Yannick Aigoin fastest in second timed practice
Team Losi’s Yannick Aigoin has topped the second timed practice but the Frenchman was unable to match the time set this morning by local star Miguel Matias who will be reseeded No.1 for the heats. Aigoin said small changes had made his car a small bit better and despite being a second slower than his first run, felt more comfortable with the car.
The big surprise of the second practice was Ales Bayer, younger brother of 2009 podium finisher Martin. The 17-year-old switched to the same set-up as his brother used in the morning along with changing from Procircuit to Losi Eclipse tyres. The Czech driver said the changes had given his Losi a much better feeling making it easier to drive. Martin, who was 8th fastest, switched to Procircuit Sweet Shot for the final practice but said they made the car too easy to drive and he plans to try Proline Caliber in the short reseed practice which is essentially a test of the time keepers ahead of tomorrow’s qualifiers.
Robert Batlle managed the third fastest time with his Associated despite a mistake. Running M2 compound tyres this morning which he said was the wrong choice then, the Spaniard switched to M3 but feels M2 would have been perfect for the evening conditions. Struggling for bottom end power, a problem all drivers are battling with due to the track being 1,000m above sea level, Batlle with change to a harder clutch spring on his Novarossi for this evening’s reseed run.
Defending Champion Renaud Savoya was fourth fastest saying his Mugen MBX-6 was better than this morning but he still needs to find a second a lap to be competitive. Lacking traction, the warm-up race winner said they need to work more on finding the correct tyre combination. Once again Jerome Aigoin set the fifth fastest time, but again like his brother, Savoya and Battle, his time too was slower.
Having only been 33rd fastest this morning, Daniel Reckward completely changed the set-up on his Mugen and it worked as he set the 6th fastest time. Changing to softer shocks, shorter gearing and lower diff oils the German, who has won the European Championships more than any other driver, said he now has a good basic set-up to work from. Making two mistakes he said the car was now much better balanced over the bumps. Running Tourex X300 tyres he said cutting the middle pin had made for better forward traction and made the car more stable through the corners.
Still fastest overall Matias was 14 seconds slower, posting the 12th fastest time this round. The former Champion, who was reseeded No.1 at last year’s Euros, ran the same AKA Crossbrace tyres but with a harder insert the combination did not work for the Losi driver. Fourth fastest in the opening practice times Mugen’s Borja Hernandez failed to finish after a stone jammed in the flywheel and cut his RB engine on the last lap. The Spaniard switched to softer shock oil all round and was pleased with the car but plans to change the front springs as they may be too soft for the oil he is now using. Darren Bloomfield who was 3rd earlier tried a bigger 7mm venturi on his Novarossi and said the extra power made the car more nimble to drive and the run time was good but running on used tyres only managed the 18th fastest time.
Elsewhere Durango’s Hupo Honigl said he is having a better day than yesterday but is struggling still with setting the engine. The reigning European 2WD Electric Off Road Champion said with the engine not right its very hard to get a feeling for how the car is working. Not a fan of the track here in Portugal, the Austrian is only 59th fastest after timed practice and so has a bit of work to do if he is to repeat making the Main final this year.
For Joseph Quagraine this event is an important step in a very exciting new project for the Finnish racer. Racing his own buggy creation called ‘The Car’, which is planned to be released under his JQ Products brand in December, he said he went the wrong way with set-up this morning and flamed out three times in the second. Overall he is happy with the car and its durablity looks good as he has been doing a lot of unintentional crash testing the past two days.
Electric World Touring Car Champion Marc Rheinard is enjoying the event managing the 22nd fastest time at the controls of his Losi. His TRF team-mate Viktor Wilck, who is running the only Tamiya TRF801X here, is having a bad day with the Swede only 114th of the 151 competitors.
Top 10 – Second timed practice
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:07.676
2. Ales Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:14.506
3. Robert Batlle (ES) – Assocaited/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:14.815
4. Renaud Savoya (FR) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:16.178
5. Jerome Aigoin (FR) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:16.262
6. Daniel Reckward (D) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:17.597
7. Antonio Salmeron (ES) – Mugen – 8 laps in 5:18.534
8. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:18.925
9. Daniel Vega Frias (ES) – Agama/Orion – 8 laps in 5:19.246
10.Luis Rodrigo (PT) – Mugen – 8 laps in 5:20.010
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