Aigoin does Race of Champions double

Saturday night at the Arena Offroad Meeting is ‘Race of Champions’ time and once again it was the yellow and black Losi’s of Yannick Aigoin that ruled proceedings winning both the buggy and truggy encounters while British driver Anthony Conroy enjoyed his first ever race win with success in the Buggy F2 category.

First up was Truggy and first to fall foul of the novel elimination style race format was Mugen driver Alessandro Magi who earlier in the day had enjoyed a place on the Truggy Main podium. Having started from the back of the grid due to the reversing of the Top 16 qualifiers Aigoin was quickly in front from where cruised to his second title of the day. Once again team-mate Martin Bayer, who posted the fastest lap of the 34 minute race, failed to go the full distant dropping out of second place 26 minutes in this time as a result of his receiver battery running out of power. This promoted Simon Willet and Fabio Boero to battle it out for second spot but in the end it was the English Kyosho driver who got the upper hand to make it onto the second step of the podium for a second time today. After problems with his throttle linkage denied him a place in the Truggy Main, Italian Boero was delighted to get his Mugen on the podium and celebrated by pulling off two perfect back flips with MBX-6T over the biggest jump on the track, unlike the attempts of other two podium finishers!

Buggy F2 class was next up and produced the closest race of the night. Starting second from the back of the 16 car grid, 19-year-old Conroy drove a real steady race taking full advantage of errors made by both fellow Englishman John Howell and young Italian Marco Baruffo. Ably assisted in the pits by the guys from DXR, the Raceprep UK supported Mugen/Ninja driver was delighted to take his maiden buggy win especially given the profile of this international event. The Top Qualifier in the F2 category young Baruffo got the better of Howell’s HoBao in the final few laps to take his RB powered GS to second.

Bringing Day 3 of the Italian event to a close was the Buggy ‘Race of Champions’. With Spanish drivers Richi Gomez and Borja Hernandez opting to sit out the race this meant a late call up for Irui Grassi and Stefano Cantoni, who were ranked 17th and 18th in qualifying, to take part. After what can only be described as 5-minutes of r/c madness, the 16 drivers eventually settled into a rhythm with Riccardo Rabitti holding the early lead, however he couldn’t fend off fellow Losi driver Aigoin who got past to take the win by 7 seconds. Davide Tortorici’s Crono claimed the final podium placing despite a flat receiver battery putting him out of action in the final minute of the race.

Asked afterwards if he could complete a clean sweep of the 2009 Arena Offroad Meeting by taking tomorrow’s blue ribboned Buggy Main, Aigoin said he would be trying for sure but for the moment his main focus was getting a good nights sleep after what has been a very busy and challenging day for the former European Champion.

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Aigoin lifts Truggy title

Yannick Aigoin put in a dominant display in the Truggy Main at the Arena Offroad Meeting to claim the 2009 title at Italy’s most prestigious off road event.  Having secured pole for the 45 minute final the French ace made a rare mistake in the warm-up that resulted in a broken lower shock pin.  Calling for the start to be delayed the Team Losi driver would have to line up on the back of the grid but he made light work of the 12 car field.  By the end of the opening lap he was up to fifth and by lap 5 he was up to second and on the tail of his team-mate Martin Bayer.  Two laps later he was by the Czech driver and once in front he left the pack trailing.  Just after the mid point of the race Aigoin’s Novarossi powered 8ight was a full lap up on Bayer with third placed Simon Willet from the UK a further lap back in third.  Setting some impressive 41 seconds lap times, his fastest being a 41.239, Aigoin eventually took the victory by a 4-lap margin. The only real drama came 36 minutes in when Bayer’s steering servo packed up putting him out of a strong second place.  This promoted Willet’s Kyosho to second and the Mugen of Alessandro Magi into a podium position and the ordered stayed this way for the final 7 minutes of the race.

Truggy Main results
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 63L/45:37.846
2. Simon Willets (UK) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 59L/45:05.591
3. Alessandro Magi (IT) – Mugen/SM – 57L/45:12.857
4. Remi Riel (FR) – Mugen/GRP – 56L/45:32.776
5. Tommaso Andreuccetti (IT) – Losi/OS – 54L/45:11.228
6. Michel Pedri (IT) – Losi/OS – 52L/45:02.419
7. Gerd Pfeifer (A) – Associated/Reedy – 52L/45:17.651
8. Richy Ferraro (IT) – Mugen/Axe – 50L/45:08.535
9. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 49L/36:28.412
10.Francesco Liggieri (IT) – Xray/OS – 33L/28:17.773
11.Frank Lemke (D) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 28L/32:51.538
12.Rudi Traxler (A) – Associated/Novarossi – 27L/23:22.347

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Truggy Semi Final update

The Truggy Semi Finals have been run and it was pretty much as expected with Losi’s team drivers Yannick Aigoin and Martin Bayer winning their respective races by a 2-lap winning margin. First to secure his place in the final and pole position thanks to his fastest race time was Top Qualifier Aigoin.  The Frenchman completed 28 laps in his 20-minute Semi heading home Kyosho UK’s Simon Willets.  Bayer completed 27 laps on his way to an easy win over the Mugen of Alessandro Magi.  Biggest casualty of the Semis was Italian Championship front runner Fabio Boero who lost  almost 2-minutes as his pit crew replaced a nut which had come loose on his Mugen’s throttle linkage.

Truggy Main starting grid
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi
3. Simon Willets (UK) – Kyosho/Team Orion
4. Alessandro Magi (IT) – Mugen/SM
5. Frank Lemke (D) – Kyosho/Team Orion
6. Gerd Pfeifer (A) – Associated/Reedy
7. Remi Riel (FR) – Mugen/GRP
8. Michel Pedri (IT) – Losi/OS
9. Rudi Traxler (A) – Associated/Novarossi
10.Richy Ferraro (IT) – Mugen/Axe
11.Francesco Liggieri (IT) – Xray/OS
12.Tommaso Andreuccetti (IT) – Losi/OS

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Aigoin takes double TQ in Italy

Yannick Aigoin is the 2009 Arena Offroad Meeting Top Qualifier for both Buggy and Truggy after setting the pace in the final qualifier for both categories here this morning in Italy. After struggling in the penultimate buggy qualifier yesterday evening, the Team Losi/Novarossi driver reverted to the set-up which took him to the top of the timesheets in Q2. The result was a 7L/5:10.201 which put him over 4 seconds clear of fellow 8ight driver Riccardo Rabitti, the Italian riding high from his Brushless victory last night. Shortly afterwards the French ace ran the fastest 5-minute run of the weekend for Truggy with a 7L/5:11.189 to secure overall TQ double.

Running the same set-up as yesterday, which includes running Proline Crimefighters on the front and Bowtie on the rear of his Sirio powered Losi, Rabitti lived up to his promised improvement. Producing an error free run he posted the fastest lap for the round enroute to second  with a 7L/5:14.004. Like Aigoin, the Italian Champion would like to find a little more steering on his 8ight but plans no major set-up changes for his next outing, tonight’s ‘Race of Champions’.

Third fastest in the final qualifier was Q3 pace setter Davide Tortorici. The Italian produced his best time taking his Crono/OS/AKA combination to a 7L/5:20.153 knocking over a second of his TQ run. The former two time European Champion’s strong performance has denied Team Losi a clean 1-2-3 in the final overall qualification ranking as he claims third between Martin Bayer and Rabitti. Bayer had a poor final qualifier after changes to the centre diff and front shocks made his car difficult to drive and he ended the round with only the sixth fastest time. The Czech star, who will have to come from the back of the grid in the Race of Champions, will revert back to his previous set-up.

Top Kyosho at the end of qualifying is Martin Karner who produced his fastest qualifier in Q4 enroute to fourth for the round which ranks the Austrian’s Team Orion powered MP9 fifth overall. Finishing just behind him for the round and also in the overall ranking was Hong Nor’s Richi Gomez, the Spaniard also saving the best for last to produce his quickest 5-minute run. Elliot Boots had a disappointing last qualifier struggling with a lack of grip but strong showings yesterday meant the European Junior Championship is best placed of the Mugen team with 7th overall.

With Aigoin and Bayer also claiming a Losi 1-2 in the overall Truggy qualification it is Simon Willets who heads the chasing pack. The British driver took his best result in the final qualifier taking his Team Orion power Kyosho to second to jump ahead of Mugen’s Alessandro Magi in the final ranking. Also producing his best Truggy result with third for the round Fabio Boero takes 5th overall with French driver Sebastien Mutel completing the Top 6. It is a busy afternoon here at the Arena of Cowboys for the Truggy drivers as they have their Finals today following by their own Race of Champions.

There is much excitement among the leading drivers ahead of tonight novel race which will see the Top 16 from qualifying line up in reverse order before the last placed driver gets eliminated every two minutes. For the buggy event this means another Frenchman will start on pole with Sebastian Mutel at the controls of Kyosho taking all the pressure. In Truggy, Italian Mugen driver Federicio De Marco will have the honour of heading the field off in front of the large crowd expected at the Rodeo ring, which provides the perfect stage for such an event.

In the F2 Buggy category local driver Marco Baruffolo driving an RB powered GS claimed TQ honours ahead of the Mugen of Englishman Anthony Conroy with leading British Championship runner John Howell, who is racing a Reedy engined Hobao, completing the Top 3.

Buggy Top 16 final qualifying positions
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 400 pts
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 398
3. Davide Tortorici (IT) – Crono/OS – 397
4. Riccardo Rabitti (IT) – Losi/Sirio – 395
5. Martin Karner (A) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 394
6. Richi Gomez (ES) – Hong Nor/Reds – 391
7. Elliot Boots (UK) – Mugen/RB – 389
8. Borja Hernandez (ES) – GS Racing/RB – 388
9. Matteo Dapporto (IT) – Mugen/Reds – 387
10.Alessandro Magi (IT) – Mugen/SM – 385
11.Fabio Boero (IT) – Mugen/SM – 382
12.Alex Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 380
13.Simon Willetts (UK) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 379
14.Fabrizio Teghesi (IT) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 379
15.Riccardo Perin (IT) – Xray/Novarossi – 376
16.Sebastian Mutel (FR) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 374

Truggy Top 16 final qualifying positions
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 400 pts
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 398
3. Simon Willets (UK) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 395
4. Alessandro Magi (IT) – Mugen/SM – 395
5. Fabio Boero (IT) – Mugen/SM – 393
6. Sebastien Mutel (FR) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 390
7. Frank Lemke (D) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 388
8. Gerd Pfeifer (A) – Associated/Reedy – 385
9. Francesco Liggieri (IT) – Xray/OS – 384
10.Michel Pedri (IT) – Losi/OS – 384
11.Rudi Traxler (A) – Associated/Novarossi – 384
12.Remi Riel (FR) – Mugen/GRP – 383
13.Marco Di Sacco (IT) – Mugen/Picco – 381
14.Richy Ferraro (IT) – Mugen/Axe – 379
15.Salvatore Caserta (IT) – Mugen/OS – 378
16.Federico De Marco (IT) – Mugen/Sirio – 378

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Rabitti cruises to Brushless title at the Arena

Riccardo Rabitti has claimed the first of the silverware at the 2009 Arena Offroad Meeting after he cruised to victory in the Brushless Buggy class here tonight at the ‘Arena of Cowboys’. Starting on pole the Italian wrapped up the title early winning the opening two Legs of the triple A-Mains with ease. With the crown secured the Losi driver set himself the challenge for the third leg of running a sub 42 second lap.  Taking a hat trick of wins to complete the perfect event he came very close, recording a 42.078. Afterwards Rabitti said he was very happy to win but he must now turn his attentions to improving his performance in the nitro buggy category in which he lies 5th in the overnight qualification ranking. The current Italian 1:8 nitro National Champion said his performance was effected by the constant switching between the instant power of the LRP powered 8ight-E and his nitro buggy. As a result he struggled to get the clutch on his Sirio engined 8ight to his liking. Able to focus on just nitro for the rest of the weekend and with one title already to his name he is hungry for more setting himself the target of being part of a Losi 1-2-3 come Sunday.

Behind Rabitti the main battle was always for the runners up spot and in the end it was Team Kyosho driver Martin Varner that claimed it over fellow MP9e driver Fabrizio Teghesi. The Austrian briefly made a challenge on Rabitti in the second Leg but couldn’t sustain the pace of the eventual winner and had to settle for another second while Teghesi was best of the rest in Leg 3.

Top 3 Drivers’ Equipment
(Car/ESC/Motor/Battery/Tyres)
1. Riccardo Rabitti (IT) – Losi 8ight-E/LRP/LRP/LRP/Proline
2. Martin Varner (A) – Kyosho MP9e/Castle Creations/Castle Creations/Team Orion/AKA
3. Fabrizio Teghesi (IT) – Kyosho MP9e/Novak/Novak/EZ-Power/Proline

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