August 4, 2011

Jérôme Aigoin overnight TQ holder in Germany

Jérôme Aigoin

Jérôme Aigoin heads the qualification ranking at the end of Day 3 of the 2011 1:8 Offroad European Championships in Germany after the Kyosho driver produced a second TQ run in Q3.  The French ace ran a very similar pace to his Q2 topping time to take maximum points for the round ahead of the Mugen of Marcel Guske and fellow Team Kyosho driver David Ronnefalk.

Jérôme Aigoin

Having found his MP9 nervous over the stones that have broken through the surface following the wet opening round of qualifying, Aigoin said his buggy was slightly better in the day’s final run after switching to lighter oil in the centre diff and the fitting of a harder front sway bar.  Having one moment which he said he was very lucky to get away without needing a marshal, he said it was otherwise another clean run.  With the sun doing a good job of drying the track, the 2010 finalist said a switch to AKA Enduro tyres was a good call as they worked well as the drier track had more grip.

Marcel Guske

Not very well known outside of Germany, Marcel Guske backed up his run to the seventh fastest time in Q2 with a very impressive performance in Round 3.  Running in the same heat as Martin Bayer who was fourth fastest, he outpaced the Czech star to claim second.  A team-mate to former World Champion Daniel Reckward, the 22-year-old who finished on the podium at last year’s German Nationals runs the exact same package as his successful mentor.  While Reckward was unable to back up his Q2 performance having tried a different combination of RB tyre compound & insert, which he said did not work, he said he was delighted to see his fellow countryman do so well.

Ronnefalk

The pace setter in practice Ronnefalk said his run to third was ‘better’ but the current European Junior Champion said he had the pace for a TQ run.  Making a mistake over the double/double, his Orion powered MP9 needed marshalling costing him about 4 seconds.  Switching from AKA iBeam tyre to soft Grid Iron he said they worked much better on the track which he said was no longer a dirt track but a rock track. Sixth in Portugal at last year’s Euros, he said the stones are making it very difficult to get the buggy to go straight as they constantly try to pull it off line.  Currently 16th in the qualification ranking, the final position for getting directly in the Semis, Ronnefalk said after poor results in Q1 &2 and with three of the five qualifiers to count he needs to pull off solid runs in tomorrow final two rounds of heats.

Robert Batlle

The clear favourite for the win coming into the 31st running of the EFRA European Championships, Robert Batlle posted the fifth fastest time in Q3 and while this leaves him second in the qualification ranking the Spaniard is struggling by his own admission. Changing to a softer shock set-up for Q3, he said his Novarossi powered MBX-6 was slightly better but they still haven’t been able to cure it of being nervous to drive.  The 2007 Champion, says they have come up with some new ideas for a set-up and will try that tomorrow in the final two rounds of qualifying.

Seventh fastest in Q3 despite a problem with his throttle servo, Darren Bloomfield ends the first day of qualifying as the top TLR driver 3rd in the ranking with team-mates Yannick Aigoin and Martin Bayer sitting 6th & 7th.

Renaud Savoya

Elsewhere defending champion Renaud Savoya finds himself unusually low down the order.  23rd the Team Durango driver, who has been undefeated for the past 3 years, said it had been a hard day.  36th in Q1, 27th in Q2 and 14th in Q3, he said progress has been slow.  Struggling with the stoney surface he is hoping that he can turn things around tomorrow.

Qualification Ranking – After 3 of 5 Rounds
1. Jérôme Aigoin – Kyosho/Novarossi – 370 points
2. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 363
3. Darren Bloomfield – Losi/Nitrotec – 362
4. Simon Willets – Mugen/Orion – 361
5. Marcel Guske – Mugen/RB – 361
6. Yannick Aigoin – Losi/nVision – 358
7. Martin Bayer – Losi/nVision – 358
8. Simo Ahoniemi – Mugen/Ninja – 356
9. Elliot Boots – Durango/RB – 353
10.Teemu Leino – Xray/LRP – 352
11.Carsten Keller – Losi/nVision – 352
12.Daniel Reckward – Mugen/RB – 347
13.Edouard Hugon – Mugen/Alpha – 345
14.Stefan Byesse – Mugen/RB – 343
15.Ignacio Candel – Mugen/S-Workz – 342
16.David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 340

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