May 29, 2016

Volker stretches advantage at RROC with 5th win

LRSat-Volker

Having assumed the lead at the Reedy Race of Champions this morning from overnight leader & defending champion Marc Rheinard, Ronald Volker is starting to stretch his advantage with the Yokomo driver making it three wins from three races today at Tamiya Raceway.  With himself and Rheinard claiming a win a piece in the second race of the day maintaining the single point separation, Round 7 would see the duo draw to run in the same race.  Starting from 3rd on the grid with Rheinard at the back, Volker would survive contact with his team-mate Loic Jasmin, and a call from the referee for a Stop & Go, to win.  While a good race from Rheinard would see him snatch 2nd from Ryan Cavalieri on the final dash to the finish line, the result leaves Volker with a two point lead as they again start in the same race in similar grid positions for the 8th of 12, & final race of the day.  Very much a battle of the Germans this year, the round would see fellow countryman Christopher Krapp add a third win ahead of Tamiya team-mate Akio Sobue to move him into a provisional overall podium placing.  Kicking off the round, Race 1 would be the most exciting encounter as a trio of Team Associated drivers battled for their first win of the 19th running of the Reedy Race.  In the end Juho Levanen would take the win after Rick Hohwart spun but that set up another great battle for second as the Reedy electronics frontman tried to get passed his team driver Keven Hebert.

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‘That was a tough one’ was how Volker described the race, adding there were ‘a lot of top guys in the race not only Marc’.  He continued, ‘I’m definitely glad to get the win.  Loic hit the curbing on the inside and we made contact.  The sent my car for moment into the air and I was just praying it would land on four wheels.  I somehow got away with’.  Having survived the incident Volker would then find himself being called for a Stop & Go for his involvement in the incident but telling the referee it was not his fault the penalty was dropped as Jasmin pointed out he got out of shape and the contact was not Volker’s fault.  Commenting on the Stop & Go call, Volker said it was a ‘strange situation’ but added ‘it was good the referee apologised afterwards’ for the mistaken call.

LRSat-RheinardCar

A race that was always going to be a tough challenge, Rheinard said, ‘the luck was not in my favour that time.  Nobody crashed so I had a lot of traffic to deal with and by the time I got through, Ronald was already gone’.  Posting the fastest lap of the round, the Tamiya driver said his TRF419X was good adding ‘this time I could I could match him (Volker)’.  Describing his last lap overtake on Cavalieri a ‘good pass’, the Reedy Race’s most successful driver said, ‘I think its almost over as he (Volker) now has two more wins and for the next one he starts 1st and I start 6th’.

LRSat-Krapp

Reacting to his race, Krapp said, ‘I’m happy to get the win as the last race was really shitty as I had problems with other drivers’.  Starting fifth, he would take the lead on lap 5 after an error by pole starter & early leader Thomas Pumpler.  Once in front he was untroubled adding that his Orion powered TRF419X was ‘really good’.  Describing the car as ‘dialled in now’, he added ‘I just need luck’.  Sobue would finish over 5-seconds back but it was still a good result for the Japanese driver as he started from the back row.

LRSat-JuhoRick

‘It was a good battle with Rick until he spun out, after that it was a boring race for me’, was how Levanen summed up the race.  The Finnish driver continued, ‘I had pretty bad luck yesterday so it is nice to get a win.  It hasn’t been my greatest Reedy Race so far’.  Commenting on his TC7 around the small Tamiya Raceway track, he said ‘it is getting better’ and starting the day’s final race from pole he added ‘hopefully I can double my number of wins’.   With a DNF in the days opening race and a P2 in the second, P2 was a boost for Hebert, the Canadian again lining up in the same race as his team-mate for Round 8.

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