November 23, 2019

Sobue to start 2nd in Mod as Quek secures Stock TQ

Akio Sobue won the battle to start 2nd behind Bruno Coelho in this afternoon’s triple A-mains. While it was the World Champion who once again took the top spot to make it 4 from 4 in qualifying, behind it was Sobue that took 2nd with his Infinity prototype while Dominic Quek, who had been poised to start 2nd, could only get 17th for the round. The Singapore driver spun his Xray coming onto the straight and flipped, losing him close to a lap. Afterwards he said he felt that the sugar water that they had sprayed on the track was still wet but was still positive about starting 3rd in such a competitive field. Behind, fellow Singaporean Nicholas Lee will set off from 4th on the grid, while his Yokomo team mate Meen Vejrak completes the top half of the grid.

In the Hobbywing class, things were a lot better for Quek as he secured the TQ spot thanks to his 2 TQ runs yesterday, the Xray driver only managing 2nd this morning. Taking the final round, German Max Machler made his intentions known for the A-finals as he ended up some 4 seconds clear at the front and will start just behind Dominic in 2nd. Stick King will start from 3rd for Serpent while Hobbywing team manager Salton Dong will set off on 4th. Simon Wang completes the top 5.

View the complete event results here.

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November 22, 2019

Chassis Focus – Max Machler

Chassis – Awesomatix A800MMX
Motor – Hobbywing V10 G3R 13.5T
ESC – Hobbywing Xerun XR10 Pro
Battery – Sunpadow 6000mAh CS Platin
Tires (handout) – Sweep
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/MKS
Body – Zoo Racing DBX

Remarks – His first trip to China, ‘Mad’ Max Machler has brought with him the final stage pre-production version of the Awesomatix A800MMX. Its a new mid motor concept featuring a unique motor mount and top deck design that offers multiple setup possibilities and improved flex characteristics. Additionally it sports new upperlink holders as well as new damper holders for the front of the car. Max tells us that the steering has also been improved to have less play and simpler adjustment. To complete the package the German is running the 6000mAh CS battery from Sunpadow’s new high end Platin range.

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November 22, 2019

Chassis Focus – Bruno Coelho

Chassis – Xray T4 2020
Motor – Hobbywing G3 4.5T
ESC – Hobbywing Xerun XR10 Pro
Battery – Sunpadow 5200mAh Slim
Tires (handout) – Sweep
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/Bruno T4WC
Body – Xtreme Twister Lightweight

Remarks – World Champion Bruno Coelho is making his asphalt debut with the all new T4 2020 platform here in China. Home of the Sunpadow brand, he is running the all new slim pack from the Xiamen based brand. 10mm narrower than a regular pack and only 245 grams, the smaller width allows it to be placed closer to the centre of the car. Produced by Sunpadow following requests by the team, it will be part of the new top of the line Platin range, with Stock packs coming in the future. Submitted for homologation, it has been tested both indoor and outdoor and those team drivers have been very satisfied with the result. In regards the car, the WC has had to put a brass plate under the battery to bring it up to minimum weight and is using a 35 gram brass weight under the receiver to aid with the balance. Other options include steel spool outdrives, aluminium axle eccenters, a rear T-bar plate for additional stiffness and a set of Hiro Seiko Bruno aluminium screws.

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November 22, 2019

Bruno Coelho is 2019 SIGP Top Qualifier

Taking his 3rd round of qualifying, despite a mid run mistake, Bruno Coelho has locked down the top qualifying spot here in Xiamen at the 2019 SIGP. The Xray factory driver briefly lost the lead when he rolled his car, allowing Dominic Quek to the front but once back on his wheels he set about regaining the lead to take the win and with it pole position for tomorrow’s A-main finals. Quek was just half a second back in 2nd, also running the new Xray, while an improved Meen Vejrak completed Q3 in 3rd. Akio Sobue was 4th for Infinity while Nicholas Lee was fifth. Bruno said that they made a small suspension change which worked well despite the World Champion being on 3rd run tires. Asked abut his high speed crash he said that he only just gently clipped the curb which sent his car into what seemed like a slow motion roll before stopping against the back side of a curb. He was able to continue and regain the lead and with the TQ his he will use the final qualifier to test.

Dominic Quek has emerged as the most consistent of the chasing pack as he took his second 2nd place in qualifying and now looks set to start from that position, just behind his Xray team mate. Comparing his car to how it was this morning Quek felt his T4 2020 had improved a lot and has only made small changes to adapt to the changing traction conditions. ‘When Bruno crashed I was hoping he would lose 1 more second’, joked the Singapore driver, the pair separated by only 0.5 at the end. Asked if he would be happy with 2nd, he replied ‘2nd to Bruno is like 1st to me’.

Yokomo driver Meen Vejrak had a pretty terrible start to the day with a non finish in Q1 but his luck has steadily improved with a P4 in Q2 and finally a P3 in Q3. Not happy yet with the handling of his BD9, the Thai racer said that he thought his car would be better on new tires, but he now believes the opposite is true, saying that he thinks his car is better suited to used tires. Running new in the last run of the day he said that he made too many mistakes and lost time to Dominic as he struggled once again with not having enough bite in the corners.

Completing the top 4, Sobue said the changes he had made to his prototype Infinity for Q3 were good however as the temperature came up he feels that new tires are now better again. Looking to the final qualifier tomorrow morning, where he can snatch the 2nd starting grid spot from Quek, the Japanese driver said he will bolt on some new tires and aim for a good points haul.

In the Hobbywing stock class Dominic Quek went 2 for 3, having taking Q2 earlier before going on to take Q3, both times from German Stock master Max Machler who has moved up to 3rd in the overall standings, behind Stick King who took the win in Q1.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.