Oxygen and engine power

One of the big challenges facing drivers here in Portugal is the location of the track in terms of altitude. Situated over 1000 metres above sea level drivers have been complaining of a lack of power from their engines, a problem that directly relates to our height. The higher up you go the less Oxygen in the air. With Oxygen being a vital component of the internal combustion engine firing process, the manufacturers have had to make special preparations for this Euros.

A new name in the engine world and competing in their first European Champion is Tecnopower but the man behind the newcomer is one of the best known figures in the r/c engine industry. Rody Roem, the man who created RB engines, is here looking after two drivers who are running the company’s first release, the B01-21 Buggy engine.

Speaking with the Dutchman, who is a former 1:8 Nitro Onroad World Champion, he said being so high up makes engine set-up very difficult as there is simply not enough oxygen in the air. To overcome this problem as much as possible the B01-21 engines used here feature a newly designed combustion chamber insert that produces more compression and therefore power. The increased height and different shape compensates for the lost power one would get with the standard chamber. The team also runs 6 millimetre Venturi inserts to round up the overall package. Tecnopower also have with them new stainless steel glowplugs which according to Rody do away with problems often seen with regular plugs like rust patterns in wet races or when fuel quality is changing.

There is no shortage of support from engine manufacturers here in Guarda. Defending champions RB have Eric Aita and Anthony Abisset on hand to look after the large number of drivers using their engines.  Novarossi’s interests are being looked after by Bernard Durand from Racing Experience while Alberto Picco from Picco, who produce engines for a number of brands, is pitting for Riccardo Rabitti.  Also on site are Team Orion’s engine project leader Adrien Bertin, Reds Racing’s Mario Rossi, formerly of GRP engines, and Gino Voghera from Sirio.

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Yannick Aigoin heads Losi 1-2 in opening qualifier

Yannick Aigoin headed a Team Losi 1-2 in the opening round of qualifying for the 2010 EFRA 1:8 Off Road European Championships here in Portugal.  The French ace set the pace from team-mate Martin Bayer who was just 7/10 adrift, the pair being the only drivers to record a 37 second lap during the round.

Aigoin, who ran Procircuit Marathon tyres on his Novarossi powered 8ight, said the track conditions had deteriorated since yesterday and his suspension set-up was not perfect but overall it was not a major problem for him.  Runner up last year, the former Champion said the event is proving a real challenge in terms of set-up as both the track and the weather conditions are constantly changing and it is hard to predict the correct things to change.  With the running order changing for the second round of qualifying, the top drivers have over a four hour wait until they are back on track so most are waiting til nearer that time to see the condition of the track and then make set-up and tyre choices accordingly.

Bayer described his first run as ‘a perfect start’ and felt the track was much cleaner than yesterday.  Running Caliper M2 tyres, he described his Losi as easy to drive and very consistent but the Czech ace believes the second run is probably going to be a very different challenge.  Only 19th fastest for the first round Darren Bloomfield described the run as frustrating saying the track conditions are so random.  Having set the fastest lap time in yesterday’s practice and ended up fourth overall, the British driver had two crashes, both of which he put down to the surface breaking up. One of these was as a result of a stone which his Losi duly dug out of the track.

Setting the third fastest time, Kyosho’s Simon Willets said his run was ‘not bad’.  Running soft AKA Cityblock tyres on his Orion powered MP9, the UK driver retained the set-up used yesterday but just pushed a little harder today now that times count.  Willets thinks he will not change much in terms of set-up but closer to the time will speak to Mark Pavidis regarding what tyres to choose for Q2.  One of three ex-racers behind AKA, former World Champion Pavidis is over from the US to support the growing number of drivers using their tyres.  Team-mate Jerome Aigoin was fifth fastest, a position he seems keen on, having been fifth in both timed practices yesterday.  TQ’ing Q1 last year in Austria, the twin brother of Yannick said the track was very different to yesterday offering a lot more grip but he is pleased how it went.  In between the two Kyosho drivers with the fourth fastest time was yesterday’s pace setter Miguel Matias with his Losi.

Heading the Team Associated challenge with the sixth fastest time was Neil Cragg.  The British Champion was first out on track along with Matias in the top group and found the track a little slippy. Running Revolver M3 tyres, he said he lacked a little steering, forcing him to ‘drive it like he stole it’, the more aggressive style helping him to make the corners.  For team-mate Robert Batlle the day did not start out well as he struggled around in only the 13th fastest time, one place behind Electric Touring Car World Champion Marc Rheinard.  The Spaniard said his car had a complete lack of grip but he is not sure why that is.  Using Caliber M3 tyres he could not make the double due to his lack of grip.  A switch to softer shock oil is one change he will make but after that he is undecided but said at least he has plenty of time to make the call.

Driving the Agama Racing A8-Evo, Dani Vega was an impressive 7th fastest for the opening qualifier.  Having switched back from the Losi Active diff he tried yesterday to the standard Agama kit diff he said the car was so much better. Running AKA iBeam medium compound, the 1999 Champion said his focus for the rest of the day will be to tune his driving to the buggy rather than making big set-up adjustments.

Having driven conservatively yesterday 1:10 Off Road ace Lee Martin set the 8th fastest time with his Losi.  The British driver said he is still gaining confidence with the heavier 1:8 buggy but was pretty happy with his run this morning and hopes to build on that later today.  For now he plans to make no changes to his 8ight.

Fastest of the Mugens and completing the Top 10 for Q1 were Daniel Reckward and defending champion Renaud Savoya.  Savoya said he went with too hard a tyre and had no traction.  After a disastrous opening lap, on which he lost over 3 seconds, he said he had to switch to a safe driving style which was ultimately slower.  Chasing his third consecutive European title here the Warm-up race winner is going to give the set-up on his MBX-6 a full rethink.

Results after Round 1 of qualifying
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) Losi/Novarossi – 8 Laps in 5:09.008
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) Losi/Novarossi – 8 Laps in 5:09.772
3. Simon Willets (GB) Kyosho/Team Orion – 8 Laps in 5:11.724
4. Miguel Matias (PT) Losi/RB – 8 Laps in 5:12.183
5. Jérôme Aigoin (FR) Kyosho/Novarossi – 8 Laps in 5:12.857
6. Neil Cragg (GB) Associated/Reedy – 8 Laps in 5:13.700
7. Daniel Vega (ES) Agama/Team Orion – 8 Laps in 5:13.771
8. Lee Martin (GB) Associated/Reedy – 8 Laps in 5:14.750
9. Daniel Reckward (DE) Mugen/RB – 8 Laps in 5:16.664
10.Renaud Savoya (FR) Mugen/RB – 8 Laps in 5:16.803

Full results can be found online here.

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Practice time is up

Practice for the 2010 EFRA 1:8 Off Road European Championship is complete and the more serious business of qualifying gets under way tomorrow here in Portugal.  After two rounds of timed practice, drivers had one final, untimed run on the track, bringing Day 2 of the 30th running of the championships to a close.

The man who set the pace in the timed practice, Miguel Matias used the final bit of track time to try a complete change of set-up on his RB powered Losi.  The Portuguese driver opted for an American style set-up running 10 degree hubs on the front, which he said made the car feel more aggressive.  Happy that the car felt quicker than in the first timed practice, the former Champion plans to stick with the set-up for the first of the 5 qualifiers.

Yannick Aigoin, who set the pace in the second timed practice, said he used the run to confirm his tyre choice for the morning and says he can now just focus on driving.  Fellow Frenchman and defending Champion Renaud Savoya said they found a better overall package and his Mugen is working well over the bumps but lacks forward bite and plans some shock adjustments.  The ‘Shark’ said he knows he is not the fastest at the moment but he is very happy at how consistent he can lap the Guarda track.

The man with the fastest lap for the day with a 37.111, set in the first timed practice, Darren Bloomfield had some problems adjusting to his new position on the drivers rostrum.  Originally running No. 11 in practice he has been reseed No.1 for his heat, the British driver switching from one end of the rostrum to the other made the track look very different.

Robert Batlle’s final practice did not go well as he hit problems and had to pull up early. Having changed to a harder spring the clutch failed to work properly but the Spaniard is confident that his Associated has a better balance now after they made adjustments to the shocks.

Dani Vega, who posted the 9th fastest time in second timed practice, tried a Losi Active diff in the front of his Orion powered Agama but it did not work, robbing the car of corner speed.  Planning to switch back to the standard Agama kit diff for tomorrow, the former Champion said he is pleased with the progress he has been able to made with the car.

At Kyosho, Jerome Aigoin is confident for tomorrow having changed very little on his Novarossi powered MP9 all day.  His young Swedish team-mate David Ronnefalk, who runs Orion engines, said the last practice was a chance for them to get the car right after it was undriveable in the second timed practice. Switching from AKA Crossbrace to a mixture of Cityblock on the front and iBeam on the rear and running less droop the talented 14-year-old was much happier now about his chances having been 11th fastest in the first run of Day 2.

Although he didn’t feature strongly on the time sheets, outgoing European Junior Champion Elliott Boots has been mentioned by a number of key industry figures as one to watch here.  The 17-year-old Mugen driver said the last run of the day was the best the car has been so far.  Removing the rear overdrive from his MBX-6 it improved things giving the car more drive out of the corners. The British driver said that with the track conditions deteriorating he had to pick his lines a lot more carefully and keeping it smooth was key to get a good run.

Elsewhere Riccardo Rabitti was very much happier with his Picco powered Losi and expects to be competitive in qualifying.  Having pushed too hard in the second timed practice the Italian Champion said he made too many mistakes but he has got it together now. Being supporting here by Alberto Picco, the man behind the Italian engine company, Rabitti is very happy with his fuel economy saying he spoke with a number of his rivals and they are not able to match his run time.

Tomorrow schedule, which kicks off at 09:00, is made up of 3 of the 5 qualifiers, the best three of which will determine the starting order for the semi finals.

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Yannick Aigoin fastest in second timed practice

Team Losi’s Yannick Aigoin has topped the second timed practice but the Frenchman was unable to match the time set this morning by local star Miguel Matias who will be reseeded No.1 for the heats. Aigoin said small changes had made his car a small bit better and despite being a second slower than his first run, felt more comfortable with the car.

The big surprise of the second practice was Ales Bayer, younger brother of 2009 podium finisher Martin.  The 17-year-old switched to the same set-up as his brother used in the morning along with changing from Procircuit to Losi Eclipse tyres.  The Czech driver said the changes had given his Losi a much better feeling making it easier to drive.  Martin, who was 8th fastest, switched to Procircuit Sweet Shot for the final practice but said they made the car too easy to drive and he plans to try Proline Caliber in the short reseed practice which is essentially a test of the time keepers ahead of tomorrow’s qualifiers.

Robert Batlle managed the third fastest time with his Associated despite a mistake.  Running M2 compound tyres this morning which he said was the wrong choice then, the Spaniard switched to M3 but feels M2 would have been perfect for the evening conditions.  Struggling for bottom end power, a problem all drivers are battling with due to the track being 1,000m above sea level, Batlle with change to a harder clutch spring on his Novarossi for this evening’s reseed run.

Defending Champion Renaud Savoya was fourth fastest saying his Mugen MBX-6 was better than this morning but he still needs to find a second a lap to be competitive. Lacking traction, the warm-up race winner said they need to work more on finding the correct tyre combination.  Once again Jerome Aigoin set the fifth fastest time, but again like his brother, Savoya and Battle, his time too was slower.

Having only been 33rd fastest this morning, Daniel Reckward completely changed the set-up on his Mugen and it worked as he set the 6th fastest time.  Changing to softer shocks, shorter gearing and lower diff oils the German, who has won the European Championships more than any other driver, said he now has a good basic set-up to work from. Making two mistakes he said the car was now much better balanced over the bumps.  Running Tourex X300 tyres he said cutting the middle pin had made for better forward traction and made the car more stable through the corners.

Still fastest overall Matias was 14 seconds slower, posting the 12th fastest time this round.  The former Champion, who was reseeded No.1 at last year’s Euros, ran the same AKA Crossbrace tyres but with a harder insert the combination did not work for the Losi driver.  Fourth fastest in the opening practice times Mugen’s Borja Hernandez failed to finish after a stone jammed in the flywheel and cut his RB engine on the last lap.  The Spaniard switched to softer shock oil all round and was pleased with the car but plans to change the front springs as they may be too soft for the oil he is now using.  Darren Bloomfield who was 3rd earlier tried a bigger 7mm venturi on his Novarossi and said the extra power made the car more nimble to drive and the run time was good but running on used tyres only managed the 18th fastest time.

Elsewhere Durango’s Hupo Honigl said he is having a better day than yesterday but is struggling still with setting the engine.  The reigning European 2WD Electric Off Road Champion said with the engine not right its very hard to get a feeling for how the car is working.  Not a fan of the track here in Portugal, the Austrian is only 59th fastest after timed practice and so has a bit of work to do if he is to repeat making the Main final this year.

For Joseph Quagraine this event is an important step in a very exciting new project for the Finnish racer.  Racing his own buggy creation called ‘The Car’, which is planned to be released under his JQ Products brand in December, he said he went the wrong way with set-up this morning and flamed out three times in the second.  Overall he is happy with the car  and its durablity looks good as he has been doing a lot of unintentional crash testing the past two days.

Electric World Touring Car Champion Marc Rheinard is enjoying the event managing the 22nd fastest time at the controls of his Losi.  His TRF team-mate Viktor Wilck, who is running the only Tamiya TRF801X here, is having a bad day with the Swede only 114th of the 151 competitors.

Top 10 – Second timed practice
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:07.676
2. Ales Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:14.506
3. Robert Batlle (ES) – Assocaited/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:14.815
4. Renaud Savoya (FR) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:16.178
5. Jerome Aigoin (FR) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:16.262
6. Daniel Reckward (D) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:17.597
7. Antonio Salmeron (ES) – Mugen – 8 laps in 5:18.534
8. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:18.925
9. Daniel Vega Frias (ES) – Agama/Orion – 8 laps in 5:19.246
10.Luis Rodrigo (PT) – Mugen – 8 laps in 5:20.010

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Matias tops first timed practice

Former European Champion Miguel Matias has topped the first timed practice here in Guarda, Portugal.  The only Portuguese driver to win the 1:8 Off Road European title in its 30 year history the 2003 Champion recorded 8 laps in 5:06.051 which was just 6/10th quicker than Yannick Aigoin. Focusing on his engine and tyres for the opening run of Day 2, Matias ran AKA Crossbrace tyres on his RB powered Losi and plans to continue with the same tyre option for the second of today’s timed runs which will be used to reseed the heats for tomorrow’s qualifying.  This is Portugal’s third time to host the EFRA run championship and Matias said his goal here this week is to try and become the first Portuguese driver to win it on home soil.  Last year in Austria when driving for GS Racing, Matias was fastest in timed practice and carried the No.1 on his car in the top heat but his event ended in the 1/4 Finals.

Aigoin described his start to the day as fine.  The French ace changed the geometry of the shocks on his Novarossi powered Losi but said it was hard to tell if they had made the car any better as track conditions this morning are very different to yesterday.  Running Procircuit tyres, he tried the Marathon pattern which is designed for grippy conditions but the track was very loose so he plans to switch to the Spanish company’s SweetShot tyre for this evenings run.

Making it an early 1-2-3 at the top of the time sheets for Team Losi, Darren Bloomfield recorded the 3rd fastest time over the five minute run. The British driver focused on engines, changing the venturi on his Novarossi, and went for a more aggressive clutch.  In the tyre department he switched to Losi XBT Red which he said made the car better over the bumps.  Yesterday he ran a set of Eclipse which he said worked well on the flat but lacked on the bumpy areas.

Best of the Mugen drivers was Borja Hernadez who described his run as ‘much better than yesterday’.  Having trouble with his engines the Spaniard ran a bigger venturi on his RB today which he said was much better.  Asked about the car he said his MBX-6 is very consistent having opted to run AKA iBeams but he plans to try out Crossbrace next time out.

Jerome Aigoin leads the Kyosho challenge.  The sole MP9 in the final last year the French driver said he was pleased with things for the moment having made no changes to the set-up since yesterday.  Running AKA iBeam he said he will continue with them for now.

Robert Batlle completed the Top 6 and was best Associated driver.  The 2007 Champion said he made the wrong tyre choice for the run choosing Proline’s Caliper M2, when M3 was the way to go.  Just behind him was defending Renaud Savoya who also went with the wrong tyre choice.  The factory Mugen driver said he wanted to try Proline’s Crimefighter M2, he did, and it didn’t work but ‘that’s what practice is for’.  Savoya, who is running a Terex diff in the front of his MBX-6, adjusted the diff settings but didn’t like the feeling it gave and will go back to yesterday’s settings.

Kyosho’s David Ronnefalk set the eight fastest time with his Orion powered Kyosho followed by two of last year’s finalists Riccardo Rabitti and Martin Bayer who completed the Top 10 for Losi.

Top 10 after first timed practice
1. Miguel Matias (PT) – Losi/RB – 8 laps in 5:06.051
2. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:06.667
3. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:10.802
4. Borja Hernadez (ES) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:12.948
5. Jerome Aigoin (FR) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:13.423
6. Robert Batlle (ES) – Assocaited/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:13.789
7. Renaud Savoya (FR) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:13.875
8. David Ronnefalk (SE) – Kyosho/Orion – 8 laps in 5:15.475
9. Riccardo Rabitti (IT) – Losi/Picco – 8 laps in 5:15.523
10.Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:17.093

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