First ever 1:8 Electric Buggy Worlds is go in Portugal
eBuggy is now officially an IFMAR World Championship class with free practice for the inaugural 1:8 Electric Offroad Worlds getting underway at the beautifully presented Barcelos track in Northern Portugal today. Arriving this morning to foggy conditions, which caused an hour delay to the start of the day’s five rounds of free practice, once drivers got on track they quickly gave the fresh surface and new layout plenty of abuse, even the top title contenders looking somewhat rookie level as they tried to put early laps together. With the second round of practice completed, drivers’ general feedback on the track was positive with many of those who raced here at the European 1:8 Nitro Buggy Championship last month saying track builder Miguelo Izquierdo Rodriguez’ latest build was more technical and difficult. With the lack of noise being something that takes getting used to when you walk around the pits surrounded by the best 1:8 Nitro Buggy in the World, in terms of early pace it was Xray’s David Ronnefalk who led the way after 3 rounds ahead of Mugen Seiki’s Bruak Kilic, fastest after Round 2, with Sworkz’s Elliott Boots completing the Top 3.
Coming into the event fresh from racing at the EFRA 1:10 Electric Touring Car Championships in the Netherlands, Ronnefalk described the track as ‘nice’ adding that once they blew the dust off after the first practice ‘everything felt pretty similar to what I felt here a couple of weeks ago at the Nitro Euros.’ The Swede added, ‘I felt the track is a little more slow paced and a little more technical this time compared to Nitro Euros which I would say was a bit more high speed, but the conditions are fairly similar which is good as I feel I have a good base to start from. So it’s all good so far and we’ll see how the track develops. I think it is going to be a little different from Nitro because we don’t have the oil from the exhaust laying down on the track. I expect the track to be very grippy for the most part of the week where as at Nitro Euros it kind of faded with more oil getting put down.’ While a 2-time European Champion in 1:8 eBuggy, asked about the mindset change needed for eBuggy compared to Nitro, the former World Champion replied, ‘It definitely changes a little bit, the qualifying is very important in order to be able to have a good chance at winning it come main day.’ Acknowledging last weekend’s Touring Car action was good practice even if he did get knocked down to BQ by his team-mate Alexander Hagberg when his fellow countryman surprised everyone with a TQ run, he continued, ‘I always feel more relaxed in nitro qualifying for the reason that you don’t need to TQ to have the best shot at. You can say qualify Top 5 or 6 to start Top 3 in the Semi and then you take it from there.’ On the potential for good racing in the finals, he said, ‘The big jump section in the middle I think is definitely going to be a decider when it comes down to the mains. The rest of the track is kind of one line but that the nature of all the tracks with so much grip now. It is very hard to pass so starting position is key as it always is in electric classes so I need to be on top of my game already for qualifying.’
Fresh from being crowned German 1:8 eBuggy National Champion over the weekend, Kilic was happy with his first laps of the track. The Turkish driver said, ‘for me the layout is really really fun although the dust out of the jumps as the track gets broken is making it a bit difficult.’ Overall he said, ‘I feel the track has more grip than the Euros cause there is no oil from the fuel and I prefer this because my car just works a little bit better. I am doing ok right now.’ Asked about his buggy set-up, he responded, ‘I didn’t change anything yet, I just drove around to see how the track is changing, the set-up is straight from the German Nationals. I just put it on track and drove it.’
One driver getting his very first experience of the Barcelos Buggy Arena track is Phend. The US driver said, ‘I think the layout is fun and has a good flow to it. There is good grip, so it’s good.’ Asked if there was anything in particular he was working on, the ROAR Champion replied, ‘I think I just need to tighten the lines up. I was a lot better the last run compared to the first runs so I’ll just keep plugging away there. We had a really good base set-up with the team so kind of just working on my driving and tyre stuff. The groove is pretty narrow right now so you go a little wide and you lose a lot of time but I think it will widen up as the race goes one.’ He concluded, ‘The pace is decent for how early on we are.’
Widely recognised as one of the outright fastest drivers in 1:8 Nitro buggy, last year’s World Championship Top Qualifier Juan Carlos Canas described the track as ‘more hard to drive’ adding ‘maybe that will suit one driver and not another, we will see.’ The Spaniard, a multiple winner of the track’s annual International Buggy Challenge, said so far the grip feels strange but he expects it to get closer to that of the Euros after more running on it. Asked how he finds driving electric over nitro, the Spaniard said, ‘the power is completely different, also the driving style and where you brake is also completely different.’ With no lower finals as a buffer should qualifying not go a drivers way, he said, ‘you need to give everything for qualifying’, something that usually isn’t an issue for the 23-year-old. In terms of racing, he feels the new layout will make overtaking ‘very difficult.’ In terms of set-up he said his Sworkz is quite similar to his Euros Nitro set-up with his current focus on getting the best steering set-up for the tighter layout.
Asked about his first impressions of the track, Davide Ongaro replied, ‘that was probably my the worst practice ever’ adding ‘it is difficult to find a balance and in the first two I almost understand nothing about what I test. Sometimes if the car is not perfect I can drive it maybe a little bit slower but this time no.’ His worst practice aside, answering the original question the reigning back to back Nitro World Champion said, ‘I prefer the one from the Euros but this one is fun. 90% of the jumps are the same as the Euros and they just changed the layout but the feeling of how you arrive on the jump is completely different. I don’t know if it was good or bad to race the Euros for this race.’ He explained, ‘after the straight there is a small double but at the Euros it was a right side corner and the first laps I was thinking about that corner, so you know it’s still in the memory.’
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