Kaerup takes Q1 ahead of Batta in Australia

Team Associated’s Marcus Kaerup picked up where he left off in Australia yesterday, the Dane taking the opening round of qualifying today at the IFMAR 1:10 2WD Buggy World Championships.  Topping seeding practice yesterday Kaerup would go head to head with his AE team-mate Davey Batta in the first of the 5 rounds of qualifying at the Hills RC Off Road track.  After a less than perfect start, Batta would come back strong over the heat setting the fastest lap to get within 6/10ths of a second of Kaeup as both drivers found themselves in traffic for the final two minutes of the run.  With Orlowski the biggest challenger to Kaerup yesterday, it was to be his team-mate Daniel Kobbevik who lead the Schumacher charge this morning.  Running in the second fastest heat, which he topped ahead of 2-time World Champion Spencer Rivkin, Kobbevik’s time was good enough for third overall ahead of Orlowski and Japan’s Kouki Kato with Davide Ongaro completing the Top 6 ahead of Rivkin.

Reacting to his TQ run, Kaerup said, ‘It was pretty good, we made some changes to the car from the practice this morning and it paid off, the car was a lot better.  I think we are still lacking some steering but it was good enough to keep up with Batta and we had a great battle for the TQ.’  Asked about the traffic in the second half of the run, 5 cars running in a pack, the 17-year-old said, ‘It was a bit hard because you didn’t want to push too much because you didn’t want to get tangled so it was kind of like a waiting game but it worked out in the end so it was not too bad.’  Regarding Q2 and any changes to his buggy, the 1:8 eBuggy World Champion said, ‘I think I am going to discuss with Andrew and Joona about how to get more steering and then we are going to go forward’.  Asked about the changing track conditions over the day as the sun moves around the tree shelter dirt track, he said, ‘the track changes a lot especially from the first one to now when there is a lot more grip in the track and I think it is going to keep getting more and more with the more rubber we get down so it’s changing every time.’

Asked how his run, Batta explained, ‘I had some bobbles the first couple of laps and then Marcus was behind me.  I didn’t feel I was holding him up too much and then my tyres started coming in a little bit more and I wasn’t holding him up at all so I just kept pushing and ended up getting a little closer there at the end.’   Feeling that with a cleaner run he is right in the mix, the 20-year-old American said, ‘Hopefully the next round I can try keep it clean the first few laps and see how it goes.’  Planning to ‘probably leave it the same’ (his buggy set-up) for Q2, he said while he expects the grip to come up his buggy ‘should still be good.’

‘The best so far’, was how a pleased looking Kobbevik summed up Q1.  The Norwegian continued, ‘ I just tried to drive without mistakes because it’s so close so you can’t afford any mistakes and at the same time your pushing really hard to get the car around the corner and drift a bit and grip up for the straights.  The car was good and no traffic for me except I had one car I was lapping and he was really slow in one corner and didn’t want to let me by, then for the double double he was in front of me and on the second one I cased it, so that was my only mistake really’.  Asked about his car’s performance, the 20-year-old factory Schumacher drivers said, ‘we have been quite close I feel.  I have been losing a bit of grip or losing steering and I have been complaining about the steering all the time, I want more steering, but I guess it is the same for everybody.’

Summing up his opening effort, Orlowski said, ‘It was OK, a few bobbles I guess throughout the run but we need to find a little more speed. With the track changing all the time it’s really hard to find it cause you make a change but the track also changes but it’s a solid start so I’m happy about that.’  Asked if with a clean run he could take the fight to Associated the Pole said, ‘I think a slightly cleaner would be better but probably not TQ, I think we are still missing a little speed but it also depends on the time of the day.  In the morning we are really quick, in the afternoon we are really quick and then in the middle of the day we are missing a bit.  It is definitely a lot better than yesterday and it’s nice to see Daniel went fast so we know the car is good and it’s all down to small details in the set-up and good driving.’