Last week the 2008 IFMAR on-road worlds were held in Bangkok, Thailand. Because of the many top racers and brands attending, some intense racing was expected and the event certainly didn't dissapoint!

Xray and Masami with Yokomo  both wanted to finally win the touring car title, but in the end neither of them managed to fulfill their dream. The biggest surpises were two 15-year olds who impressed the paddock. Some big name manufacturers (Schumacher, Serpent) seemed to be completely absent. An other curiosity was the absence of American racers in the A-finals of both classes. 

In 1:12th the races were dominated from the get-go bij the good old Associated team with their RC12R5, and they never looked back. 15-year old Naoto Matsukura impressed everyone by taking the TQ and winning the title at his first worlds. Thanks to a accident involving Matsukura in the first final, the decision who would be the new title holder was made in the final race which kept the tension high till the last minute.

The final 1:12 result:

In the touring car class it looked like Hara was going to dominate the event after he TQ'd with some impressive runs in qualifying. In the end he only managed to finish 4th after some unfortunate events in the finals and very strong racing by Marc Rheinhard. Another 15-year old impressed the pits; Elliot Harper ended up in 5th place as the best Xray driver at his first worlds.

The final touring car result:

If you would like to see video of the finals in full lenghth, get yourself over to this YouTube feed.

Some interesting behind the scenes footage and interviews can be found on the HPI website.