Matsukura tops Asia Nitro Party free practice

Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura set the pace in Free Practice today ahead of the first running of the new ‘Asia Nitro Party’ onroad race at Hongyu GDC in China.  A driver who just a month ago TQ’d a round of qualifying around the same track during the FEMCA Asia Electric Touring Car Championship, he would top the times from fellow Japanese compatriot Sinnosuke Yokoyama.  Returning to nitro racing to support the hosting of what track boss Gavin Kwok will become a major race fixture on the international nitro racing calendar,  Chinese racer JJ Wang made it two Mugen Seiki’s in the Top 3 behind Yokoyama’s MRX-7.  Expected to be the pace setter in the 1:8 Onroad Class, 37 drivers making up the entry, Serpent’s World Championship Top Qualifier Andrea Catanzani would have a difficult day struggling to find a good balance but once we down to times counting tomorrow in qualifying he is sure to be right in the mix.

Summing up his day as he came back from cleaning his car after the final run of the day which took place under the track’s lights, Matsukura said, ‘The car is pretty good.  The traction is pretty high, for me it’s like 1:12, I like this feeling.’ While able to set the fastest 3-consecutive laps the Infinity driver added,’It is going to be very difficult to drive like this and make 4-minute run time.’  With four 4-minute qualifiers tomorrow, with the best 2 to count, asked about changes to his IF18-3, he said, ‘I only changed the front camber, I just made it less, that’s it’.  Asked about his new mechanic for the weekend, team-mate Kouki Kato standing in for his legendary pitman Masayuki Muira, he replied with a smile, ‘he’s pretty good.  He is doing very nicely.’  He explained, ‘this time Muira San cannot come so Kouki come to help me fuel.  We practiced fuel stops yesterday and sometimes he missed and we went oops but I am excited for the new style’.  Having raced at Hongyu GDC just before Christmas at the Asia Touring Car Championships and set to stay on after the Asia Nitro Party along with Kato for final track testing ahead of the ISTC Worlds, on adapting to driving 1:8 Onroad he said it was no problem as he raced at the Japanese National back in November and finishing on the podium the feeling for 1:8 ‘is still fresh.’

With today marking his first time at the Hongy GDC track, asking Yokoyama how he is finding the track layout the O.S. Speed factory driver replied with, ‘very difficult.’  Asked why this was, the World Championship finalist said, ‘the grip is very high’.  With the weekend set to mark his first race with the recently released World Championship winning MRX7, the 33-year-old said he made small changes to the car over the day and while these were OK, for qualifying tomorrow they still have a bit more work to do with the set-up.  He said he would like to have more steering to be full happy with the car.

Asked how he’s day went, Catanzani replied, ‘Today was not really an easy day for us because we don’t find the right balance but now in the last practice we have it was good but we will have to wait til tomorrow to see how it is with the big tyres.’  He continued, ‘For me I don’t really like much this type of track with the curb so high.  Also there is a lot of grip and if you make a little mistake you pay.  The layout is really good and facility is amazing, it’s just the curbs.’  On the high grip level’s the 20-year-old said, ‘I think this is because they have many 1:10 EP drivers using the track and they use additive, and there was also an electric race last weekend.’  Dealing with high grip and having to stay away from the curbs, in relation to his car he is running the same one as he raced at the World’s in Chile last month which used to good effect to securing the overall TQ honours.

Son of former European & Italian National Champion Fabio Domanin, making his first trip to China 17-year-old Filippo was content with his practice performance adding he likes the track.  The Xray driver said, ‘We don’t make too much changes, the car was always good and I think we are ready for qualifying.’  He added, ‘The track is difficult because you go fast and when you touch the curbs the car is so difficult to drive, they are very big curbs.  The facility is beautiful but the racing is going to be difficult.’

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Senesi sets GT practice pace at Asia Nitro Party

1:8 GT specialist Natanaele Senesi has set the pace in free practice ahead of this weekend’s inaugural Asia Nitro Party at the impressive Hongyu GDC track in China.  An event that has generated a lot of excitement within the Asian nitro racing scene since the 2026 1:12 & ISTC World Championship venue facility announced the annual event last October, 1:8 GT is the biggest category with over 50 drivers taking part.  The 2024 European Champion would top the times from reigning World Champion Alessio Mazzeo, both drivers running Raptor cars after Senesi, who runs under his own Senesi Motorsport banner, made the switch from an Xray based car to Raptor.  The move came about as a result of Senesi’s engine sponsor Gimar, which in 2024 took over the Raptor project.  Also a factor in the switch was the ability for Senesi to produce his own Senesi Motorsport edition Raptor kit which features a number of his own design elements.  Another of the fast European’s making the trip to Foshan, and believing the would escape the cold weather back home, it would be Genius Racing’s Bernard-Alain Arnaldi who completed the Top 3.  While all hugely impressed with the new RC facility, drivers have been badly caught off guard by an unseasonable cold spell to hit southern China.  With most drivers seeing the podium photo from last weekend’s Sweep Asia Cup race at the track, in which winner Bruno Coelho, Michal Orlowski are both wearing shorts, and basing their clothing choices from that they packed for much warmer conditions than what has greeted them.  There does however appear to be a big jump up in temperatures for tomorrow’s qualifying with it then set to hit in the region of 23 degrees for Sunday’s finals.  On track the low temperatures have also added to the challenge of getting heat into the Sweep rubber tyres used in 1:8 GT, the compound selected ahead of the race based on racing in temperatures double that of what has been experienced so far.

Summing up practice, having arrived in China in Wednesday, Senesi said, ‘The car is going very good.  It’s the first race with the new car and I am super happy because since the first day the car was super stable.  The biggest change was the Blitz GT7 body which made the rear end very locked in, so very stable.’  The multiple World Championship finalist continued, ‘Overall I didn’t make any big changes on the car, just playing around with springs and shock position but the base is really good and the track is super fun.  For sure the big, I don’t want to say problem, but the big point here is to warm-up the tyres.  It is very difficult to manage with 1:8 the traction, so every time you go out on the track the most important thing is to push a lot in the first lap to warm-up the tyres and if you are able to warm them up you can then push.’ A Sweep team driver and recently appointed their Italian distributor, he said, ‘When we decided the compound for the tyres we thought it was going to be hotter so now with 36 (shore) it’s a little bit cold but from tomorrow it should be better.’  His third visit to China, having previously raced at the SIGP in Xiamen, on his first impression of Hongyu GDC the Italian said, ‘Gavin (Kwok) made an awesome job here.  Everything is perfect.’  On the track layout and weather any sections were provong more difficult than others he said, ‘I don’t want to say difficult but I think that time is all made in the second chicane.  If you do it right you can get 2/10ths of a second.’

Summing up his first days in China, this his first time to the country, Mazzeo said, This race is a Party and we are happy to be here.  This my first time to China, so it is a totally new experience, new culture, new state of mind.  I really like the state of mind of the China guys because they have fun, and they are super quite in the morning, they arrive at 10 (o’clock), everything is super slow, completely no stress for the race.  Congrats to Gavin and all the staff for this incredible location, its crazy.’  Asked how practice had gone in terms of finding a set-up for race weekend, the Italian replied, ‘We are using this race for testing new parts for the European Championship in Vila Real because we will be using the same tyre and from my experience with Large Scale in Vila Real the grip will be similar so it’s a good chance to get in some testing for that.  Also with the new car with the flat chassis and other new parts it was a good change to test these too.’  Asked about the unexpected cold conditions, wrapped up & wearing a scarf he said, ‘We are unlucky with the weather because it is super cold, but the weather tomorrow and Sunday should be better.’  Regarding warming up and getting the tyres to work, he said, ‘this was our problem also in Santiago (World Championship) and we are trying to figure this out on the car.  Natanaele did a super good job.  They improved a lot this part (warming tyres) but it is probably also his more aggressive driving style to keep the tyre in temperature.  My driving style is more clean so I need more time to arrive at the right tyre temperature but the car works well.  I see a lot of Raptors here, also Salton Dong (from Hobbywing) is racing our car and is also going super good.’

Giving his reaction to practice Arnaldi said, ‘It is very difficult this track, well it is a very beautiful track and beautiful facility, but it is very cold and this tyre is very hard for this condition.’  The French driver continued, ‘You also have a lot of 1:8 with foam (tyres) and oil from the engine so it is very difficult to get a good compromise for speed and consistency – it’s a big problem and means a lot of work so far.’  The 2-time European Champion added, ‘at 10 degrees it changes a lot with this tyre, this tyre choice is good for 25 degrees but not 10.  We hope it is warmer tomorrow but we continue to try more set-ups because we have some work to do.’  Running the same car from Genius that the Italian manufacturer debuted at last year’s European Championship, specifically asked about the track layout he replied, ‘this is very good and I hope we can enjoy it more tomorrow in hotter conditions’.

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O.S. Speed confirms Yokoyama for Nitro Party

O.S. Engines has confirmed that it will now also be official represented on the track at Hongyu GDC’s inaugural Nitro Party race this coming weekend (Jan 24/25th) with the addition of multiple World Championship finalist Sinnosuke Yokoyama to the entry list.  The iconic Japanese engine manufacturer was already committed to attending Asia’s brand new high profile nitro onroad event with trackside technical support for O.S. Speed engine users but has now added their factory driver to the race’s impressive international entry.  Also a multiple Japanese National Champion, Yokoyama joins a stacked field that includes compatriot & World Champion Naoto Matsukura from Infinity, Serpent’s 2025 1:8 Onroad Worlds’ Top Qualifier Andrea Catanzani, double reigning IFMAR 1:8 GT World Champion Alessio Mazzeo, European GT Champion Natanaele Senesi, Xray’s Italian young gun Filippo Domanin, and Genius Racing’s very experienced Bernard-Alain Arnaldi.  The first edition of what the 2026 IFMAR 1:12 and ISTC World Championship host venue plans to build into a major annual event on the international nitro racing calendar, Red RC are looking forward to kicking off a busy season of race coverage by travelling to the city of Foshan and returning to this very impressive venue to cover the Nitro Party which will see the facility echo to the sound of nitro engines.

Source: Hongyu GDC [Facebook]