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May 4, 2026

Paloschi wins Round 2 of Italian GT Championship

Gabriele Paloschi has won the second round of the AMSCI 1:8 GT Italian National Championship, the Capricorn driver taking the win ahead of Top Qualifier and defending Champion Andrea Catanzani. Hosted by the Stradivari Miniautodromo in Cremona, Northern Italy, qualifying saw the Serpent of Round 1 winner Catanzani secure the top spot as he went fastest in 2 of the four rounds. Fastest in final qualifier, Senesi GT International GP winner Paloschi would secure P2 ahead of the Nova Engines backed Raptor of Turkish Championship regular Burak Kilic who topped Q3. In the 45-minute final, with Kilic retiring after just 15-minutes, up front Catanzani looked set to go 2 from 2 in the championship as he lapped the field and posted the fastest lap of the race. With just minutes left on the clock however the leader suffered a tyre failure allowing Paloschi through to the lead as the World Championship Top Qualifier visited the pits. Paloschi would hold on to take the win by just under 3-seconds from Catanzani for an Ielasi Tuned engines 1-2. Multiple Irish National Champion, and another of the championship’s regular international visitors, Clive Connolly completed the podium. Behind the Schepis Model’s driver, reigning European Champion Filippo Beretta claimed 4th. Beretta will try to defend his title later this month when drivers travel to Portugal for the 2026 EFRA European GT Championships at Vila Real.

Image: Gabriele Paloschi [Facebook]

April 28, 2026

2 from 2 for Ripoll in French Championship

Maxime Ripoll made it two from two over the weekend, the Xray driver winning the second round of the FFVRC French 1:8 Nitro Onroad Championship at the Celtic CPB Racing 35 track in Châteaubourg. In qualifier the World Championship finalist & defending French Champion would secure the TQ honours ahead of Baptiste Jimenez and Christophe Louis. Over the 45-minute final Ripoll, who took the Round 1 win last month, would eek out a gap to win by a lap over the Shepherd of Semi Finals winner Fabien Baranger. The Mugen Seiki of Louis, second at the season opener, completed the podium ahead of Jimenez who would set the fastest lap of the race and be the only driver to dip into the 14-second lap times.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Ben Mohamed wins French National Round 2

Sparko’s Noha Ben Mohamed has won the second round of the French National 1:8 Nitro Buggy Championship which was hosted by the TTRC 90 club in Bermont in the northeast of the country. Ben Mohamed would top all three qualifying rounds to secure the overall TQ with Tekno driver Theo Lemaire securing second followed by Sworkz Jordan Lot and the Team Associated of defending Champion Clement Boda. Winning the faster of the two Semi finals Ben Mohamed would start on pole with Remy Bermudez winning the other Semi to start second. Racing the 45-minute final on a demanding track that would caught out a number of drivers, Ben Mohamed would have an intense battle with Round 1 Boda with the pair separated by just 2/10ths of a second at the line. Coming through from 8th on the grid Xray’s Rayan Medjoubi completed the podium ahead of Lot and Mugen Seiki’s Hugo Tavernon.

Image: Noha Ben Mohamed [Facebook]

April 27, 2026

Balestri wins Campionato Costruttori at MyCandy Arena

Infinity’s Dario Balestri has won the annual Italian ‘Campionato Costruttori’ which was this year staged at the MyCandy Arena in the north of the country. In qualifying it was new Max Power engines signing Carmine Raiola who took the TQ with a dominant run topping all four rounds. Behind it was Balestri who claimed second on the grid ahead of Jonathan Gandin, Francesci Tironi, Lamberto Collari, and Silvio Hächler. In the 45-minute final however Riola’s form in qualifying wouldn’t continue as he retired 30-minutes into the encounter joining Collari and British visit Alex Thurston as retirees. At the front, putting in the only 13-second lap of the race, it was 2-time World Champion Balestri who took the win by 11-seconds over the Xray of teenager Filippo Domanin. Swiss driver Silvio Hächler would complete the podium for ARC half a lap ahead of Gandin. In the 1:8 GT Nitro Class, it was Genius Racing’s Leonardo Valente who took the TQ ahead of the Sworkz of Austrian Tobias Sutrich but with Valente’s race lasting just 5-minutes it was third place qualifier Adam Izsay who took the win for Xray by a lap over Sutrich.

Image: Infinity [Facebook]

April 26, 2026

Nguyen does double on Asian Buggy Championships debut

Young Kyosho star Phi-Long Nguyen has completed the double on his Asian Buggy Championships debut adding the main Nitro Buggy win to his eBuggy victory from earlier in the day in Malaysia. Starting from second on the grid behind Top Qualifier Pekko Iivonen, the American would benefit from the Mayako driver running out of fuel as the second round of fuel stops approached during the 45-minute encounter. Having built up a 12-second advantage over Nguyen and the rest of the 15 car field, a flame out during Nguyen’s first fuel stop adding to the Finn’s advantage, it looked like it was finally going to Iivonen’s big day. A driver who has looked like he has progressed a step up in his driving every time he took the impressive LAP Paradise RC Raceway track here at the second round of the ABC, unfortunately it wasn’t going to be a case of third time lucky. His third appearance in the Team Cayote/VP-Pro backed championship, having raced in the Philippines and Australia last season, he would run out of fuel just before the loop meaning he lost an entire lap on the field. This gave Nguyen, who on taking the win was quick to state his rival was the faster driver in the final despite posting the fastest lap himself, a comfortable lead that he could manage and would never relinquish. 9-seconds back at the finish, Sworkz’s Caleb Noble backed up his win of the season opener in New Zealand with a second place while fellow Aussie Jayden Edmunds completed the podium. Dropping back to fifth after his flame out, a clearly disappointed Iivonen would only be rewarded with a P4 for his otherwise impressive showing with Jared Ment and Ken NG completing the Top 6 on what has been a hugely successful debut visit to a track whose elevation has been a huge hit with racers.

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April 25, 2026

Jones wins high attrition rate ABC Malaysia Truggy Main

Australian Tekno driver Liam Jones has won a high attrition rate Nitro Truggy A-Main at Round 2 of the Asian Buggy Championships in Malaysia. The championship’s first visit to the country and the impressive LAP Paradise RC Raceway, which located just an hour across the border from Singapore, it was expected that the half hour final would be just a formality for Top Qualifier Caleb Noble. The Sworkz driver dominated the opening round of the Team Cayote/VP-Pro backed championship last month in New Zealand, and no one would have bet against the Aussie going back to back here in Johor Bahru. Starting on pole ahead of the Sparko of Ken NG, Noble quickly established a lead but as the race approached half way distance the 19-year-old suffered a diff failure, his race was done. This promoted NG to the lead with Jones, who qualified P4, running in second. However he too would hit mechanical problems, losing rear drive after just a few laps out in front – something he said may have been the result of his truggy taking a heavy hit to the rear early on in the final. With Noble down in pit lane cheering on his compatriot, along with Jones’ elated father, the Melbourne driver would stay out front to take the win ahead by 2/3 of a lap over fellow Aussie Jayden Edmunds. Chinese Kyosho driver Francis Guan completed the podium while with only 2WD NG managed to finish down in P6.

April 24, 2026

FEMCA Asia 1:8 GT Championships relocated to Australia

The inaugural FEMCA Asia 1:8 GT Championships, which was originally awarded to Vietnam, will now take place in Australia with England Park Raceway in Brisbane awarded the race. Earlier this month the Asian governing body for RC racing announced that the championships was being relocated from the impressive new X-RC Complex in Lam Dong due to the delayed opening of the area’s new airport. QRCCRA, the club behind England Park Raceway, has secured the race to decide both the GT8 Nitro and GT8E Champions with FEMCA sanctioned championships running concurrently with the SpeedyRC IC QLD State Titles from July 30 to August 2. On the announcement it was also confirmed Sweep Racing will supply their GT2-D40WP as the control tyre for both GT categories.

Source: FEMCA [Facebook]

April 24, 2026

Noble TQ’s opening qualifier at ABC Malaysia

Sworkz’s Caleb Noble has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the second round of the Asian Buggy Championships in Malaysia. The Australian set the pace in the first of the four scheduled Nitro Buggy qualifiers at LAP Paradise RC Raceway by just over a second from Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen. Having topped yesterday’s seeding, Kyosho’s Phi-Long Nguyen would suffer two mistakes on his opening effort, the second of which cost him over 6-seconds. While setting the fastest lap the American wouldn’t recover the loss and finished P3 almost 5-seconds back on Noble. Australian Jared Ment at the wheel of a Team Associated would set the fourth fastest time followed by the Sworkz of Adrian Wicaksono. Having dominated the Team Cayote/VP-Pro backed ABC season opener in New Zealand, Noble would do the double in the nitro classes this morning also TQ’ing Truggy ahead of Jayden Edmunds while a clean run in eBuggy saw Nguyen top the times ahead of Iivonen and Edmunds.

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