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October 1, 2026

Pietsch comes out of retirement for Singapore Nitro GP

2011 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Champion Robert Pietsch is to come out of retirement with the German confirmed as one of a record number of World Champions who will race at the 20th anniversary of the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix this month. Pietsch, who last raced at the 2023 European Championship in Portugal, travelled to the Leno track in Italy last week to break in new Ielasi Tuned engines under the guidance of Daniele Ielasi. Winning his World title with Mugen Seiki, Pietsch transitioned from racer to car designer for the Japanese manufacturer officially retiring from racing in 2023. For 2026 he moved into a new design team role with Infinity with Piestch set to race their IF18-3 at the Radio Control Modellers’ Club’s newly resurfaced track. With the race officially running on October 10/11, Pietsch joins a host of World Champions for the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix including reigning 1:8 Onroad Champion Shoki Takahata, newly crowned 1:10 Nitro Touring Car Champion Naoto Matsukura and current 3-time Electric Touring Car World Champion Bruno Coelho. Red RC will be making the trip Singapore and is excited to cover the event for the very first time.

Source: RCMC Singapore [Facebook]

September 28, 2026

Tironi wins Round 2 of Italian 1:8 National Championship

Infinity’s Francesco Tironi has taken the win at the second round of the AMSCI 1:8 Onroad Italian National Championship. Racing at the Leno track in the north of the country, it was the Serpent of Mirko Salemi who secured the TQ honours setting fastest times in 3 of the 4 qualifying round. Fastest in Q2, Xray’s recent 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship podium finisher Filippo Domanin would qualify P2 with Tironi in third ahead of young Luca Ielasi, the Top 4 going directly to the Main. Unfortunately a problem for Salemi at the start of the 45-minute final ended his chances of the win but setting the fastest lap of the race he would recover to P4. Up front Tironi would take his first National win in some time with a 3.1-second winning margin over Domanin. Securing P5 on the grid after victory in the Semi Finals, Andrea Muscolino’s Infinity completed the podium. The National Championship concludes on October 25th with the third & final round at the iconic Fiorani track.

Image: Francesco Tironi [Facebook]

September 24, 2026

Another reigning World Champ for Singapore Nitro GP as Coelho confirmed

The Singapore International Nitro GP will celebrate its 20th Anniversary in style with the announcement of its 3rd reigning World Champion as Bruno Coelho is confirmed for the October 10-11 event. The 3-time back to back IFMAR 1:10 Electric Touring Car World Champion made his SINGP last year, returning to his roots to race nitro onroad, the category in which the Portuguese star learned his trade before his break through moment at the 2014 ISTC Worlds in the USA. With Mugen Seiki’s 1:8 Onroad World Champion Shoki Takahata and Infinity’s newly crowned 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Champion Naoto Matsukura already confirmed, Coelho might just need a few extra laps to settle into the newly resurfaced Radio Control Modellers’ Club’s track as he will come straight from having just raced for a week at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas which gets underway in just a few days.

Source: RCMC Singapore [Facebook]

September 16, 2026

Newly crowned World Champion Matsukura set for Singapore International Nitro GP

Having confirmed Mugen Seiki’s reigning double 1:8 Onroad World Champion Shoki Takahata earlier this month, the organisers of the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix have now confirmed newly crowned 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Champion Naoto Matsukura for the 20th anniversary of the race. Like Takahata, Matsukura became a double Nitro Onroad World Champion, the first driver to achieve the accolade in 1:10, when the Infinity driver took the win in Gubbio, Italy, last Saturday. Taking place on October 10-11, the same weekend as the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, over the last two decades of the Singapore International Nitro GP, the Radio Control Modellers’ Club’s annual international race has welcomed numerous World Champions. 2026 looks like attracting its greatest line up of World Champions yet with drivers getting to race on the track’s newly laid asphalt.

Source: RCMC Singapore [Facebook]

September 13, 2026

Title No.7 as Matsukura reclaims Nitro Touring Worlds in Italy

18-years after he took his first IFMAR World title as a 15-year-old in 1:12, Naoto Matsukura has added a 7th World Championship victory by reclaiming the 1:10 Nitro Touring Car crown in Italy. The 11th running of the championships, the Infinity driver, who turns 33 on Monday, would take a convincing win in Gubbio, 8-years on from winning the same title in the United Stated. Starting from 3rd on the grid, Matsukura would go to P2 on the opening lap and closely pursue team-mate & Top Qualifier Dario Balestri as they pulled clear of the field. Unfortunately for Balestri, just like in 2016 when he TQ’d the same championships at the same track, the final wasn’t to go his way. While finishing on this occasion, albeit in P6, the Italian would hit an issue during his tyre stop with the rear right wheel change delaying him by a lap & a half, effectively ending his quest to finally add a 1:10 title to the two he has achieved in 1:8. The only driver to manage a 15-second lap of the Miniautodromo Internazionale Mario Rosati track in the Main, later in the race Balestri would also run out of fuel. With his main rival out of contention, Matsukura could manage the race even adjusting his tyre stop strategy to just a single stop having started out planning two stops. While he was on cruise control, with a 2-lap buffer, to becoming the first driver to win the categories biggest prize twice, the battle for second brought life to the final minutes of the 1-hour encounter as Capricorn’s Toni Gruber, having turned around a disappointing start to the week, tried to hunt down a very impressive Filippo Domanin. This race marking his World Championship debut, the talented Italian teenager kept the highly experienced German at bay taking a crowd pleasing 2nd by one tenth of second. Just off the podium, Kyle Branson claimed P4 on his World Championship return ahead Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani.

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September 11, 2026

Infinity IF14 Speciale +2mm Bulkhead | +1mm Shock Tower

In their latest release for their IF14 Speciale Electric Touring Car, Infinity has added new optional +2mm Bulkheads to provide additional differential position adjustments to help maximise performance with thin chassis options. The new +2 mm bulkheads raise the differential position, while updated +1mm shock towers are designed to properly complement this new configuration and optimise suspension travel with the thinner chassis such as the 1.5 mm aluminium and 1.2 mm steel chassis. The Lower Bulkhead allows the differential (spool) pulley height to be raised by 2mm compared to the standard kit specification. This allows you to optimise the differential (spool) height. +1mm Shock Tower that raises the shock mounting height by approximately 1mm compared to the standard kit specifications optimise shock travel when using the 1.5mm Alu or Steel Chassis.

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September 9, 2026

Dominant day sees Balestri secure TQ honours in Gubbio, again!

A decade after he claimed his first World Championship pole position, Dario Balestri will once again line-up as the Top Qualifier at the IFMAR 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship after a dominant display of driving on the opening day of qualifying in Gubbio, Italy. Opening the day with a very convincing Q1 performance ahead of defending World Champion Jilles Groskamp, the Infinity driver would go on top all four qualifiers each time ahead of different driver. With expected rain tomorrow seeing the schedule revised from 3 rounds to running a 4th round, a rain shower would delay proceedings just before the half way mark of Q4 with 5pm in the evening looking more like night time as some very threaten rain clouds hovered over the track, but they would get the round completed just as the sunset. While the outcome tomorrow, even if they do get to run the final two rounds, is irrelevant to Balestri’s status as he is locked in as the Top Qualifier, their could be some movement in the magic Top 4, all directly qualifying into the 1-hour title decider. Counting a P2 from Q3 with a P3 from Q4, Xray’s Filippo Domanin holds P2 ahead of Naoto Matsukura and Kyle Branson, the British driver jumping ahead of Groskamp as he took 2nd in the final qualifier after a mistake from Matsukura. Having started out Day 1 of qualifying strongly with a P2, unfortunately that would be the highlight of Groskamp’s day and counting a P5 from Q2, he lies fifth in the overnight rankings.

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September 9, 2026

2 from 2 for Balestri as Matsukura closest challenger

Dario Balestri made it 2 from 2 in qualifying at the IFMAR 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship in Italy, the Infinity driver again leading a 1-2 for the reigning World Champion manufacturer, this time however the gap much smaller to second fastest Naoto Matsukura. With an overcast Q1, the sun broke through the clouds for Q2, making for a slower track but learning from his mistakes in the first one Matsukura put in a error free run to get to within a second of Balestri who again was the only driver to manage 27-laps. Taking the same approach as Matsukura after he had two mistakes in the morning, Xray’s Filippo Domanin completed the Top 3, the finish order the same as how they seeded after practice after a missed lap for the Italian was picked up on the backup timing computer. With their star driver Toni Gruber struggling so far this week, an improved Q2 netting him a P6 for the round, it was returning 2018 podium finisher Kyle Branson who lead the Capricorn challenge. He would post the fourth fastest time ahead of defending Champion Jilles Groskamp while Alex Thurston who took his Mugen Seiki to P3 in the opening round set the 7th fastest time.

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