Groskamp sets pace in Denmark
Jilles Groskamp has made the perfect start to his new tenure at Tamiya by setting the quickest time in round 1 of the 2008 DHI Cup, giving him maximum points for the round with 3 of the 5 to count. Heading into Heat 21, the final heat of the round, it was Hot Bodies racer Andy Moore that had taken the TQ spot over from Shin Adachi, who had only taken the spot in the previous heat. Heat 12 saw a gaggle of quick cars, all on TQ pace which included Juho Levanen, Teemu Leino and of course Groskamp. In the final moments Jilles managed to get his head down and put in the laps needed to take the top spot and was aided by a slowing Levanen, run time being a struggle for a lot of the competitors.
A racer who had a good pace, but was very unfortunate was defending Champion Ronald Volker, the German racer suffering a tire problem that slowed him but was still able to take 7th, “I am not happy with today. I had a problem with my tyre with no glue on the inside. For sure tomorrow I can improve tomorrow at least I hope so.”
Going in to tomorrows final 4 rounds of qualifying the race for TQ is still wide open but the overnight pole sitter is feeling confident of his chances, “It feels great. The first qualification and TQ, that is perfect. It was not very easy but I still did it and it counts because its round by round”. Asked if he would make any changes overnight to his TRF416 the Dutchman replied, “I will try some mirror changes maybe with the shocks and springs but the car is getting better as the tyres wear down. My big focus for tomorrow is to work on the power. Run time is very close now. I dumped a little at the end but I can see the motor is very dirty and I to clean it. Apart from my car I will help Marc (Rheinhard) with his car as it was not so good so he will try my set-up tomorrow.”
Top 10 Modified Qualifying Positions
After Round 1 of 5
1. Jilles Groskamp (Netherlands) – 19L 315.23
2. Teemu Leino (Finland) – 19L 316.27
3. Viktor Wilck (Sweden) – 19L 316.28
4. Andy Moore (England) – 19L 316.48
5. Juho Levanen (Finland) – 19L 318.38
6. Steen Graversen (Denmark) – 18L 300.95
7. Ronald Volker (Germany) – 18L 301.43
8. Shin Adachi (Japan) – 18L 302.09
9. Marc Rheinard (Germany) – 18L 303.49
10. Alexander Hagberg (Sweden) – 18L 303.79