Akio resumes control at TITC to take A2
After crashing out in the opening A-Main due to his pinion coming undone, Akio Sobue resumed his control over the TITC to take the A2 win by a comfortable margin. The Infinity driver once again came under some early pressure from team-mate Jilles Groskamp before the Japanese driver was able to pull clear, showing the form that saw the Top Qualifier take all four rounds of qualifying. Behind, Naoto Matsukura completed the Top 3 never really posing any treat to his team-mates up front. With Ryosuke Yamamoto completing the Top 4, the only change to the starting order came when Meen Vrejak got by Viktor Wilck for 5th position in the opening laps of the race.
‘Much better’, was Sobue’s reaction to his win, the 2018 TITC Winner adding, ‘thankfully the car felt the same as it did before the crash but I had the feeling of more traction than before’. Explaining his race, he said, ‘I knew Jilles would try to overtake me in the beginning but I kept claim and drove my own race cause I knew I would have a stronger car in the second part of the race. In the end I could really open up a gap’. Needing to win A3, to claim the TITC for a second time, he is confident he can deliver another win saying, ‘everything is now the same as qualifying so I have the advantage of being a little quicker than the others’.
Summing up his A2, Groskamp said, ‘I was again quick at the beginning but I can’t attack so there was no point making a crazy move. I just followed him and hope he made a mistake but he didn’t’. The Dutch driver continued, ‘I will attack harder the next one but he’s my team-mate and I don’t want to take him out. I will try a crazy tyre strategy in the last one and maybe it works out but I’m already happy as I am secure on the podium. I’m happy for the team and our car. This is a good showing for Infinity and I’m confident we are going to have a good season with the new car’.
Suffering a spin at the end of the straight in A1 that saw him finish 5th, Naoto was happy to hold position in the second final. The former World Champion said, ‘the first two laps the car is too difficult and I lost almost 1-second to the leaders. After that it is OK and I can catch them but the chances of battling for the win are already over. I will make a little set-up change for the last one so hopefully I can get a better start and have more of a chance to race at the front. If Akio makes no mistake I think he will take an easy win but I want a podium. It’s between me and Viktor so I need one more good result’.
In Open Brushless, Dominic Vogl managed to put the A1 dramas behind him to take an easy win over Kriengsak Suttiprawat, who took him out on the opening lap in A1, and Trin T. The Awesomatix driver said, ‘I was really pissed but these things can happen. It was just that nobody said anything because the race has no referee. Anyway, the second race was super good. It was a little loose at the beginning but then I was able to pull a gap’. With the Top 3 qualifiers in contention for the overall win going into the deciding race which will take place in the evening, the Austrian said, ‘Suttiprawat is super fast in the cool conditions. My car still good but his car gets better. I have already locked up a podium finish so I just need to keep cool in the last one and see what the race brings’.
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