Choi takes Q2 in China

Korea’s Dani Choi took the second round of qualifying at the FEMCA 1:8 Offroad Championships in China heading Q1 pace setter Atsushi Hara by 5.5 seconds with versatile Thai ace Meen Veijrak completing the Top 3. Choi said despite the track being a lot dustier than in Q1 his Sweep Exagon equipped Kyosho had better traction allowing him to improve his opening time by 5 seconds.  Describing the track as having got more bumpy in Q2, something he said he was able to drive around on this occasion, he said he will monitor the surface before Q3 to decide what changes he might need adding that he is pretty sure he will run a different spring on the MP9.  Running for the first time Alpha’s new Ryan Lutz exhaust to match up with the same named engine, he said it worked really well giving the engine a lot more bottom end power.

‘Car good, lap times good, just too many mistakes’ was how Hara summed up his second qualifier.  The 2006 World Champion said the spell of sunny conditions had made the track become very dusty.  Running AKA Impacts he said his tyres worked ‘OK’ considering the change and for Q3 he will hold off on making a decision on which compound of the Impact to run in the closing run of the day here at the Beijing Model Sports Association’s new track.  In terms of set-up, Hara said with three from the 6 qualifiers counting he wants to play it safe today and not change too much on the buggy which is overall working ‘well’ for him.  Planning a small change for Q3 in going for a lighter sway bars, he hopes this will get him his third good run so that he can use tomorrow’s three remaining qualifiers to test a few set-up ideas he has.

Despite describing traction in Q2 as being lower than the morning’s opening round, Veijrak said his decision to change from Procircuit’s Roadrunner to Hot Dice tyre worked well.  Still however the Nitro Touring Car World Champion was not happy with his driving as he again made a mistake that cost him a potential second for the round.  In terms of his Mugen set-up he plans to extend his wheelbase for Q3 in the hope it will make the car more suitable to the changing track conditions.   For team-mate Chavit Saliguppa who was fourth fastest in Q1, a series of driver errors meant he would only post the 13th fastest time.

Having switched from soft to medium compound AKA Impacts for Q2, Kyosho’s Yuichi Kanai said the hard tyre made his MP9 a little nervous at the start of the heat.  Setting the fourth fastest time, the famed 1:8 Offroad driver will make a call on his choice of compound nearer to the time of this evening’s final heat but in terms of his MP9 set-up will leave it as is.

Sheng Chie Huang took his Alpha powered D812 to the fifth fastest time, a result the Taiwanese driver was very pleased about.  Running soft compound HB Grid Lock tyres, he plans to switch to AKA Impact for Q3 along with changing from a 2.5mm to 3.0mm rear toe block.

Third fastest in Q1, Kyosho driver Dai Hiroki completed the Top 6 after a number of mistakes over the second of his 10-minute runs but says he is still happy with his MP9 and its just the driver that needs to be better.

Having suffered a flame out in his first qualifier leaving him only 17th, Charlee Phutiyotin posted the 7th fastest time in Q2.  Describing track condition as ‘super low grip’ compared to that of yesterday’s practice the fast Thai driver ran soft Procircuit Hot Dice but plans to switch to super soft for his next run.  Having just made the Top 10 in Q1, Sweep’s Ryan Lee improved his time by 5-seconds to set the 8th fastest time with Thai pairing Witsarut Rumlarp and Akarachai Boontham completing the Top 10.

Round 2 Top 10 Qualifying times
1. Dani Choi (KOR) – Kyosho/Alpha – 19/10:07.698
2. Atsushi Hara (JPN) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:13.295
3. Meen Veijrak (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:18.697
4. Yuicki Kanai (JPN) – Kyosho/RB – 19/10:27.752
5. Sheng Chie Huang (TW) – HB/Alpha – 19/10.31.452
6. Dani Hiroki (JPN) – Kyosho/Reds – 18/10:00.961
7. Charlee Phutiyotin (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 18/10:03.972
8. Ryan Lee (KOR) – TLR/Alpha – 18/10:15.367
9. Witsarut Rumlarp (TH) – Agama/Bullitt – 18/10:17.296
10.Akarachai Boontham (TH) – Mugen/Alpha – 18/10:18.491

View our event image gallery here.