August 19, 2018

Coelho takes first A-Main in South Africa

Bruno Coelho has taken the opening A-Main at the Electric Touring Car World Championship in South Africa.  Qualifying second on the grid, the Xray driver immediately put the pressure on Top Qualifier Ronald Volker weaving left and right to try and find a way passed the reigning champion.  A side by side drag down the straight was the first warning from Coelho but Volker had the inside line but just after the halfway mark Coelho got the inside in the corner before the chicane with the two cars touching.  Once in front Coelho quickly established a comfortable lead eventually crossing the line 1.4-seconds clear.  Behind, contact between Viktor Wilck and Freddy Sudhoff in the middle of the race played into the hands of 6th place starter Christopher Krapp.  Getting by Alexander Hagberg in the opening corners, the Yokomo driver took advantage of a mistake from Wilck which resulted in him giving Sudhoff’s Awesomatix a body tuck for which the Serpent driver waited to give back position.  Sudhoff would finish 4th with Wilck fifth.

‘A very intense final’, was how a much more confident looking Coelho summed up his A1 win.  Top Qualifier at the Worlds in China 2-years ago but ending the finals 2nd overall, the Portuguese driver said, ‘I started very well. The car was very reactive and had good traction unlike the Warm-up Final when it was not so good.  So I felt confident for the race and started to put pressure on Ronald.  I saw he was having difficultly with his car and tried different lines to get around.  We went side by side down the straight but he had the inside so that pass didn’t happen but then I was able to make a good pass and was able to pull away’.  He concluded, ‘I hope the car is the same in the next final and I can challenge again and try to make it happen’.

Commenting on A1, a disappointed Volker said, ‘it was not a good run. I need a bit more pace’.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I defended as good as I can but he found a way to get by’.  ‘Its two out of two now so I have to deliver and just give him no opportunities at all’.

‘A lucky third’, was Krapp’s thoughts on the opening A-Main but the Yokomo driver was very happy with the performance of his car.  He said, ‘finally we got the car the way it should be pace wise. We improved it’.  On his race he added, ‘I got by Hagberg in the 2nd or 3rd corner and was staying with the top pack and then Freddy and Viktor tangled which put me third.  Then it was quiet to the end. I hoped something happened up front but it looks that Bruno made a clean pass’.

In the Formula World Cup opening A-Main, Top Qualifier Jan Ratheisky took an easy win.  Behind the Xray driver the big battle was for second between Dominic Quek, David Ehrbar and Martin Hudy.  Quick, Ehrbar’s race was full of mistakes and a challenge into the last corner saw contact with Hudy but crossing the line before serving a stop and go, Ehrbar was given a 10-second penalty.  This meant Hudy got third behind Quek with Ehrbar fifth behind Florian Joos.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

August 19, 2018

Chassis Focus – Loic Jasmin

Chassis – Awesomatix A800X MMCX
Motor – LRP X22 4.5T
ESC – LRP Flow X
Batteries – LRP 6400
Tires – Team Powers (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Highest DLP650
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S Pro Light

Remarks – Joining team-mate Freddy Südhoff in the A-Main here at the World Championships in South Africa, top French driver Loic Jasmin is using Awesomatix’s A800X MMCX.  Like Südhoff, Loic also felt more comfortable with the Mid Motor configuration on the Welkom RC Arena indoor asphalt track because it offered more steering and rotation. In terms of set-up Loic’s car is similar to Freddy’s setup using the new C04M1+9.0 arms in front and C04M1+8.0 arms in the rear as well as the new AM105 rear stiffener.

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August 19, 2018

Coelho takes final qualifier as grid is set in South Africa

The concluding round of qualifying at the Touring Car World Championships in South Africa saw Bruno Coelho take a confidence boosting TQ run ahead of today’s title deciding triple A-Mains.  With the overall TQ already decided yesterday in Q5, with reigning champion Ronald Volker securing his first Worlds TQ, and Coelho already locked into 2nd on the grid, the sixth & final qualifier was about deciding the rest of the grid in particular 3rd place.  A battle between 2016 Podium finisher Viktor Wilck and Freddy Sudhoff, it was Wilck who would keep the position he held overnight taking third for the round once again behind Coelho and Volker.  Fifth in Q6, Sudhoff’s fourth on the grid means four different manufacturers will be represented at the front of the grid for this the 10th running of the IFMAR World Championships.  Completing the top half of the grid at Welkom RC Arena will be newly crowned 1:12 World Champion Alexander Hagberg ahead of Christopher Krapp.  The 2018 line-up will be completed by Loic Jasmin, Meen Vejrak, Jan Ratheisky and Nicholas Lee with Yokomo having the bragging rights of the most cars in the final.

Having struggled to match Volker in yesterday’s four rounds of qualifying, Coelho was clearly more upbeat following his second TQ run of the event.  The Xray driver said, ‘That was a very good qualifying run.  We changed quite a lot on the car today and came up with some good ideas. I had one mistake when I did a donut and lost 7/10ths I think but still it was a good run’.  Looking to the finals, the Portuguese driver went on, ‘I am much more positive today for the finals.  Yesterday I was negative, not negative, but I was not feeling good with the car.  Now I am much more comfortable with the car. It does what I want so for sure they will be good finals’.

‘It was an ok qualifier but Bruno was just a bit faster’, was Volker’s summary of Q6.  Finishing 6/10ths off Coelho, the Yokomo driver continued, ‘we tested something different in the morning practice but then went to our Q4 set-up and it wasn’t what we expected and now we will make another change for the final practice which is important to have’. He concluded, ‘then we are good to go.  Bruno is going to challenge hard but I’m ready’.

Wilck was pleased to keep his P3 on the grid saying, ‘It was a clean run. I just had to defend my third place against Freddy’.  Asked about the finals, the Serpent driver replied, ‘I think there can be a good chance, it depends what happens in front.  It should be pretty close. Worst case they are 1-second faster at the end of 5-minutes but I hope I can stay with them and be there if something happens’.

‘It was ok but the car was a little too easy to drive and of course I was hoping for 3rd overall’, was how Sudhoff summed up his final qualifier.   The Awesomatix driver continued, ‘I’m sure on this layout a lot can happen.  The curbs are not so forgiving’.  On his car the German said, ‘we will try to find a little more mid corner steering in the final practice’.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

August 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Christopher Krapp

Chassis – Yokomo BD8 2018
Motor – Racing Performer M3 4.5
ESC – Racing Performer BL PRO4
Batteries – Racing Performer 6000
Tires – Team Powers (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Power HD
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S Pro Light

Remarks – Unlike team-mate Ronald Volker whose car features a number of special parts, Christopher is running a standard BD8 2018 with the key change being the use of a Raceberry chassis and top deck.  The car is also fitted with Yokomo’s RTC rear end and has the usual titanium screw & turnbuckle upgrades driver choose to save weight.  Unfortunately after a strong start to the Worlds, a big crash in CP2 which meant the car had to be rebuilt with a new chassis, and then a second crash when he collected Viktor Wilck who had collected Freddy Sudhoff in the track fast chicane, Christopher has lost some of his early pace.  Despite this he is confident he can get himself into the mix in the final day of the event.

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