August 17, 2009

Pietsch controlling the pace

The final controlled practice is underway here in Lostallo and with plenty of time to kill between runs we caught up with one of the pre-event favourites Robert Pietsch.  Setting the pace in the first of today’s 10 minute runs from fellow Mugen driver Andrea Pirani, the German ace is very happy with the performance of his Novarossi powered MRX-4X. Featuring new harder plastics and a new shock mounting position on the rear wishbones for this event, the Warm Up race Top Qualifier says overall the car is working really well with only very slight oversteer keeping him away from a perfect set-up.

The Bumod Grand Prix winner is, like most drivers, running a two stop strategy over the 10 minutes. Managing to get five minutes from his Novarossi engine in an earlier practice he said there was no advantage to be gained as the cautious driving style to make the time meant a 1/2 second drop off in his lap times. Commenting on tyres Piestch said the wear is pretty high but that is not a problem for him as his set-up works best on larger tyres.

Asked who he felt has stood out during practice the Mugen designer said there are a lot of drivers with the potential to be strong here and until qualifying gets underway we will not get a true picture. He did single out a couple of drivers including defending Champion Lamberto Collari but added that the 8 time World Champion appears to be inconsistent being very fast one run and then off the pace in the next. Others to impress him include Serpent pairing Michael Salven & Tadahiko Sahashi and Shepherd factory driver Oliver Mack.

Interestingly Pietsch said prior to the Worlds he played a lot of sports to try and build up his fitness for this long event.  Drivers have already had five days of running with another five still remaining and that is sure to take its toll. The long periods between each driver’s run, over 5 hours today, is also a mental challenge for the drivers and good fitness level is sure to help.

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August 17, 2009

Collari chases ninth World title in Switzerland

In 1989 a young Italian took his first 1:8 Onroad World title and now 20 years on that very same driver is chasing a unprecedented ninth World Championship crown. Lamberto Collari is a true legend of r/c racing and his achievements put him up there with seven time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and eight times MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi. There are very few sports men that have been at the top of their game for such a long period and that has led to many rumours recently that the shy Italian will retire from the sport he has dominated, but when we put the question to him he was quick to respond saying he has no plans to stop racing as he still has the same passion and determination to win as he did when he took his first World title. Chasing his fourth consecutive World title here this week in Lostallo, Switzerland, Collari said he feels comfortable and well prepared for the event. The last time Collari was not the World Champion was back in 2001 when Japanese driver Kenji Osaka took the win for Mugen. Osaka is not present this time round making 1999 World Champion Adrien Bertin the only other World title holder competing in the 17th Edition of the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship. Things have come along way since Butch Kroells won the first Worlds driving a two wheel drive Team Associated back in 1977, the track restaurant having a great display of cars from the past mounted on the walls.  To date three manufacturers share the honours of most World victories with Kyosho, Serpent and the no longer in existence BMT all having 3 wins a piece.

Practice has been running since Thursday with the 149 drivers having already had sixteen 10 minute runs to prepare with one last practice left this afternoon in which to fine tune their cars ahead of the first two rounds of qualification tomorrow. So far the pace is being set by Mugen factory driver Robert Pietsch. The German is one of the favourites here in Lostallo having taken TQ honours here in June at the Warm Up race.  Hitting engine trouble in the final Pietsch managed only seventh with Alberto Picco taking the win also at the controls of a Mugen which appears to be the car to beat here. All ten finalists in Argentina are present here to battle it out again with only a few changes to the artillery they will use. In terms of chassis the only change is that of current 1:10 World Champion Daniele Ielasi who is now heading the efforts of Shepherd while on the engine front Serpent’s Mark Green has joined Novarossi and Mugen’s Walter Salemi is using the new Reds Racing engines from Mario Rossi.

Our coverage, which is supported by Serpent and Mugen, will get into full swing later today when we have had an opportunity to sit down with the leading teams and their drivers to find out who is doing what and who is feeling most confident about getting down to the serious business of qualifying tomorrow.

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July 26, 2009

Joy for Wischnewski, Heartbreak for Balestri


There was a dramatic outcome to the 2009 EFRA 1:10 200mm European Championships here in Gubbio, Italy this evening, with heartbreak for race dominator Dario Balestri and total joy for new Champion Dirk Wischnewski. Starting from pole Balestri’s Novarossi powered Team Magic was untouchable allowing the defending back to back Champion to lap the entire field, but in the final 10 minutes of the race the Italian suffered gearbox problems ending his quest for a hat trick of titles.

With Balestri out of contention, eventually retiring on lap 134, it was Wischnewski who was best placed to take over the lead.  Having recorded the fastest lap of the race the German Champion had a 6 second gap on second placed Alexander Hagberg. With Hagberg involved in an intense battle with Manuel Huber, Wischnewski was able to extend the gap eventually crossing the finish line over 11 seconds clear to claim his first ever European A Championship title. Behind it was nitro Euros rookie Hagberg who took the runners up spot but just with Huber only 0.674 behind the Swede after 45 minutes of hot racing.

After the race the very down to earth Wischnewski was clearly surprised by his win saying, ‘My car, engine and mechanic were all perfect in the race. Once Dario lapped me I thought second is a great result for me as my aim was just to make the final but when he went out I started to feel a little nervous because I was now fighting for the European Championship. I just tried to stay calm for last few minutes and it was a great relief to reach the finish. I’m so happy and I want to thank my pitman Bertram Kessler who was a big part of this victory’.

Making his 1:10 200mm European debut Hagberg was very happy with second. Progressing from the 1/4 Finals, the electric touring car ace came here aiming for a place in the main final but said finishing on the podium was far more than he expected. The Xray/Max driver, who is competing in only his first year of nitro racing, said it was a very close battle with Huber but his one stop less fuel strategy gave him the upper hand.  With his home country Sweden hosting next year’s European Championship Hagberg said he will do pre event testing at the Vast 8 track unlike this year and hopes that will help him to go one better.

After a good start to the race, Huber was to lose half a lap following a crash involving Francesco Tironi. This forced him to push his Xray very hard as he recovered the lost ground but over the last five minutes he struggled with tyres and although surprised to claim his first European podium he was a little disappointed to miss out on second having come so close.

Finishing a lap down on the leaders, fourth placed Martin Hudy was disappointed with his race.  The factory Xray driver, a podium finisher at the Worlds, said he couldn’t push after the wrong tyre choice left him with understeer.  With his engine also set to lean, the Slovak said while it a frustrating race for him he was delighted for Xray who took the Top 6 places in the final.

The final wasn’t a good race for any of the four direct qualifiers. One can’t help feel for Balestri and his crew as they came so close to becoming the most successful team in 200mm. It’s going to be a very sombre drive home for him and his large entourage who had been accustomed to taking home the winning trophy. The normally very jolly Francesco Tironi was also very down after the final. The factory Sirio driver said his race was over after the first lap as he struggled with a very difficult to drive car and finishing 10th was not how he had envisaged his home event. Jerome Renaux missed the start as he couldn’t get his engine to start but took some consolation from the fact he bettered his two 10th places finishes at the Euro B Championship to claim sixth. Wonder kid Biagio Spataro may not realise yet how big an impression he has made on the sport and will be disappointed to not have finished higher but the new Junior European Champion’s big day is sure to come.

After a week of echoing to the sound of high revving engines, silence has fallen on the Gubbio track here in Italy with a new name added to the list of European Champions. For some the trip home with be a chance to reflect on what could have been but overall the biggest winner of this European Championship is our sport. The organisation here has set a new standard as to how an event given the task of hosting such a prestigious event like the European Championship should be presented and run. The attention to detail was superb and we say well done to Mr. Agostinelli and his crew for raising the bar. We hope now EFRA will ensure that level is maintained. Finally a special thanks to Raimondo Gilletti who acted as our Italian translator in the pits. Ciao.

Final overall standings
1. Dirk Wischnewski (Xray/NR) – 159L 45:03.983
2. Alexander Hagberg (Xray/Max) – 159L 45:15.194
3. Manuel Huber (Xray/Max) – 159L 45:15.868
4. Martin Hudy (Xray/Max) 158L 45:05.808
5. Giorgio De Felici (Xray/Max) – 153L 45:01.774
6. Jerome Renaux (Xray/NR) – 138L 45:13.132
7. Dario Balestri (TM/NR) – 134L 38:12.900
8. Biagio Spataro (Xray/JP) – 134L 45:09.379
9. Gerhard Kandelhardt (Xray/NR) – 116L 45:02.446
10.Francesco Tironi (Mugen/Sirio) – 112L 34:23.133

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July 26, 2009

Dirk Wischnewski takes European title

Dirk Wischnewski has taken the win in a thrilling final here in Gubbio Italy. Long time leader Dario Balestri hit troubles and this allowed a consistent Wischnewski to bring his Xray to the front. The top three finished on the same lap with Alexander Hagberg taking 2nd and Manuel Huber in 3rd.

Full report to follow.

July 26, 2009

Final grid complete – Big names missing

The Semi Finals have been run and the 6 drivers who will join the four direct qualifiers has been decided.  In the Semi B Manuel Huber took a relative easy win over Dirk Wischnewski but the Semi A was a far more dramatic affair. Serpent’s Michael Salven lead for over half of the 20 minutes encounter but with 7 minutes to go and with a healthy lead his engine cut. This handed Mugen’s Guiseppe D’angelo the lead but he too flamed out with less than 3 minutes to go. Having benefited from the demise of Mark Green’s out of control Serpent 733 to move in to second, Martin Hudy came through to take the win from Gerhard Kandelhart. The other two qualifiers based on the next two fastest race times from both Semi Finals were Alexander Hagberg and Giorgio De Felici who come from the Semi B.

In addition to the demise of Salven, Green (fuel in radio gear) and D’angelo, the Semi also saw the end for Worlds Top Qualifier Jilles Groskamp, Madrid pole sitter Teemu Leino, Robert Pietsch and Niki Duina.  Groskamp, who was running a Max engine he borrowed from fellow Dutch racer Maarten Van Lierop, said his car was perfect but he pushed too hard and rolled his 733 which then suffered an engine cut.  Leino, who caused the Semi A start to be delayed went out when he lost control of his Team Orion powerd Xray, a broken receiver battery wire the fault.

Final starting order
1. Dario Balestri – Team Magic/Novarossi
2. Jerome Renaux – Xray/Novarossi
3. Francesco Tironi – Mugen/Sirio
4. Biagio Spataro – Xray/JP
5. Manuel Huber – Xray/Max
6. Dirk Wishcnewski – Xray/Novarossi
7. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Max
8. Martin Hudy – Xray/Max
9. Giorgio de Felici – Xray/Max
10.Gerhard Kandelhardt – Xray/Novarossi

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July 26, 2009

Quarter Final Update

The quarter finals have been completed and graduating from the 1/4 B to the Semi B are Swedish electric touring car star Alexander Hagberg, Spain’s Rodrigo Pahisa Lopez and Italian Antonio Pietroforte who is having a good morning having graduated from the 1/16th final.  In the 1/4 A Final, Finland’s Teemu Saarinen, Italian championship front runner Michele Romagnoli and young Belgian Maxim Claes move on to the back of the Semi A grid.  Casualties of the quarter finals include Mugen team drivers Rick V. & Walter Salemi, Germany’s Eric Dankel and factory Team Magic driver Mario Spiniello.

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