Volker takes Q1 at DHI Cup
Ronald Volker had a strong opening day at the DHI Cup, the Yokomo driver taking taking the opening round of qualifying as he chases at 7th win at the Danish Classic. Having set the pace in practice behind Volker it was again Alexander Hagberg who was the main challenger, the Xray driver 7/10ths of a second off at the end of the 5-minutes. Runner-up to Volker in 2014, Awesomatix charge Viljami Kutvonen would complete the Top 3 his deficit to Hagberg just 16/100ths of a second. While only the Top 3 managed 24 lap runs, best of the those on 23-lap was reigning Super Stock champion Marek Cerny, the Pro Stock ace surprising himself with his performance ahead of Meen Vejrak and former Mod Champion Adrian Berntsen.
‘It is always nice to start an event with a TQ run in the first qualifier’ was Volker’s reaction to a strong first day in Odense. Describing it as ‘pretty close’ between him Hagberg and Viljami, the German said there was definitely room for improvement for tomorrow. Happy with his LRP powered BD7 2016 at the beginning of the run when he said it ‘felt easy to drive’ he said ‘it went a little loose later on’ and as a result they may change tyre prep in the morning for the second of the four qualifiers.
Hagberg said his T4 started off a bit slow and he lost time in the first minute. With the car’s pace then picking up he said he was able to pull back a little time only to lose it again over the last minute. With his times from the middle of the heat showing ‘the car is on pace’, he said they will try a different tyre prep combined with some small set-up changes for Q3 to try to get the car to work more consistent over the duration of the qualifier.
Setting the fastest lap of the opening qualifier Viljami said his A800 was much better after a change to his tyre prep. Feeling he drove the first minute ‘too careful’ which he said cost him in the region of half to 1-second he said ‘for sure the car is getting better’ and he is confident of being in the mix tomorrow. Set to run a slightly harder diff in Q2, the Finn said ‘I think with this I will have pace to match the others’.
Europe’s top Pro-Stock driver, holding the ETS title for the last three seasons, Cerny was said his T4 was ‘super easy to drive’ after they made an improvement to the steering after practice. Admitting to being a touch nervous, the Czech driver said this led to him touching the curbing, confident he can reduce the mistakes he said things are looking positive for tomorrow.
Another who felt nerves effected his driving was DHI Cup debutant Vejrak. The Yokomo driver said as a result of a nervous start he made a few mistakes. While improving his BD7 from practice after discovering his springs choice was too hard, the Thai ace said the car now has a little understeer which is something they need to get sorted for Q2.
‘I made too many mistakes’ was Berntsen’s reaction to his P6 in Q1. The star driver at new manufacturer Gizmo, the Norwegian said his car was loose at the start as a result of starting offline and picking up dirt on his tyres. Once the tyres got traction he said the GZ1 was ‘super good’ and with the ‘pace there’ he ‘just need(s) to drive a clean race’. Behind Berntsen, former winner Viktor Wilck would take his Serpent to the 7th fastest time ahead of young Japanese Yokomo protege Naoki Akiyama.
In the Super Stock class it was Kyosho’s Tim Benson who continued to lead the way with the top seed taking Q1 from Denmark’s Mike Gosvig. Better know for his 1:8 Onroad exploits Serpent’s Merlin Depta completed the Top 3 ahead of Cerny.
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