Gruber takes Q3 as Ripoll holds overnight TQ in Chile

Day 1 of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship has been completed in Chile and it has provided plenty of variety with the three rounds producing TQ runs from three different drivers, Capricorn’s Toni Gruber coming good on his status as one of the title favourites to TQ the day’s final encounter.  With Top Seed Andrea Catanzani steering his Serpent to the opening TQ, the second round saw the number 2 seed Maxime Ripoll deliver on his impressive practice form with a TQ run and together with a P2 in the last run of the day the 19-year-old French driver leaves the CACH Facility this evening as the overall TQ holder.  With Gruber having highlighted the afternoon runs were he was strongest, the German was locked in a tight battle for the Q3 top spot with it going down to the wire with Ripoll, and Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata until the latter had a bad lap.  In the end Gruber would have an advantage of 3/10ths of a second over Ripoll at the end of the 7-minutes with Takahata competing the Top 3 ahead of the Capricorn of Thilo Diekmann.  For Catazani the day wouldn’t finish as it started as his car came to stop on track.  Having had his crew practice pit stops during the lunch break, this time it would be Catanzani’s own error during the stop as he came in too fast and got out of shape under braking.  Still in TQ contention however, a driver error on track at the same spot as his contact with Ripoll a round earlier, would cancel that potential.  With his engine running very lean in the qualifier it would eventually stop just shy of the 7-minutes.  With the 7-minute heats bringing an extra element to the qualifiers and piling the pressure on pit crews, Simon Kurzbuch would end the day with a bad stop.  With his pitman unable to catch the car properly, the fuel was released all over the car causing the former World Champion to spin on release and with no fuel taken on he would have to revisit the pit lane, the result being a P9 for the round.  Despite this the Swiss racer holds P3 just ahead of team-mate Takahata with Catanzani fifth.

Not wanting to celebrate his TQ too much, his engine sponsor Daniele Ielasi joking he needs to be more happy about the result, summing up the performance Gruber said, ‘Like I said in the morning our package work better in the hotter condition so the feeling was good.  The wind was not really a problem, for sure sometimes it hits you in the corner, but overall the feeling was good and I can focus on myself.  I could hear it was a super close race with Ripoll and Shoki but in the end you just need to push your laps and hope in the end it is enough. It was good.’  Asked his game plan for tomorrow he replied, ‘same like today’ and on whether he will start looking yet at set-up for the finals, he explained, ‘We have the set-up for the final if we are directly in the final because now was the maximum hot, the temperature was really hot today more than the previous days.  The wind was not so extreme like the last days but for sure there was more shit today and for this my package was really good so we don’t need to change anything.’  He did add, ‘maybe you know if we have one or two super good ones to maybe fight for overall TQ then maybe the last rounds we can try something.  The goal is Top 4 but for sure if its possible we go for the TQ which is still for now a possibility.’

Asked if holding the overnight TQ at the Worlds was something he had even consider before flying out to Chile for these his third 1:8 Onroad World Championship, Ripoll replied, ‘No, not at all.  We made a joke with my dad that it would be amazing if we did a TQ but coming here my goal was to be  Top 4 and directly to the main but to be P1 for me was almost impossible.’  On his Q3 run he said, ‘the car was good but maybe when Andrea made his mistake after that I was alone and I lost a bit of pace so that meant P2.’  Explain that having Catazani in sight was a good gauge if how much he need to push,  he said with a ‘a P2, TQ and P3 normally I would be directly to the main so that is good.’   On his car he said, ‘It is the same as yesterday, we have made no changes.’

One of the only European drivers to have previous race 1:8 Onroad at CACH before when he was invited to attend the South American Championship and see the facility earlier this year, Diekmann was very happy to finish the day with P4.  Summing up his day, the German said, ‘The first run was a safe one and I make 6th place which was just OK for me on the pace I am on.  The second one I had problems with engine, it stopped because the glow plug broke, and for that one I kept it between the lines in the fight with the wind and was a little bit lucky with the others in front of me having problems.’   Looking to the remaining three qualifier Diekmann said, ‘I think in the morningI will take a risk a little bit to put more steering to try make another Top 5 and from there we will see how it is going.’  On his car he said, ‘I am struggling with traction, I seem to overheat the tyres in the run.  The first 5-minutes are good and then it starts to dance a little bit on power.’