Reigning 1:8 Onroad World Champion manufacturer Mugen Seiki has announced the release of an updated shock shaft for its MRX platform, the new shafts also suitable for their MTX 1:10 Nitro Touring Car platform. Offered as both as part of a full shock set or just a pair of shafts, the new shock shaft has been updated from a nut-fastened design to an SiG2x6 screw fastening design.
Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski returned to his winning ways in the ETS taking Round 2 in Slovakia with victory over Bruno Coelho, the driver who last year ended the Pole’s run of 12 consecutive wins in the series. Racing at the Hudy Arena, it was Coelho’s Infinity that topped seeding ahead of Orlowski and with Marc Rheinard heading the early home charge for Xray. In qualifying, reigning Champion Orlowski opened with the first of 3 TQ runs over the 5 rounds that would secure him the overall TQ. Topping the final qualifying, Coelho, winner of the season opener in the Netherlands, would line-up P2 on the grid. Behind Xray’s Alexander Hagberg completed with Top 3 ahead of Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker and Infinity’s Viktor Wilck. In A1 Orlowski lead from start to finish, a mistake by Coelho just before the half way distance which say him roll onto his roof allowing him to cruise to the win by over 7-seconds from Coelho who inherited P2 back after Hagberg suffered a mechanical failure & retired. In A2, despite the best efforts of World Champion Coelho, it was Orlowski who again took the win by just over 1-second to return to the top step of the podium. With Coelho winning A3 from Hagberg, the final result was the same as the qualifying order. Having qualified P7, Rheinard would finihsh fourth ahead of Volker with Schumacher’s Mattia Collina completing the Top 6. In Pro Stock Xray’s Jan Ratheisky took the TQ and win over reigning Champion & Round 1 winner Olivier Bultynck. While the battle for the win went to A3 after Bultynck won A2, contact frim Xray’s Adam Izsay ended the Awesomatix driver’s challenge for the win. The Belgian would claim second overall with Izsay taking the third step on the podium.
Image: Bruno Coelho [Facebook]
Infinity’s Dario Balestri has successfully defended his EFRA 1:8 Onroad European Championship title, the Italian taking his Max powered IF18-3 to a fourth consecutive victory in France today. Racing at the Bourg-en-Bresse track, qualifying opened with French ace Maxime Ripoll topping the first of the five rounds with his Xray. New 2026 Serpent signing & 2023 Euro Nitro Series Champion Mirko Salemi would set the pace in Q2 before Top Seed Balestri went quickest in Q3. Another TQ run from Salemi in Q4 and Balestri in Q5 left the compatriots tied but on tie break it was 2-time World Champion Balestri who was the Top Qualifier. 2nd in qualifying would secure Salemi together with Infinity’s Carmine Raiola and 4th placed Ripoll direct spots into the Main final. The 2026 1:8 GT European Champion, Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani would qualify fifth to secure pole in his Semi with the other Semi pole going to the Capricorn of Toni Gruber. Unfortunately for the 2025 World Championship Top Qualifier, Catanzani would be given penalties over his refuelling that would leave him 4th at the end of the 20-minute encounter with only the Top 3 progressing. In the Last Chance Final he would retire with the Xray of Filippo Domanin becoming the 11th car on the grid. In the 45-minute final Balestri showed just why he is such a decorated 1:8 racer, eventually securing his 6th European title by almost 3-seconds from team-mate Riola with an impressive drive from Domanin seeing him come through the field to complete the podium at the 24th running of the championships just ahead of Salemi. Gruber would finish P5 with Ripoll, who ran as high as second & set the fastest lap of the race, completing the Top 6 at his home track.
Image: EFRA [Facebook]
Indianapolis based oval car manufacturer Ovalwerks has announced its latest 1:10 offering, the updated 2026 Resurgent Rubber Tire Kit. The updates for the 2026 kit include a new chassis with a new Aluminium Crossbrace assembly that is moved forward to allow more room for the ESC with the large rubber tires. Another update is the Battery locator which now has more adjustment. With the rest of the kit remaining unchanged Ovalwerks will be offering an update kit with a foam update also coming soon.
View Kit contents & more images here
Having generated much interest earlier this year, after a long period of inactivity, with the announcement of its FF18 Revival 2026 kit, VBC Racing has announced the upcoming release of the all new MPAN-RR, an M-Chassis size rear wheel drive rear-motor pan car. The Hong Kong company say they have pioneered the new concept to authentically mirror the true driving characteristics of full-scale rear-engine platforms. In highlighting the soon to be unveiled kit they added it is ‘Engineered for surgical precision and total setup adjustability’, adding that, ‘this elite kit is the groundbreaking first release’ from their new VARIA collection which is designed to expand across all drivetrain layouts in the future. We are excited to see the wraps taken off the MPAN-RR very soon.
Source: VBC Racing [vbcracing.com]
Schumacher has introduced a number of new parts for its Mi10 Electric Touring Car including body supports, a Front Bulkhead Brace, and Alloy Radius Arm Setup Lock. Specifically for the Avalon Vortex body shell, this new version body mount system provides additional support to the rear of the body. The BMS also removes the need for holes in the body shell which allows for a sleeker look. The serrations allow the adjustment of the height of the body to your desired setting. As ultra light bodies have become the norm for high performance in modern Touring Cars, they have also released a Bonnet Support for the Mi10. The support improves deflection at high speed and gives the body generally better support and weighs just 2 grams. Also for body tuning comes these 0.5mm Body Height Adjuster Body height adjusters for all brands of touring car car that have 6mm body posts and 1.5mm pin. Adjustment is in 0.5mm increments for super fine body positioning.
Schumacher has introduced this Inboard Rear Toe Option Set for its recently released Mi10 Electric Touring Car. Highly recommended for Low to Medium traction surfaces, the Carbon Fibre Rear Inboard Toe Option Set allows you to toe in the rear arms at the chassis. Inboard rear toe resists weight transfer to the front of the chassis and stiffens the rear, providing an increase in rear grip. Inboard toe has previously been favoured on low traction asphalt tracks. To allow easy testing back and forth with standard kit zero toe, this position has been included in this option kit in the form of an extra mounting hole in the wishbone.
Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]
Famous Hong Kong track Tom Racing Circuit played host to the Tamiya Asia Cup HK Qualifier where Max Chung put on a masterclass performance, capturing the overall championship titles in both the M-Chassis and GT classes to become the biggest winner of the event. This was a milestone win Chung having now won the M-Chassis title for 4 years in a row. Showing unmatched pace from the get-go, Chung secured the overall Top Qualifier honours early in Q2. He carried that momentum straight into the finals, delivering a flawless drive to win both Leg 1 and Leg 2 comfortably. Paul Suen would finish runner-up . In the GT Class there was a thrilling showdown to the finish as the category brought high drama and intense racing. While Chung locked down the TQ position in Q2 with a massive lead, the finals turned into an absolute dogfight. In Leg 1, Daniel Fang made a rocket launch from 4th on the grid up to 2nd, overtaking Max on lap 2. For 5 gruelling minutes, Chung chased like crazy, but Daniel held his ground to take the opening win. In Leg 2 Chung made zero mistakes at the start, leading from lights to flag to secure 1st place, with Daniel finishing 2nd. In the Decider, Leg 3, both drivers got a superb launch, but Chung shook off the pressure on lap 2 and pulled away cleanly, extending his lead lap after lap to cross the finish line well ahead of the field. Overall Fang took second with Macau driver Gabe completing the podium.
Source: Max Chung
