Ronnefalk fastest on Day 2

Current European Junior Champion David Ronnefalk has set the pace on Day 2 of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships, the Kyosho driver posting the fastest time of the day in the second controlled practice when he outpaced Borja Hernandez and the morning’s pace setter Martin Bayer whose CP1 time was the second fastest of the day.

Fifth overall at last year’s championships in Portugal, Ronnefalk said his Orion powered Kyosho has been good all day but 2 mistakes in CP1 meant his pace went unnoticed.  Making some small set-up changes for CP2, the 15-year-old said his driving was much better and it was more this than the changes to his MP9 that allowed him to post the fastest 5-minute run and fastest lap for the round.  Running AKA Impact tyres in both rounds of practice Ronnefalk plans no changes to his set-up but will use this evening’s short 2-minute practice run of the reseeded heats to try AKA’s Grid Iron pattern.

Running a thicker shock oil for his second practice to reduce chassis roll, Hernandez said the change made his Mugen even easier to drive.  Continuing with AKA iBeam tyres the Spaniard, who last made a Euros final in Greece in 2008, said he feels he is in good shape for qualifying.

With their 8ight tipped to suit the unique hillside Sand-am-Main track, TLR enjoyed a strong team showing in CP2 with Bayer, Darren Bloomfield and Yannick Aigoin setting the 3rd, 4th and 5th fastest times. Bayer used the run to try AKA’s wheel stiffeners which he said made his buggy very consistent and feels the set-up would be good to use in the finals.  Not as fast as CP1 the Czech driver will run without the stiffeners for qualifying.

Runner up at the Warm-up race, Bloomfield said he made a big break through with his set-up.  Changing the shock oil and pistons, the more firm ride stopped his Nitrotec powered 8ight from double bouncing on landings making it easier to drive.  With the set-up making the buggy lean more on the tyres, the British Champion said he will continue to run Losi’s Red Blockhead tyre as they suit the new set-up.  Bloomfield plans to reduce the droop for the quick 2-minute blast this evening as he looks to make the buggy more precise to drive.

Using the first controlled practice to back to back tyre inserts Aigoin said it confirmed the data they had collected in pre-event testing. Using the 3-minute warm-up of CP2 to try Pro Circuit’s new and as yet unnamed tyre he switched to the Spanish company’s Square Impact for the timed 5-minutes.  Preferring the new tyre he will run it in the opening qualifier along with making some small adjustment to his nVision powered Losi to fine tune the set-up.

One of the stars of the recent 1:10 Electric Offroad World Championships in Finland where he finished runner-up in 4WD, Team Durango’s Joern Neumann set the 6th fastest time. Changing the to -1 degree rear hubs and adding more tow out on the front of his Picco powered DNX408 the German said it was now much easier to drive.  Running on JConcepts tyres, Neumann ran Barcode in CP1 but said while good on line they got very loose offline.  Switching to Hybrids for CP2 he said overall they worked better and he plans to stick with them for the morning’s opening qualifier.

Durango team-mate Renaud Savoya, who was second fastest in CP1, didn’t feature at the sharp end of the afternoons timing after going ‘wild’ with his set-up.  The 3-time reigning champion used his second run to try some ideas which he said were too much making his RB powered DNX408 too hard to drive.  Happy to have tried the changes knowing he already had a good set he will revert back to the CP1 setup for the first qualifier.

For Warm-up race winner & pre-event favourite Robert Batlle the second controlled practice helped them discovered why his Mugen has been nervous to drive throughout practice despite many set-up changes.  Changing tyres during the run they discovered that when up to working temperature one of the rear shock was binding. The Spaniard was relieved at finding the problem and said he can now looking forward to qualifying.

Controlled Practice 2 – Top 12
1.David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 11/5:13.832
2.Borja Hernandez – Mugen/Ninja – 11/5:16.990
3.Martin Bayer – Losi/nVision – 11/5:17.291
4.Darren Bloomfield – Losi/Novarossi – 11/5:17.412
5.Yannick Aigoin – Losi/nVision – 11/5:18.936
6.Jörn Neumann – Durango/Picco – 11/5:18.983
7.Daniel Reckward – Mugen/RB – 11/5:21.507
8.Jérôme Sartel – Agama/Bullit – 11/5:21.946
9.Dominic Bauer – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:22.983
10.Neil Cragg – Associated/LRP – 11/5:23.340
11.Ricardo Monteiro – Losi/RB – 11/5:24.063
12.Oscar Baldo – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:24.806

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