Red RC » R On Road

October 1, 2026

Pietsch comes out of retirement for Singapore Nitro GP

2011 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Champion Robert Pietsch is to come out of retirement with the German confirmed as one of a record number of World Champions who will race at the 20th anniversary of the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix this month. Pietsch, who last raced at the 2023 European Championship in Portugal, travelled to the Leno track in Italy last week to break in new Ielasi Tuned engines under the guidance of Daniele Ielasi. Winning his World title with Mugen Seiki, Pietsch transitioned from racer to car designer for the Japanese manufacturer officially retiring from racing in 2023. For 2026 he moved into a new design team role with Infinity with Piestch set to race their IF18-3 at the Radio Control Modellers’ Club’s newly resurfaced track. With the race officially running on October 10/11, Pietsch joins a host of World Champions for the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix including reigning 1:8 Onroad Champion Shoki Takahata, newly crowned 1:10 Nitro Touring Car Champion Naoto Matsukura and current 3-time Electric Touring Car World Champion Bruno Coelho. Red RC will be making the trip Singapore and is excited to cover the event for the very first time.

Source: RCMC Singapore [Facebook]

September 30, 2026

Ripoll defends French title

Xray’s Maxime Ripoll has successfully defended his FFVRC 2026 French 1:8 Onroad National, doing so in style with the TQ and win at the fifth & final round of the championship which was staged at Feriere aux Etangs. Securing the TQ ahead of Shepherd driver Fabien Baranger, who took his first Elite win this year at Round 3, in the 45-minute final Ripoll took a commanding win ahead of Mugen Seiki’s Christophe Louis with Gerald Colinet completing the podium. Unfortunately for Baranger he would retire from the race after just 13-minutes. As a season, 2025 World Championship finalist Ripoll claimed 4 poles, 3 victories, and two podium finishes on his way to the title.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]

September 28, 2026

Wood crowned 2026 British 1:8 Onroad Champion

Shepherd’s Tim Wood has regained the British 1:8 Onroad Championship title, the championship concluding with Round 8 at the Cotswold track over the weekend where rain would effort the racing. Attracting 27-entries, qualifying for the season finale would see Wood secure the TQ ahead of Andrew Hastings and Karl Dransfield to wrap up the title had been held by Mugen Seiki’s Alex Thurston for the past number of seasons. With a very wet afternoon, the half hour finals would see half the field including Wood opt not to race with Craig Hook, who took his first ever National win earlier this year, going on to take his second win of the season. Ashley Gouveia and Daniel Ludena would complete the podium. In the overall championship it was to be an all Shepherd podium with Hook finishing runner-up with Andy Hastings ending his campaign with 3rd.

Image: Shepherd Micro Racing [Facebook]

September 28, 2026

Urbain claims French title with TQ & Win at Marmagne

Awesomatix’s Lucas Urbain has secured the FFVRC 2026 French 1:10 Modified Touring Car National title in style with TQ & victory at the season finale over the weekend. Racing at the Marmagne track in central France, qualifying for Round 5 of the championship would see Urbain top all but one round of qualifying, French touring car veteran Cyril N’diaye posting a TQ run in Q2 to line up second for the A-Mains. A multiple National Champion, RC Maker’s Rémi Callens competed the Top 3 followed by Thomas Vigneron. In the triple finals, Urbain took the first two, A1 ahead of Callens and A2 ahead of N’diaye, to seal the deal. With N’diaye winning A3 from Callens that was how they would complete the podium as the race brought a close to the outdoor season.

Image: Lucas Urbain [Facebook]

September 28, 2026

Tironi wins Round 2 of Italian 1:8 National Championship

Infinity’s Francesco Tironi has taken the win at the second round of the AMSCI 1:8 Onroad Italian National Championship. Racing at the Leno track in the north of the country, it was the Serpent of Mirko Salemi who secured the TQ honours setting fastest times in 3 of the 4 qualifying round. Fastest in Q2, Xray’s recent 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championship podium finisher Filippo Domanin would qualify P2 with Tironi in third ahead of young Luca Ielasi, the Top 4 going directly to the Main. Unfortunately a problem for Salemi at the start of the 45-minute final ended his chances of the win but setting the fastest lap of the race he would recover to P4. Up front Tironi would take his first National win in some time with a 3.1-second winning margin over Domanin. Securing P5 on the grid after victory in the Semi Finals, Andrea Muscolino’s Infinity completed the podium. The National Championship concludes on October 25th with the third & final round at the iconic Fiorani track.

Image: Francesco Tironi [Facebook]

September 26, 2026

RC Pit Clock Android App for Nitro Racing

Many a nitro race has been lost in the pit lane due to refuelling timing and so the idea was born for RC Pit Clock, a new Android App that helps you plan your fuel strategy. Created by long time racer and professional software developer Lionel Hagege, the idea came from something he’d seen many times at races: managing fuel during a long race can become surprisingly difficult. You know your fuel runtime and your average lap time, but once the race starts, things change. A lap can be missed, a pit stop can happen a little earlier or later, and you have to keep recalculating everything while concentrating on the car and this is where RC Pit Clock is designed to help with that. Enter your fuel autonomy, average lap time and race duration and the app calculates the fuel stops and, during the race, shows how many laps are left before the next refuelling stop. If you pit earlier or later than planned, the remaining stops are recalculated. There is also a Garmin version, so the information can be displayed directly on the driver’s watch. The App also follows the race day and from the heat board posted at the club, it tells you when you run, when you marshal, and sounds an alarm before each of your runs.

View more App information here

September 24, 2026

Another reigning World Champ for Singapore Nitro GP as Coelho confirmed

The Singapore International Nitro GP will celebrate its 20th Anniversary in style with the announcement of its 3rd reigning World Champion as Bruno Coelho is confirmed for the October 10-11 event. The 3-time back to back IFMAR 1:10 Electric Touring Car World Champion made his SINGP last year, returning to his roots to race nitro onroad, the category in which the Portuguese star learned his trade before his break through moment at the 2014 ISTC Worlds in the USA. With Mugen Seiki’s 1:8 Onroad World Champion Shoki Takahata and Infinity’s newly crowned 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Champion Naoto Matsukura already confirmed, Coelho might just need a few extra laps to settle into the newly resurfaced Radio Control Modellers’ Club’s track as he will come straight from having just raced for a week at the IFMAR 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Championship in Texas which gets underway in just a few days.

Source: RCMC Singapore [Facebook]

September 23, 2026

3rd consecutive Italian title for Collina – Report

Schumacher’s Mattia Collina has secured his third consecutive Italian National crown in the premier Modified Touring Car class. ‘Le Caselle’ track in Arezzo hosted the 2026 Italian RC Touring Car Championship, the pinnacle event of the national season held under the sanction of ACI Sport, the Italian Motorsport Federation. The three-day competition brought together the country’s top drivers to challenge for four official national titles, combining high-speed action, technical precision, and relentless consistency. Making Collina victory this year even more significant, his brother Federico Collina finished second to seal a 1-2 at the top of the podium. The Xray of Orlando Fenili completed the top three ahead of Infinity’s Alessio Menicucci and Federico Randi. The remaining classes delivered equally compelling storylines. In Touring Stock, Luigi Ciavolino put an end to years of near-misses, claiming a deeply emotional first Italian title ahead of Flavio Paladin and Andrea Efficace. The LM +40 Masters category saw Alessandro Rampini complete a brilliant championship hat-trick, taking his third straight title in an increasingly competitive field ahead of Andrea Giusti and Alessandro Vanni. Meanwhile, Luca Tramelli captured the FWD national title, sharing the podium with runner-up Simone De Lorenzo and young talent Leo Marka in third. Beyond the senior honours, the weekend put a strong focus on the future of the sport. Supported by ACI Arezzo, ten Under-16 drivers were awarded the “Young Prospects” distinction, celebrating the dedication of the rising generation and the essential support of their families in advancing Italian RC motorsport.

Source: ACI Sport [acisport.it]