Race report for ORCAN Engines at WC 2012. The world championship is always a special event in any class, and this year was no exception. The 2012 IFMAR IC 1/10 worlds was probably the most competitive edition in the history of this class as many top drivers from the electric categories joined the race as well. Not to mention many top drivers who can call RC Addict in Bangkok as their hometrack, and with the amount of testing done prior to the event, this was going to be a close and difficult experience for everyone. There was no clear favourite for the win. We arrived in Bangkok with a small but strong team. ORCAN was represented by myself, EC-A winner Dirk Wichnewski, EC-A finalist Rico Kröber, as well as another EC finalist from Austria; Gerhard Kandelhart. We all received on track support by ORCAN owner Bertram Kessler. Both myself and Dirk had previously visited the track for testing. Dirk and Bertram went to the pre-worlds event in January, and the rest of the team all attended the XRAY Challenge race, held in September, just a few weeks prior to the main event. This race was a great opportunity for testing of engines and chassis set-up, to be as prepared as possible, and to get used to the latest rules with a lighter weight car and heavier weight bodyshells. It was also very important to test all possible combination of front tire compounds. Dirk and Bertram had collected important information already from the pre-worlds event. We knew that our MH-S engine was probably going to be the best choice as it has timing for a bit less fuel consumption and less bottom power. This engine was easier to drive for this fairly small and technical track. In combination with our OA 1910 PLUS muffler, this was going to be our starting point for the XRAY Challenge as well as the world championships. At the XRAY race we focused on testing different mufflers, clutch set-up and gearing. We knew that at least a shorter 1st gear was going to be necessary for high grip conditions on this small track, sometimes in combination also with a shorter 2nd gear. The difficult part is to get the shorter 2nd to work on smaller tires at the end of a long final, for example. At the XRAY race, Bertram had brought some Sirio and HIPEX mufflers for test. At some point we liked the HIPEX muffler, EFRA 2654, as this was a good compromise between our long 1910 PLUS, and our shorter muffler1915 , This is what we ended up using at the world as well. Qualifying came down to one rocket round, as always is the case at a big nitro race. The last Q6 round which was held late afternoon on Thursday, was going to decide most of the qualifying positions. In the end I drove a clean and fairly fast run without any mistakes, which was enough to put me 6th overall in the rankings. I was fairly happy with this result as my car and driving had improved, step by step, all throughout the week. I was going to start 1st in the semi-final B on the Saturday. In the semi final, I drove a near perfect race to take the win, almost a lap up on the others. Paul Lemieux was fighting his way to a 3rd position in this semi final B, which surprisingly was run with 11 cars as a result of time keeping problems, and a protest from the Italian Capricorn team. I knew that after my semi final performance, that I had a good chance for the overall win. The car worked very well on big final tires, as did the engine. I was feeling confident for the 60 minute encounter as I would start from the 5th position on the grid. The tone went off and I immediately improved to the 3rd position overall, just behind Hara and Meen Vejrak who both tried to follow the early pace of Teemu Leino. It was clear from the start that some drivers were on a different tire strategy, for example to change only two tires on the car and not all 4. As Hara for example was not very fast at the start of the race. Unfortunately we came together in front of the drivers stand as I tried to pass him on the inside. I dropped back to the 10th position overall. As I fought my way back to 2nd place eventually, I had pushed very hard, much harder than in the semi-final, which later which show in the tire wear problems which I encountered. As I fought very closely with Hara and Chavit S. for the 2nd place, around the 25 minute mark, my outside tires had become very small and the car became quite difficult to drive. I had to let them go as a result and had to wait for my tire change. When I entered the pits at the 29 minute mark, I held the 4th position overall, less than half a lap behind the leader Meen V. Unfortunately my pit crew made a mistake during the tire change which caused my engine to flame out and the glow plug to break. It took a while to get the engine back running and I lost several laps as a result of this. Without this long tire stop, the outcome of the final could have been much different, as I probably had a good chance to finish on the podium. In the end, the result was of course disappointing but still the main goal was to reach the final, which I failed to do in Houston just 2 years ago. I had a very good car and engine at this race, probably good enough to win. I just needed more luck. And from the mistakes, we have learnt what to do better for next time. I have been really happy with the performance of my Novarossi made ORCAN engines all year. I have had no breakages at all, and the engines have stayed consistent throughout all conditions. The 7TGF glow plug has been the best choice for all races, from both cold to hot temperatures. It has proven very reliable. For some races we have been using our MH-C engine, which has always more bottom power. The EC-A in Cassino was such a track. But while at other tracks, we have preferred the MH-S which is not that much less powerful, but with better fuel consumption. For next year we will testing with different crankshafts, and are investigating the possibility to release a new muffler for the ORCAN brand. I would like to thank my sponsors for the season of 2012: XRAY, HUDY, ORCAN ( made by Nova Rossi) , ORCAN Pipe ( made by Mielke) HIPEX, Protoform, KO Propo, Matrix Tires, Xenon, P1 Brand, A-Paint, RC-Trim By Alexander Hagberg