Ronnefalk is Euros Top Qualifier
Defending Champion David Ronnefalk is Top Qualifier at the 1:8 Offroad European Championships. The Kyosho driver claimed the honour with a third convincing TQ run in the penultimate round of qualifying at the Sand am Main event in Germany this morning. Again the only driver to run a 27-second lap time, the Swede took the round 3.1-seconds up on Mugen’s Robert Batlle with Koysho team-mate Elliott Boots backing up his Q3 performance with another Top 3 time.
Having taken the overall TQ on the way to his first European Championship title in France last year, Darren Bloomfield also Top Qualifier when he took his first title a year earlier in Austria, Ronnefalk was pleased to wrap up qualifying with one round to go. Full of confidence in the performance of his Orion powered MP9, the 18-year-old said he just went into his heat aiming for a clean run as he knew the car had the pace to get the job done. Having left his car unchanged throughout qualifying including sticking with AKA’s Catapult tyre he said with qualifying decided he could now change his focus to tyre options for the final which he was surprised to find is listed as being 1-hour long, the European Championship traditionally decided over a 45-minute encounter. Asked about his advantage in qualifying, he said ‘as always come the final the same guys will have found some extra pace’ and he is expecting a ‘tight race’.
Having qualified only 5th when he won his second European title here in Sand am Main, Robet Batlle is not concerned by Ronnefalk’s distinct speed advantage. The Mugen driver is focused on working on his set-up for the finals adding that in Q4 they further improved his MBX7 with the World Champion describing it as ‘so comfortable’ to drive. For Q5 he will make some minor tweaks to the set-up which he said is already ‘very good for a final’ with him seeking just a little more rotation in the tracks 180 degree corners.
Describing the traffic as an ‘absolute nightmare’, Boots said other than that it was a good run. Having struggled in the opening two qualifiers, mainly due to his style of driving, he said having backed it off a little together with little improvements to his Reds Racing powered MP9 he feels he is now ‘there or there abouts’ in terms of overall pace. Switching from Pro-Line’s Blockade to Suburb tyre in X2 compound for Q4 he said the change worked well and he will continue with everything as is for his final heat. With only two good rounds to his credit the British driver is conscious that he needs another strong round so cant afford to take many risks.
Setting the fourth fastest time Teemu Leino described Q4 as a good tyre test. Running a used set of HB Megabyte tyres on his Novarossi powered D812 he said it felt ‘pretty good’ highlighting that the run was his quickest of the event. Having done little with the set-up on his buggy throughout both practice & qualifying, the Finn said the buggy is already good enough for a final and so for his last heat he will just continue his tyre testing.
‘I put on the right set of tyres’, that was how Ari Heinonen described his sudden form. Posting the 5th fastest time, the Finn made the switch from soft to medium soft compound Beta Freeride tyres which he said gave his Alpha powered Kyosho a lot more stability. Planning a small camber adjustment for his final heat he said with the buggy now more comfortable to drive he will also push a bit harder.
Top Qualifier the first time the track held the Euros in 2011, Jerome Aigoin described his Kyosho as ‘much better’ as he got his first Top 12 run with 6th for the round. The French National Champion completely copied the set-up of Kyosho/AKA team-mate Ronnefalk describing his Novarossi powered example of the MP9 as now being ‘so easy & fast’ to drive. With no intentions of changing anything for Q5, his focus is on repeating the result so as to give him the best possible starting position in the Semis after some poor earlier qualifiers.
Jerome’s twin brother Yannick Aigoin would go seventh fastest. The 2-time former champion said the run was ‘OK’ as while his prototype Team Associated was good he had to drive safe due to two bad rounds yesterday. A ‘stupid’ mistake in Q1 and the loss of a shock pin in Q3, he said while he has a good car with such problems things can quickly become a ‘critical situation’ leaving him with no option but avoid any risks and drive safe today. Running Diamond Back tyres he said having watched fellow Pro-Line drivers enjoy good Q4 runs on Suburb’s he will switch to them for his final heat.
Better known for his electric offroad racing exploits, racing for Team Yokomo, Mugen’s Lee Martin enjoyed his first Top 10 run of the qualifying. Setting the 8th fastest time, the British driver said he his MBX7 has been good but he just keeps making ‘stupid mistakes’ finding the shouting on the driver stand a big distraction to his concentration. Having done a lot of work with shocks over qualifying and reverting to a standard Mugen bodyshell they have got the buggy now very balanced. Having run Pro-Line’s LockDown tyre, like Yannick Aigoin he said having seen some good runs on Suburbs he will switch to them for the last qualifier. Behind Martin, German’s Carsten Keller and 2011 Podium finisher Daniel Reckward, now racing an RB buggy, completed the Top 10.
Round 4 Qualifying Top 12
1. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 11/5:11.729
2. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:14.834
3. Elliott Boots – Kyosho/Reds Racing – 11/5:16.160
4. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 11/5:16.574
5. Ari Heinonen – Kyosho/Alpha – 11/5:18.986
6. Jerome Aigoin – Kyosho/Novarossi – 11/5:18.999
7. Yannick Aigoin – Associated/Ultimate – 11/5:20.924
8. Lee Martin – Mugen/Beat – 11/5:21.029
9. Carsten Keller – Kysoho/Bullitt – 11/5:22.5:22.562
10.Daniel Reckward – RB/RB – 11/5:22.651
11.Fabrizio Teghesi – Kyosho/OS Speed – 11/5:22.876
12.Darren Bloomfield – Agama/Bullitt – 11/5:22.920
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