April 7, 2026

Thailand, South Korea, and Australia in running for IFMAR Worlds as racers asked for feedback

Continuing its process to reschedule the 1:12 and ISTC World Championships which should have concluded over the Easter weekend, IFMAR has e-mailed all registered drivers for the cancelled Chinese event a questionnaire to seek their input on 3 new potential host venues.  Forced to cancel the originally planned back to back 1:12 and Touring Car Worlds just two weeks before it was due to start after the Hongyu GDC track failed to secure the necessary government approvals, the governing body are now in discussions with tracks in three countries in the FEMCA Bloc who have expressed interest in staging the championships.  GRC (Galerno Racing Circuit) in Seoul in South Korea has the option to host the ISTC on its outdoor track and 1:12 on its indoor facility.  HUGE RC in Bangkok, Thailand, which has hosted two Nitro Touring Car World Championships, can host both categories indoor, while John Grant International Raceway in Sydney Australia, hosts of both a 1:8 Onroad and 1:8 GT World Championship can run both events outdoor.   Racers have been asked to rate each venue as Preferred, Acceptable, or Undesirable.  In terms of timing racers have been asked to choose from periods of Early August 2026 – Late August 2026,  Mid October 2026 – Early November 2026, Mid November 2026 – Early December 2026, Late January 2027 – Early March 2027, or Mid March 2027 – Late April 2027.  Responses to the survey will be shared amongst the IFMAR Board of Directors and representatives from each of the four IFMAR member Blocs with racers having until the 20th April 2026 to contribute their input so IFMAR can progress with planning.

Source: IFMAR [Facebook]


April 1, 2026

Power HD supports Fenimore

Power HD has announced that they have teamed up with veteran US racer and multiple National Champion Johnee Fenimore to use their servos as part of his racing program.  A veteran of 3 decades of racing 1:10 Modified Touring Car, 1:12, Nitro Touring Car and Offroad, based at the RC Car Club of America (RCCA) track in Texas, Fenimore is also well known for his support of racers including supporting Xray’s Chris Adam recent ROAR National title double at the track at the beginning of March.  A finalist himself in Modified Touring Car, Fenimore will use Power HD GTS-2 and M8H servos across the various racing disciplines.

Source: PowerHD [chd.hk]


March 31, 2026

Inaugural All Japan RC Motorcycle Championship

The first-ever All Japan Radio Control Motorcycle Championship was held at the K2 International Circuit, formerly known as Keitune Circuit, in Chiba over the weekend.  The event featured three classes: Superbike, Stock Bike, and 1:4 Motard, with a total of 28 entries across six qualifying rounds and three finals.  In the Superbike class, Andrew Ting dominated, achieving TQ in qualifying and pole-to-win victories in all three finals. In the Stock Bike and Motard classes, Toshinori Yanagisawa participated in both and achieved a remarkable double victory.  This event served as a significant step towards raising awareness of the radio control motorcycle market, fostering skill improvement among the participants and demonstrating the importance of hosting such a large-scale competition.

View Stock Bike and 1:4 Motard Podiums here


March 30, 2026

Ripoll gets title defence off to perfect start

Xray’s top international 1:8 Onroad racer Maxime Ripoll has got the defence of his French National title off to the perfect start with a dominant performance at the opening round of the 2026 Championship.  The first encounter of the 5 round FFVRC Championship was hosted by the BMVRC club in the south east of the country with over 70 entries.  Greeted by cold weather conditions, rain would effect qualifying with just 2 of the 4 scheduled rounds run but with his time from Q1 it was Ripoll who took the Elite class TQ with his Max engined RX8 ahead Baptiste Jimenez and Jules David.  In the final Ripoll and Jimenez held the top 2 positions for the opening 20-laps before the later hot problems and soon retired.  With the fastest lap of the race, Ripoll would take a comfortable victory over the No.8 car of Christophe Louis who finished just held off Stephane Riccobono.

Image: Maxime Ripoll [Facebook]


March 24, 2026

Fernandez wins Spanish 1:8 Onroad National opener

Serpent’s Alvaro Fernandez Calvo has won the opening round of the AECAR 1:8 Onroad Spanish National Championship.  Staged by the AUTET track in Almussafes the race attracted an impressive 56 drivers  and offer the 4 rounds of qualifying it was Fernandez who would be fastest.  Running FTD format, the 22-year-old laid down the fastest 5-minute run in the 3rd round with the Infinity of Nacho Lopez his closest rival with his time from Q2.  The Mugen Seiki of Sergi Franch Codina completing the Top 3.  While Fernandez, with the TQ, and Nachos, as winner of Super Pole, went direct to the final, after the Semi Finals it was Victor Pelaez with the faster Semi Final winning time who line-up 3rd on the grid.  In the 45-minute final Fernandez would be pressured by Pelaez until the Mugen driver went out after 23-minutes.  After that Fernandez controlled the race eventually winning by a 3-lap margin over Lopez with Ruben Olivares Muñoz completing the podium.

Image: Alvaro Fernandez Calvo [Facebook]


March 23, 2026

Power HD supports Canadian Frechette

Servo manufacturer Power HD has announced they will support Canadian touring car talent Bryce Frechette with their HD GTS-2X servo. The Xray driver, who was runner up to his touring car team-mate Keven Hebert in Modified at the 2025 Canadian Onroad Nationals, is a consistent A-Main racer with a busy program that also includes the ROAR Nationals and US Indoor Championships.  A finalist at the 2025 US Indoor Champs in Cleveland, the 23-year-old will be looking to elevate his performance with Power HD as part of his 2026 package.

Source: PowerHD [chd.hk]


March 23, 2026

Kurzbuch wins Pepe Group International Race

Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch has won the Pepe Group International Race which was hosted by the Minicar Fiorano track in Italy over the weekend.  The group behind the well known Energy fuel brand, the race attracted all of Europe’s top 1:8 Onroad racer and after the three rounds of qualifying it was the Infinity of multiple World Champion Dario Balestri who secured the TQ topping final qualifier ahead Max Power team Jonathan Gandin who was fastest in Q2.  Taking Q1, Kurzbuch’s Ielasi Tuned powered Mugen secured P3 ahead of the similarly powered Capricorn of Toni Gruber.  In the half hour final, Kurzbuach would pass Gandin early to battle it out with Balestri at the front, the Swiss racer taking the win by 1/2 a second from the Italian with Gandin completing the podium.  With Gruber, young Xray star Filippo Domanin, and Infinity’s Francesco Tironi all retirements in the final, ARC’s Silvio Hächler finished P4.

Image: Ielasi Tuned [Facebook]


March 22, 2026

Volker wins 100th ETS race, Orlowski retains title

Marking the 100th race for the series, Mugen Seiki’s Ronald Volker has won the season finale of the 2025/26 Euro Touring Series in Austrian with his closest rival of the weekend Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski retaining his overall title in Vienna with P2.  On a winning roll that included victory at the recent MIBO International in Czech, Volker was the benchmark on the carpet in Wiener Neustadt topping seeding before securing the TQ with fastest runs 3 of the four qualifiers.  Fastest in Q3, Orlowski would line-up by P2 ahead of his only potential title challenger Marc Rheinard, the Awesomatix driver having only a small mathematical chance of denying Orlowski his third consecutive ETS title.  In Saturday evening’s opening A-Main, despite the best efforts of Orlowski who pressured the German through the race, Volker would take the win with Rheinard and team-mate Simon Lauter a distant 3rd & 4th.  Sunday morning’s A2 would seal the deal for Volker as he cruised to the win and his second consecutive ETS victory having won in Daun last month.  Rheinard completed the season finale podium behind A3 winner Orlowski.  In Pro Stock, Top Qualifier Jaroslav Kriz also wrapped up an early win taking the opening two A-Mains ahead of Xray team-mate Adam Iszay.  Mugen Seiki’s Sören Sparbier completed the podium.  The title was already decided in favour of Olivier Bultynck at the previous round in Germany, the Belgian finishing out his campaign with 4th in Daun.

Image: ETS [Facebook]


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