November 14, 2026

Rheinard declared winner on controversial A2, Orlowski’s title hopes over

Marc Rheinard has been declared the winner of a controversial A2 at the IFMAR ISTC World Championships in Bangkok, after race winner Bruno Coelho was given a 5-second penalty for contact with Top Qualifier Michal Orlowski, the Pole’s title hopes now over.  In the closing minute of the race, Orlowski who led from the start was coming under intense pressure from Coelho.  With his car stepping out the defending World Champion tried to execute a pass that would result in contact that sent the Schumacher driver rolling off the track.  Suffering a body tuck, the 1:12 World Champion’s ISTC title hopes were done, as Coelho crossed the line in first ahead of Rheinard.  While a penalty was called by officials, the calling of that penalty incorrectly made for car No.1 not car No.2, by the time the error was noticed the race was complete.  After a long deliberation, officials handed Coelho a 5-second penalty giving the win to Rheinard and putting the two 3-time World Champions in a head to head in A3 for their fourth titles.

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November 14, 2026

Coelho takes A1 as Orlowski rolls out of lead

We’ve seen a number of drivers do it over the week and in A1 of the IFMAR ISTC World Championship decider here in Thailand it was Top Qualifier Michal Orlowski who rolled his Schumacher onto the straight as he came under pressure from defending World Champion Bruno Coelho, the Infinity driver taking the A1 win ahead of Marc Rheinard.  In the opening stages of the first A-Main, it looked like Orlowski was in cruise mode after opening up an early lead over second place starter Coelho, the duo having quickly gapped the rest of the grid.  The biggest moment of the first 2-minutes of the race a body tuck for Q1 winner Simon Lauter.  As the race approached half way distance, Coelho started to close down the Pole having to check up at one point to avoid contact but then a trip over the curbing looked like the Portuguese driver might have thrown away the opportunity.  Recovering from the moment and the race back on, then Orlowski would run wide at the end of the main straight which would leave him struggling to stay in control and then coming onto the main straight he hit the curbing sending his car into a roll with Coelho going through for the win.  3-seconds back Rheinard claimed second with Xray team-mate Jin Sawada completing the Top 3 ahead of David Ronnefalk.

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November 14, 2026

Orlowski is Top Qualifier in Bangkok

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski is the Top Qualifier for the IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championships after a super close and exciting final qualifier this morning at Huge RC Circuit in Bangkok.  With the Polish driver going up against the defending World Champion in the fight for pole position for today’s title deciding finals, it initially looked like Coelho had delivered the Round 6 TQ run for a perfect counting score but after a few seconds there was a roar from the crowd as the software finally updated the track’s giant screen and Orlowski went to the top by just 0.085 of a second!  His third TQ run of the event, the result is a repeat of the 2024 World Championships in California where the overall TQ was also decided in the final round where Coelho also started from P2.  Third for the final round, that is also where Marc Rheinard will line up on his World Championship debut for Xray, the top 3 the same three drivers who made up the podium 2-year-ago at Finishline RC Raceway.  For the final qualifier it was another impressive run from 1:8 Buggy World Champion David Ronnefalk who despite showing some offroad habits when he jumped a curb was fourth fastest ahead of Awesomatix Lucas Urbain.  In terms of outright pace it was the RC Maker of Antoine Brunet who put down the fastest lap with today already a much hotter day then yesterday.  The French driver also secures the Australian manufacturer their first World Championship final start.  Overall behind the Top 3 it is Jin Swada who lines up P4 ahead of Q1 winner Simon Lauter, the Awesomatix driver ending qualifying with a P6 run.  The second half of the grid is completed by Ronnefalk, Urbain, Brunet, Axon’s Akio Sibue, and Infinity’s Soeren Sparber.

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November 14, 2026

Bittydesign 499S | GR010S 1:12 LMH Bodies

Italian body producer Bittydesign has released of two brand-new bodies dedicated to the 1:12 Pancar category, the 499S and the GR010S.  The letter “S” in both model names stands for “Small”, identifying them as the 1:12 scale evolution of the previously released 1:10 versions. Inspired by the iconic LMH Hypercars dominating modern international endurance racing, the 499S (blue & white example in images) and GR010S bring Bittydesign’s refined aerodynamics, and uncompromising realism to the 1:12 grid.  To meet the specific needs of club racers and pro-level competitors alike, both the 499S and GR010S are available in Light and Ultra Lite (ULT) polycarbonate thicknesses/weight variants.  The Light weight is light yet structurally more robust, ideal for drivers seeking strong performance paired with extended body longevity.  The Ultra Lite is engineered specifically for racers chasing the absolute maximum on-track performance and lowest centre of gravity, trading durability for extreme lightness.  Each body is sold clear (unpainted) with protective outer overspray film and includes pre-cut high-detail decal sheet, window masks, and rear wing mounting hardware.

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November 13, 2026

Coelho confirms he’s back in contention with 2nd TQ run

After a less than perfect start to his title defence qualifying, Infinity’s Bruno Coelho has confirmed, most importantly to himself, that he is back in the contention by ending Day 3 of the IFMAR ISTC World Championships in Thailand with a second TQ run.  The result means both Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski, the overnight TQ holder, and Coelho are the only two remaining drivers in contention for pole position here at Huge RC Circuit, with the sixth & final qualifier to be staged tomorrow morning ahead of the finals.  Taking Q4 when both Orlowski and Xray’s Marc Rheinard had mistakes, Coelho’s fifth round TQ ahead of his two protagonist endorsed that Coelho’s quest for a fourth consecutive World title is back on.  Another impressive run from David Ronnefalk would see the Buggy World Champion end the day with a 4th that’s secures him an A-Main grid starting position with last night’s Q1 winner Simon Lauter completing the Top 5.  Having celebrated taking the opening qualifier yesterday, and Lucas Urbain opening with a P3 in Q2 this morning, the rest of the day was challenging for Awesomatix in Modified.  In the Stock class however there was plenty for the second biggest manufacturer of these Worlds (Xray from official IFMAR stats the most represented brand here in Bangkok) with Awesomatix drivers dominating the action.  Olivier Bultynck opened the day with a TQ run before Lukas Ellerbrock added to his Q1 TQ by topping rounds 3, 4 and 5 to get locked in as the Top Qualifier.

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November 13, 2026

World Champion comes good in Q4

World Champion Bruno Coelho has come good at a critical point of the IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championships, the Infinity driver posting his first TQ run here at Huge RC Circuit as we get the second half of qualifying underway.  Having two P4 runs from the opening 3 rounds of 6, well off the standard of the reigning 3-time consecutive Champion of the category, he would top the fourth round with the second fastest outright time so far being just 0.079 off the best set by Michal Orlowski the round before.  For Orlowski, it was to be a through 4th effort, a change of set-up making his car more difficult to drive, and pushing to try catch Coelho he had big mistake on the last lap.  Second for the round would go to Jin Sawada, the Xray driver equalling his P2 from the opening round but being just 3/10th off on this occasion.  Having show he had the outright pace to run with the best touring car drivers in the World when he set the fastest lap of Q2 this morning, newly crowned 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Champion David Ronnefalk completed the Top 3 ahead of his Xray team-mate Marc Rheinard.  The first time outside the Top 3 for the Touring Car legend, Rheinard touched the curbing rolling his car twice with it luckily landing on its wheels but it was enough to deny him the TQ run he is keen to secure.  Antoine Brunet competed the Top 5, the round the RC Maker driver’s best result so far after some impressive showings in practice.

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November 13, 2026

Orlowski again from Rheinard in Q3

With the first half of qualifying complete at the IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championships it was again the Schumacher of Michal Orlowski who took the third round TQ at Huge RC Circuit.  The fastest round so far, the Pole knocked 3/10ths off his Q2 topping time despite coming upon heavy traffic towards the end of the 5-minutes.  Behind, it was again Marc Rheinard who was closest, the Xray driver halving the gap to his rival, & good friend off track, to just 3/10ths of a second.  Impressing from the second fastest heat group in Q1 when he set the second fastest time, Jin Sawada completed the Top 3 after a P5 in Q2.  For defending World Champion Bruno Coelho it was another P4 run but the Infinity driver took some confidence from the run given he had a radio settings issue in the run after switching to his second car.  Axon’s Akio Sobue, another running in the B Heat would complete the Top 5.  After his dramatic exit from Q2, although not as destructive as Naoto Matsukura’s exit from the heat before that completely destroyed his Infinity, Q1 pace setter Simon Lauter would be the best of the Awesomatix drivers with P7 with Lucas Urbain having a bad run and ending up 34th for the round.

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November 13, 2026

Orlowski takes Q2, Lauter crashes out

Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski has opened Day 3 of the IFMAR Electric Touring World Championship by topping the second round of qualifying while Simon Lauter who took last night’s opening qualifier crashed out having again been right in the mix.  With the track proving faster this morning, 1:8 Nitro Buggy World Champion David Ronnefalk setting the fastest lap having held the top spot on the timing screen for the opening 4 laps of Q2, Orlowski bettered his opening qualifying time by 3.3-seconds and would have an advantage of almost 8/10ths over Marc Rheinard’s Xray with Awesomatix’s Lucas Urbain completing the Top 3.  After a troubled start to qualifying yesterday, defending World Champion Bruno Coelho would have a slightly better second effort to take P4 but the Infinity driver was by his standards along way off Orlowski, the gap 1.8-seconds.  Explaining his crash that happened coming on to the main straight, a number of drivers reporting it cost them time, Lauter said, ‘I’m not sure whether it was traction roll or curb but I think just hitting the curb.  I had a .8 mistake the lap before so I knew I had to make something up and that’s just what happens when you go all in all and try something.  The car for sure was great again so Timmy (Tim Wahl) will check everything, fix it and we will be good for Q3.’

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