Coelho retains Asia Touring Car title with dominant finals display

Infinity’s Bruno Coelho has retained his Asia Touring Car Championship title with a dominant display in the finals in Foshan, China.  With this year’s FEMCA organised race attracting a stacked field due to the Hongyu GDC track hosting the World Championship next April, while qualifying produced TQ runs from three different drivers, in the finals the reigning World Champion was untouchable.  His closest challenge would come from Awesomatix’s Lucas Urbain and while the French driver was closer in A2 he never really put Coelho’s title under threat.   Feeling his set-up change for A2 wasn’t the right one, Coelho would run A3 winning that with the first & only 20-lap run of the weekend.  While Urbain would crash out in A3, Naoto Matsukura fending off Michal Orlowski for P2, he would hold on for second overall while Orlowski completed the podium.  Ryosuke Yamamoto and Pekko Iivonen completed the Top 5 ahead of Matsukura and Akio Sobue.  In 13.5 Stock, it was also the Top Qualifier Shin Sawada who took the win.  After a bad start to the finals spinning on lap 1, the Xray driver won A2 & 3 from team-mate Adam Izsay.  Unfortunately the delayed time schedule meant A1 winner Enrico Jung had to leave for his flight back to Germany so it was Jan Ratheisky who completed the podium.

Taking title with his A2 win on that final Coelho said, ‘Again we test something on the car and it didn’t go the direction we wanted but the conditions changed the track was along time stopped so we don’t really know the conditions but we always compare ourselves to our competitors and on A1 I had more pace and I was able to pull away and control the race.  In this one I was not really able to pull away.  Lucas was always there and I could pull away from him which meant the change we did on the car was not the right direction so I am going to drive A3 so we can improve the car.  It is the only chance we have to compare with our competitors in the same condition so I am going to drive again and try to work on the car to be on the right direction.’  They would find that right direction with him once again the only driver to break into 15-second lap times and record 20-laps.

Reacting to his result, Urbain said, ‘overall pretty happy with P2 all things considered, obviously winning would be better but Bruno was the strongest this weekend.’   On each final he said, ‘A2 went pretty well.  I made a small set-up change on the car and my mechanic Ollie Bultynck had a brilliant idea for tyre prep, which he didn’t even tell me, but the car off the line was much better than before and I could stay with Bruno initially but Naoto went flying and distracted me and I had a bobble.  I pushed hard and could close the gap quite a bit so happy with that.’  On A3 he explained, ‘we went even further in A3 with the tyre prep thing and it was too much.  It was pretty bad off the line so I just need to analyse that but a silly mistake on my end but at least it did not effect the result.’   On lap 4 he would flip his car on the curb and hitting board he broke ending his race.  He concluded, ‘Overall satisfied, and now onwards for a full week of testing so we can find even more.’

Reacting to his 3rd place, starting the finals from 6th on the grid, Orlowski said, ‘It’s OK.  The pace was good, I just tried to move my up and I had some fun.  I tried to race clean and not take too many risk.’  The reigning 1:12 World Champion, who won the 1:12 Asia Championship at Hongyu GDC’s enclosed carpet track last weekend, added, ‘I am happy with the car.  It is hard to know exactly who pace was what because we were racing in the final but definitely the guys around me I was quicker than them.  Bruno was obviously really quick but my pace towards the end of the run was always very very good so I’m happy.’  He continued, ‘Maybe it is better to keep things under cover a bit more with not the best result here but we have 5 more days (here) and a lot of idea on things to test so there is a lot more to come and the Worlds will be very unique and special.’

Coelho cruises to A1 win at Asia Touring Car Championship

Bruno Coelho cruised to victory in the opening A-Main of the Asia Touring Car Championship, the Infinity driver ending up with a one & a half second advantage over Lucas Urbain who came under pressure from a hard charging Michal Orlowski.  As the Top Qualifier, Coelho would break clear of the field over the opening lap of the large Hongyu GDC track, helped by Urbain having to battle his own Awesomatix as it got out of shape.  Starting from 3rd, Naoto Matsukura also had to fight with his car first allowing 6th place starter Orlowski through for 3rd before a second off, in which he got stuck in the track’s infield, dropped the Japanese driver to last.  Schumacher’s Pekko Iivonen was the benefactor finishing P4 ahead of Infinity’s Ryosuke Yamamoto.  In the opening 13.5T Stock A-Main, it was the prototype ARC of Enrico Jung who took the win ending Xray’s qualification domination.  Having secured the TQ, Shin Sawada would, after a jump start, spin out on the opening lap allowing Xray team-mate Jan Ratheisky go to the front.  Passed by Jung, he soon found himself back in front as Jung got crossed up but it wasn’t for long as the 3rd place qualifier again got to the front where he would stay to the end to win comfortably by 2.8 seconds from Ratheisky and Martus Benetin.

The only driver to break into the 15-second lap times, reacting to his A1 win, Coelho said, ‘The car improved for sure.  I was a bit afraid for the conditions because we had similar conditions the first qualifier (in which he struggled for rear grip) but we made the right choice (on set-up) learning from the first qualifier.’  He continued, ‘We went on the right direction, the car was pretty good, pretty solid, easy to drive and fast which is what we want in these conditions.’  Racing under the track lights he added, ‘It is very difficult to see the car, the car looks like it is going 10 times faster than during the day but yeah everything was pretty good with the car.’  Asked about changes for A2, the World Champion said, ‘we are always testing something new, at the end of the day it is the FEMCA race but it also a warm-up race for the Worlds so we have to test everything in all conditions and see what happens.  Of course I want the result but I want more the outcome of what we are doing on the car to have the knowledge for the future.’

‘Not too good’ was Urbain response on how A1 was for him.  The Awesomatix driver explained, ‘I struggled to adapt to my car.  I had a hard time trying to get a good reign on it.  It tried to kill me on lap 1 with a good old snappy snap.  So then I drove carefully and then Bruno opened a gap and Michal was catching so I tried to push and then it turned out I had massive understeer so I was totally wrong with how it felt initially.’  Looking to A2, he said, ‘I am not too sure what to do right now but I will probably adapt the tyre prep slightly for the opening laps and probably a mechanical set-up change  somewhere to recover a bit of steering towards the end.’

Asked where he pulled out his A1 performance from, Orlowski said, ‘We had good pace today.  Q3 I was really fast but Hayato was in front of me when his speedo shut down on the first lap and I tried to avoid it and went into the dust and started doing donuts but my pace was really good after that.’  The Polish driver added, ‘The pace has been good just not a good starting position.  We still have many days to test and I am not to bother about the result (of this race).’

Coelho ‘Top Qualifier’ in China with Q3 TQ run

Infinity’s Bruno Coelho is the Top Qualifier at the Asia Touring Car Championship in China, the race’s defending Champion securing pole position when he topped the third & final qualifier.  The Top Seed going into qualifying on Friday, Coelho would become the third different driver to top the timings at the Hongyu GDC track taking the final round ahead of Q2 winner Lucas Urbain but with his TQ run time faster on the improving track conditions it was the Portuguese driver who is the Top Qualifier.  Setting the fastest time of all qualifying on Friday night, before the rain washed out Saturday’s action, Naoto Matsukura would get a 3 for the final round to secure third on the grid ahead of Axon’s Akio Sobue and Infinity’s Ryosuke Yamamoto.  Michal Orlowski completes the Top 6 grid line-up after the Schumacher driver needed marshalling in the final qualifier.  In Stock, it was Xray domination of proceedings with their drivers topping all three rounds.  Q1 would go to Shin Sawada, Q2 Adam Izsay, and Q3 Jan Ratheisky but overall it is Sawada who takes the overall TQ ahead of Ratheisky, with the ARC prototype of Enrico Jung completing the Top 3 ahead of Izsay.

Enjoying a customary celebration coffee after his TQ, on his Q3 performance Coelho said, ‘It was much better.  We improved the car a little bit.’  He continued, ‘Still it was very close to Lucas.  He did a small bobble near the end and I was able to catch him.  For sure the car was better than before.  We want to make baby steps from now on because the first qualifier was pretty tough, but I think we are on the right direction and for sure we are going to change something for the finals to make it a little bit faster.’   On the track conditions and the difference between Q2 & 3, he said, ‘for sure the track now is better.  It was less windy so it was more predictable because before it was very annoying to drive.  This is also better for the fights and not all about the luck of the wind or something.’

‘Not quick enough’, was Urbain’s reaction to the final qualifier.  Ending up 9/10th of a second off Coelho, he continued, ‘Bruno as always has been very fast off the line and I am a bit slower than him.  I could see him in my mirror from the beginning but at some point I think I was pulling a bit of a gap but I had a couple of bobbles trying to push.’  He added, ‘I think I again destroyed my front tyres too soon.  I think they announced the 4-minute mark  and I said lets try to push and see what happens and with the tyre it is even worse when you really try to attack.  It falls off a cliff and you have no more grip so I guess yeah P2 is not too bad considering.’  The French driver concluded, Lets see 3-mains to go, the first laps are not easy for everyone so anything can happen.  It’s a big track but I am sure there are opportunities and we all had bobbles at some point.’

Asked how his Q3 went, Matsukura said, ‘I thought Q2 was low traction so I changed my car for more traction but the last one the traction came up  and my car was a little bit nervous, so my lap times were not so fast.  I was driving careful, careful, so I plan for the final to go back to my previous set-up.’  He continued, ‘I am happy with P3 and I will try to improve on that in the finals’.  On how the track should be to race on, the multi discipline World Champion said, ‘It’s a big track but the line is small.  If you go outside or inside it there is no traction.  I think it will be very difficult to overtake.’

Urbain takes Q2 from Coelho at Asia Touring Car Championship

Lucas Urbain has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the Asia Touring Car Championship, the Awesomatix driver making the most of the challenging track conditions to top the times ahead of Top Seed Bruno Coelho and Akio Sobue.  With rain preventing any action at Hongyu GDC track yesterday, while a dry start to Sunday conditions would be much cooler and windier than Friday when it was Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura who took the opening TQ.  With Matsukura posting a time of 19/5:07.597 in Q1, even with a round of free practice run to open the day and get some rubber back down on the track, Urbain’s TQ time this morning was almost half a lap slower with the French driver running 19/5:14.210 with Coelho just 0.145 behind.  The top heat would see mistakes from a number of drivers including Matsukura who ended up P7.  Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski also had a spin, after which he said his car was OK as he held station on track with Urbain, but the almost 21-second lap 3 meant his time was only good enough for P6.  Another strong run from Infinity’s Ryosuke Yamamoto saw him back up his Top 3 in Q1 with a fourth ahead of Axon’s Hayato Ishioka.

‘It was the radical opposite of Friday’, was how Urbain summed up Q2.  He continued, ‘my car was far too safe this time.  It felt good off the line but after I think 1-2-minutes I overshot the corner and I had to go full lock to recover and that is never good news on this track because I could feel my front tyre dropping and dropping, especially the last two laps.  I was struggling to make the car turn. ‘  He added, ‘I knew I was somewhere in front despite the lack of announcements because I knew my car was good & strong and it was a matter of keep going and maintain some sort of a gap.  It was up to .5 (of a second) at some point and Bruno caught up to 4/10th to finish 1/10 behind, thankfully it was enough.  It will need some changes to make it aggressive and more on the noise for Q3.’  On the track conditions today he said, ‘It’s windy and cold but for some reason it effects the balance in a different way we are used to because the more traction the more the car seems to be on the noise and now with lower grip it seems to make the car more stable for some odd reason, which is the total opposite to what we are used too.  I guess it is what we have to plan for and try to figure it out.’  He concluded, ‘I have changes in mind so it should not be too difficult to make it they way it should be for now.’

The defending Champion of the renamed FEMCA Championship, this race the biggest racing accolade in the Asian racing scene, Coelho summed up Q2 with, ‘It was a solid run, no mistakes.  The car was a bit pushy.’  The 3-time back to back World Champion continued, ‘We made some changes for the conditions because today is much less traction than the previous days so we tried to make the car easier to drive but it was way too easy to drive.  So it was pushy and slow.  I wasn’t able to make the first place but we will try to make it a little more aggressive for the next one but the conditions are quite difficult out there.  You can see many guys doing mistakes so we can’t risk changing too much.’

Reacting to performance, Sobue said, ‘It was OK, the car is getting better but it was a little bit difficult with the conditions with it windy and also dusty on the track.’  The World Championship podium finisher continued, ‘I am happy with P3 but for sure it was not easy.  On the first lap and the last lap I had some mistakes and big lose in lap time so I think, while not easy, I can fight the top guys.’  On Q3 he said, ‘For sure I try more set-up changes and see what we can do for the finals.’

Asked about his run, 2014 World Champion Matsukura said, ‘The first lap I had a spin.  I changed the set-up for the conditions and the rear had no traction.  It was only the first lap, the second lap the car felt OK but then after 3-minutes it’s like no traction.’  He added,  ‘I made a little mistake and Akio passed on my inside so I got outside then after I come back on the line I had no traction.’  Looking to Q3, the final qualifier, the Infinity driver said, ‘I need a completely different set-up.  The track is different today, after 3-minutes it is not only a drop in the tyres but also my car is loose so it’s difficult.  We will try to make more traction in the rear and lets see how that works.’

New cars & parts at the Asia Touring Car Championship

With the Asia Touring Car Championship unofficially the warm-up race for next April’s IFMAR ISTC World Championships in China, a lot of manufacturers are using this weekend’s race to test new parts and in some cases completely new cars.  As previously mentioned in our opening report from the Hongyy GDC track on Friday, Schumacher has a brand new platform with three examples running in the hands of Michal Orlowski, Mattia Collina, and Pekko Iivonen, all of the team well briefed to give away nothing about the British manufacturers latest project.  We also already know that Tamiya has new parts it is testing with the iconic Japanese manufacturer and it TRF designer Kiyo Suzuki not wanting to officially disclose any more details on what they are testing.  HPI, who excited the touring car world when they showed off a competition spec car they are working on back in October, are here with the car which now features a new chassis design.  While our usual Chassis Focus feature will be thin on the ground from this race, two manufacturers that have cars they can show us are Awesomatix and Xray.  Awesomatix said they take a slightly different approach to other manufacturers with their new car releases and they are running a standard latest spec A800RR as their development is always ongoing but Max Machler did say they might have one or two new parts come the World Championship.

Having only released their X4’26, Xray is running the car as standard however its designer Martin Hudy pointed out they are trying a steel chassis ahead of the release of this option for the car.  Asked what they were testing, Hudy explained, ‘because the car is new basically we are just testing everything that is standard in the kit, the only difference that we are testing the steel chassis that is coming as an option soon.  We are offering also the short arms as an option so we are now testing it in combination with the steel chassis which works pretty good for Jin (Sawada) so this is the main thing and there is no prototype parts.’  Another manufacturer who has only come to market with a new car relatively recently, Infinity has come to Foshan with a number of test part for its IF14 Speciale.  With designer Francesco Martini in attendance as mechanic for Bruno Coelho, the Italian said they are using the event to evaluate a number of different parts for this track and to see what work for the various track conditions they have experienced.

ARC is another here with a whole new platform, team driver Enrico Jung explaining it is 95% new parts.  The Taiwanese manufacturer ran the first version of what will be the new A11 in October and the team is now here with the second iteration after a number of parts have been adapted.  Close to the final version, the car is expected to be released before the Worlds with March set as the target date.   Over in the Axon camp, Akio Sobue explained their car has new World Championship parts specifically designed for the characteristics of the large and high speed Hongyu GDC track and the race’s GDC branded Sweep controlled tyres.  Winner of the opening race at the track in September, he said they are running new things in the rear section of the car such as a new bulkhead which is more stiff for greater stability on a track he described as ‘high speed’ and for a tyre that has ‘more high bit’.  They have also adjusted the weight balance of the car.

While not racing at the Asia Touring Car Championship, Serpent will join most of the teams as they stay on for a week of post race testing.  Arriving in China yesterday, speaking to Dominic Greiner at breakfast in the hotel this morning, the 2024 World Finalist said they have a new car and having only just got those parts he still has to build the car for testing.  With no sign of Ronald Volker just yet, the former World Champion another arriving for testing rather than doing the race, we don’t have any info on what Mugen Seiki have in the works for the World Championship.