Volker heads first controlled practice

After the first of two controlled practice runs that will bring Day 1 of the IFMAR Touring Car World Championships to close it is Ronald Volker and the Yokomo team who continue to be the pace setters. Once again the German ace got the better of Tamiya’s Jilles Groskamp and Marc Rheinard abeit in a slightly slow time.  Volker only completed 10 laps, being one of six drivers to pull up early to save his set of controlled LRP tyres.  Having run for a second time a rear gear diff in his BD5 he again found it made the car difficult to drive in the opening laps.  After that the car felt really good but with new tyres at their best over the first three laps of the run the Yokomo team have now decided to revert back to a ball diff for the remainder of the event.

Groskamp who closed the gap between himself and Volker to just 6/100th in CP1 says his car ‘feels just perfect’ and he is really happy with his pace having not been as close to his rival here in pre-event testing.  Recording the fastest lap for the round the European Champion along with his three Tamiya team-mates were the only drivers to complete the 5-minutes and said this was helpful for building up information on how his Orion powered TRF416 is suited to the hot conditions over a full run.  The weather forecast for the next two days is giving even warmer conditions.  Team-mate Viktor Wilck was fifth fastest but said the run was not good.  Trying a new rear shock tower the Swede said it felt OK at the beginning of the run but quickly went off and so he will revert to back to the original tower.

Having changed his shock settings Shin Adachi posted the fourth fastest time and said while he is not quite as fast as his rivals in outright lap times his TF6 feels very consistent over the 5 minutes.  For the final run of the day he will make some camber adjustments.

Alexander Hagberg continues to be the lead Xray driver setting the sixth fastest 3 consecutive laps.  The Swede ran extra drag brake on his LRP powered T3 but said this made the car more difficult to drive. Reverting back to his FP4 speedo settings for his next outing he said overall the set-up he has now feels alright.

Atsushi Hara and Hot Bodies team-mate Andy Moore were 7th and 8th fastest respectively.  The current 1:8 Off Road World Champion, Hara tried a different set-up to that used in free practice but said it didn’t work.  With his Reedy powered TCX having too much roll he plans to stiffen up the front shocks for what he is calling ‘Happy Hour’ referring to the sixth and final run of the day which will have the benefit of much cooler conditions. Enjoying his best run so far Moore said adjusting his droop and a switch of additive had greatly improved his car.

Japanese Tamiya team driver Kouno Takayuki set the ninth fastest time followed by factory Associated driver Juho Levanen.

Top 10 after first Controlled Practice
1. Ronald Volker (Yokomo) – 36.940
2. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya) – 37.001
3. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya) – 37.527
4. Shin Adachi (Kyosho) – 37.274
5. Viktor Wilck (Tamiya) – 37.294
6. Alexander Hagberg (Xray) – 37.348
7. Atsushi Hara (Hot Bodies) – 37.415
8. Andy Moore (Hot Bodies) – 37.466
9. Kouno Takayuki (Tamiya)- 37.506
10.Juho Levanen (Associated) – 37.516

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