Red RC » Racing

January 26, 2026

Coelho takes brand ambassador role with Turbo Racing

While announcements from drivers on new sponsorship deals are common in RC racing, reigning 3-time back to back Electric Touring Car World Champion Bruno Coelho has announced something different with the news he has become a brand ambassador for small scale hobby grade car brand Turbo Racing. In unveiling his new partnership, the factory Infinity driver posted, ‘I’m very happy to share that I’m officially joining Turbo Racing as a brand ambassador. Even though my professional career is in high-level RC racing, this partnership is about something bigger than competition. Turbo Racing focuses on 1:76 scale RC cars, a category designed especially to introduce young kids and new people to the RC world in a fun, accessible, and realistic way. Turbo Racing works closely with schools and educational programs, using RC cars as a tool to inspire curiosity, precision, and passion for motorsport and technology at a very young age. I’m proud to support this mission and to use my image and experience to help bring more kids and more families into RC racing. Turbo Racing is already a very big and fast-growing company and this growth is strongly connected to their focus on youth, education, and highly realistic small-scale cars that truly feel like real racing RC cars. This is a great step not only for the brand and for me personally, but also for RC as a whole. The future of our hobby starts with the next generation, and initiatives like this help ensure RC continues to grow stronger every year.

Source: Bruno Coelho [Facebook]

January 26, 2026

2026 West Coast Indoor Championships – Report

The Lemo Foundation in Redwood City, California, hosted their annual 3 day trophy race, the West Coast Indoor Championships presented by Awesomatix USA over January 16-18. The race drew 171 entries in the second year of the event. 1up Racing Modified Touring saw track designer Stuart Mason take the overall TQ and win, with the 2024 IFMAR World Championship Finalist Jacob Cruz in 2nd and Lex Tyler in 3rd. In Hobbywing 21.5 Touring Car, it was Lex Tyler taking the overall TQ and the win in A1. Ed Whitecotton took the win in A2, leaving it down to A3 between the two drivers. Whitecotton led early, but a late bobble allowed Tyler to take the overall crown with Kellen Yamamoto taking 3rd overall. Whitecotton would redeem himself in the 25.5 class dedicated to the late Jaime Manzanilla, taking advantage from the 2nd spot on the grid to win A1 and A2, with TQ James Joiner finishing 2nd and Angel Fernan finishing 3rd overall.

Continue reading here

January 26, 2026

Orlowski completes double at EOS Daun

Having won 2WD Buggy on Friday, Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski completed the perfect weekend at EOS Daun in Germany as he carried that form into 4WD to again take the TQ & win. Setting the pace in practice ahead of Xray’s Bartosz Zalewski, in the four qualifiers the Pole would go fastest in the opening and closing rounds to secure pole for the finals. Topping the second round of qualifying ahead of Orlowski and Daniel Kobbevik, Zalewski would secure P2 on the grid. With a TQ run in Q3, 2WD runner-up Kobbevik put his Schumacher third on the grid with Joona Hataanen the best of the Team Associated drivers in fourth. In A1, Orlowski would take an easy win with Kobbevik finishing second 4-seconds back having touched with Zalewski on the opening lap. A2 would be a much closer affair as Zalewski pushed his compatriot hard, the duo the only drivers to run 16-second fastest lap times, but Orlowski stayed out front and wrapped up the perfect weekend. With A3 deciding who would join him on the podium, Zalewski cruised to the win ahead of Haatanen to claim second place overall. With Kobbevik making a number of errors and finishing A3 in 9th it allowed Haatanen to claim the final step on the podium.

Image: Michal Orlowski [Facebook]

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.

Continue reading here

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.

Continue reading here

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.

Continue reading here