February 22, 2025

The TITC inside line with Salton Dong – Day 3

They say data is king, but that is only true if you know what data you are looking at and what to do with it, and that is what today’s topic of conservation from the TITC is with Salton Dong from Hobbywing.  Attending major races as technical support for drivers using Hobbywing electronics, Salton often finds himself more involved with drivers and chassis manufacturers than just purely for electronics.  Data logs from the ESC show a lot of information and some of the details can be quite interesting if you know where to look and not just in terms of what the electronics are doing but also the inputs coming from the drivers stand!

While every user of a Hobbywing ESC can access the data log from a run, Salton admits the data is more for an expert user but he was keen to highlight a little how Hobbywing uses it in supporting its team drivers on the electronics side and beyond.  He said, ‘the data is not very easy to understand inside and what is what, but for us we can diagnose some complicated cases.  When we feel we don’t have a proper sense of what has caused a particular issue, then we can take the data log to further compare what might be going on.’  He also explained how in more straight forward cases they can also use the data logs to help analysis feedback from drivers or check if what a driver is feeling during a run is actually what they think it is.’  With data being his thing, Salton says it can be quite interesting to see in the data from the various drivers how they each control the throttle in different ways.

Working with drivers from all different chassis manufacturers, who are locked into intense battles with one another to win races like the TITC, he is privy to a lot of information on their car set-up etc.  While that information always remains confidential, on the side of the electronic data Salton says the sharing of this information is a key part of his support role.  Giving an example of this he explained,  ‘In Open Brushless because we have a lot of drivers in the A-Main, sometimes if one team is faster sometimes other team drivers will think ‘oh maybe Salton gave them some better motors or some secret settings and that is why I’m am slower’ than the other drivers but actually for me in my role with the top drivers I will share my knowledge on settings and the material we have prepared for an event.  If we see one of our drivers who should be faster we will go to them to check if anything is not so good.  Some drivers, sometimes, don’t believe I can use the data to show them what is the real reason they are slower, and not on the power side, so this makes me like a bridge sometimes between different chassis brands.  Of course I will respect any secrets in the chassis but on the power side I prefer to be open to all our drivers.  Sometimes with lower skilled drivers I will have some different suggestions because of the control skills but I will tell them why I do it like this and what the problem with the difference will be and most understand this.’

He continued, ‘When I collect data from different sources I can analysis it and maybe combine a better one.  Team A might have less in some setting and Team B might have a good element in their setting so I can try combine these and can also tell them each the good and the bad things of their current settings.  Of course the setting they choose is totally their decision, it might be down to their preference, but by giving them an insight it might give them more options to try.’

In modified he says things are different, ‘especially with the top guys, like Bruno, Orlowski, there is quite a lot of difference in their power settings.’  He continued, ‘An interesting thing is only when they have some problems, what ever it is, not power, but maybe chassis or other things, they will be anxious to know others ESC settings.  Because they can’t find a reason they are having problems they want to know everything about their opponent, and it is then if you tell them the difference they are more keen to try.  If drivers are running ok they will not easily change the power setting especially once the race has started.  In Modified power setting priority is quite low.  For example today before Q4 I was talking to Alex (Hagberg) and he asked me to please update the firmware for him.  He knows we have new firmware but in the practice days he didn’t ask to do it because he is working very hard on the chassis and didn’t what to try, although I told him there may be some benefit.  But today already he had nothing to lose so he wanted to try the new firmware so I upgraded it for him.  Sometimes lots of different things effect their decision, it quite difficult for them to have big changes when the competition is good.’

Asked from his experience why drivers were hesitant to make ESC changes he said, ‘the problem is it can be quite complex and they can get lost with things.  If it is not so good they will blindly follow some fast guys but usually first they follow their team-mate but if the whole team is not going well it is usually only at this point they come to ask if I can share some information.’


February 22, 2025

JQ at the TITC – Day 3

Another day complete at the TITC and Invisible Speed’s Joseph Quagraine has been focusing on the finer details and convincing a few people to get on board with the idea.  We’ll hand you over to JQ to explain…….

Qualifying and one main is done here at TITC, and I have learned something more.  This one is a mistake I see even the very best drivers make, and in some ways it is illogical, based on how attention to detail oriented and precise the on road nerds…I mean racers are.  While they weigh and measure everything to the tenth of a gram, degree or mm, the surprising thing is their approach to setup.  When it comes to changes the changes are not a 10th of a gram, degree or mm, they are far bigger.  And this is not the best way in my opinion.

Let me explain like this: The way I have seen drivers approach setup at TITC, is as if you go to a steak house, order a medium steak, receive it slightly too rare, then instead of asking for it to be cooked slightly more, you leave the restaurant, set it on fire, fly to a different country, and order lobster.  While the lobster might be amazing, a better approach would be to cook the steak a bit more.

Earlier in the race the Xray boys were struggling, and having worked with Hagberg on Invisible Speed and Ronnefalk at Mayako I am friends with them, so for Q2 on, I gave them a suggestion of a base to go with, and have mainly since then tried to stop them making changes, and instead suggested minor tweaks.  They did improve but too late, and unfortunate DNFs also ruined better placings for the finals.

I am here with Pekko Iivonen, who runs Schumacher, so I have got to know his team mate Michal Orlowski better at this race.  Maybe a few helpful tips, along with Pekko being very fast in practice made him trust me a bit, so he has asked me for my opinion a few times.  Without exception I have recommended less, and smaller changes, with one particular time being my favourite change, bumpsteer. 0.5mm in shims, and Michal doubted just that would be enough, and I said I believe it would, and thankfully it was.

The lessons so far, are to create a base setup using knowledge, not experience, then make smaller changes than currently, based on knowledge mixed with experience.  This on road thing really is rewarding from an engineering minds point of view.


February 22, 2025

Chassis Focus – Goto Souta (Tamiya TRF)

Chassis – Tamiya TRF 421
ESC – Hobbywing G3
Motor – Hobbywing V10 G3 4.5T
Battery – Nosram 6500mah
Tires (handout) – Sweep
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M17s / Sanwa PGS-LH II Prototype Type R
Body – Xtreme Twister

Image Gallery



February 22, 2025

Video – A-Main Leg 1

Action from the opening A-Main of Modified Touring Car at the 2025 TITC at RC Addict, Bangkok.

View full results here.


February 22, 2025

Orlowski cruises to easy A1 win at TITC

While Michal Orlowski starting on the TQ directly in front of Bruno Coelho has produced fireworks in the past, the opening A-Main at the TITC in Bangkok proved a total procession as the Schumacher driver took an easy & dominant win over his rival.  Sending a clear message to his rivals on his TITC debut by topping all four rounds of qualifying at RC Addict, Orlowski looked even stronger in A1 quickly pulling clear of the field to win a massive 3.3-second margin.  While Coelho’s Infinity would record the fastest lap of the race, the defending Champion was never a threat to the rookie.  Instead a small mistake left Coelho having to fend off a challenge from Marc Rheinard but that battle faded away with the Awesomatix driver, who before a driver error looked to have found something in the final qualifier, crossing the line almost a 1-second back in P3.

Putting it to Orlowski after the race that his win was pretty straight forward and uneventful, the Pole replied, ‘Yeah, I’ve been sick off not being able to have a clean run in the finals so before A1 I thought I’m just going to try and pull away and my car was absolutely perfect in this one’.  He continued, ‘I did all I could to drive away and thanks to the help of Mattia (Collina), the guys from Elceram, Pekko, JQ, yeah the the car was perfect.  Now I just need one more.’  With the night to sleep on his A1 win asked about A2 he said, ‘we will see what time the race is at, we’ll see the temperatures, but I think we will leave the car the same.’

Reacting to his first actual race as an Infinity driver, Coelho said, ‘We made some radical changes on the set-up and it didn’t really go the direction we want but we are still learning the car.  The performance is there and I think considering we only got the car in our hands for the first time 3-weeks ago and we are flighting for the TITC, so the result is impressive.  The competition is at 110% because they have the same car and they have everything the same as they had at the World Championship.  We still have a lot to learn and a lot to improve on the car so I am really happy with the result and just enjoying the moment.  Asked about his moment during the final, he explained, ‘I was trying to follow Michal who is super strong this weekend and I touched the curb and was on two wheels’.  Surviving the moment that allowed Rheinard to hassle him for a few laps, he added, ‘as I said before the race we need to be realistic for this race, we are not 100% ready, we are getting there, so second place and fighting for the TITC is already good.’

A dejected Rheinard, clearly at a loss to his disappointing A1 performance having had high expectation after his initial Q4 effort one & a half hours earlier, said. ‘I don’t know the traction is so much so I just kept the car the same as Q4 where I was leading until I made a mistake but now it was again really difficult to drive.  I have no idea, changing track conditions are a bit weird for us, it doesn’t work out.’   The reigning European Touring Car Champion added, ‘Also Bruno was struggling there, it just felt super weird and hard to drive.  It might have been a boring race to watch but to drive it was super difficult.  Let’s see what happens tomorrow.’

In the opening encounter of Open Brushless it was also a tone to tone win for the Top Qualifier as Mugen Seiki’s Soren Sparbier converted to take the win with his MTC-3.  After an early incident allowed the Top 2 to break clear of the field,  the No.2 starting Awesomatix of Lukas Ellerbrock kept Sparbier honest for race as he posted a slightly faster fastest lap of the race than his fellow countryman.  Starting P3 that is where Olivier Bultynck would finish but loosing time in the Lap 3 incident the Q2 winner was almost half a lap back on the Top 2.

View our event image gallery here.


February 22, 2025

Chassis Focus – Alexander Hagberg (Xray)

Chassis – Xray x4’25
ESC – Hobbywing G3
Motor – Hobbywing V10 G3 4.5T
Battery – Team EAM 6000mah
Tires (handout) – Sweep
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M17s / Sanwa PGS-LH II
Body – Xtreme Twister

Image Gallery