Savoya on target in Austria
He took TQ honours on his way to the European title last year and if that pattern is anything to go by it is looking good here in Austria for defending Champion Renaud Savoya with him being crowned the 2009 Top Qualifier. The factory Mugen driver claimed the honour when his only challenger Yannick Aigoin rolled during his final attempt at being the No.1 qualifier. With his second European TQ safe in the bag, Savoya wasn’t quite finished however, going on to put in another superb drive to take his third 185 points maximum of the five qualification rounds.
Following a week which he felt did not start off well, Savoya said he was delighted to have turned things around and claim the TQ honours. The French ace reckons he is getting more and more confident with his set-up for the Wolbling track and will leave the car the same for tomorrow’s Semi. His immaculately prepared MBX6 will just get some fresh Ultimate Racing diff & shock oils and a thorough going over in preparation for tomorrow’s all important finals. Asked about fuel run time the RB team driver was very tight lipped but we expect him to pit somewhere between 9 and 10 minutes.
Taking second for the round to end up fifth in the overall ranking, Darren Bloomfield seems to have found his promised form. Running Revolver M3 tyres for the round the British driver felt they got hot near the end but was happier with the rear of his Losi after switching to a heavier oil.
He impressed us in the third qualifier yesterday but 13-year-old David Ronnefalk’s performance in the last heat was spectacular with American ace Richard Saxton going as far as saying that EFRA is about to get its first ever B and A Champion. The Swede was super fast at the controls of the Adrien Bertin engineered Orion Alpha powered Kyosho. During the run the European B Champion touched the rear of Savoya’s car a number of time so fast was his pace. A definite star of the future this confident youngster has already made his mark by qualifying directly into the Semi on his EC-A debut but he’s determined to be one of the 12 that line-up for the Main Final here tomorrow at 16:00.
Taking fourth for the round was Miguel Matias but the former World Champion missed out on a direct Semi final starting position following a tie break with Daniel Vega who claimed the 16th and last spot. Fifth fastest was very fast Czech driver Martin Bayer. The 2008 Finalist was on a potential TQ run for the round but rolled losing six seconds. Without such mistakes Bayer, whose younger brother is also competing here this week, could be one of the surprises tomorrow evening. Completing the Top 6 was Austrian National Champion Martin Karner with his Kyosho/Team Orion combination.
Elsewhere Robert Batlle missed his last qualifier after the pin fell out of his front CV shaft as his crew warmed up the engine in the assembly area. Despite the best efforts of his pit crew who did manage to get a new pin fitted to his RC8, it too fell out and the Spaniard was forced to retire. Having had three strong opening heats the former Champion will line up second in the semi A behind the man who took away his title last year.
Semi Final A Lineup
1. SAVOYA Renaud (FR)
2. BATLLE Robert (ES)
3. BLOOMFIELD Darren (GB)
4. RECKWARD Daniel (DE)
5. RONNEFALK David (SE)
6. CRAGG Neil (GB)
7. LEINO Teemu (FI)
8. HERNANDEZ Borja (ES)
Semi Final B Lineup
1. AIGOIN Yannick (FR)
2. BAYER Martin (CZ)
3. RABITTI Riccardo (IT)
4. AIGOIN Jerome (FR)
5. KARNER Martin (AT)
6. LAFFRANCI Alessandro (IT)
7. GOMEZ MALAGON Richy (ES)
8. VEGA Daniel (ES)
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