July 22, 2012

Matsukura tops free practice

Defending World Champion Naoto Matsukura has got his ambitions of winning a third consecutive 1:12 title off to an encouraging start by putting his Yokomo top of the free practice time sheets both in terms of outright lap time and total laps completed over 8-minutes.  Recording a fastest lap of 12.211 and 38-laps in 8:04.488 in the third of the four free practice rounds, the 18-year-old set the pace ahead of his Yokomo touring car team-mate Ronald Volker with Onpoint’s Jilles Groskamp and CRC’s Simo Ahoniemi the only other drivers to manage 38-laps of the indoor carpet track.

Matsukura was pleased to top the opening proceedings of this the 16th running of the 1:12 World Championships but in FP4, in which he was outpaced by Ahoniemi, he said the track changed to what he described as ‘loose carpet’ with his Reedy powered prototype R12 suffering from slight understeer.  Moving now into two rounds of controlled practice, which will bring day 1 of the event to a close, the Japanese ace will try a different set-up for the first of the runs which he said should give him the turn in he lacked in the final free practice.

Volker, who is running an Associated chassis fitted with LRP electronics, said his car was also better in FP3 when he too recorded his best time.  Although easy to drive in FP3 he said the car felt slow but trying a different compound of Jaco tyre in FP4 he said the earlier combination was better overall.  The former European Champion plans to use the controlled practice rounds, which will only be used to reseed major discrepancies in the current heat order, to try fine tune the compound & diameter of tyre he will use for tomorrow morning’s opening qualifier.

Having only had one day of practice prior to today with his 1:12 chassis sponsor Onpoint Racing, Groskamp was pleased with his early pace.  Having made quite big set-up changes for each run the Dutch ace said he has found a set-up that is easy to drive and now plans to use the controlled practices to find the best compromise between making the car faster at the cost of it being easy to drive.  Having not raced 1:12 since last year, Groskamp said that lack of mileage makes running a faster but less stable car that bit more difficult over the 8-minutes which he said is highlighted by Matsukura’s pace.  Runner-up at the last World Championships, he said he and everyone else are again racing for the second spot.

Ahoniemi said his CRC was at its best in FP3 but a number of driver errors meant that was not reflected in the timing as he set a 37-lap run.  Breaking into 38-laps in FP4, the reigning European Champion said the conditions were strange with the car sliding while still having good grip.  Happy he has a good base set-up for his regular CRC chassis, he will use use the controlled practices to decide on which CRC tyre he will use for the first of the 6 scheduled rounds of qualifying.

Factory Associated driver Rick Hohwart was fastest of the drivers on 37 lap runs which put him fifth overall at the end of free practice.  With his R5 feeling very loose in the opening practice, the American said they worked on the front end set-up and continuing in that direction they have been able to make the car faster every run and he now feels quite comfortable at the controls.  Team-mate and reigning US National Champion, who set the pace in the opening practice, end FP 11th fastest.  The Canadian said the car feels decent but is not exactly where he wants it and for the final two practice runs this evening he plans to revert back to the set-up he started the day with.

Running a prototype Corally chassis, Japanese driver Hideo Kitazawa completed the Top 6 as he set his fastest run in the final free practice.  Finding the track very different and more tricky than what he is used to running on back in Japan, he said he was now starting to find his rythm.  Responsible for R&D at Futaba, his car fitted with a Futaba speedo, Kitazawa was upbeat that he can improve his pace further in today’s remaining two practices.

Elsewhere British driver Chris Kerswell was quickest of the Serpent team drivers with the 8th fastest time with team-mate Marc Fisher completing the Top 10 just behind former European Champion Juho Levanen whose Associated ended the free practice in 9th.

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July 22, 2012

Matsukura confident of 3rd consecutive 1:12 title

Reigning 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukura says he is confident of securing a third consecutive title this week as the 16th running of the IFMAR 1:12 World Championships got underway in the sleepy Dutch town of Heemstede this morning.  Setting the fastest lap of the opening round of practice before contact with the boards resulted in a broken wheel bearing on his Yokomo, the young Japanese star is the pre-event favourite and should he pull off the feat will equal the achievement of legend of the sport Masami Hirosaka who had a run of success from 2000 to 2004.  David Spashett, who is a three time champion,  was the last non Japanese World Champion winning the last of his three World titles back in 2006.

Based on a track originally created for the r/c racing simulator VRC and then made a reality by the game’s founder Pieter Bervoets, who has done a superb job in presenting a track worthy of hosting the sports most important race, the feedback from the majority of drivers after the first 8-minute practice was very positive.

Setting the fastest pace of the full 8-minutes of that opening run of four scheduled rounds of free practice was reigning US Champion Keven Hebert who completed 37 laps. Describing the track as one of the best he has ever raced on, the factory Associated driver said his R5 felt really good and it was a very positive start to the event.  Finishing 9th at the last Worlds in Burgdorf, Germany, the Canadian said the traction in the opening practice was quite good and based on how much it came up after just one round of heats he thinks it should mean a high traction event which will suit his driving as that is what he is used to racing on in the US.

Behind Hebert was reigning European Champion Simo Ahoniemi who was the only other driver to complete 37 laps.  The Finnish driver said his car felt pretty good and he will leave it as is for his second practice as this should be a better indication of how the track will be for the rest of the event.  A team driver for CRC, who have come to the event with an all new and very impressive looking narrow chassis, Ahoniemi ran the regular chassis from the American manufacturer saying he didn’t want to risk changing from something he knows well and is comfortable driving but added if the other members of the team quickly find a set-up with the new car he may try it in a later practice run.

CRC have a large team here in the Netherlands including two new high profile signings for the event in Marc Rheinard and Andy Moore.  With 2008 podium finisher Hupo Honigl missing the event due to offroad commitments and Jilles Groskamp switching to Onpoint the way was opened for reigning Touring Car World Champion Rheinard and the 2006 Champion Moore to join the team as neither Tamiya or HB make a 1:12 car.  Rheinard’s last 1:12 outing was the last World Championships 2-years ago in Germany while Moore ran the class at last years IIC which after the worlds is probably the biggest 1:12 race there is.  Both are former 1:12 European Champions but didn’t have great opening runs this morning. Running the new narrow chassis Rheinard had a troubled run as his car kept shutting down due to a suspected receiver problem while Moore who is running the standard car said he could could feel his lack of 1:12 running in his driving.

Making his debut for Onpoint Racing, 2010 Worlds Runner-up Jilles Groskamp tried two different chassis in the opening practice and having been over a year since he raced 1:12 was happy with his early pace especially when compared to Matsukura’s lap times.  This is very much a home event for Groskamp as he grew up in the area and worked for a number of years at the events title sponsor MyLaps who are based just down the road. Now based in Thailand, Groskamp is one of the sponsors of RedRC’s coverage with his new venture JG Racing which will shortly release a range of products aimed at the pro racer.

Owned by Paul Ciccarello, this is the Worlds debut for Onpoint racing and for Paul himself who is a very capable 1:12 driver having finished on a the podium at the US Nationals earlier this year.  Also on the team is 1:12 specialist Marcus Mobers who has been responsible for much of the design work on the Associated R5 derived chassis.

Setting the third fastest 8-minute run was Ronald Volker. The star of Yokomo’s touring car squad, unlike Matsukura the German doesn’t run a Yokomo in 1:12 but an Associated chassis.  The Euro Touring Series Champion, who was Top Qualifier at last year’s 1:12 European Championship said the reason for running the Associated is nothing more than than that this was the car he ran before signing to Yokomo and Japanese company have been happy to allow him to continue to run it.  Just driving the car with his famed mechanic Umino Yukijiro and LRP’s Reto Konig preparing the car, something he said based on his last 1:12 outing at the IIC in Las Vegas is probably for the best, he was happy with how the opening practice went with the car particularly good in the second half of the run.

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March 26, 2012

Maifield wins big two at Pro-Line Cactus Classic

Ryan Maifield pulled off the big double at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic with the Team Associated driver successfully defending his 2WD & 4WD Buggy titles at the 26th edition of America’s longest running offroad meeting. Having made light work of 2WD Short Course title earlier in the day winning the opening two A-Main from pole position, the battle for the overall win in offroad racing’s premiere classes went down to the wire but the Arizona driver rose to the occassion in front of his home crowd to win both A3 Mains ahead of team-mate Ryan Cavalieri to claim back to back titles at the track that is just 10-minutes from his house.

Summing up his weekend Maifield said ‘it wasn’t the easier way but I got it done in the end’. Qualifying his Reedy powered B4.1 only fourth on the grid for 2WD he admitted that he thought the title had maybe slipped his grasp but he said a change of attitude for Sunday’s finals help turn things round. Holding back at the quad, the mammoth jump that caught out so many drivers this weekend, he finished second behind Cavalieri in A1 and Dakotah Phend in A2, but in A3 faultless drive by Maifield saw him take the lead half way through the all important 5-minute encounter. Eventually winning by 10 seconds this margin was the deciding factor in claiming the overall win as both drivers finished on 199 points.

Bringing the event to a close, the third and deciding 4WD Buggy Main was to be the highlight of this years Classic. With the title between Associated star Ryan’s the two World class drivers went for a thrilling climax to the race. Starting from the TQ spot Maifield lead from Cavalieri with the duo pulling clear of the international field. Hounded by the No.2 B44.1 three laps from home Maifield spun out at the end of the straight allowing the World Champion through but he recovered quickly and came right back at him to regain the lead to a huge cheer from the crowd. Pushing at 110% Cavalieri was the one to crack on the last lap as he got it wrong on to the main straight flipping his Orion powered buggy. Winning by 1.7 seconds it was clearly a huge weight lifted off Maifield’s shoulders who afterwards said racing in his home town in front of his parents and friends who came to the track to watch him race brought a lot of extra pressure but it also made winning that bit more special.

A good day for Team Associated as their drivers finished 1-2 in both buggy classes, rising young star Dakotah Phend completed the 2WD podium while Reedy Race Champion Joern Neumann claimed the third step of the 4WD Podium. While the Champions of the three other big classes at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic was decided in the second A-Main the third A-Mains would decide the rest of the podium. Joining Cavalieri on the Mod Truck podium was A3 winner Maifield and TLR’s Dustin Evans while in 2WD Short Course Kyosho’s Jared Tebo and Kody Numedahl, who won A3, completed the overall Top 3 behind Maifield. In the high flying 4WD Short Course class Hupo Honigl won the final A-Main to secure a Team Durango 1-2 behind Neumann with Top Qualifier Dakotah Phend ending up third overall.

Red RC would like to thank Pro-Line for making our first trip to cover the Cactus Classic possible and to Daniel Adams for once again providing us with a base in the pits for the weekend.

2WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 199 pts
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 199
3. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 197
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 195
5. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 194
6. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 191
6. Steven Hartson – Associated – 188
8. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 188
9. Billy Fischer – TLR – 185
10.Brent Thielke – Associated – 184

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 200 pts
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 199
3. Joern Neumann – Durango – 196
4. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 195
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 193
6. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 191
7. Steven Hartson – Associated – 188
8. Billy Fischer – Associated – 188
9. Chad Due – Associated – 187
10.Hupo Honigl – Durango – 187

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