Today the IFMAR 1/12th and 1/10th World Championships 2008 started in Bangkok, Thailand.

It looks like it will be a very close title fight this time. There are a lot of manufacturers and a mix of some really good experienced and some young and upcoming drivers racing. Teams from Tamiya, X-Ray, Hot Bodies, Yokomo, Associated, Schumacher and Serpent will be fighting for the title.

The race is run on an outdoor tarmac track which could also provide some surprises. Most races are run on carpet these days, so it will take some adjusting for the drivers, although most of them already clocked up quite a few practice laps on the track in the last couple of months. Furthermore, the weather could have a hand in the end result as the day before first practice some heavy showers already hit the track. 

Some companies have already stated that they will be bringing new or updated cars which have been kept under wraps so far, so it will be interesting to see what improvements they have made. The biggest news so far being X-Ray who brought a brand new 12th scale car to the event and were setting some of the fastest lap times in practice with it so far.

You can follow all the action at the official worlds website, or you can go over to RedRC who have some great live coverage of the event.