Wet track delays start to qualifying

Overnight rain here in Lisbon caused a delay to the start of proceedings as race organisers decided to wait an hour to allow the track to dry before starting the first qualifier of the 2008 IFMAR World Championships. Drivers from Groups 1-7 have just finished their two qualifiers for today, and are free to hit the beach, while Groups 8-15 are getting ready to kick start their battle for the Day 1 TQ honours.

Peter Jovanovic, who was one of the stars at the last World Championships for 1:10 200mm in Brisbane where he claimed a podium finish, is loving the track here in Lisbon. The talented young Aussie says his car is working perfectly and he would rate the track as one of the best he has ever driven. Jovanovic says the circuit is a lot more flowing than he is used to back home and learning it has been his biggest obstacle so far. Now that he is mastering the bumps he’s really happy with his progress. The Xray team driver had struggled a little with clutch set-up in practice but believes he has now got that right and this should allow him to get the maximum horsepower from his Novarossi engines.

Marc Rheinard has been using his free morning to practice his tyre truing skills something the electric racer wouldn’t be to used too prefering the less dirty task of applying additive to his rubber tyres. The German has yet to finish any of his runs but is very happy with the handling of his new WC spec Team Magic G4. His debut nitro race, Rheinard is discovering how important the clutch and engine settings are in getting the most from a nitro car. Still adjusting his driving style to suit the different characteristics of nitro over electric he admitted to preferring the later but he is enjoying the experience and hopes if he can finish a run he can put in a decent showing. In his final run yesterday he failed to finish after the lid on his fuel tank failed to seal properly.

Josh Cyrul is struggling with boredom but believes his busy schedule before the race is also catching up with him. The Motonica factory driver is running an Xray, while he waits on Motonica’s much anticipated entry in to 1:10 200mm, and did as much racing as possible with the NT1 prior to the event in order to get used to the car but thinks he may have over done it a little. Very happy with how the car is working, the American said the boredom is knocking the enjoyment out of the event and maybe a new format should be looked at for future World Championships.

The length of the event, most of the drivers are here a week already, and the limited track time is a common complaint among the competitors. A solution to the problem is hard to find as the organisers are hard pushed to fit in an more track time due to the large number of competitors who have travelled the globe to compete in the sports blue ribbon event.

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