Anderson Top Qualifier at MonTech NYGP
Kemp Anderson is the 1:12 Modified Top Qualifier at the sixth edition of the Montech New York Grand Prix, the Awesomatix driver securing pole position for tomorrow’s single main with his time from the penultimate round of qualifier at the 360v2 track in New Rochelle. With Donny Lia putting himself right in the picture after leading Q3 for a time, he would go on to top the fourth & final qualifier but would come up short on the TQ pace. His time from the previous round will see the NYGP organiser line-up P2 in the final followed by Keven Hebert, the Xray driver finally getting his car set-up to where the Canadian has a chance of adding the NYGP title to his 2024 ROAR Nationals title. Having surprised himself by holding the overnight TQ after topping Q1, 1:12 Spec World Champion Max Mächler with line up P4 on the AbsoluteHobbyz 1:12 Modified grid ahead of the Prodigy of Josh Cyrul and CRC of Andrew Knapp. In the eXcelerate 13.5 1:12 class it is Lia who is your Top Qualifier from IFMAR President Eric Anderson. The Speedzone Modified Touring Car class sees Hebert lead away the grid tomorrow thanks to the Canadian’s Q3 time which Kemp Anderson came very close to toppling in Q4.
Only fourth fastest in the final qualifier behind Cyrul, Anderson explained, ‘I made a mistake on the first lap and tweaked the car so it was pushing to the right and spinning out to the left so it was a little hard to drive.’ Looking to the single 8-minute final that will decide the new NYGP Champion, reigning Champion Sam Isaacs forced to miss this year’s race due to work commitments, the 22-year-old said, ‘I’m going to look through the car and probably revert back to my Q3 set-up because it was super easy to drive and consistent’. The star of qualifying at last year’s IFMAR 1:12 Worlds concluded, ‘It will be a really intense one with Donny and I think Keven got his car pretty good in that one too so he’ll be right there’.
While having been on a TQ pace for a time during the final qualifier Lia described Q4 with, ‘It wasn’t a good run. My car wasn’t very good that run at all. The car wasn’t great the last run so I made a bunch of changes and none of them fixed it really, if anything it maybe went the wrong way. Something the car is doing is leaving me scratching my head trying to figure it out. Something is missing and I have got to figure out what it is. I am going to try some stuff in practice and see if I can fix it ’cause right now it is just extremely inconsistent and difficult to drive. The pace is there but I think we can go a lot faster than we have’.
Summing up his 1:12 Mod qualifying and P4, Mächler said, ‘It’s actually better than I thought so I will totally take it. It was clear after Q1 that the other guys would go in front, I expected it. The good thing is I didn’t destroy a car and I made 8-minutes all the time so that’s a win for me at least but the biggest win is that it’s fun out there.’ On his final qualifying effort the German said, ‘Actually it was good but I have the issue today that I am somehow super tired, so in the last minute of Modified I was close to stop as it’s really exhausting.’ Asked if he felt a podium was possible tomorrow he replied laughing, ‘We will see. In Modified everything can happen so I will just try to be around, that the best take I have.’
Asked if he was back in the game, Hebert replied, ‘Sort of yeh, a lot closer now’. He continued, ‘I made a lot of changes in the areas I hadn’t gone yet and it seems to suit my driving style a lot better so I have a direction now. Hopefully I will find the little bit I need for the final’. Asked if he ended up switching cars he said, ‘I ended up keeping the same car but I changed part of the front end and the rear suspension spring damping, I made a lot of changes and its pretty close now. I was in the game so for sure it looks positive for tomorrow.’
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