All square at the Reedy Race halfway mark

It is all square at the end of the first half of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions with reigning champion Marc Rheinard and Ronald Volker on the same points when dropped rounds are taken into account.  The sixth of the 12 rounds of heads up racing at Tamiya Raceway, would see Rheinard take a win to match Volker’s tally of three wins.  With Volker lining up in a separate race, the duo having went up against one another in the previous two rounds, the Yokomo driver couldn’t find a way passed Viktor Wilck getting a P2 from 7th on the grid.  For Wilck his win would see him join the list of multiple winners along with Meen Vejrak.  After a rough Day 1 of racing, Vejrak made it two out of two in California this morning winning ahead of Jilles Groskamp to move up to third in the points equal with Christopher Krapp who maintained his run of Top 3 finishes despite starting P8.

‘Important points’, was how Rheinard summed up the Round 6 results.  The Infinity driver continued, ‘I got a good start because someone crashed in front.  I took it easy behind Keven (Herbert) but then the others were closing but then he made a mistake that gave me the lead.  I messed up one time in the chicane and had no grip for the next lap but I was able to protect my line and once I got back into my rhythm I could take the win’.

Losing his one-point advantage in the round, Volker said, ‘my minimum goal was a Top 2 finish and I’m not unhappy with that but I had a shot for the win’.  He continued, ‘I slid once and because I was offline I got dust on the tyres and lost the gap to Viktor. There was only 2-laps to go so I couldn’t make it back’.  With the fastest lap for the 3 races of the round, the World Champion added, ‘the pace is still there’.  He concluded, ‘we are halfway through and things are tight as expected’.

Holding off a gaggle of cars in the closing race of the round, Vejrak said, ‘It’s a good day today, I had a bad first day’.  Ending Day 1 with a 6th and and 8th, the Thai driver is the first multiple winner of Day 2 saying, ‘I hope today continues to be good for me’.  On his Round 6 race, the former 1:10 Nitro World Champion said, ‘It was a difficult race. My car was not perfect and I had to block, I’m happy I can make it for 5-minutes. It was hard with Jilles, Jan and Akio all lined up behind me’.  Asked the problem with his car the Yokomo driver replied, ‘I need to check the tweak. On power it goes to the right’.

Commenting on his win, Wilck said, ‘I got the start and tried to drive safe but thought maybe I would have more time to get a gap but Ronald was already coming.  Then one time I got in the dust and he was there but I knew if I keep my line he wouldn’t be able to pass’.  The Serpent driver added, ‘we need to improve the car a little bit, we need more pace’.  Explaining the problem he said, ‘it is pushing a bit too much in the heat. In the morning it is ok and fast enough but in the heat we struggle’.

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Volker starts Day 2 with another important win ahead of Rheinard

Ronald Volker has started off the second day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions with an important win, the Yokomo driver clocking up win No.3 ahead of arch rival Marc Rheinard.  Lining up on the front row for the Round 5 encounter with Rheinard and Akio Sobue also on the grid, Volker took two laps to find a way passed pole sitter Andy Moore before pulling clear of the field.  Looking on target to cruise to the win as Rheinard worked his way through from his P5 starting position, Volker then had a spin in the kink but such was his lead all still seemed to be under control for the World Champion, but it wasn’t.  A few laps later he would have an even bigger moment which was Rheinard’s opportunity but as the Infinity driver went for the pass he rolled allowing Volker to resume his lead as Rheinard found himself under attack from team-mate Sobue but the order remainder unchanged to the finish.  Ending the first day of racing 3rd in the standings, Christopher Krapp would come through from the back row to finish second in the opening race of the day as 2015 podium finisher Meen Vejrak posted his first win of the 2018 event.  In a somewhat crazy Race 3 in which the kink lived up to its infamous reputation, David Jun showed the youth how it is done to take the win, despite being in a last lap pile-up, ahead of Ryan Cavalieri and points contender Viktor Wilck.

‘I must admit, sometimes you need luck on your side and I had it this time to be able to stay ahead of Marc and Akio’, was how Volker summed up his latest win.  The 3-time former Champion continued, ‘I put a lot of pressure on Andy at the beginning because I want to get as much of a gap as possible on Marc.  Once I got by him I tried to pull away but after 2-minutes I had two spins in the kink.  The second one Marc was on my ass but then he made a mistake.’  Changing to a softer diff given the cooler morning conditions, he said the car became ‘very hard to drive in the rear end’ adding ‘I was struggling big time.  It got sunny 20-minute before the race and the diff felt like water’.

‘Just stupid’, was Rheinard’s reaction to his lost opportunity.  The defending champion said, ‘He gave me the chance to pass him and then I rolled it in the same corner.  I don’t know’.  The German continued, ‘that time the car felt loose to one side so I was fighting it. I’m not sure if it was the car or the tyres’.  He concluded, ‘let’s hope for better in Round 6, it’s almost half time’.

Three points off Volker in the points table, 2016 Runner-up Krapp said, ‘given my grid position I’m happy with the result’.  With the second allowing him to drop a third, the Yokomo driver continued, ‘just before the start the guy putting down my car noticed the knuckle was loose and tightened it but the my camber was off but I was lucky they found it.’  On his race he said, ‘I got through the traffic and thought I could catch Meen but saw he had a good save so I decided it was better to settle for 2nd than risk anything.  I have two 8th place and a 4th place starts for the rest of the day so I just going to try and keep getting Top 3 finishes’.

Recovering from an early penalty in his race to finish 3rd which moves him on to the same points as 3rd placed Krapp, Wilck said, ‘At the beginning Nicholas (Lee) went wide so I had to try a pass but in the end it was a bit too hard and I had to wait so I was last again’.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘everyone started to crash so I was able to come back to third’.  Asking the referee for clarification on penalties after the race feeling Lee had closed the door on him after running wide, the Swede said, ‘in the moment I didn’t feel the call was right because he closed the door but afterwards I think it was probably right’.  Starting his next race on pole, he said, ‘I’m first for the next one so I will try to have a clean run’.

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Volker leads Reedy Race at the end of Day 1

Ronald Volker is the leader at the end of the first day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions, the Yokomo driver holding a single point lead thanks to an important victory in an exciting final race of the day ahead of reigning champion Marc Rheinard.  Starting on pole for what was a heavily stacked race, Volker would get beaten into the first corner by the Xray of Jan Rathiesky who stayed out front for the first half of the race. All the time the pack was bunching up behind the German with Volker, Rheinard, Akio Sobue and Jilles Groskamp in the five car train.  Volker would be the first to get by with a great move in the left side chicane.  It would take 2-laps more for Rheinard to find a way through by but with the two main title contenders evenly matched Volker could maintain the gap joining Rheinard as the only multi winner of the day.  In Race 2 of the fourth round, hotly tipped Christopher Krapp got his first win which together with his Top 3 finishes in his previous three races leaves the Yokomo driver 3rd in the points. Starting on pole in Race 1, Nicholas Lee would hold off a challenge from Viktor Wilck, the Serpent driver holding 4th in the standings going to the Day 2 racing action ahead of Sobue and Groskamp.

‘It was a must win race because I was starting first and it was important for stealing points off some tough competition starting behind me’, was how Volker summed up his second win of the day.  The World Champion continued, ‘my diff went soft over the day so we went for a harder diff for Race 4 and maybe this was what caused the bad start.  I lost my inside position on the start to Jan and then at the third corner lost more positions. I wasn’t happy with that’.  He continued, ‘there was a 5-car train I was was in the middle of it so I tried to avoid any contact.  I was able to go directly behind Jan and put a lot of pressure on him and made a good pass in him in the chicane. Marc and myself had the same pace so I could keep the gap’.  A 3-time Reedy Race Champion, he concluded, ‘It has been a very satisfying first day. My goal was to make Top 2 runs every round and it worked out well’.

Commenting on what was the most entertaining race of the day’s 12 races, Rheinard said, ‘2nd is not bad, it was a really good race to watch I guess’.  The Infinity driver continued, ‘there was a problem in the hairpin and I got hit and I got loose so 2nd from this heat is for sure good’.  Summing up the day he said, ‘I messed up my second race myself but it was a decent first day given the high level here.’

A former podium finisher at the legendary race at the iconic Tamiya Raceway, Krapp was happy to end his day with a win.  The personable Team Yokomo driver said, ‘The race started out well, I got the holeshot and then controlled the race. The day was pretty decent with all Top 3 runs in my races’.  He continued, ‘I struggled a little in the hot conditions but the car was handling better in the last one so I am happy for the next days.’

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