Ronnefalk is Top Qualifier at SIGP as Coelho takes Q5
David Ronnefalk is the Top Qualifier at the 2025 Sunpadow International Grand Prix, the Xray driver securing his direct stop in tomorrow’s 45-minute Main in Xiamen, China, thanks to his outright fastest TQ run in the penultimate qualifier. With it all to play for going into the fifth & final qualifier, Ronnefalk and Infinity’s Kouki Kato both having two TQ runs each and a second, neither would be able to deliver a third TQ run. Instead that would come from Bruno Coelho, the Infinity driver appearing to have finally found his way just in time for finals. After a trouble start to the day, with Q2 & 3 becoming throw outs, Pekko Iivonen was another to conclude qualifying on a positive as he set the second fastest time in Q5 with his Mayako. Overall while Ronnefalk doesn’t have the worry of Semi finals, the TQ secured on the tiebreak, in the final qualifying order it was Kato who ended up second to give the Japanese driver pole in the second of the 25-minute Semis, while Coelho’s 3rd overall means he lines up on pole for the first Semi. Iivonen’s strong finish to the day bumped him up to 4th ahead of leading Team Associated contender Jung Hyunkyu while Jason Nugroho made it three Infinity IFB8s in the final Top 6 qualification ranking.
Asked about the run that gave him the TQ, Ronnefalk said, ‘Q4 was really close between me and Bruno the whole run. He was behind me starting on the clock maybe 3 or 4 seconds behind and I felt it was pretty much the same gap the whole 8-minutes even with the pit stop. Towards the end I didn’t really remember where he started exactly, I had a point on the straight where I passed and he was on the jump section but I felt like I was always just a little bit ahead and I tried to push until the end without making a bobble and luckily it worked out and I was able to get the TQ and did so with the faster time which was a little surprising cause the track was a little slower than the previous rounds. It was a mistake free run and that gave me the TQ because of the fastest time.’ On the last qualifier the 2016 World Champion said, ‘I had a silly mistake on my own. I felt like jumping short on the back straight was a little bit better for me and then I just jumped way too short and cased the jump and crashed onto the infield and lost 6-7 seconds. I didn’t change anything from Q3, I kept the car the same and just tried to work on my driving and try to follow how the track develops.’ Looking to tomorrow he said, ‘I just spoke to Max (Lim) and he said they are going to fill the worst spots on the track where the biggest holes are so the beginning of tomorrow should be smoother out there but towards the end I don’t think what they are going to fix is going to hold up throughout the whole day, so in the nitro main it is definitely going to be rough like it was now and it is going to be a challenge for sure.’ On tyre wear Ronnefalk feels it was higher the first day of the event and it has since got a little bit better so he feels they should all be good on the Saharas adding ‘it’s not the easiest tyre probably out there but it’s definitely the faster one, I think Bangkok would be a little easier to drive but it doesn’t have the forward bite that the Sahara has so we just have to make it with the Sahara it looks like.’
On his final qualifying attempt needing a faster TQ time than Ronnefalk’s Q4, Kato explained, ‘I tried the shocks from my EP car and the Bangkok tyre because the track is getting dusty and the car was OK but it was just my mistake, 3 big mistakes.’ Asked the different between his nitro and electric buggy shocks, the newly crowned Asian Buggy Championships Champion said the EP runs a softer spring. Asked his opinion on tyre wear in the final, the 19-year-old replied with ‘it is going to be very difficult’ while also adding that when it comes to fuel strategy his plan would be to ‘play it safe’. On EP, him lining up third on the grid for the triple A-Main, he said while he had a big mistake at the beginning of Q5 the car ‘was nice’ and he is confident for tomorrow.
Reacting to his Q5 TQ run an upbeat Coelho said, ‘Finally a TQ run the nitro class. The car got better and that is a good sign to get a TQ run on the last one because it is more close to the track conditions we are going to have tomorrow (for the final). We improved the car a lot this round, the car was much more safe to drive. It was a clean drive for the 8-minutes, just 1 or 2 bobbles but the track was really tough to drive. We changed a lot the geometry on the front of the car and also the shock package and I was much more confident now.’ Asked how he would say they track is now the 2024 podium finisher replied while laughing ‘destroyed I would say’. He added, ‘I cannot say this is the best conditions for me because I am majority like an onroad driver, my main class is onroad, so offroad is OK when it is not like this but somewhere like Portugal – flat just with jumps. These conditions are very tough for me but if the result is coming this means the car is very good so I am positive for the finals.’ Asked if he expects tyre stops in the final, Coelho replied, ‘It might happen, the tyre wear is pretty high so it might happen because the track tends to break down more & more which means a lot of dust on the track. Now we are running on Saharas which is like no pin which means they become slick very early in the final, it will be for sure very difficult.’ Securing the overall TQ in eBuggy ahead of last year’s winner Ronnefalk, on that he said, ‘Electric was good. The last round the car was very very good but I had a big crash at the beginning and I lost immediately 4-5 seconds but after I was able to recover and still be second (in Q5) so the car is good and I will just try to keep on the wheels tomorrow and don’t make any mistakes.’
Summing up his strong finish to qualifying Iivonen said, ‘I think the qualifying ended at the right time because right now the pace is right there and the car actually feels super good. I feel quite confident going into the mains.’ The Finn continued, ‘There will be some mistakes for sure, it’s quite hard to go around the track, so anything can happen even in the eBuggy finals and of course in the long nitro final everything can happen.’ Making his first World Championship final earlier this year at the inaugural IFMAR eBuggy Worlds in Portugal, he added, ‘Now my cars were the best and also the tyres. I ran Saharas today and that has been the best tyre so far and now they are fixing the holes so for sure tomorrow it will be the same case.’ On the improvements to his cars, the 19-year-old said, ‘I had some bad luck in the qualifiers today but ended out ok. We found some shock stuff, we have TRC here and they are going a good job with our shock package and we have been working hard changing shocks for every run and I think now it paid off and we have found the best one so far and it will be good tomorrow.’
On his final qualifying position of P5, Hyunkyu said, ‘It’s not bad. My car was not that bad compared to the last run but I had a stupid mistake on the entry to the pit lane and two mistakes on the right side. So I need to work on getting the car more comfortable on the right side.’ Starting P5 in the eBuggy Main, the 14-year-old said, ‘the electric was so good, I got P3 the last round, so electric was good and I am looking forward to tomorrow. For the (Nitro) Semi I will change the set-up because I lose sometimes the rear so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.’
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