November 21, 2024

Leino Top Qualifier at 1:10 Nitro World Championship

12 years after he took pole position at the IFMAR 1:10 Nitro World Championship at Bangkok’s other famous circuit RC Addict, Teemu Leino is once again the Top Qualifier at the nitro touring car category greatest race, this time at the challenging Huge RC Circuit.  The Infinity driver was the only one who could repeat a TQ run over the 6 rounds of qualifying at the 10th running Worlds, but it was his team-mate Naoto Matsukura who officially sealed the deal for the veteran Finn.  Running in the second fastest heat alongside Toni Gruber, Leino’s only remaining challenger for the top spot, and having shown promise of TQ pace with a P3 in the penultimate round, the 2018 Champion denied Gruber the TQ run he needed.  Matsukura’s run would turn out to be the Q6 TQ time, none of the drivers in the top heat able to better his time, as he became the 5th different driver to TQ a round.  Also in heat group 5 of 6, it would be 2022 Finalist Chavit Saligupta and 2012 Champion Meen Vejrak that completed the Top 3 for the closing round.  Overall, Gruber would conclude qualifying in P2 and together with Dario Balestri, Jilles Groskamp and Saligupta would go into Super Pole to battle for the other direct position into Saturday’s 1-hour main alongside Leino.  With each driver getting 6 laps to set a time, that shoot out would go to Groskamp who put down the fastest lap by 0.043 of a second from Gruber.  Gruber will line up on pole for the Semi while 1:8 World Champion Balestri will lead away the other 30-minute encounter, the Super Pole favourite having a rough number of laps over his 6 attempts and slowest if the four contenders.  After topping seeding but only managing one Top 5 qualifying run, defending Champion Tadahiko Sahashi just made the Semi Final cut and joins Balestri in his Semi lining up P7.

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November 21, 2024

Mongkolphan takes penultimate qualifier in Thailand

Thai driver Game Mongkolphan claimed a surprise TQ run in the penultimate round of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:10 Nitro World Championship as he became the fourth different driver to top the times at the challenging Huge RC Circuit in Bangkok.  A finalist when the track hosted the same World Championship 10-years-old Mongkolphan would take Q5 from Capricorn’s Toni Gruber with former World Champion Naoto Matsukura finally producing a strong run to complete the Top 3 ahead 2022 finalist Chavit Saligupta.  A driver who was capable of wrapping up the overall TQ with one round to go it wasn’t to be for Q3 & 4 winner Teemu Leino, the Finn struggling with his set-up in the fifth round.  Fastest in Q2, Dario Balestri found himself with a P5 for the round.

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November 21, 2024

2025 Asian Buggy Championships Calendar

Scotty Ernst’s Asian Buggy Championships has announced confirmed dates for the first three rounds of the 2025 Championship with dates for the season finale, Round 4, set to be confirmed soon.  Kicking off once again in New Zealand on March 19-23, entries will open on December 1st for the Counties RC Car Club hosted round which has a 250 entry limit.  The Championships, of which Sworkz driver Christian Wolhuter is the of newly crowned overall 2024 Buggy Champion, head north for the legendary race that is the 2025 Philippine Masters on April 30 – May 4.  This is an event that attracts some of the very best racers not just from the Asia-Pacific region, but across the globe.  Pine Hills in Brisbane, Australia is the next stop for Round 3 on July 16-20.  The technical, high grip challenges of the PHDR circuit that made this the biggest ABC event of 2024.  New to the calendar in 2024 and presenting a proper dirt track that attracted world wide attention, the 2025 Asian Buggy Championships will wrap up at the stunning West Side RC Raceway in Jakarta, Indonesia.  The beautiful racing surface, amazing facility and impressive hospitality make it a perfect way to round out the third season of the Asian Buggy Championships with the date set to confirmed as soon as possible.

View 2025 Calendar herr


November 21, 2024

Ielasi Tuned to power Berton

A driver who is set for a completely new race package going into the 2025 season, Kyosho bound Riccardo Berton is to use Ielasi Tuned engines to power his offroad race program.  The Italian engine tuner who was represented in the 1:8 Offroad World Championship final in Spain in September with Joao Figueiredo, announced, ‘We are super happy to have one other top driver with us. He will use our TERRA offroad engine with the 2186FT combo in the upcoming seasons.  Together we will keep good results, good luck Ricky.’  Reacting to his new engine deal, Berton, who was also in the final in Redovan with former chassis sponsors Infinity and former engine sponsor O.S. Engines, said, “I am very happy to join Ielasi Tuned for 2025 and 2026, I always admire their attitude on and off the track and I really look forward to start the new season with them, let’s go!!”

Source: Ielasi Tuned [ielasituned.com]


November 21, 2024

Leino first to double in qualifying in Bangkok

12-years ago he was the Top Qualifier when Thailand hosted the World Championships for the first time and now this morning as the country hosts the 1:10 Nitro’s biggest race for a fourth time, Infinity driver Teemu Leino has kicked off Day 2 of qualifying as the first driver to deliver a second TQ run and move in on pole for Saturday’s final.   With Day 1 of qualifying seeing a different driver at the top each round it was the Finn who closed yesterday’s action by topping Q3 and this morning he has pick back up where he left off to top Q4 from the Capricorn of Toni Gruber who opened qualifying at the 10th running of the World Championship with the fastest time.  Overall it was a good round for Italian manufacturer Capricorn, a huge improvement from 2012 World Champion Meen Vejrak would see the Thai driver get a P3 for the round ahead of Q2 winner Dario Balestri and Swede Viktor Wilck.

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November 21, 2024

2025 MIBO International registration opens

The MIBO International Race in the Czech Republic which takes place on February 07-09 has announced that registration for the third edition of the annual race is now open.  Organised by former international touring car racer Michal Bok, the race brings together both electric onroad and offroad racing on two tracks build side by side by the team from Mibosport.  Realising a long time dream to host his own major international event in Hrotovice, Bok’s first edition of MIBO International saw Mugen’s Ronald Volker crowned the inaugural Touring Car Champion and Xray’s Bruno Coelho take double buggy honours at the Sport V Hotel venue.  In 2024 it was Schumacher’s  Michal Orlowski who took the Touring Car win while on the Offroad track it was Sworkz’ Joern Neumann in 2WD and Xray’s Bartek Zalewski in 4WD that came away as the Champions.  With everything from the track, restaurant, bowling alley and hotel rooms all under one roof, the venue was a hit with racers who travelled from more than 13 different countries.  With a capped entry limit the relaxed schedule also meant plenty of time in the evening to wind down and socialise over dinner after each day’s racing.  On the onroad track, the racing action will again cater for Modified, Stock & FWD Touring car with a 1:12 GT 13.5T class being introduced for 2025.  Having successfully had an offroad class for young racers the past two years, for 2025 there will also be ‘Onroad Kids’.  The Offroad track will cater for 2WD and 4WD Buggy and of course ‘Offroad Kids’.  Red RC is once again looking forward to making the return trip to Czech Republic which will kick off our 2025 race coverage.

Source: MIBO [mibosport.com]


November 21, 2024

MiniPro Inertia Engine Dyno V2

MiniPro has announced it newest Engine Dyno which is designed for break-in, tuning and testing nitro engines.  The new Inertia Engine Dyno V2 features include true engine torque and power by using an inertia flywheel with it also possible to brake-in your engine with data logging capability with the Dyno controller board having nine I/O ports for sensors.  It also has a built-in throttle control sensor and Ambient Temperature, Pressure and Humidity sensor.  The Dyno allows you to test engines under load with correction factor and its modular design allows different size engines and exhausts configurations.  On the dyno the engine can be started with starter box, pull-start or electronic starter with the aluminium base with anti-vibration foot pads.

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November 20, 2024

2026 1:10 Nitro Worlds return to Gubbio, Italy

IFMAR has announced that the next 1:10 Nitro World Championship has been awarded to the former host track of Gubbio in Italy.  With the 10th edition of the World Championship for the nitro touring car class currently taking place at Huge RC in Bangkok, Thailand, in a similar repeat of history to the current event, the 2026 Worlds will mark the return to the same track one decade on from it last staging the greatest prize in racing.  The always excellently presented track of Club Automodellistico 5Colli, which is located in the picturesque medieval town of Gubbio in the centre of the Country, also staged the 2022 IFMAR ISTC World Championship.  In 2016 it was Serpent’s Dominic Greiner who took the win ahead of Alessio Mazzeo and former 1:8 World Champion Simon Kurzbuch.