SIGP Day 2 qualifying opens with another Kato TQ run
Day 2 of qualifying at the SIGP in China has opened with Infinity’s Kouki Kato laying down another TQ run, the Japanese driver carrying the form that saw him top seeding and Q1 yesterday into another very hot day in Xiamen. Managing to better his Q1 time by 3.5 seconds, Kato would lead an Infinity 1-2 as Bruno Coelho set the second fastest time 2.5-seconds adrift of his team-mate. Having opened qualifying with a P2 yesterday evening, David Ronnefalk looked to be close to challenging Kato this morning but on his fuel stop in lap his edgy looking Xray crashed and needing to be marshalled he lost over 7-seconds to drop back to record the third fastest time. After his P4 in Q1, round 2 would end up being a throw away for Pekko Iivonen, the Mayako driver entering the pits with caution after yesterday’s timing issues but finding a new bump that caused him to crash which he then followed up with a far more spectacular crash exiting the pits. This allowed Indonesian Infinity driver Jason Nugroho to record the fourth fastest time ahead of Team Associated’s young Korean talent Jung Hyunkyu with Mr. Mayako Joseph Quagraine completing the Top 6.
Summing up his second TQ run, Kato said, ‘My car was very easy to drive for the 8-minutes and we had a good pit stop with my dad and Ricardo (Monteiro). They did a super job. I just had one little mistake but the run was still OK.’ Looking to Q3, when he could potential lock up the overall TQ, 3 of 5 to count, the 19-year-old said, ‘I think I will leave the car the same.’ Asked about his eBuggy, he replied, ‘It is a little bit loose on the rear so maybe I will change the diff oil for the next one.’ Regarding tyre choice plans to still stick with the Sahara from Hotrace for now.
Reacting to his P2, Coelho said, ‘It was again tough, we still haven’t found out what is making the rear to be loose during the run.’ Last year’s SIGP podium finisher continued, ‘The electric is pretty stable and the set-up is the same so we need try find out what is wrong to make it a little bit easier for the mind. I need to be super careful driving, the rear is always catchy and basically the car is driving me and not me driving the car. I have no confidence and its is difficult to keep the pace for the 8-minutes.’ Asked about the comparison between his and Kato’s set-up he replied, ;we have very similar set-ups so I think there is something wrong on the car. The electric and the nitro have exactly the same set-up and for some reason the nitro just has some weird stuff so we need to find.’ Making it two TQ’s from 2 rounds in eBuggy qualifying asked about that he said, ‘All good. It was another clean run and the car is working pretty good so just keep it like that.’
Suffering a costly mistake in Q2, giving his thoughts on the run Ronnefalk said, ‘The grip seemed a little higher today so the car was a little more sensitive in the bumps for me and I had just one bad moment up there on the top right where I bounced and I wasn’t able to save it. So landed on the roof and it cost me quite some time.’ He added, ‘I was pretty close at the time with Kouki on the overall run so I would have been right there without that one. They didn’t do any mistakes and that’s what matters at the end so I need to improve a little bit the feeling of the package.’ Asked about changes to his buggy and running Hotrace’s Sahara tyre, he said, ‘I tried a softer tyre but it wasn’t working as good I thought cause the grip was higher and I didn’t expect that. That was what happened to me in eBuggy as well because it was very hard to drive and I traction rolled twice on the back straight and lost a load of time.’
A regular of the Philippine Masters and Asian Buggy Championships, qualifying third for his home race in 2024, this is Nugroho’s first race outside of his country in 2025 but the former National Champion has been keeping himself race sharp at home finishing runner-up in the 3 round National Championship. Asked about his P4 run this morning he said, ‘It went well. I tried to keep it safe. I made a few mistakes last night so I figured I had to play it safer. The car felt good but it might need it might need a little bit more off throttle cornering. Overall the shocks are good so maybe some geometry set-up and diff set-up change and all is good I suppose. Just play it safe and make no mistakes. It is very bumpy and hard to predict where the car will land after a bump.’ His first time to the 3 Circles track, asked if he is enjoying the bumps he replied with a diplomat answer calling it ‘a new experience for sure.’
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