I was driving and just get a spin into the pipes and lost it.  I was pushing so hard, but I make a few more mistakes and I end up P5.  In the second main I pulled away.  The car felt very strong and I was confident to many the bigger & bigger gap.’  On A3 the Top Qualifier said, ‘The third one it was close racing I would say.  He passed me, then I passed him and we had contact, I mean I was out front, he touched me before the jump and in the the jump I couldn’t control where I was flying and made a mistake and that was it.’

View the action from an exciting third A-Main of 4WD Buggy which would decide the 2026 MIBO International title.

View full 4WD results here.

March 1, 2026

Volker adds third MIBO International win

Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker has won a third MIBO International, the Touring Car Champion successfully defending his title with another dominant performance in the Czech Republic.  Securing the overall TQ after 3 rounds of qualifying, the German kicked of finals day with a 5th TQ run before going on to win all 3 A-Mains on this year’s new Racestars designed & built track.  While the former World Champion had the edge of the rest of the field, the big battle of the weekend would be really for the other two podium places with Xray’s Adam Izsay the only one to mix it against Mugen team in Hrotovice.  While 2025 TITC Open Brushless Champion Sören Sparbier managed to get by Izsay for second in the opening encounter, Iszay, helped by a mistake from Sparbier, held position in A2 and again in A3 to finish overall runner-up.  Making his MIBO debut Sparbier complete the podium denying team-mate Patrick Gollner a repeat of his 2025 result.  While Volker notched up his third Modified title this year ahead of Iszay, the Hungarian who really impressive in the opening two Modified qualifiers, would achieve the same in Stock.  Winning A1 & 2 to defend his title, Iszay was joined on the podium by A3 winner Jaroslav Kriz with Tobias Sutrich claiming the 3rd step.  In FWD, Phil Langer was another to defend his 2025 win leading home Loris Buchhalt and previous FWD winner Stefan Schulz.

Summing up his dominant weekend, the German no stranger to the Sport V Hotel which has hosted many various races over the years, Volker said, ‘It was pretty much perfect.  I mean even in A3 it felt even more better so I was over confident and sent if off the chicane, but I recovered and still had a great race.’  He continued, ‘Q5 and the finals the grip was getting higher and I was able to make the car a bit more drivable by applying front additive later and that was basically the main change I did today.’  He added, ‘I am happy with my own pace but it is a bit of a shame we could’nt try to get Adam off P2, but well done to him especially in the first two qualifiers when he was really strong.’  Yet to miss a MIBO International, which is organised by his former Yokomo team-mate Michal Bok, Volker concluded, ‘It was another great event organised by MIBO and hopefully I’ll be coming back when it happens again next year.’

Reacting to his strong weekend Izsay said, ‘Stock was good. I had steady drives in A1 and A2 to bring home the win.  In Modified we lost a little bit of pace compared to the first two qualifying rounds so we were trying to find that back.  Still I had a good race with Soren and Patrick for the second place which I could secure in the last final so overall it was a very good race for me.’   Asked how he enjoyed his Modified outing, he said, ‘I like Modified, two classes is busy to drive, it’s a challenge but it is good and I enjoy it a lot.’

While claiming a podium on his MIBO debut, it was clear Sparbier felt he should have done better.  Summing up his 3rd place finish with ‘ah it’s OK’, the 19-year-old explained, ‘Adam was not so fast in the last qualifier and in the finals and in the first one I could catch him but in the second one I had a little mistake and it was P4 for me.  The last final I must really brake hard for Adam and then come Patrick and we are in the middle of the pack but P3 is OK.  We worked well this weekend as a team.’

View the action from the second A-Main of Modified in which the 2026 MIBO International title was decided.

View full results here.

March 1, 2026

Zalewski defends MIBO 2WD title

Xray’s Bartek Zalewski has successfully defended his 2WD Buggy title at MIBO International, the young Polish racer wrapping up the overall win with two straight wins in the opening A-Mains at the Czech Republic event.  Having secured the TQ for the fourth edition of the Michal Bok organised race ahead of Michal Orlowski, A1 would see his compatriot armed with fresh tyres mount a strong challenge but a cool headed drive from Zalewski meant he kept that challenge at bay.  In A2 it was the 19-year-old who had the tyre advantage and he was able to cruise to win by a comfortable margin to lock in a very popular overall victory.  With another second place to Zalewski securing Orlowski the overall runner-up but the upcoming 4WD title still up for grabs, Orlowski would along with the re-crowned Champion sit out A3 to focus on his 4WD quest.  This left team-mate & 3rd place qualifier Daniel Kobbevik to lead away the 8-car field.  Despite coming under the close attentions of Sworkz’s Micha Vidmaier for most of the race, the 2025 Top Qualifier & Runner-up would win A3 to complete the podium line-up in Hrotovice.

Reacting to his back to back titles Zalewski said, ‘There was a lot of pressure from Michal in A1 because he was on new tyres and I was on used ones but then for A2 I put on new ones and the car felt amazing.  I didn’t push and I was still a making bigger and bigger gap, the speed in the car was incredible and I am very happy to win that race.’  While this year’s MIBO International was staged slightly later than previous years in order to avoid a clash with the famous TITC which ran early this year, MIBO International unique in that offroad and onroad race side by side, putting it Zalewski that it has been a very strong start to his season, he replied, ‘It’s been one of the best for sure.  The win at MKGP was something amazing because I was making a huge gap especially in 2WD to win the A-Mains with a 6-seconds gap.  So adding today’s MIBO win I am extremely happy how this year has started.’

A driver who felt he was playing catch after his poor opening to 2WD qualifying, Orlowski summed his performance in the class by saying, ‘Bartek was very strong.  Our pace was good only on new tyres so when I had new tyres I was able to put a lot of pressure on him but couldn’t find a way passed.’  Using up his new tyre trump card in A1, on the second main he said, ‘Once then Bartek was on new (tyres) I had no chance but still I am happy to get second after the rough start to qualifying.’  Asked on his decision not to run A3 he explained, with the tie break for MIBO based on your qualifying position, I knew I could not lose my second not matter who won and I wanted to focus on my 4WD.’

Asked to sum up his 2WD finals, Kobbevik replied, ‘The first one was horrible.  I crashed myself while having quite a gap over the field behind Michal & Bartek and after that it was like carnage at the back and I didn’t get a score then.’  The Norwegian continued, ‘so then I had to do two good ones in A2 and A3, the second one I got third behind Michal and Bartek and then I cruised into P1 in the last one.  It was a good fight with Micha which was nice.’

View the action from the second A-Main of 2WD Buggy which would decide the 2026 MIBO International title.

View full 2WD results here.

March 1, 2026

Final grids set at MIBO International

With all the TQ’s settled over the four rounds of qualifying on Saturday, the fifth & final qualifier this morning was all about deciding the starting order behind 2WD & 4WD Buggy Top Qualifier Bartek Zalewski, Modified Touring Car pole sitter Ronald Volker, and Stock Top Qualifier Adam Izsay.  In the Buggy classes, it was the only driver who was able to get the better of Zalewski yesterday, Michal Orlowski, who opened finals day here in Hrotovice in the best way possible with his second double TQ round having done the same in Q3.  As a result the Schumacher driver lines up P2 in both Mains for his MIBO Offroad debut demoting team-mate Daniel Kobbevik back to third in each, the Norwegian having a rough morning and unable to better his overnight results.  While Zalewski retired from both final qualifiers, pulling up after a mistake at the table top in 4WD, it is the Sworkz of Micha Widmaier which lines up P4 ahead of team-mate Dominik Vlasek who concluded qualifier as he started it with another run to the second fastest time.  Getting his best result in Q5 of 4WD with a P2 behind Orlowski, European Champion Martin Bayer starts fourth ahead of Schumacher’s Elias Johansson.

In Touring Car, Volker completed another clean sweep repeating his 2025 performance of five from five with his Mugen Seiki.  Overall while Sören Sparbier got a P2 for the final round it didn’t change the grid order and it is Xray’s Adam Izsay who starts P2.  Patrick Gollner will fight to repeat his 2025 podium finish from P4 with the Xray of Oliver Havranek and Yokomo’s Christopher Krapp making up the Top 6 on the starting grid.  In 17.5 Stock, Slovakian racer Jaroslav jun. Kriz will line up behind Izsay, the Hungarian chasing his third Stock win at MIBO as the defending champion.  Austrian Tobias Sutrich starts third ahead of ARC’s Enrico Jung with Xray’s Martin Hudy completing the top half of the grid.  In FWD defending Champion Phil Langner starts on pole ahead of Loris Buchhalt and 2024 winner Stefan Schulz.