Red RC » Racing

January 21, 2026

Salemi announced at Serpent Factory team

Serpent has announced the addition of experienced Italian nitro racer Mirko Salemi to their factory team. The 1:8 Onroad stalwart moves to Serpent following a stint with Capricorn with who he became an Euro Nitro Series race winner at the end of the 2023 season. Joining compatriot & recent World Championship Top Qualifier Andrea Catanzani in campaigning the Viper 990R in 2026, on the announcement Salemi said, ‘I’m very happy to join this team, so rich in history and so many successes. We have big goals and hope to achieve great results together. I thank the entire team for their trust and look forward to 2026, which is already ready to begin.’

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

January 20, 2026

Urbain wins 2026 ‘Charity Race’

The biggest winner is always the charities the race continues to raise money for each year, but the 2026 records will show Awesomatix’s Lucas Urbain took victory at the 15th running of the annual Charity Race in Scandiano, Italy. The French driver would secure the TQ honours on tie break with Xray’s Filippo Domanin as they each recorded two TQ runs over the four qualifiers. Multiple 1:8 Onroad World Champion Dario Balestri completed the Top 3 on the grid for Infinity ahead of Luca Romagnoli and Alessio Menicucci. Urbain would go on to take the overall win with victories in A1 & 2 while A3 victory would secure Balestri second on the podium ahead of Domanin. In 17.5 Stock Nico Catelani took the TQ and win for Infinity.

Image: RC Landia [Facebook]

January 20, 2026

Double win for Payne at latest BRCA 1:12 encounter

Excelerate RC’s Ollie Payne kicked off his 2026 season with a double win at the latest rounds of the BRCA 2025/25 Stock 13.5 National Championship. Rounds 7 & 8 were hosted by the Dorset Model Car Racing Club and it was championship leader Payne who set the pace all weekend. Securing the TQ with his R1 Wurks powered Prodigy 12 for Saturday’s Round 7 action he would go on to take the win ahead of the Awesomatix of Michael Bolt and Excelerate team-mate Morgan Williams, the podium the same order as they qualified. In Round 8 it was again Payne with the TQ which he duly converted into the win for the perfect weekend. He was joined on Sunday’s podium by the Schumacher pairing of Finley Whitelock and Louis Parker. Payne’s closest title rival going into the weekend, it was to be a difficult one for Mark Stiles with the Awesomatix driver suffering a P10 (DNF) in Saturday’s final and P5 on Sunday.

Image: Schumacher [Facebook]

January 20, 2026

US Masters of Foam 2026 – Report

The inaugural US Masters of Foam took place over the weekend at Skagit River Raceway in Washington State, USA, featuring competitive indoor carpet racing across six classes, and honouring the late Steve Curry. The event also marked the revival of foam tire touring car racing in the United States. The Modified Touring class saw Weylin Rose dominate with his Xray, taking both top qualifying and the overall win. Multi-time foam touring national champion Travis Schreven finished second with his Team Associated TC8, while Peter Robinson (Xray/RCAmerica) completed the podium with his X4’26.

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January 19, 2026

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]

January 19, 2026

Coelho wins Sweep Asia Cup from Orlowski

Hongyu GDC hosted the Sweep Asia Cup over weekend where having ended his 2025 racing season with victory at the Chinese track Infinity’s Bruno Coelho opened his 2026 campaign with another win at the ISTC World’s host track. Attracting a number of international team drivers for the race as a pre Worlds testing opportunity, in qualifying FEMCA Asia Champion Coelho would secure the TQ topping 3 of the 5 rounds as Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski topped Q1 and Q3. Chinese Onroad Champion Alfred Lao completed the Top 3 on the grid ahead of the Mugen Seiki of 2025 TITC Open Brushless finalist Fong King. In Stock qualifying Jan Ratheisky was another of the FEMCA Asia Championship competitors to return to Foshan for more track time, the Xray driver topping all 5-rounds to TQ ahead of the Serpent of Stick King. In the finals Coelho would win all 3 Modified encounters ahead of Orlowski with King completing the overall podium. Ratheisky took the Stock win with a clean sweep as young Yuheng Cai who qualified 3rd finished ahead of King to claimed second overall.

Image: Hongyu GDC [Facebook]

January 16, 2026

Team Cayote adds Bayer to team line-up

Team Cayote has added reigning European 2WD Buggy Champion Martin Bayer to its team line-up. A driver who has played a key role in the launch of successful Czech ESC manufacturer Elceram, the head of offroad car design at Xray will use motors and batteries from the Cayote having previously represent Sunpadow batteries. On the announcement, the Czech driver said, ‘I’m proud to officially join Team Cayote as a team driver! In my cars, I will be using Cayote motors and batteries, and I must say their performance and quality truly impressed me. Reliability, consistency, and power — exactly what is needed at the highest racing level. I’m honored to represent Cayote products at races and I’m really looking forward to this new chapter and upcoming challenges on track. Thank you for the trust and support!’

Source: Team Cayote [cayote.com]

January 15, 2026

Gens ace power for Shin Sawada

Battery manufacturer Gens ace has announced that it is to power the race progamme of newly crowned Spec Class FEMCA Asia Champion Shin Sawada. The Japanese driver & 2024 World Championship finalists completes his 2026 package with the deal, the Xray driver having already announced his new electronics deal with ORCA. The younger of the Sawada brothers, Jin announcing his move to Team EAM this week, on the news Shin said, ‘As I will continue to focus on stock racing over the next few years, having reliable power is essential. I have tested most of the batteries available and found that Gens ace performs the best. Thank you, Gens ace, for the opportunity to join the team.’

Source: Gens Ace [gensace.de]