Red RC

September 15, 2022

Another Xray 1-2 in Q2 as rain stays away in Italy

Drivers at the IFMAR ISTC World Championship were greeted with a positive start to Day 2 of qualifying in Gubbio, Italy, as the much anticipated bad weather that caused so much controversy yesterday hasn’t yet arrived. On a dry track, Q2 would be a repeat of last night’s opening qualifying as Xray again lead a 1-2 at the top of the time sheets. A slightly slower time than Q1, Bruno Coelho stayed in charge with Alexander Hagberg backing up his surprise Q1 performance with another P2 from the second fastest heat. Christopher Krapp made it an identical Top 3 with the biggest surprise of the round being Hayato Ishioka who posted the fourth fastest time ahead of Alessio Menicucci.

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September 15, 2022

Stiles wins 2022 CARS 1:12 Summer Shootout Series

Mark Stiles clinched the overall championship at the 2022 CARS 1/12 Summer Shootout Series GP last weekend driving his Awesomatix A12 chassis. Going into the 4th and final round of this long-standing UK summer championship Mark needed a solid finish in a high-quality field which featured nearly all of the UK’s top 1/12 scale drivers. After some early struggles in practice and qualifying, Mark lined up 3 rd on the grid for the single leg A Final behind top qualifier Ollie Payne and reigning stock world champion Andy Murray. An early crash put Ollie out of contention and left Andy and Mark out in front, where they both lapped consistently and were never separated by more than 1.5 seconds for the entire 8-minute race. Despite staying close, Mark was unable to pass Andy and the pair finished less than half a second apart. Ollie Payne recovered to complete the podium. This marked the last ever race meeting at the CARS venue in Clay Cross. After more than 40 years the club will be moving to a new venue this autumn where club and national level events will continue to be held. The end of an era, but the start of a new one!

Source: Awesomatix [facebook.com]

September 15, 2022

JConcepts Smoothie 2 Silver compound Pre-mounted

JConcepts has release a new slick offroad tyre, the Smoothie 2. In some conditions in offroad racing, there is no denying that a slick tyre is the fastest way around the track. Indoor and occasionally outdoor clay surfaces become so tacky or free of dust and debris that a total slick tire is an advantage. For years drivers have sanded, ground, and hand sculpted tires in search of that elusive slick carcass, now, JConcepts has the Smoothie 2. Available as pre-mounted, the Smoothie 2 is glued to the genuine 3348 JConcepts wheel and available in either bright white or fluorescent yellow colours.

Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]

September 14, 2022

Sparks fly as Coelho takes Q1

Sparks literally flew as Bruno Coelho took the opening round of qualifying with darkness falling on the opening day of the ISTC World Champions. The top seed after practice, the reigning Champion would lead an Xray 1-2 from Alexander Hagberg, no one more surprised than the Swede with his P2 having been seeding the second fastest heat. Finishing off practice with an ever improving performances, Christopher Krapp would set the third fastest time for Yokomo ahead of Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski, another driver running in the slightly less dark second fastest heat. As cars went to the grid there was calls to not run the top heat as drivers complained about being unable to see. Legendary mechanic Masayuki Miura would make a direct call to race officials for the qualifying not to go ahead saying his driver could not see. Unfortunately that driver, Naoto Matsukura, struggled with the lack of light saw him crash out just two corners into the qualifier.

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September 14, 2022

Coelho top seed for World Championship qualifying

Bruno Coelho will kick off qualifying at the ITSC World Championship with the No.1 on his car after the Xray driver set the fastest time of the two timed practices. The second seeding round saw the reigning Champion again set the fastest 3-consecutive laps improving on his Free Practice pace by more than 3/10ths of a second. Behind him an improved Akio Sobue was 2nd fastest having earlier rounded out the Top 6 for Free Practice. Also improving was Viktor Wilck as the 2014 and 2016 podium finisher completed the Top 3 in Gubbio, Italy.

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September 14, 2022

Coelho sets the pace as free practice concludes

Reigning World Champion Bruno Coelho set the early pace in Gubbio, Italy, the Xray driver posting the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the four rounds of free practice at the ISTC World Championship. With a full 1-second advantage, his closest rival would be multiple Champion Marc Rheinard with Ronald Volker and Jilles Groskamp making it a very familiar picture at the top of the time sheets. Setting the fifth fastest time, Yannic Prumper was the fastest of those in search of their first World Title.

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September 14, 2022

Impending bad weather sets early tone at ISTC World Championship

After a long 4 year wait the ISTC World Championship is finally here but the 11th running of touring car’s biggest prize is off to a tense start as impending bad weather looks set to dictate the running of the 4 day event. With the majority of drivers expressing their dislike of the dots added to a number of corners to meet the rule requirement of being 60% different to that which drivers tested on, the protest to allow the iconic circuit to run in its original layout was rejected by the IFMAR International Jury. The next issue for drivers was the packed Day 1 schedule that will end with the running of the first of the six rounds of qualifying. The opening day of the Worlds is normally a much slightly more relaxed affair with drivers easing themselves into things with just controlled practice runs. The rules also state the timetable can’t be altered from what was originally published.

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September 13, 2022

Coelho “less prepared” but “there to fight” to retain ISTC World Championship

In 2014, the world unearthed a then mostly unheard of young Portuguese driver. Initially it was the wiring on his car that had the internet buzzing, but as the ISTC World Championship in Kissimmee progressed people started to realise this guy was something a bit special as he started mixing it with Touring Car’s elite. RedRC actually knows Bruno Coelho a lot longer than most of the current crop of top drivers. His father Cesar was responsible for organising the 2008 Nitro Touring Car World Championships in Lisbon and was a great host to us as we report on the event with Bruno this slightly wild kid jumping around in the background.

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