Kilic fastest in SP2, Kato maintains top seed status

He said after SP1 he felt his car would be faster for the second seeding round at the Philippine Masters and that turned out to be the case as Burak Kilic took his Nova Engines powered Mugen Seiki to the fastest 2-consecutive laps.  Going one better than he did in the morning’s opening round, Kilic’s time however would not better than that set by Kouki Kato, that time still more than 2/10ths of a second faster around the technical track where currently 36.8-seconds are the benchmark lap times.  Behind Kilic, Team Associated’s Alex Bernadzik set the second fastest time with an improvement of 5/10ths on his SP1 effort.  Almost half a second off his morning time, something he put down down his tyre prep, Kato would complete the Top 3 ahead of his Infinity team-mate Naoto Matsukura who was much happier with his latest effort.  Fifth fastest in SP1, Sworkz’ Mattia Polito again rounded out the Top 5 of the high qualify field ahead of the race’s defending champion Davide Ongaro.

Reacting to his run, Kilic said, ‘For me that was a good run.  Actually I don’t look for my 2-laps I look for my consistency and it is really good for the moment.’  Using the same set of 6mik Dash tyres as SP1, he said they were much better as the reached proper break-in in the second run.  Looking to the third & final seeding round, which brings Thursday’s action to a close in Manila, he said, ‘I will leave the car the same and I will break in one more set of tyres for the qualifying and the race and yeh that’s it.  I am really happy at the moment.  My car, engine and tyres work really good.’

‘The two lap pace was there.  I was probably on another good 2-laps but had a bobble and tangle’, that was how Bernadzik summed up SP2.  The Aussie added, ‘I went quicker lap time wise but my car was a bit hard to drive so I am going to make some changes and make it a bit easier and then see how we go in the last round.’

Giving a run down on his performance Kato said, ‘I changed the tyre prep and it was no good.’  Switching to a brand new set of Hotrace Saharas, the same choice he ran in SP1, this time prepared them differently by gluing the insert.  The result of this was the Japanese National Champion ‘had too much traction’ and he will now revert to his regular tyre prep.

Naoto said the set-up he ended yesterday with was too loose in the first seeding round this morning but after changes he had a much better buggy for SP2.  Adjusting the rear shock position and changing spring he said this made it better but he was still lacking something in the rear and for the next one he plans to try a different wing.  Asked his thoughts on the track, the multiple onroad World Champion replied, ‘it’s high traction, it’s good.  The jumps are the difficult part.’  He elaborated, ‘Always single jump is ok but the rhythm jumps are challenging.  The problem is I only see the first jump, I am not looking ahead enough so its difficult but overall things here are going a lot better than at the Worlds.  We have improved the car set-up and also me.’

Ongaro summed up his SP2 as, ‘It was good but at the same time not good.’  He continued, ‘I have the pace to drive 37 (second) laps but if I push any more the car will flip, so it’s not so easy to drive.  I will try something different in the next one.  I am just using seeding as a practice, I don’t care about the top seed.’  That said the World Champion did admit, ‘this time we were not as fast as Burak and Alex so we need a few tenths more’.  Part of that missing pace was due to compound choice.  The Matrix backed driver explained, ‘I don’t have many tyres so I say ok lets try something different and save the good ones’.  During the run the Italian would have an unusual incident that saw him come in unexpected contact with fellow countryman Polito.  With the Sworkz driver having had a flip, when the marshal returned the buggy to the track he threw it down on top of Ongaro’s in flight buggy which had just taken a jump, Ongaro finding the incident amusing as he explained what happened.

Kato sets early pace at Philippine Masters

Infinity’s Kouki Kato has set the pace in the opening round of seeding practice at the Philippine Masters, the Japanese driver fastest by a decent margin over 2-consecutive laps of this year’s more technical Manila track layout.  The second round of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships, Kato was the winner of last season’s championship finale in Indonesia but this weekend marks his first trip to the legendary Philippines race and it was another of the race’s first timers, Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic, who was his closest rival 7/10ths of a second back with the rest of the Top 5 covered by just 2/10ths.  The first of the three seeding rounds that make up Thursday schedule would see Team Associated’s reigning World Champion Davide Ongaro complete the Top 3 ahead of team-mate Alex Bernadzik with Italy’s Mattia Polito fifth as the leading Sworkz driver.

Having made many changes to his car set-up, Kato said the opening seeding round was the first time he felt it was at point where he was getting the car to his liking around the track, shocks being the biggest positive change he made.  Enjoying the high grip and layout he described its as technical adding the lines are tight in some sections.  Quickly deciding on his tyre choice for the race, opting for the clay compound Sahara tyre from Hotrace, for SP2 he said the plan is to leave the car unchanged and instead use the run to break in a new set of tyres over the timed 5-minutes.

‘It was fine I just needed more steering in some corners but my tyres were new and need about 10-15 minutes to break in so the next one we should be better’, that was Kilic reaction to SP1, the Turkish driver choose the Dash tyre from 6mik.  The biggest edition of the Philippine Masters yet, the 21-year-old is one of the many drivers getting their first experience of the race and Filipino hospitality and he endorsed the event fully saying, ‘I love it here.  It’s really good, also the facility, and the people you can have much fun with them.  It’s amazing.’  On the track layout he said, ‘It’s difficult I have to say. It’s not that easy, to go fast is really hard.  In some corners it is wide and some corners it is narrow but I am having a lot of fun.’

Asked about his first run, the Italian topping the first eBuggy seeding, Ongaro replied, ‘It was good for both cars.  eBuggy was amazing to drive, nitro was good but I just need to find good balance with the steering because it is really hot.  I can push but not too much so now we are changing springs and some stuff but the base is good’.  Chasing his third consecutive win at the Circulo Verde track since its return following pandemic, asked about this year’s layout he said, ‘It is more difficult and technical in some parts but still fun to drive and this year the entry is really strong’.

Taking the opening qualifier at the event last year and qualifying P2 behind Ongaro, Bernadzik summed up his opening seeding as ‘a pretty clean run’.  The former Australian National Champion continued, ‘I guess it was a consistent run with just one bobble at the start but I got a couple pretty clean laps in.  Still I had a few little bobbles like hitting pipes and stuff which probably cost me a few tenths here and there.’  On his buggy he said, ‘It feels pretty safe to drive so I’m already pretty comfortable heading into qualifying.  It’s real hard to go for the one fast lap here so I’ll back it off 5% and I think I should be able to get nice clean runs in’.  Comparing the track to last year’s layout the 22-year-old said, ‘I like it a bit more, it’s a bit more technical and there is a bit more going on.  It’s less wide open so set-up is a lot different to last year, they got a lot more oil into the track this time.’

Another making the trip to Manila for the first time and coming off a very impressive battle with Ongaro at the SIGP race in China at the end of last year where he finished second, Polito was clearly enjoying his experience here so far saying, ‘I love the track.  I think it’s my favourite now’.  On his SP1 performance, the 21-year-old said they are still trying a few things on the buggy and with what they tried this morning ‘the car was good’ but they ‘weren’t so fast’.  Not concerned, he said today’s program is to focus on working on the car for tomorrow’s qualifying.  Asked what he was working on, he replied, ‘we are still changing the diffs and the shocks to find what works best’.

Kilic to lead Mugen Seiki challenge at Philippine Masters

Mugen Seiki’s Burak Kilic is to head the Japanese manufacturer’s challenge at the up coming Philippine Masters as the 2-time World Championship Finalist makes his debut at Asia’s biggest & most famous annual 1:8 Offroad event.  Round 2 of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships, the older of the well known Kilic racing brothers joins the already stacked line-up for the 13th edition of the race that includes no less than four IFMAR World Champions.  Ahead of making the trip from Germany to the Circulo Verde Race Track in Manila for the April 30 -May 4th event, Kilic said, “I’m really looking forward to the Philippine Masters this year.  It will be my first time in Manila.  I can’t wait to hit the track and battle the win out!  Thanks to all my sponsors for making it possible.  See you there!”

Source: Asian Buggy Championships [Facebook]