Kato takes SIGP Q1 ahead of Ronnefalk & Coelho

Infinity’s Kouki Kato has opened qualifying at the Sundapow International Grand Prix with a TQ run, the top seed fastest over the 8-minute heat ahead of Xray’s David Ronnefalk and Infinity’s Bruno Coelho.  While Kato TQ run was never in doubt there would be some issues with timing in the top heat as a result of the qualifiers being extended from the traditional 5-minutes to 8-minutes.  With drivers forced to stop for fuel in the qualifier, a number of drivers would not have their laps counted as the came in to pit lane, Coelho, David Ronnefalk, and Jason Nugroho all effected by a problem with the loop under the paved pit lane entry.  While there was some deliberations following the completion of qualifying with buggies being push back & forth over the loop on the main straight and in pit lane, it was finally decided to credit drivers with the missed laps meaning Ronnefalk got his second 3.162 seconds off Kato’s pace with Coelho joining them on 15-lap runs a further 1-second back.  Showing P2 on the timing screen’s at the end of the run, Mayako’s Pekko Iivonen would end up 4th after the corrections with Adrian Wicaksono from Indonesia completing the Top 5.

Reacting to his TQ run Kato said, ‘I was able to make a good run.  I ran a good pace and was consistent.  I think it was a clean race and I had no issues with traffic.’  With the run bringing Friday’s action to a close, the reigning Japanese National Champion, that title defence coming up very soon, said he struggled a little with the fading light adding it was not easy to see in the distance.  In terms of the track conditions, he felt Q1 traction was ‘a little low’.  Heading into Day 2 of qualifying, 4 rounds on the schedule, Kato feels tyres are going to be his focus saying, ‘maybe we need to find a good tyre.  Now I am using the (Hotrace) Sahara but sometimes the Bangkok is better so tomorrow I need to choose the right tyre for the time.’  Asked about eBuggy, him setting the second fastest time behind his team-mate Coelho, the 19-year-old said, ‘I made some mistakes, 3 mistakes for me.  On the last lap I also lost 2-second.  The car is ok so hopefully I will be better tomorrow.’

Pleased his corrected result, Ronnefalk said, ‘Nitro was good.  I had a mistake in pit lane and also some traffic on the first laps and then of course the issue with the loop.’  With his pitman here in Xiamen, Adam Izsay, having given more details on his ‘mistake in pit lane’, highlighting the Swede crashed on the way in and then again on the way out, Ronnefalk laughed and replied, ‘You can mention that’.  Overall the 2016 World Champion said, ‘the speed was very good but I had the mistake with a lapped car on the second lap and the shit in the pit lane, which I need to solve myself for tomorrow.’  On how the track is evolving he said, ‘I think it was better than the first day I was here cause it didn’t get as rough in the end of the day.  They put a lot of glue, like they are doing again this evening, so I think it is holding up pretty well compared to what we expected.’  P3 in the first eBuggy qualifier, which was held just as the sun began to set, last year’s winner said, ‘Electric was interesting because Bruno and I were adjusting the sun blind because he needed it down but if it was down I couldn’t really see the track so we came to a compromise were I pushed his loose part up but then after three laps that part came back down and I couldn’t see the track.  I had to stand tilted sideways which made it difficult for a few laps and I had a mistake because I was not focusing on what I should have been focusing on.’

Summing up his qualifier, at the end of which he said he was shocked to hear over his headset from his pit man that he was showing in last place, Coelho said, ‘In total I missed 5-laps.  I only had a small bobble and the run was pretty good.  The lap time was there, I had the fastest lap time of the qualifier.’  He continued, ‘The car was a bit difficult to drive but was very fast, it was a pity the laps were not counting.  Luckily there was more people having a problem which means there was some problem with the loop which the organisation is trying to fix for tomorrow.’  Back on his Buggy he said, ‘We didn’t find a little more stability on the nitro but it was fast so I was happy.’  Asked how far apart his Nitro and eBuggy are in terms of set-up, his eBuggy taking the Round 1 TQ, he replied, ‘they are very close.  Weight distribution is different but we need to find out why the nitro is more difficult to drive than the electric because the nitro has the pace but is not amazing the pace, I mean I am little bit faster but nothing almost, so there is no reason for it to be so difficult to drive because sometimes when you are a second faster it is ok to be difficult but if it is only zero something there is something we can still work on.  The electric one is very easy to drive and fast so I am pretty happy with it.’

‘Nothing special to really say’ was Iivonen’s thoughts after Q1.  The Finn continued, ‘The car felt the best it has actually been.  I have been the whole day with Bangkok (tyres) and I think Sahara would have been faster so tomorrow I will test that and see if it will be the case.  If that’s the case then my car is actually quite good and should be on pace.’  With his car standing out on track as the darkness fell, he explained, ‘It was actually getting quite dark already and it was good that I had the Glow Stick RC antenna on my car and that was the only thing I saw when I was driving, it was good.’  On eBuggy, in which he also got a P4, he said, ‘I made a small mistake on the back and got the worst out of it and lost a third place there otherwise it was quite good.  The pace was better and also that car is much better than before.’

Another first timer to the 2017 1:10 Offroad Worlds track along with Kato, Iivonen, young Korean talent Jung Hyunkyu, and fellow countryman Nugroho, Asian Buggy Championships podium finish Wicaksono was pleased with his Top 5 opening effort.  Describing the track as ‘challenging’, the Team Associated driver said ‘it has been a while since I drive on a track like this but I think it not only requires speed but also requires consistency & patience on top of set-up of course.’  Happy with his run, he said he had only one bobble in which his car turned over itself so he didn’t need to be marshalled and he didn’t lose much time.’  Owner of the West Side Raceway offroad track in Jakarta, asked if he was happy with where he was on car set-up, he replied, ‘No, no, still many thinks to work on but I think the last few days I worked mainly on shocks but I think I need to work on the diffs a little bit.  Although it is bumpy and dusty on the outside, I think the racing line is starting to groove so I think I need a little bit thicker oil in my car.’