Phend finally hits the top in Q4 Down Under

Having started out qualifying day at the IFMAR 1:10 4WD Offroad World Championships in Sydney with a P3, but then having two rough rounds, Dakotah Phend finally hit the top in Q4 heading a 1-2 for Xray as David Ronnefalk also ended the day with his best run.  With Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup getting his second TQ run of the day in the previous round, Q4 would see the Dane DNF, his car coming to a halt 3-laps in.  While Kaerup didn’t have an explanation for the car stopping, Salton Dong from his electronics sponsor Hobbywing revealed afterwards that their data from car led them to believe it was a radio issue as a result of lost signal.  Overall it was a tough round for Associated after they topped the opening three qualifier.  Defending World Champion Davide Ongaro TQ’d Q2, but the Italian wouldn’t have a clean run and ended up 9th.  Kouki Kato would be their fastest driver in P7.  Behind Xray it would be Schumacher who were the next best in a repeat of Q3 when they finally got themselves somewhat into the mix.  Orlowski, who went to the top of the timing screens for most of the run, would complete the Top 3 ahead of Broc Champlin and Daniel Kobbevik.  Putting in the most consistent performance of the day Burak Kilic capped of a strong day with P6, his Mugen Seiki prototype never outside the Top 6 today having opening with a P2 run in Q1.

Reacting to his TQ run Phend said, ‘Finally I had a clean run.  The previous run in Q3 I had a good run going and just cased the step up a little bit and flipped, unfortunately that would have been a Top 3 run but it is what it is so I have two solid points now and I need to try figure out how to get a good point tomorrow.’  On the fifth & final qualifier he said,  ‘We will be at a little bit of a disadvantage with track conditions but we put ourselves in that position.’  On his car, the American said, ‘I made some changes to the car and it was the most comfortable I’ve been and I felt comfortable with the pace.  We’ll try to finish out strong and get a decent starting position.’

Ronnefalk was relieved after his P2 performance.  The Swede said, ‘It was very good.  The run before I changed a couple of things to make it steer a little bit more because what I saw in 2WD was the track got a bit polished when the sun was out but now it was like opposite, the track was really grippy out there and I struggled with the car being too aggressive in Q3.  It was one to throw out lets say.’  He continued, ‘I went back for the last one to what I had in Q2 because I knew the track was going to be faster and grippy without the sun being down.  I had a slow first lap because I was scared of making the same thing I did in Q3 so I was really taking it slow and that cost me like a second and I was just 2/10ths back, I mean it is easy to say afterwards, but I am just happy to get the points and not have to go into the last round needing points to make something out of it.  This should lock me in for Top 4 I think so we’ll see what happens in the last one.’  On that he added, ‘We are going to have the worst track cause it is the opposite running order so maybe you are going to see someone from the B heat in the mix, that’s why it was important for me to get point now.  A good team effort there with me and Dakotah 1-2 on the last lap.’

Orlowski described his effort as ‘OK’, continuing, ‘I was leading all the way until the last lap, it was close.’  He continued, ‘the only positive is that we’re getting closer with the car for my driving style but I’m very far behind on the points and I need a magically Q5 to line up somewhere on the grid to have a chance.’  Saying he was ‘disappointed with my driving so far’, asked what it was he was struggling with in his driving style, the reigning 1:12 World Champion explained, ‘I’m way too smooth.  Here you you need to drift around the corners and whenever my car goes sideways I let off and try and find the grip.  I’m trying to drive it like a touring car but its not the way around this track.’

Backing up his break through Q3 with another P4 in Round 4, Champlin said, ‘it was pretty good for the most part, unfortunately I got caught up with lappers at the end and that honestly probably cost me the TQ which changes the dynamic of everything.  I am going to have to TQ the last round if I want to start inside the Top 4.’  On his buggy the American said, ‘My car is awesome to be honest with you.  I am going to try an alloy steering part to get a little more steering and let it shred in the warm-up and the final qualifier when it’ll be wet.’  Asked if Q5 would be a do or die drive the new 2WD World Champion replied, ‘yes, it was the same in 2WD.’

‘No progress this time with what I did but at least I’m locked into the main even though that’s not what I am aiming for’, that was how Kobbevik summed up Q4 having posted a Top 3 in the previous round.  With Q5 an opportunity to better his counting scores, the 19-year-old said, ‘I will try to do some major changes and look at other cars in the team and look at my own car because it has been busy today so just make sure everything is ok after all the wrenching.’   Expecting ‘lower grip for sure’, he said ‘we are also be the first cars on the track, if they do 3-minute practice for sure it will be super low grip in the first one.’

Complimenting Kilic on a solid day, the 21-year-old replied, ‘It was a really good day and really consistent.  I have never been out of the Top 6 all day.’  Despite his positive day, the Turkish driver was a little frustrated with his Q4 saying, ‘the last one there was so much traffic and the referee did not say anything so me and Broc were stuck there and lost, I think for me, a Top 4 run.’  He continued, ‘but we are in the final.  I’m super happy with the new car and my electronics are just on fire here.’  Asked about his set-up he said, ‘I didn’t change anything on the car at all, I just drove it.’  With one more qualifier to go he said, ‘tomorrow we will try to make another Top 3 run to start more in front but with the new car already in the A-Main it’s a great result here.’

Kaerup takes opening 4WD qualifier ahead of Kilic

Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup has TQ’d the opening round of 4WD qualifying at the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships, the 2WD Top Qualifier fastest from the Mugen Seiki prototype of a very focused Burak Kilic.  As things hot up both on and off the track in Australia, running in the second fastest heat group it was Kilic who laid down the benchmark for the top seeded heat as they took to the track in the hot midday conditions.  With reigning World Champion Davide Ongaro leading them out, initially it was Xray’s Dakotah Phend who set the pace before Kaerup went to the top with his team-mate Ongaro holding P2.  While Kaerup set the fastest lap while in the process of executing a clean run, we would see mistakes from both Phend and Ongaro.  With a roll over, Phend eventually got P3 2/10ths of a second off Kilic.  Also with a roll over, Ongaro would finish P5 just 0.002 off the Xray of David Ronnefalk.  The round would finish with 3 Xray drivers in the Top 6 however young Polish talent Bartek Zalewski would be DQ’d in post race tech for an unmarked battery promoting Schumacher’s Daniele Kobbevik to 6th.

‘The car was pretty good, the conditions out there are pretty intense’, that was how Kaerup summed up Q1.  The 17-year-old continued, ‘I caught Davide and kind of followed him and then when he crashed I was able to go on.’  He continued, ‘the track is pretty slick now, it’s getting more and more dry.  I don’t know if I am going to change (set-up) for the track conditions but the temperature is quite high today compared to all the other days so maybe we will chase that a bit but I am looking forward to the next run.’

Very much in game face mode today, Kilic wasn’t saying a whole lot after his run.  The Turkish racer said, ‘It was really good my car and my electronic worked great.  I was maybe not fastest but I was just trying not to make mistakes and that was the goal.’  The 21-year-old continued, ‘for sure Q2 we try to go faster and for sure try without mistakes but it’s really difficult to go without (mistakes).’  In terms of car set-up on his new Mugen he said, ‘we will stay with everything like yesterday, after the last practice it was really decent, so I will just focus on my driving and clean runs.’

Phend described his opening qualifier as ‘A solid run’, adding, ‘I feel like my race pace is really good, I just had a bobble there.  I got on the gas a little too hard and washed out.  I’m happy with a Top 3 for the first one especially with the mistake so we’ll clean it up and try get a solid point for Q2.’  Regarding car changes for the second round, the reigning multiple ROAR National Champion said, ‘we’ll maybe make a small change to the rear end but we’ll talk with the team and figure out if we can get a little more stability out of it but I think we are pretty close.’

Reacting to his first qualifying effort, Ronnefalk said, ‘I’m pleased with that cause I was struggling a little bit with the rear end being loose on power a lot more that run than the run before.  I really had to be super careful on the exits and that required full focus for the 5-minutes.’  The European Champion added, ‘I wasn’t really going fast lap time wise but I kept it on the four wheels and in the end that made fourth.  I made a small change for that one but I also think the track is different now, drying out all the time throughout the day.  I will probably go back to what I had yesterday and go again in Q2.’

Ongaro was content with his car in Q1 saying, ‘It was good but maybe the car was too soft on the rear.’  The Italian continued, ‘I was a bit nervous on the first laps so I slowed down a bit but actually it was good.’  Asked about his roll over during the run, he said, ‘yeah a 28.9 lap so I lost almost 3-seconds.  I just landed short on the left side double.’

Deja vu as Kaerup tops 4WD Seeding in Sydney

The opening day of 4WD action has ended at the 1:10 Offroad World Championships and in a somewhat deja vu outcome of what we witness in 2WD in Australia on Monday, it was Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup who concluded proceedings by topping seeding.  While the Dane ended the day fastest, unlike 2WD he didn’t have it completely to himself in practice.  After the opening two free practice rounds it was the defending World Champion Davide Ongaro who sat at the top of the times before two more rounds promoted Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik to pace setter on the reversed Hills RC Off Road track layout.  Seeding would open with Kobbevik carrying his form as he went fastest in CP1 ahead of the Xray of American Brennan Schimmel, the Slovakian manufacturer very much in the hunt after their 2WD woes.  With Kobbevik unable to improve on his best 3-laps in the second seeding round, Kaerup, who was only 6th after the first one, would go a tenth quicker than Kobbevik to goe into qualifying tomorrow as the Top Seed.  With Kobbevik carrying the number no.2 for qualifying, it would be Dakotah Phend who ended up being closest to the Scandinavian duo, the American 3/10ths of a second off the pace.  Also bettering his time in CP2, David Ronnefalk set the fourth fastest time with Schimmel’s CP1 time giving him P5, Xray looking strong with 3 cars in the Top 5.  Failing to make the Top 10 in any of the four free practice rounds, Michal Orlowski ended the day with a run that sees the Schumacher driver complete the Top 6 ahead of Ongaro while his team-mate & newly crowned 2WD World Champion Broc Champlin finds himself in the second fastest heat.  As history shows however this isn’t such a bad thing, the American having also started out in the second fastest qualifying group in 2WD.

Reacting after the run that gave the 17-year-old the Top Seed status, Kaerup said, ‘the car is pretty fast and way more comfortable this time.  I got some good laps under my belt and a good 5-minute run but we are still looking to find more comfortability in the car and speed.  We are going to try some stuff for tomorrow and then it’s straight to qualifying.’  With a round of practice opening qualifying day, the run determining how drivers will roll out for the first of the five scheduled rounds of qualifying, asked where he felt he was at with his program, Kaerup replied, ‘We are definitely a lot closer than earlier but there is still some overall consistency that is needed to be gotten on the top.’

Summing up his seeding effort, Kobbevik said, ‘I was running in a new set of tyres in the second one so the car was understeering but I tried to push it around, run them in, and get a good 5-minutes even with my mistake after the triple.’  He continued, ‘The car is good, but maybe we will try some small stuff in the morning and go from there.  Being overall Top 3 all the time and improving the car every run we are happy with that.’  Asked if the experience of 2WD and knowing how the track changes over the day would help in terms of making the right set-up changes for the conditions, the 19-year-old said, ‘I think it’s a bit similar but the first qualifier tomorrow will be high grip so it should be quite close set-up wise but it depends if they water the track much tonight how it will be in the morning.  Even though the morning practice is going to be a bit muddy I want to try something to find more speed for sure.’

A driver who is clearly looking in much higher spirts than earlier in the week, on his Top 3 seeding Phend said, ‘I think seeding went well.’  He xontinued, ‘The first run I just wanted to have a clean 5-minute run.  I did that and was consistent and had decent pace and then this next one I had a couple of small mistakes but picked a little bit of speed and it felt like the car was more into the track.’  Looking to Day 2 of the 4WD action the ROAR National Champion said, ‘we will make a couple of small changes for tomorrow but I feel like we’re pretty close to where we need to be and we are just going to be making changes depending on the track condition at what time we run.’

Winner of the European 4WD Championship title at the start of August, Ronnefalk said, ‘The seeding rounds have been pretty solid.  I think the speed has been there and we have just been trying a few thinks to decide for tomorrow what we want to do in terms of shock package and a couple of things on the rear end but I think that we figure it out now in the last one.  I felt I had a bit more stability in the rear which I was looking for so I am not going to go crazy and change too much for tomorrow.  I will keep it somewhat close to this and see how the conditions are.’  With seeding based on 3-consecutive laps asked his feeling on his 5-minute pace, the Swede said, ‘I think the 5-minutes are also good, I was pushing a little hard there and had two crashes but when I am driving like I should be I feel like the balance of the car is good and I am able to be pretty consistent over the 5-minute run.  The first one was a little bit better if I look at my 5-minute pace but obviously the second one I was a little bit faster on laps.’  He added, ‘I have also being breaking in tyres so I have to decide whether I want to go fresher like a high pin or small pin tomorrow.  I saw some of the guys in the last heat were pretty low on the thread in the centre of the tyre so I think that is what you want when the track is at least dry then we will have to decide whether we want to go like that also for the damp conditions in the morning, that is something for us to discuss tonight.’

The current US 2WD National Champion, Schimmel said, ‘The car is working a lot better obviously, the team has been working really well trying a lot of stuff out and all us kind of working in different avenues trying to find the best thing and then kind of converge on one.  I think it is going to be good for tomorrow.’  Asked what the main changes he made over the day were to improve his buggy, the 23-year-old said, ‘Really just messing with suspension and I think everyone here is.  Just trying to add a little more rear grip, the track is kind of polished over a little bit with the 4WDs.  I think everyone is complaining about that, so just trying to add a balance between grip and steering is really the biggest thing.’  Asked about his 5-minute consistency, he replied, ‘I am going to go back to what I was running in the first round of seeding and I think it will be OK.’

Aakws about his seeding runs, Ongaro replied, ‘Like I said before we are not changing much on the car but definitely we made a big improvement so I tried to push in this one (CP2) and I feel like if I push I can find a good lap and if I stay with my rhythm I can drive faster without crashing so we have a good qualifying car.’  The Italian added, ‘Tomorrow we will try another body and see which one I prefer.  I had planned to try the S15 in seeding but kept the F2 because we changed the car and we wanted see the difference with the car and the same body.’

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