Matsukura’s domination ends as Rheinard tops Q5

An exciting penultimate round of qualifying has brought Day 2 of the IFMAR 1:12 World Championships to a close with Marc Rheinard topping Q5 to end the domination of defending Champion Naoto Matsukura.  Rheinard was the only driver to record 37 laps for the round which saw the overnight Top 3 qualifiers all make mistakes.

Matsukura was holding a very slight margin over both Rheinard and Ronald Volker but just after the 2 minute 30 mark got his R12 airborne after clipping a corner marker.  Landing facing in the wrong direction, right on the racing line, he was collected by his Yokomo team-mate Volker. Both recovered just in front of Rheinard on the track but dropped behind him on the timing screen.  A lap later Volker made a mistake himself allowing Matsukura back through but he could do nothing about Rheinard despite the Touring Car World Champion losing almost 3 seconds when he crashed with just 25 seconds left to run on the clock.

Without the late error Rheinard was on target for his best run of the five qualifiers despite saying afterwards his car was hard to drive.  Missing out on his best time by 1.3 second, he said his Speed Passion powered Associated was tweaked from the start causing it to be loose through right hand corners.

For the round it was Andy Moore who was second fastest as he recorded his best run of the day. Running in the second fastest group of heats he just missed out on a 37 lapper pipping European Touring Car Champion Jilles Groskamp by 13/100th. Pleased with the run, Moore said he was hanging on to the car at the end of the run as he continues to struggle to find a set-up that makes the car work for the second have of the 8-minutes.

Although he pulled up early, Volker said his car was really good in Q5 and that he was very happy with his pace.  After his clash with Matsukura he said he lost his rhythm and this caused him to make a number of mistakes and trying make back up the time he started to drove too aggressively.  Asked about whether he felt he could deny Matsukura pole he said it’s not impossible but he would be happy enough starting tomorrow afternoon’s finals from second.

The other driver on form in the final qualifier was Keven Hebert. The factory Associated driver said his Reedy powered RC12R5 has been working well all day and it is his driving that has been letting him down.  The Canadian recorded his best qualifying with the sixth fastest time in Q5 but said he still needs to run the full 8-minute without any mistakes.

A podium finisher at the last Worlds in Thailand, one man having a terrible day is versatile Austrian ace Hupo Honigl.  The IIC 1:12 Champion is struggling with set-up on his CRC Gen-X describing it as like driving a hovercraft.  Recording his best run in the days final qualifier it was still only 19th fastest overall leaving him facing a big challenge for tomorrow’s sixth & last heat.  Honigl hopes a good night’s sleep will give him a clear head for the morning when the track is expected to be super fast.  With a driver’s fastest two times from the 6 heats added together to determine the grid, Honigl said making the final is still very possible as only four drivers having managed a 37 lap run.

Full results can be found here.

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Q4 Update – World Champion ups the pace

The Japanese talent that is Naoto Matsukura just got faster with the defending World Champion setting a new fastest time in the fourth qualifier knocking a second of his previous best to move another step closer to claiming TQ honours for the 15th running of the 1:12 World Championships.  Once again the Yokomo driver finished ahead of his team-mate Ronald Volker, the German a considerable 6 seconds off his pace.  Juho Levanen was third fastest in a round which saw few drivers improve on their times from the opening 3 rounds of qualifying.

Setting the sixth fastest time for the round, Canadian Team Associated driver Keven Hebert was the only driver apart from Matsukura inside the Top 10 to improve on his early times.

Qualification Times for Q4
1. Naoto Matsukura (Yokomo/Nosram) – 37L 8:05.810
2. Ronald Volker (Associated/LRP) – 37L 8:12.036
3. Juho Levanen (Associated/LRP) – 36L 8:01.241
4. Jilles Groskamp (CRC/Team Orion) – 36L 8:02.344
5. Andy Moore (Associated/Nosram) – 36L 8:04.158
6. Keven Hebert (Associated/LRP) – 36L 8:04.624
7. Elliot Harper (CRC/Speed Passion) – 36L 8:05.340
8. Markus Mobers (Serpent/LRP) – 36L 8:08.292
9. Andy Griffiths (V-Dezign/Nosram) – 36L 8:10.245
10.Olly Jefferies (Associated/LRP) – 36L 8:12.869

Full results can be found here.

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Can anyone stop Matsukura?

With three rounds of qualifying for the 2010 IFMAR World Championships complete Naoto Matsukura is looking very strong to retain his World title here in Burgdorf.  The factory Yokomo driver has been fastest in all three rounds, being the only driver to record a hat trick of 37 lap runs. Although it was his slowest run of the day the Japanese teenager was still well clear of his rivals with Ronald Volker closest to him for the round with a fast 36 lap round.  Asked about the track conditions Matsukura (37/8:11.076) said his Nosram powered R12 felt very loose and that conditions had become very difficult, something that he put down to the rise in temperature here in the sports hall.

Volker (36/8:00.092) said his Associated did not feel right at the start with a lack of steering in the left hand corners but 2 or 3 minutes in the problem mysteriously went away.  With the car working again, Volker said he made a strong push for his second 37 lap run of the day but with the time lost in the opening laps meant he just missed out by .092 of a second.

Andy Moore (36/8:01.986) enjoyed his fastest run with the third fastest time for Q3. The factory Hot Bodies driver who is running a privately entered Associated chassis was on target for a 37-lap run but faded in the latter half of the 8 minute heat.  The former Touring Car World Champion said for the first four minutes the car was really good, but in the 2nd part of the run it didn’t feel as dialed in. For Q4 he plans to try smaller diameter tyres in an attempt to make the car more consistent over the full distance of the qualifier.

Simo Ahoniemi (36/8:02.167) continues to show strongly setting the fourth fastest time with his factory Corally.  The Finnish National Champion had a scare as he lined up for the run when his car got a glitch which sent the car crashing into the track boards.  Luckily no damage was done and Ahoniemi was able to make the run.  Happy with the set-up of his SP12X, Ahoniemi is still playing around with tyre diameters and the timing of his additive.

Jilles Groskamp (36/8:03.816) and Marc Rheinard (36/8:04.746) completed the Top 6 for Q3 despite both making costly mistakes.

Full results can be found here.

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