Groskamp leads the way in Burgdorf at the end of Day 1

European Touring Car Champion Jilles Groskamp has ended the opening day of the IFMAR World Championships in the top spot knocking early pace setter Ronald Volker off the top in the second controlled practice.  With today’s timing based on a drivers three consecutive fastest laps, Groskamp also recorded the quickest time of 5 minutes narrowly missing out on 25 laps around the small technical track.  The factory Tamiya team member said afterwards his Orion powered TRF416 was real easy to drive and he doesn’t have to push hard to get good times.

Rolling his Yokomo twice, Volker was unable to better his time from the opening controlled practice saying his BD5 was difficult to drive.  Having had a problem with the car going off at the end of the run during the the Warm-up race, which he TQ’d, Volker said the car is now bad at the start and good at the end.  Planning a few adjustments that should make the it easier to drive, the German is confident he will have a good car for the opening qualifier.

Atsushi Hara was full of phrase for his Hot Bodies TCX after making changes to the front shocks and the application of tyre additive.  Ending the day third fastest he said ‘the car is much better than me now, it feels really good’.  Feeling a bit tired today, the Japanese ace said he plans to get a good nights sleep and is confident heading into tomorrow’s qualifying.

Viktor Wilck said the switch back to the rear shock tower he ran earlier in the day gave the car a better balance but it still wants to push in the corners.  Asked what changes he planned to make for tomorrow he said ‘I need to talk to my friend Jilles and see what he is doing’.  Just behind the Swede on the time sheets was the youngest member of the Tamiya Racing Factory team Elliot Harper. The 17-year-old, who runs a different basic set-up to the rest of the team, said a small adjustment had transformed his car allowing him to record his fastest lap of the day in the final controlled practice.

Juho Levanen was pleased with his first day as he recorded the seventh fastest time.  The Finn who is running the new Associated TC6 said he hasn’t change much on the car focusing instead on his driving and that appears to be working.  Describing the car as ‘awesome’ he said the car is better than him at the moment but he plans on upping his game at the controls tomorrow.

Defending World Champion Marc Rheinard also failed to improve his time in the closing practice ending the day only ninth fastest behind Denmark’s Steen Graversen.  In Thailand two years ago the German was only seventh fastest at the end of Day 1 so not much can be read into his current pace as Tamiya having been trying a lot of different things today on his car.

Completing the Top 10 was Shin Adachi. The factory Kyosho driver was fourth fastest after CP1  but down the order after failing to improve his time in the evening run. Sitting just outside the Top 10 is American National Champion Paul Lemieux who managed to outpace his Swedish team-mate Alexander Hagberg to be the leading Xray in the field.

Top 20 Practice Ranking List
1. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya) – 36.869
2. Ronald Völker (Yokomo) – 36.940
3. Atsushi Hara (Hot Bodies) – 37.013
4. Viktor Wilck (Tamiya) – 37.139
5. Elliott Harper (Tamiya) – 37.157
6. Andy Moore (Hot Bodies) – 37.177
7. Juho Levänen (Team Associated) – 37.197
8. Steen Graversen (Tamiya) – 37.222
9. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya) – 37.257
10.Shin Adachi (Kyosho) – 37.274
11.Paul Lemieux (Xray) – 37.300
12.Hagberg Alexander (Xray) – 37.348
13.Christoper Krapp (Kyosho) – 37.370
14.Freddy Südhoff (Hot Bodies) – 37.390
15.Olly Jeffries (Team Associated) – 37.493
16.Hayato Matsuzaki (Yokomo) – 37.496
17.Zdenko Kunak (Xray) – 37.545
18.Zdenek Hamak (Xray) – 37.548
19.Chris Grainger (Schumacher) – 37.604
20.Yannic Pruemper (Yokomo) – 37.604

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