Another TQ run as Ripoll take Q4 just ahead of Catanzani

Xray’s Maxime Ripoll has become the first driver to repeat a TQ run at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship, the French talent opening Day 2 of qualifying in Chile with the fastest time for the fourth round ahead of Andrea Catanzani and Toni Gruber, the trio the only drivers who can now take the overall TQ honours.  A slightly warmer morning that yesterday in Santiago, Ripol would break 23-laps for the first time over the 7-minutes bettering Catanzani’s Q1 time by over a second, something that could prove key in deciding the Top Qualifier with the second two runs of the day normally proving slower.  With Ripoll’s advantage over Catazani’s Serpent 0.233 of a second, while he set the fastest lap for the round, it is his father’s performance in the pit lane that is the big talking point among his rivals, Team Ripoll making up over a second on refuelling.  Behind Gruber’s Capricorn, it was the two factory Mugen Seiki’s of Simon Kurzbuch and Shoki Takahata who completed the Top 5.  The two former World Champions said afterwards they just lacked pace this round, Kurzbuch reacting with, ‘Only 5th, I don’t know how to find the speed’, the Swiss driver adding they are going to have to try something different for Q5.

Reacting to his second TQ run, Ripoll said, ‘All OK.  We didn’t change anything on the car but this morning it was maybe a bit more warm so it was more easy for me compared to (Q1) yesterday.  Now we just need to keep cool and keep going and get one more to secure the TQ.’  On his fuel stop the 19-year-old said, ‘Ah it was super.  This time we gained 5/10ths compared to our best yesterday.  We did 24.6 (seconds) and yesterday out of all the drivers the best was 25.1 so yeh super fast.’  With 2 rounds remaining he said the will go into Q5 with everything ‘exactly the same’.

‘It was a good run, a clean run, safe’, was how Catanzani summed up his first effort of the day adding, ‘we know the car works really good in these conditions but Maxime is really fast.’   The 20-year-old continued, ‘I am happy about the 2nd position because now we are little bit more safe (in terms of the Top 4) and have two more rounds.’  After issues during his pit stops yesterday asked how the refuelling went today he said, ‘It was OK.  Compared to the other ones it was better but compared to Maxime it was not so great.’  Having had an engine flame-out in Q3, asked about his engine today he said, ‘We took out that engine because we don’t know the reason it stopped and just to be safe we put another one in and this is also really fast so I am happy.’

Ending yesterday’s action with a TQ run in Q4 Gruber said, ‘It was a closer race than compared to the first round yesterday and this was the best we can do for the conditions.  Now I am waiting in hope for the temperature of the track (to rise).’  Runner-up in Japan 2-years ago, the German added, ‘the feeling of the car was also better than yesterday in the first round but it still was not enough but we know the car is slow in the morning.  If you are 1-second behind for 7-minutes you sometimes need the race luck but yes we are looking forward to the next two.’

Gruber takes Q3 as Ripoll holds overnight TQ in Chile

Day 1 of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship has been completed in Chile and it has provided plenty of variety with the three rounds producing TQ runs from three different drivers, Capricorn’s Toni Gruber coming good on his status as one of the title favourites to TQ the day’s final encounter.  With Top Seed Andrea Catanzani steering his Serpent to the opening TQ, the second round saw the number 2 seed Maxime Ripoll deliver on his impressive practice form with a TQ run and together with a P2 in the last run of the day the 19-year-old French driver leaves the CACH Facility this evening as the overall TQ holder.  With Gruber having highlighted the afternoon runs were he was strongest, the German was locked in a tight battle for the Q3 top spot with it going down to the wire with Ripoll, and Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata until the latter had a bad lap.  In the end Gruber would have an advantage of 3/10ths of a second over Ripoll at the end of the 7-minutes with Takahata competing the Top 3 ahead of the Capricorn of Thilo Diekmann.  For Catazani the day wouldn’t finish as it started as his car came to stop on track.  Having had his crew practice pit stops during the lunch break, this time it would be Catanzani’s own error during the stop as he came in too fast and got out of shape under braking.  Still in TQ contention however, a driver error on track at the same spot as his contact with Ripoll a round earlier, would cancel that potential.  With his engine running very lean in the qualifier it would eventually stop just shy of the 7-minutes.  With the 7-minute heats bringing an extra element to the qualifiers and piling the pressure on pit crews, Simon Kurzbuch would end the day with a bad stop.  With his pitman unable to catch the car properly, the fuel was released all over the car causing the former World Champion to spin on release and with no fuel taken on he would have to revisit the pit lane, the result being a P9 for the round.  Despite this the Swiss racer holds P3 just ahead of team-mate Takahata with Catanzani fifth.

Not wanting to celebrate his TQ too much, his engine sponsor Daniele Ielasi joking he needs to be more happy about the result, summing up the performance Gruber said, ‘Like I said in the morning our package works better in the hotter condition so the feeling was good.  The wind was not really a problem, for sure sometimes it hits you in the corner, but overall the feeling was good and I can focus on myself.  I could hear it was a super close race with Ripoll and Shoki but in the end you just need to push your laps and hope in the end it is enough.  It was good.’  Asked his game plan for tomorrow, the replied, ‘same like today’, and on whether he will start looking yet at set-up for the finals, he explained, ‘We have the set-up for the final if we are directly in the final because now was the maximum hot, the temperature was really hot today more than the previous days.  The wind was not so extreme like the last days but for sure there was more shit today and for this my package was really good so we don’t need to change anything.’  He did add however, ‘maybe you know if we have one or two super good ones to maybe fight for overall TQ then maybe the last rounds we can try something.  The goal is Top 4 but for sure if it’s possible we go for the TQ which for now is still a possibility.’

Asked if holding the overnight TQ at the Worlds was something he had even considered before flying out to Chile for these his third 1:8 Onroad World Championship, Ripoll replied, ‘No, not at all.  We made a joke with my dad that it would be amazing if we did a TQ but coming here my goal was to be  Top 4 and directly to the main but to be P1 for me was almost unimaginable.’  On his Q3 run he said, ‘the car was good but maybe when Andrea made his mistake after that I was alone and I lost a bit of pace so that meant P2.’  Explain that having Catazani in sight was a good gauge of how much he needed to push, he said ‘with a P2, TQ and P3 normally I would be directly to the main so that is good.’  On his car and Max engine he said, ‘It is the same as yesterday, we have made no changes.’

One of the only European drivers to have previously raced 1:8 Onroad at CACH when he was invited to attend the South American Championship and see the facility earlier this year, Diekmann was very happy to finish the day with P4.  Summing up his qualifiers, the German said, ‘The first run was a safe one and I make 6th place which was just OK for me with the pace I am on.  The second one I had problems with engine, it stopped because the glow plug broke, and for that one I kept it between the lines in the fight with the wind and was a little bit lucky with the others in front of me having problems.’   Looking to the remaining three qualifier Diekmann said, ‘I think in the morning I will take a risk a little bit to put more steering to try make another Top 5 and from there we will see how it is going.’  On his car, he said, ‘I am struggling with traction, I seem to overheat the tyres in the run.  The first 5-minutes are good and then it starts to dance a little bit on power.’

Ripoll delivers on form to TQ second qualifier at 1:8 Worlds

Xray’s Maxime Ripoll has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Chile, the 19-year-old delivering on the impressive form shown in practice to top the qualifier from Capricorn’s Toni Gruber.  Setting the fastest lap the heat, the rising temperatures in Santiago making for slower conditions, Rapoll would finish 6/10ths up on Gruber with Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata completing the Top 3 after he once again had a driver error over the 7-minute run.  With Ripoll having a bad fuel stop in Q1, his father executed a perfect stop the second time of asking while Q1 winner Andrea Catazani had a bad stop, this allowing the French driver to gain track position and run just ahead of the Italian on track.  Coming onto the final lap, Catanzani would attempt to go down the inside of Ripoll but they touched and while Ripoll somehow kept going the contact would see Catanani’s Serpent flip leaving him to cross the line with a P7 for the round.  The benchmark all week at the CACH track where in September he was the 1:8 GT World Championship Top Qualifier, the Italian who after taking Q1 said their refuelling was an area for improvement, used the lunch break after Q2 to go into pit lane and practice his fuel stops under the watchful eye of Serpent designer and 1:8 Onroad racer veteran Michael Salven.  After a strong Q1, Kurzbuch would deal with a rich engine in Q2 crossing the line P4 ahead Britain’s Alex Thurston and young Capricorn driver Leon Fuhrmann, the German suffering a DNF in Q1.

Having been disappointed with his own driving performance in Q1, Ripoll was understandably pleased with his TQ run having previously said that the morning conditions were the least favourable for his Max Power engined RX8.  Reacting to the run, the former European Championship podium finisher said, ‘That was super good, the car was like I said better with hot conditions and this time we had a good refuelling’, his father interjecting and saying ‘this time I am better.’  Looking to Q3, which will conclude the first of the 2-days of qualifying for the 24th edition of IFMAR original World Championship, he said, ‘Same car, same engine, same driver also, and just try to repeat.’  He cautioned however, ‘maybe the next one will be more tricky with the wind but we will see.’

Gruber summed up his Q2 with, ‘It was of course good for the points’.  He continued, ‘The car felt the same as the first round but now with the temperature and the wind it gets more difficult but for me it feels the same so this is were we now step by step increase our performance, or maybe stay with the performance and others go slower.’  Looking to Q3, the 2025 ENS Champion said, ‘We will try and hope we can do the same again.’

While putting his P3 down to ‘a little mistake’, Takahata also added that he will do an engine change for Q3 feeling he needs slightly more power.  Otherwise the 2025 Japanese National Champion said his MRX7 is good and the big focus for the next one is to eliminate any driver mistakes.

Summing up his P4 run Kurzbuch had little to say, explaining, ‘the engine was a little bit to rich and there was no chance to fight for the top spot.  We had to bring it home but with such a rich engine no chance.’  Asked if there was any particular reason for the poor engine tuning, the Mugen Seiki/Ielasi Tuned driver said, ‘We just couldn’t get it right.’

Reacting to his Top 5 run, Thurston said, ‘I think I got a little bit fortunate with a couple of issues and mistakes for other guys.  Unfortunately our gearbox was changing a little bit late but it was a clean run and a good pit stop so solid points with 5th, I can’t complain.’  The British Champion said in addition to getting his Mugen Seiki gearbox set right they will also ‘make some minor tweaks and just go again.  The car generally seems to be OK throughout all conditions which seems to be the main thing really.’  Asked his thoughts on the track, the 27-year-old, yesterday being his birthday, he said, ‘I think the track is really good, it is very big, quite open but it has a got technical aspect.  With it being a little bit lower grip and the car can slide it’s a very fine balance.’

Catanzani takes close opening qualifier as Kurzbuch finds form in Chile

Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani has taken the opening qualifier at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in Chile, this morning’s first of the six schedule rounds a close encounter as Mugen Seiki’s Simon Kurzbuch found his form after a below par seeding yesterday.  With a first lap error from Catanzani, it was 2019 World Champion Shoki Takahata who set the early pace but soon it was Top Seed Catanzani who was back at the top of the timing screens but all the while Kurzbuch was executing a strong run getting to within 0.156 of a second of the Italian, the two drivers the only ones to run 23-laps of the CACH track over the 7-minutes.  The star of yesterday’s seeding, Xray’s Maxime Ripoll would complete the Top 3 despite the French driver having a poor pit exit after his fuel stop, his car bouncing off the steel barrier.  Capricorn’s Toni Gruber would open with a P4 run after a driver error dropped Takahata back to P5 with the Capricorn of Thilo Diekman completing the Top 6.

‘7-minutes is very long with 1:8 but yes that was a good run’, that was Catazani’s reaction after topping Q1.  The 20-year-old continued, ‘I made one mistake on the first lap so I half a second.  In the sweeper I hit the insider (track marker) and then the lap later I was a little bit nervous but then I settled in to my pace and it was really good.  We tried something new (set-up) this morning and it was really good but now we need to practice a little bit on the refuelling because we lost time there, but we are fast so I am happy.’

With a spring back in his step following his P2 run, Kurzbuch said, ‘It was a good first run, pity we couldn’t get it as it was quite close.’  Having struggled yesterday and opted to full rebuilt his MRX7 for Q1, he said, ‘the car is working better, still a bit understeering so we can improve that a little bit, but yes I think we are in the game now.’  Asked if they found any issues during the car rebuilt that would have cause his lack of pace yesterday, the Swiss driver replied, ‘No we found nothing wrong but we built up the car from scratch, everything new, everything fresh, so maybe just sometimes all this helps.’  On the track conditions and whether the morning or afternoon is better for him, the 2015 World Champion said, ‘ Normally the morning is better for me’.

Disappointed with his own driving performance in Q1, Ripoll explained, ‘ I lost a bit of time getting on to the pace but its OK, P3 it is one good qualification already.’  The teenager continued, ‘We also lost a bit of time on the refuelling, my pit exit was horrible.  I lost 1-second on Simon.  My pace was not super good but I know when the track will be hotter my car will be more stable so.  For me now (morning) is the worst condition but I know it will get better but for the next one I also need to drive better.’

Describing his P4 as an ‘OK start’, Gruber explained, ‘The car felt really good in the afternoon yesterday after some changes but with the two sides to this track, the morning and the afternoon, the now now feels a little bit slower than the afternoon yesterday.  I think we have the set-up for the afternoon and not the morning but it’s nearly both.  Mostly in work in the afternoon but also in the morning it is not bad but not the best performance. But you know the final is in the afternoon so it better it work then than the morning.’  The German added that his tyre he choose got too small and that lost him performance over the final 2-minutes of the qualifier but summing up he is confident for Q2.