January 9, 2015

Prumper tops opening practice at DHI Cup

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Yannic Prumper topped the opening round of timed practice at the 15th running of DHI Cup in Denmark.  The Team Yokomo driver headed a very closely matched Top 6 over 3-consecutive laps with Serpent’s Marc Fischer second fastest just 0.054 off his fellow German’s pace.  Defending champion Ronald Volker, who is chasing a sixth DHI Cup title this weekend, completed the Top 3 with his Yokomo just 0.003 off Fischer.

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Having posted only the 7th fastest time in free practice, Prumper put his improvement down to a bodyshell switch and a change of tyres.  Without his regular mechanic Toni Rheinard, the 21-year-old went from Protoform’s Speed 6 to LTC-R bodyshell which together with fitting a new set of the event’s controlled LRP tyre gave him more steering. Happy with how his BD7 is running now he plans to run the car unchanged for the final practice.

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Finishing free practice just one place ahead of Prumper, Fischer also attributed his improved form down to changing to a new set of tyres. Describing the second set as ‘much better’, for the final practice he plans to run softer shocks on his S411 to see if it improves the car over the bumps caused by cable tunnelling underneath the track.  While he described the track layout as ‘a little boring’, he added the that ‘it is good that everyone is so close’.

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Volker, who has made carpet racing somewhat boring due to his domination of events, described the practice as being ‘super close between a lot of drivers’.  The ETS & European Champion was very happy with his 5-minute pace but added that they need to make some small changes to his LRP powered BD7 to make it a little easier to drive which would allow him to push just a little harder.

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Making his debut for HB, Freddy Sudhoff was very happy with his early pace. Setting the fourth fastest time, he ‘thought it was a pretty good start’ with his new car.  The former Awesomatix driver said the nature of the shaft driven Russian car meant he had to drive it more aggressively through corners than a belt car and he thought this was going to affect his performance this weekend but the track layout requires even a belt car like his new PRO5 to being driven hard and that’s helping with the switch.  Overall he said the basic set-up of the new car is really good and he is pleased to be in the mix so early on in his first race with it.

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Setting the 5th fastest time, Alexander Hagberg declared himself content with his early form describing the leading times as ‘very close’.   The Xray driver, said they were still working on a ‘couple of details’ on the T4 set-up and everything should be fine come qualifying.

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Completing the Top 6 was Awesomatix’ now lead driver Vijami Kutvonen.  The Finn who was runner up to Volker here last year, said he is just really waiting for the traction to come-up.  With the bumps an issue for most drivers, for the first timed practice he fitted a top deck to his A700 which he said improved the impact the bumps had on the car alot.

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Last years other podium finisher Marc Rheinard would top free practice but could only manage 8th behind Martin Lissau in the first timed run.  Very happy with the stability of his TRF419 in free practice he said having started out good the car was ‘now not so good’. ‘Sliding all over the place’ he said having done nothing to the car between the two runs he hopes that a fresh set of tyres for the closing practice run will return the car to how it was earlier.

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January 9, 2015

Chassis Focus – Freddy Sudhoff

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Chassis – HB Pro5
Motor – LRP X20 4.5T
ESC – LRP Flow
Battery – LRP 6000mAh
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Body – Protoform Speed6
Remarks – Being part of the recent recruiting campaign for HB, Freddy is running here a pre-production version of the soon to be delivered Pro5. Using the optional aluminum chassis and Lee Speed 84 pitch spur gear, he is so far delighted with the car, especially with the infinite adjusting capabilities of the camber links.

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January 9, 2015

Track Focus – DHI Cup Odense

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Host Club – Odense R/C Minirace
Country – Denmark
Location – Odense
Venue – Odense Conference Centre
Track type – Temporary
Surface – Carpet (Onroad), Carpet & Wood (Offroad)
Direction – Anti-Clockwise (Onroad), Clockwise (Offroad)
Previous races hosted –15

2015 marks the 15th running of the DHI Cup and the famous Danish event, which has traditionally kicked off the new season for touring car’s top drivers, is celebrating the important milestone with a big resurgence in interest with a capacity 300 entries.  On opening up registration for the Odense based event, it was quickly booked out with the organisers having for the first time to deal the issue of having a waiting list such is the renewed interest.  This being the fourth year the event has also catered for offroad racers, the two classes running simultaneously on separate tracks either side of the large double sided driver stand, the biggest change for 2015 is the hall.  Having being held in the impressive Arena Fyn since 2008, a Handball test match between Denmark and Slovenia in preparation of the upcoming World Championships in Qatar has meant the organisers have been moved to another hall within the Odense Conference centre.

While not as grand a hall as the stadium, in terms of overall floor space the host club Odense R/C Minirace still have the same room to work within.  While regulars of the race had their doubts about being moved from the stadium, the general feeling on arrival in the new location is that more enclosed hall without grandstands actually creates a better overall atmosphere in the pits.  While the hall has a much lower roof, the lighting over the track has been enhanced thanks to the Conference centre installing 80 spot lights in addition to the existing lights just for the event.

In terms of the tracks, the offroad track having been made up of black and grey carpet last year is now grey having been made using last year’s touring car track carpet.  The touring car track features new carpet although some drivers are disappointed that the growing in popularity black ETS carpet was not used.  In terms of the layout, last year’s touring car winner Ronald Volker said while traction was still low on the new carpet making it hard to get a true feel for the layout he said ‘overall it should be good’. The Yokomo driver, who is chasing a sixth DHI Cup title this weekend, added that the layout on the right side of the track could doesnt make the best use of the space and they could have made it more technical helping to increase the lap time too, 12.5 seconds being the early pace for a lap time.

Three time back to back 4WD Buggy Champion, Joern Neumann described the offroad track layout as being an improvement on last year with the carpet change also improving traction levels.  Not a fan of the speed bumps the German, who is running without a chassis sponsor after Durango opted to discontinue its factory team at the end of 2014, said the long jump on the back straight was the tracks most challenging feature as the landing into the following 180 corner was short.  In free practice a good 4WD lap time is a late 18-seconds while 2WD is a low 19-seconds.

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October 13, 2014

Naoto Matsukura’s WC winning Yokomo BD7 2015

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October 13, 2014

Matsukura is Touring Car World Champion

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Naoto Matsukura is the new Electric Touring Car World Champion. Just days after relinquishing the 1:12 World title he held for six years, the Japanese driver becomes the sixth winner of the sport’s biggest accolade achieving something that eluded his mentor & RC legend Masami Hirosaka. The 8th running of the championships, four drivers went into the third A-Main at the Kissimmee track in contention for the title. Despite an intense challenge from pre-event favourite Ronald Volker, Matsukura took the A3 win and with it his fourth IFMAR World title. Finishing the leg third behind the Yokomo team-mates, Xray’s A1 winner and star of the Florida event Bruno Coelho would finish second overall leaving a disappointed Volker to complete the podium.

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With the Yokomo pairing pulling clear of the field, the Japanese manufacturer’s quest to regain the title they last won in 2000, the first year of the championships, with Atsushi Hara, things almost came undone on lap on lap 8 of 18. With Volker on his tail, Matsukra would clip the boards through the section leading on to the straight. Collecting the No.1 BD7, Volker would come off worst but luckily both survived to maintain station at the front such was their lead. The incident dropped Volker almost a second off Matsukura, but a charge saw him close back up but setting the fastest lap of the race the impressive Coelho, a title contender, was also on his way to the front. Unfortunately a mistake on the last lap ended Coelho’s challenge opening the door for Volker to attempt a pass for the title the European Champion so desperately wants. Going for a move at the hairpin following the sweeper at the end of the straight, Volker just could get it done with Matsukura able to hold on for the last few corners to claim the World title.

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‘So happy, 1:12 didn’t work out but that doesn’t matter now’, was Matsukura’s reaction to his victory. Having continuously held a world title since making his Worlds debut in Thailand in 2008 when he took the first of three 1:12 World titles, he said his team-mate made him work hard for this one. Admitting that luck was on his side in relation to his ‘little mistake’, the 21-year-old said he expected Volker’s last lap attempt to pass but he was able to see it off. Thanking Yokomo boss Tom Yokobora for having made it possible for him to race at the top of the sport he also paid compliments to the BD7 2015’s designer Yukijiro Umino for providing him with ‘a great car’. Having ‘let down’ his many supporters who stayed up all night back in Japan to follow his 1:12 title defence he said he hoped this more than made up for that and he thanked them for their messages of support.

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‘Huge disappointment’, was Volker’s reaction to finishing 3rd overall for a second time at the Worlds. Having been really unhappy with his driving in A2, he said he ‘was sharp for A3’ adding he drove the best he could and it was something he could be proud of. ‘Slightly faster than Naoto’, he said the lap 8 incident was also identical to Lap 1 of A1. Running on his team-mates ‘tail’, he said he could also see Coelho coming and with that in mind he didn’t want to do anything stupid that might cost Yokomo the title. Seeing the No.3 make a mistake on the last lap and with Umino giving him ‘a really good car’ he ‘gave his all’ and tried to pass, ‘almost’ making it happen. Congratulating Matsukura on his win, he said they pushed each other hard throughout the event. Describing Coehlo’s second overall as ‘unexpected’, them both tying on points, he said the World’s debutant is an ‘upcoming star of the future’. Thanking his sponsors Yokomo and LRP and Umino, he said while the event was personally ‘a big disappointment’, he was going to have some beers tonight and try again in 2016.

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Making a huge impact with his pace throughout the Full Throttle RC Raceway hosted event, with many manufacturers taking note of the previously little known talent, Coelho said after again making a mistake at the start it was difficult to challenge for the win. Finishing A3 fourth, he said ‘I did my best and to end up fighting for a Top 3 place in the world feels very good’. A very cool operator, the 21-year-old said he came to his first touring car World Championship with little expectations. New to the class, he said every day he is learning with the last few days being a ‘big education’. While all the top teams tested extensively at the track numerous times, Coelho drove the track for the first time on Thursday. Already looking forward to 2016, when the race will take place in Bejing, China, he said he will try to go one better next time.

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Finishing fourth overall, having taken third in A3, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard said he knew he had to go for the win to have any chance of a podium or a chance at a fourth Touring car title. Hitting the boards on Lap 6, he said it ‘went downhill from there’ with his steering going out of alignment with suspected damage to the servo gearing. Without this the German was confident he had a similar pace to the Yokomos but said ultimately he ‘did not drive good’. A single race held only every two years, he said ‘everything has to be perfect to win it’.

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Outgoing Champion Jilles Groskamp would finish 6th, the Dutch driver declaring himself happy with the result having started the finals from 10th on the grid. Feeling he drove good finals, the Tamiya Racing Factory driver said he knew from the start of the event he wasn’t in contention. He said it was time for Yokomo to win having been so close before, adding they deserved it. Happy for Matsukura to win he said on the other side he feels bad for Volker, a driver widely acknowledged as being the fastest in the World.

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