Emanuele D’Amico crowned IFMAR 1/5 Touring Car World Champion 2026 in Lostallo

Photo: Red RC (source)

The IFMAR 1/5 Touring Car World Championship delivered its verdict on 1 August 2026 at the Lostallo track in Switzerland: Italy’s Emanuele D’Amico is the new 1/5 Touring Car World Champion. Already European Champion in 2024, the Mecatech driver claims the world crown at the twelfth running of large scale racing’s flagship event.

1/5 Touring Car World Championship: a one-hour final under control

From a ten-car grid, D’Amico started from second place, right behind his compatriot and team-mate Edoardo Repetti, who set the fastest time in qualifying. Repetti led away at the start, but a mistake eight minutes into the race opened the door for his team-mate. D’Amico moved into the lead and would never give the position back.

By half distance, the future champion’s advantage had already reached five seconds, while Repetti was coming under pressure from Markus Feldmann. Once the wave of refuelling stops was over, the race settled down with D’Amico in complete control. His last lap looked like a victory lap: Repetti’s time had already expired. At the flag the gap was close to ten seconds.

Feldmann runs out of fuel, a third world title slips away

Defending champion Markus Feldmann of Germany was chasing a third world crown. Starting from fifth, he had worked his way up to third when he ran out of fuel with thirty-two minutes left on the clock. He rejoined the track and went on to set the fastest lap of the race, but without being able to complete the distance: he was ultimately classified seventh.

The 2026 1/5 Touring Car World Championship podium

1. Emanuele D’Amico (Italy, Mecatech) — World Champion
2. Edoardo Repetti (Italy, Mecatech) — Top Qualifier
3. Giovanni Verbrugghe (Belgium) — semi-final winner

The 2016 European Champion, Giovanni Verbrugghe completed the podium after reaching the final through the semi-finals and starting from third on the grid.

1/5 scale, an endurance discipline of its own

With its one-hour finals and refuelling stops, 1/5 Touring remains one of the most demanding disciplines in competition RC. Outright speed is not enough: it takes consistency over hundreds of laps, faultless mechanics and a flawless fuel strategy — as Markus Feldmann was reminded in the cruellest way. It is precisely on that ground that Mecatech placed its two drivers at the top of the world order.