Red RC » Racing

January 25, 2026

Arnaldi takes GT victory at Asian Nitro Party

With the 1:8 GT Final bringing a successful inaugural Asian Nitro Party race to a close under the lights at the Hongyu GDC track, it was Genius’ Bernard-Alain Arnaldi who took the win in China. It was to be a drama packed start to the 45-minute final with World Champion Alessio Mazzeo calling a time out during the warm-up due to an engine issue. With that time out expiring, as the rest of the field headed to the grid after complete a restarted warm-up, Mazzeo’s car only making its back onto the starter having been fitted with a new engine that still needed to be tuned. With this hastily done by Gimar’s Giovanni Crea to try not miss the start, the Italian would have to begin from the pit lane. With that immediately putting him half lap down, Italy’s quest for victory was struck a blow for a second time as Top Qualifier Natanaele Senesi would flame just 2 corners after the start. He would rejoin two laps down as Spain’s Raul Anton led the way in front of team-mate Arnaldi, who had had a mistake at the first corner. Anton would soon allow the Frenchman to go to the front, giving Arnaldi plenty of room to execute a pass at the end of lap 6. Once there that was where he would stay til the finish. With Mazzeo’s Raptor the fastest car on track, it did look like we might be in for a showdown in the closing stages of the race. Getting the gap down to 3-seconds, unfortunately damage to his body would in turn lead to it cutting into his tyre and causing his pace to drop right off and allowing Arnaldi to build back up his advantage to win by 16-seconds. All the time, as the Mazzeo tried to chase down the leader, Senesi was working his way back up through the field to salvage a podium finish.

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January 25, 2026

Matsukura gives masterclass in China to win Asian Nitro Party

Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura gave his rivals a masterclass on how to execute a perfect 45-minutes of driving, the Japanese driver turning around a difficult qualifying to win the inaugural Asia Nitro Party at Hongyu GDC track in China. After qualifying 14th, he gave the first hint of what was to come in the Semi Finals coming from 7th on the grid ahead of the Mugen Seiki of JJ Wang who started on pole. Lining up second for the Main event behind the Mugen Seiki of Top Qualifier Sinnosuke Yokoyama, Matsukura would get jump on his countryman off the line and once in front never looked back. Unfortunately Yokoyama’s impressive qualifying performance wouldn’t be rewarded in the final, the OS. Speed factory driver having a difficult race and suffering a flame out and also needing to do a body change during the race. He would finish 8th 15-laps down on the winner. While Matsukura controlled the race, Xray’s Filippo Domanin would keep him honest, the former Nitro Touring Car World Champion’s 7-second advantage over the Italian teenager never enough to allow him to completely relax. Having made a good start from 5th on the grid after winning his Semi Final, Domanin also had to watch his back with Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani only 3-second behind at the finish. Competing the podium, Catanzani set the fastest lap of the final but having to tune his engine in the early part of the race prevented the World Championship Top Qualifier from challenging for the win. Fourth place would be decided in the final stages of the race between Wang, who impressed in qualifying with two TQ runs, and Hotrace tyres owner Nicola Marrone. With both drivers having limited race mileage in recent years, Marrone would get by in the final 2-minutes of the race as Wang ran out of tyres. Afterwards both drivers looked very stiff following their first 45-minute final in a number of years.

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January 25, 2026

1:12 & ISTC 2026 IFMAR World C/ship Stage 2 Report

With the 1:12 & ISTC World Championships in China just 2-months away, IFMAR has published the Stage 2 Report from race host Hongyu GDC. The 22nd running of the 1:12 World Championship (March 26-29th) and the 13th running of the World Championship (April 1-4) for 1:10 Electric Touring Car, 2026 will see the return of the two classes running back to back as was previously the case up until 2019 when both titles where decided at the Welkom R/C Arena in South Africa. The third time China will host an IFMAR World Championship, this will be the the second time the 1:12 and ISTC titles will be decided there. A decade ago Naoto Matsukura won the title for Roche in Beijing with the Touring Car title going to Ronald Volker and Yokomo a few days later. The latest World Championship at the very impressive Hongyu GDC track, appears to have attracted a strong entry for both events. While 1:12 has at times struggled with numbers, over 80 drivers from 18 nations are already confirmed to contest the title with that number expected to exceed 90 once entries are finalised. Winner of the last Worlds in Florida in 2023, Michal Orlowski heads that entry with Japan set to be the best represented country on the indoor track. The previous host nation, the United States looks set to have 9-drivers. Out on the asphalt track, the Touring Car entry, which will be headed by reigning 3-time World Champion Bruno Coelho, is expected to reach 165 made up of drivers from 20 countries. With the last Touring Car Worlds also hosted in the US but on the opposite side of the country at Finishline RC Raceway in California in 2024, the country looks set to be represented in Foshan by 14-drivers. View full Stage 2 Report here.

Source: IFMAR [ifmar.org]

January 25, 2026

ALF1’26 Battery Mount and Damper Plate

Having unveiled their ALF1 ’26 1:10 Formula 1 Chassis Kit in December, Californian based ALF1 Racing Designs has released two upgrade parts for the car in the form of a carbon fibre Battery Mount and Damper Plate. Replacing the standard plastic parts for a stronger, lighter, and more premium build, the Battery Mount offers better rigidity than plastic, ensuring your battery stays locked in place. With both items direct fit upgrades, they are precision-cut for a perfect drop-in fit with no modifications needed. The carbon fibre Damper Plate reduces component flex for more predictable damping and handling.

View Damper Plate here

January 24, 2026

Yokoyama Top Qualifier at inaugural Asia Nitro Party

In a Mugen Seiki duel for the overall TQ honours in 1:8 Onroad at the inaugural Asia Nitro Party race, it was O.S. Speed’s Sinnosuke Yokoyama who delivered in Q4 to deny Q1 & Q2 winner JJ Wang from becoming Top Qualifier on home soil. Taking place at the impressive Hongyu GDC track in China, fuel consumption caused issues in the first half of qualifying with Wang’s decision to stop for fuel playing in his favour as others came up short over the 4-minutes. For the final two qualifiers however Yokoyama would get everything perfectly aligned. Taking Q3 ahead of Nicole Marron’s Infinity and Wang similat O.S. powered MRX7, the Japanese driver repeated in the fourth & final round and with that time the fastest run of the day he secured the overall TQ at the new high profile international nitro onroad event. With Wang putting in an all out effort to try and hold on to the top spot in Q4, he would hit the curbing and send his car airborne, ending what has been an impressive performance on his 1:8 Onroad return. Behind, a consistent effort from Hotrace’s Nicole Marrone saw his Infinity end qualifying in third place. Ending his day with his best run by 3-seconds, for another P3 run, Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani completed the Top 4. The driver to set the pace in practice yesterday, Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura would finally get a decent run in Q4, but despite the P2 effort he ended qualifying down in P14 to make the back end of the Semi finals grid.

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January 24, 2026

Senesi takes Asia Nitro Party TQ honours

Natanaele Senesi has taken the TQ honours in 1:8 GT at the inaugural Asia Nitro Party race in China. The Italian would go up against newly crowned World Champion Alessio Mazzeo and France’s Bernard-Alain Arnaldi as the fight to secure pole position & the only direct spot into the 45-minute Main went down to the fourth & final qualifier at the Hongyu GDC track. With Mazzeo finding a new level of speed from his Raptor in Q4, he looked like getting the job done in style however with a minute & a half to run in the 6-minute heat his throttle servo would fail. His second DNF, having had an engine issue in Q3, the Italian would end up qualifying 4th overall. Despite running out off fuel three corners before the line, Senesi’s Raptor would take the round ahead of Arnaldi’s Genius who also was on the limit getting to the line and that is how they would complete the final ranking. The biggest surprise of the day ‘s qualifying would be the performance of Hobbywing technical guru Salton Dong, the experienced electric racer steering Mazzeo’s spare World Championship car to P3 on his GT debut.

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January 24, 2026

Wang takes opening 2 qualifiers to lead the way at Asia Nitro Party

After two rounds of qualifying at the inaugural Asia Nitro Party it is JJ Wang who leads the way, Mugen Seiki holding the top two spots as qualifying reaches the half way distance at the Hongyu GDC track in China. A much warmer day than drivers experienced yesterday in Foshan, run time was the big talking point of qualifying with Wang’s strategy to refuel in each of his 4-minute runs paying dividends. The Chinese American admitting himself that he may not be the fastest driver on track as he gets used to his brand new MRX7, his last competitive 1:8 Onroad outing being the 2019 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in California. With a second in Q1 and running at the top of the timing screens again in Q2 until he again started running out of fuel, this time dropping him to 5th, it is O.S. Speed’s Sinnosuke Yokoyama who holds second in a ranking that is completely scrambled due to the number of drivers running out of fuel. Having topped practice yesterday, Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura was on for a TQ in Q1 until Nicole Marrone traction rolled in front of him leading to contact that broke the Japanese driver’s car. Having opted to do a fuel stop in Q1, after his opening DNF Matsukura risked going the full 4-minutes in Q2 but came up well sort on his runtime. One of the favourite’s coming into the event, Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani has yet to shine. Making a mistake in Q1 he would eventually run out of fuel leading him to do a stop in Q2 but the Italian said they lacked speed in the car and he ended up P3 behind Wang & Marrone.

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January 23, 2026

Orlowski wins 2WD at EOS Daun

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has kicked off his 2026 Offroad season with victory, taking the 2WD win at EOS Daun in Germany on Friday afternoon. Qualifying would see the Schumacher team dominate with Sweden’s Elias Johansson taking the first of the 4 rounds. In Q2 it was Daniel Kobbevik who set the pace before Orlowski found his form to top Q3 & 4. Securing the TQ ahead of Kobbevik, Johansson and practice Top Seed Marcus Kaerup, the Pole would take A1 from Kobbevik and Xray’s Bartosz Zalewski. He would repeat again in A2 to secure the overall victory. A3 would see Kaerup win ahead of Kobbevik but poor opening A-Main results mean’t he couldn’t deny Schumacher a 1-2 as he completed the podium for Associated ahead of Zalewski, AE’s Joona Haatanen and Johansson.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]