Volker & Vejrak open Reedy Race with wins
The 22nd running of the Reedy Race of Champions is underway, with the sun finally turning up after rain washed out yesterday’s practice day. With just two heats of racing per round for the 22 car field, it was Meen Vejrak who registered the first win on the events debut at the Steel City RC Speedway. Starting from pole, the Yokomo driver managed to stay out front throughout the more stacked of the two races despite pressure from Viktor Wilck who made contact with the Thai driver on more than one occasion. Behind them defending champion Marc Rheinard would open his campaign with a P3 after Jan Ratheisky got the jump on him at the start that saw a good battle between the two Germans. In the other encounter, which featured no less than 8 US drivers, it was the visitors that came through to complete the Top 3. Starting 10th on the grid Ronald Volker was up to third by the hairpin on the opening lap and soon after was out front for a dominant win. Lining up 11th for the start, RROC debutant Lucas Urbain would take his Awesomatix through to second with young up & coming Japanese star Takuma Sasaki third.
Commenting on his win, former podium finisher Vejrak said, ‘it is great to start the Reedy Race with a win but I had a lucky draw’. He continued, ‘starting from pole was super risky because its our first time here and we have very little running so the track is different every time’. On his battle with Wilck, he said, ‘me and Viktor were super close but I was able to control the race until 3-minutes. Then my car slowed down and I had to block him’. With a new format putting the race winner of the previous round in the same race for the following round, Vejrak will line-up alongside team-mate Volker for Round 2 saying, ‘I hope we can both get a good result’.
On his race Volker said, ‘I was drawn to start 10th on the grid but at the first corner I was able to gain 7 spots around the outside line and I was up to 3rd by the hairpin.’ He continued, ‘It was great team start with Meen winning his heat which had the stronger line-up. On his car, the former champion said, ‘it was good but the grip was a little down again because of the gap between the last race and the wind. We will make a small adjustment now to get more stability in the rear’.
Chasing his 8th Reedy Race title this weekend, Rheinard summed up his 3rd place by saying, ‘I lost the start to Jan (Ratheisky) and then got stuck behind him. We had a good battle but by the time I got passed the others were gone’. A huge fan of the Tamiya track, the Infinity driver said he didn’t get the Reedy Race feeling from the opening race but is hoping for a better second run. He said, ‘I am still struggling with the car. It doesn’t feel right. The grip is strange but I have a big change I will try for the next one’.
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