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December 11, 2025

’25 1:8 Onroad World Championship Chassis Focus Index

Another season of IFMAR World Championships wrapped up in Chile last weekend with 1:8 Onroad the fourth & final race of 2025. While IFMAR’s original World Championship would attract a small entry, that didn’t take away from the racing at the front with qualifying ending with cars from four different manufacturers making up the new for 2025 Direct to Final Top 4 qualifiers. For the 1-hour final that number would grow to 5 as Shepherd’s Tim Wood won the Last Chance Qualifier to represent the now British owned brand as the 11th car on the grid. Statistics compiled by IFMAR, this the 24th running of the title race, would show Mugen Seiki as the most popular chassis ahead of Capricorn and Shepherd who tied for second. Racing around the very large CACH, the most common source of power came from Ielasi Tuned followed by Max Power, who thanks to Shoki Takahata make it back to back engine World titles. In terms of radios used, Sanwa was the choice of over 50% of the drivers. With 2 X Mugen Seiki, 2 X Capricorn, 2 X Shepherds, and one Serpent and Xray each, we managed to get our hands on 8 cars from the five manufacturers represented in the final.

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December 9, 2025

Volker wins EWS International 2025

Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker has won this year’s EWS International presented by Schumacher, the German taking the win ahead of Xray’s Alexander Hagberg and Schumacher’s Elliott Harper. Establishing itself as Britain’s top annual international touring car race, with last year’s winner Michal Orlowski not making the trip to Essex due to 1:12 racing commitments in China, it was multiple EWS International winner Volker who led for the weekend. Attracting a field of 40 Modified entries, Volker topped all four rounds of qualifying to secure the overall TQ with Hagberg lining up second, followed by Harper, Kyle Branson, Sören Sparbier, Christopher Krapp, and Lucas Urbain. He would convert his pole position in to wins in A1 & 2 for the overall victory, while the A3 win gave Hagberg the runner-up spot as Harper completed the podium. In Stock it was the Awesomatix of EWS Series Champion Zak Finlay who also dominated proceedings to take the TQ and win ahead of Denmark’s Jesper Rasmussen and Finley Whitelock. In FWD Xray’s Stefan Schulz took the win.

Image: Alexander Hagberg [Facebook]

December 8, 2025

Orlowski adds Asia title to 1:12 CV

Reigning World Champion and a 2-time European Champion, Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has added the Asia Championship title to his CV after winning what is Asia top prize in racing and was formerly known as the FEMCA Championships. Racing at 2o26 World Championship venue Hongyu GDC, in Foshan, China, Orlowski dominated proceedings on the enclosed carpet track. A race that attracted 52 entries, the Polish driver topped four of the 5 qualifiers to secure the TQ ahead of the CRC of Japan’s Yugo Nagashima, who took Q4, with Xray’s Jan Ratheisky completing the Top 3. In the finals the order for the podium would stay as they started with Orlowski winning all three Mains. Second in A1 & 2 ahead of Shota Watanabe, Nagashima claimed second while a P2 in A3 was enough to give Ratheisky the third step on the podium on tie break with Watanabe. In 1:12 Spec, Xray’s Adam Izsay produced a clean sweep with the TQ and win ahead of Takashi Kato and Antonia Hung. This coming weekend the impressive Hongyu GDC track will host the Touring Car Asia Championships and Red RC are travelling straight from the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad Worlds in Chile to cover the action.

Image: Hongyu GDC

December 7, 2025

Takahata becomes 2-time World Champion in Chile

It’s a very elusive club and up to now it has been exclusive to Italians, but today in Chile Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata became a multiple 1:8 Onroad World Champion with a perfectly executed 1-hour main. Starting from fourth on the grid, once the 2019 World Champion worked his way to the front he would take control of the race eventually winning by over a lap from Simon Kurzbuch to give the new MRX7 a 1-2 finish. Takahata’s win would be made all the easier after issues for Top Qualifier Andrea Catanzani, who needed to make a body change in the race, and star of this week’s action Maxime Ripoll, the French teenager robbed of a second place finish as reward for his impressive efforts when his engine came to halt with 6-minutes remaining. While Kurzbuch benefited from this, with a fast charging Catanzani recovering ground, there would be a late & intense battle for the runner-up spot that also involved Capricorn’s Toni Gruber, the trio all running together on track. As the race approached the final minute, Catanzani having just got passed Gruber would then attempt a pass on Kurzbuch but contact was made resulting in his Serpent having a spin as the other two continued. The super fast Italian, who was the only driver to run a 17-second lap in the Main, would however get back up to Gruber and snatch the final podium position on the last corner of the last lap.

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December 6, 2025

Kurzbuch cruises back into contention in Chile with Semi win

Having missed out on a Top 4 direct to final qualifying position as he ended P5 at the end of the 6-rounds, Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch has put himself back in contention for a second IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship title by cruising to victory in his Semi final this morning in Chile. Winner of the World title in Brazil in 2015, a decade on the Swiss racer returned to South America as one of the pre-race favourites but on arriving at the CACH track in Santiago he struggled to find his true form. Leading away the second of the half hour Semis, Kurzbuch drove a calculated race with his crew executing a swift tyre change en-route to him winning by over a lap from the similar car of Britian’s Alex Thurston who together with third placed finisher Christope Louis progresses to their first World Championship final. The 24th running of IFMAR’s original World Championship, the first of the Semi Finals woulds see 15-year-old German driver Leon Fuhrmann head a Capricorn 1-2 from team-mate Thilo Diekmann, the separation 4.7-seconds at the finish. In third, a driver who needed the Last Chance Qualifier race to make Main here at the 1:8 GT Worlds back in September, Brazil’s Flavio Elias booked himself another 1:8 Onroad Worlds final appearance after recovering from a plug change during one of his pit stops to overtake leading Shepherd driver Tim Wood for the bump up position. Wood however would take the win in a very close finish to the 15-minute LCQ, 2/10ths of a second ahead of a Ricardo Hofmeijer, to become the 11th car on the grid and make it five different manufacturers in the final.

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December 4, 2025

Deja vu! Catanzani is Top Qualifier in Chile again

It was a case of Deja Vu at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Chile today as Serpent’s Andrea Cantanzani claimed his second overall Worlds TQ of 2025 in the sixth & final round of qualifying, the super quick Italian having pulled off the same feat 11 weeks ago to the day when he was Top Qualifier at the 1:8 GT Worlds. With Catanzani equalling Maxine Ripoll with a second TQ run of the event in Q5, this set the stage for a thrilling duel between the two young drivers. The highly anticipate battle however wouldn’t go the full distance. Steeling time from his rivals with his super quick fuel stops to TQ Rounds 3 & 4, unfortunately this time round Ripoll would have issues in pit lane, his engine flaming out during refuelling. This ended what has been a super impressive and entertaining to follow challenge from the 19-year-old for the top spot on grid. With Ripoll out, Catanzani would TQ the round ahead of Capricorn’s Toni Gruber and Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata to secure the overall TQ, the first in a long time for 1:8 Onroad pioneering manufacturer Serpent. For Gruber and Takahata the result will see the go directly to the final as Top 4 qualifiers. One of the favourites ahead of championship, Simon Kurzbuch would end quali with a P4 which wouldn’t be enough and now the 2015 World Champion has a Semi final between him and lining up to try and claim a second World title.

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December 4, 2025

Catazani takes penultimate qualifier, all to play for in Chile

Serpent’s Andrea Catazani has taken the penultimate round of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship, his second TQ run meaning it is all to play for between the Italian and Xray talent Maxime Ripoll. With both drivers having 2 TQ run each, Q6 will decide who will the Top Qualifier at the 24th running of the RC racing’s original World Championship. With three drivers still in contention going into the fifth round, Gruber’s challenge would end with a bang as he crashed his Capricorn in the 5-minute of the 7-minute heat to be one of a number of cars not to finish the top heat. Having opened the day with his second TQ run, and a new fastest time, Ripoll would also have a mistake but while he could continued his performance was hampered by his body rubbing off his front left tyre. With Simon Kurzbuch another none finisher due to his engine stopping after going too lean. Ripoll would net himself a P3. Setting the fastest lap of the heat, up front Catanzani would take the heat with a one & a half second advantage over Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata.

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December 4, 2025

Another TQ run as Ripoll take Q4 just ahead of Catanzani

Xray’s Maxime Ripoll has become the first driver to repeat a TQ run at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship, the French talent opening Day 2 of qualifying in Chile with the fastest time for the fourth round ahead of Andrea Catanzani and Toni Gruber, the trio the only drivers who can now take the overall TQ honours. A slightly warmer morning that yesterday in Santiago, Ripol would break 23-laps for the first time over the 7-minutes bettering Catanzani’s Q1 time by over a second, something that could prove key in deciding the Top Qualifier with the second two runs of the day normally proving slower. With Ripoll’s advantage over Catazani’s Serpent 0.233 of a second, while he set the fastest lap for the round, it is his father’s performance in the pit lane that is the big talking point among his rivals, Team Ripoll making up over a second on refuelling. Behind Gruber’s Capricorn, it was the two factory Mugen Seiki’s of Simon Kurzbuch and Shoki Takahata who completed the Top 5. The two former World Champions said afterwards they just lacked pace this round, Kurzbuch reacting with, ‘Only 5th, I don’t know how to find the speed’, the Swiss driver adding they are going to have to try something different for Q5.

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