Ronnefalk gets his revenge
Having come so close to winning his first European title last year in Austria, today in France Kyosho’s David Ronnefalk got his revenge, the Swede winning a thrilling final at the Reims track ahead of Xray’s Renaud Savoya despite the former 3-time champion being willed on by the huge home crowd who brought great atmosphere to the 33rd running of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships. The podium at the Reims track was completed by Savoya’s team-mate Martin Bayer, the Czech ace clearly delighted with the result.
Before the race even started there was drama in the warm-up as the No.2 Joern Neumann called for a 10-minute delay after a problem with his receiver battery lead. This would put the factory Durango to the back of the 12 car grid for the start but worse was to come for the German as he worked his way up through the field with engine problems ending his 2013 Euros at the 12-minute mark. Last year’s champion Darren Bloomfield would also retire, his race coming to an end at 18-minutes. The TLR driver said his 8ight 3.0 started to lose drive around 8-minutes into the final and got gradually worse with his engine eventually stopping on track due to the problem, ending his title defense as he retired the buggy.
Having declared at the start of the week here in France that he was out for revenge after the 2012 Championship, a slightly speechless Ronnefalk summed up the win as ‘good revenge’. The 17-year-old, who burst onto the scene in 2009 when he made his debut at these Championships as the European B Champion, said it ‘doesn’t get much closer than this’ adding that he really enjoyed his battle with Savoya. Happy with his start from pole position he said everything was going perfectly until the out-lap of his first pit stop when he make three mistakes which dropped him back to 5th. A driver who has matured greatly since last year, he said following the bad lap he told himself it was a long race and if he stayed calm and just did what he had done all week everything would be fine.
This approach paid dividends as he worked his way to the front eventually moving back into the lead at the mid point as he jumped over Savoya’s No.7 Xray. 2-minutes later however another mistake allowed Savoya back to the front but Ronnefalk never lost his nerve staying calm throughout to go back to the front. A roll on the penultimate lap fired back up the lively & vocal crowd as their man Savoya closed right in but having come so close last year a determined Ronnefalk put in the lap of his career. Commenting afterwards on the heart stopping moment for his pitcrew Pierre Ronnefalk and Adrien Bertin, he said he didn’t know what he did to put the MP9 on its roof but after some rapid marshaling to put it back on it wheels he said he knew if he could just keep it on its wheel for one more lap he had the pace to keep Savoya at bay. A long time Kyosho/Orion/AKA driver Ronnefalk paid tribute to all his sponsors for the support adding that today was a big day for his family who have also been great support including his mother & sister who were following the race back home in Sweden. Asked how he planned to celebrate he said that will have to wait as tomorrow he flies directly from Paris to Madrid for the electric Offroad European Championship adding that he hopes he can keep the momentum going next week.
Savoya was ‘pretty happy’ with his race adding that when he compares his package to that of Ronnefalk who has had equipment continuity for the past number of seasons it was a very encouraging result for him and the Xray team. Having changed tyre brand last season to Sweep, then engine this season to Orion and to come to the event with a new chassis he said it shows the future potential is huge. Complimenting Ronnefalk’s performance throughout the week saying the win was well deserved, he said while they improved the car a lot from the semi Final by running a longer wheel base and stiffer rear shocks, his prototype XB9 was still squatting a little too much in the final. Asked about the crowd he said while some might have found them a distraction he was spurred on by their cheering and he relished the ‘great atmosphere’ adding that the host club did a great job.
‘Amazing result’ was how Bayer summed up his race. The former Large Scale European Touring Car Champion was delighted at being so competitive against all the potential winners throughout the race. Ruing a few mistakes early in the race he said his LRP powered prototype XB9, the main feature of which is a new front end and rear geometry, was ‘brilliant’ and really consistent to drive allowing him to catch back up to Savoya until a mistake 4-minutes from the finish. One of the many drivers who have just one day to turn everything around for the electric offroad Euros, just how much the result meant to Bayer, who has previously finished on the podium with TLR, was still very clear as he departed the track still smiling from ear to ear.
Missing out on the podium by just under 10-seconds, Agama’s Jerome Sartel had mixed feelings about the race. After a flame out on the grid which left him a distant last at the end of the opening lap, the Frenchman said he was happy to prove how competitive the buggy is but at the same time he was disappointed to miss out on making the podium something he said would definitely been possible had he not had his problems at the start.
Having taken over the race lead at the 7:30 mark when Ronnefalk had his bad out-lap, Robert Batlle would fall down the order to finish fifth just ahead of his Mugen team-mate Lee Martin, the pair separated by just 3/10th of a second. His first European Championships since becoming World Champion, the Spaniard said that he was never a serious contender in the final as they struggled for grip due to a combination of tyre choice and chassis set-up. While he was able to post fast lap times he said the consistency wasn’t there for a 45-minute race and it was a disappointing performance.
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