August 21, 2009

Worlds field reduced to Final 38


Today was for many the one on which their World Championship dreams came to an end with a number of big names failing to make it through to tomorrow’s main day when, weather permitting, the 16th 1:8 Onroad World Champion will be crowned.

Running through the lower finals the day closed with the 1:8 Finals with the Top 3 finishers enjoying the elation of progressing to the big day. First driver to secure a place in the 1/4 Finals was Thai driver Meen Vejrak. A finalist at the electric touring car Worlds, the Mugen driver won ahead of fast female driver Sabrina Lechner who was delighted to progress. Also progressing from the 1/4 B is the sole South African driver here in Switzerland Wayne Joelson who is at the controls of a Mugen. Big casualties of the 20-minute affair were top French driver Stephane Bouche, who had moved up from the 1/32 Finals, and Japan’s Tadahiko Sahashi after the pair clashed in the pits.

In the other 1/8 Final, which just finished before the rains opened up over Lostallo, it was two time Brazilian Champion Flavio Elias who stormed to victory with his Mugen. Behind him Marco Vanni benefited from a 5 minute fuel stop strategy to take second ahead of fellow countryman Michele Romagnoli. The Serpent driver, who had come through from the 1/16 Finals, was pushed right to the line by current European Champion Jernej Vuga but the Slovenian couldn’t find a way passed and can now pack his bags. This race was also the end of the road for 2006 European Champion Fabio Domanin who finished 5th. Pole sitter Steven Cuypers had his race ruined by a controversial Stop/Go penalty for his Sirio powered Mugen apparently being badly placed in the start box.

Tomorrow, Day 10 of the 2009 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad Worlds, kicks off with the first of the 1/4 Finals at 10:00 as 34 drivers chase an elusive spot on the grid for the Main Final where they will join Top Qualifier Robert Pietsch, defending Champion Lamberto Collari, Alberto Picco and Mark Green.  Our coverage which is supported by Serpent and Mugen will start with reports after each of the 1/4 Finals right through to the end of the 1 hour title deciding race which is due off the line at 15:30.

View the full grid listings here.

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August 20, 2009

Pietsch is Worlds Top Qualifier

Factory Mugen/Novarossi driver Robert Pietsch will start the 2009 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship from pole position on Saturday ahead of defending Champion Lamberto Collari. Setting his time in the penultimate qualifier this morning the result was made official when his rivals failed to better the German’s 30 lap run in the sixth & final round. Coming to Switzerland as the pre race favourite Piestch, who was a direct qualifier at the 2005 Worlds, said it was an incredible feeling to be on pole ahead of such a legendary driver as eight time World Champion Collari. In the final round of qualifying Pietsch pulled up early as the track proved slower and his Novarossi started to run lean.

Lining up second on the grid Collari is very pleased with his performance in the championships so far with his hopes of a unprecedented 9th World title still very much alive. In Argentina the Team Kyosho/Novarossi driver won from the number two spot and having focused on a one stop fuel strategy all week this could be his making in the 1 hour final.

Having had problems with his car sliding around this morning when most drivers recorded their top run, Picco will line up third having being demoted one place by Collari. The Italian said he was very satisfied with 3rd and used the final qualifier to test some new things with his car in preparation for the final.

Completing the much sought after Top 4 placings and ensuring Team Serpent will have a presence in the one hour final was British ace Mark Green. Complimentary of his Novarossi powered 966 all week, the UK National Champion said he finally got his driving together in Q5 and was ‘over the moon’ to claim his first direct qualification for a Worlds Final. In the final qualifier he suffered radio problems in the warm up but said track conditions wouldn’t have allowed him to improve his time and so he ends the day a very happy man.

Fastest for the final round ahead of Collari was Serpent’s Michael Salven who will start pole in the Semi A. The only driver in the Top 18 to record their best time in the final qualifier, the German improved by just over 1/10th of second but it wasn’t enough to move him ahead of team-mate Green and he remained fifth. The designer of the 966, said Q6 was a perfect heat but track conditions were just slower. Leaning off his Mega engine 1/2 a turn it allowed him to record the fastest lap of the round, with a 20.156, something which he was very pleased with.

Josh Cyrul was third fastest for the round but is still kicking himself for his poor driving this morning when the track was at it fastest. The American said his Shepherd was once again really good but the track was too hot. Running in Group 12 which had the full force of the Swiss sun, he said he would really liked to have run in the top heat, Group 15, when the sun had dropped behind the mountains as those conditions would have given him a better chance to redeem himself from this morning. Starting 4th on the grid in the Semi B Cyrul is confident he can move up. Fellow American Paolo Morganti will line up on pole for that 30-minute affair having ended qualifying as the sixth fastest driver. The Serpent driver failed to better his Q5 time but said his is still pleased with sixth.

Top Qualifier at the last World’s, 2009 is proving a total different affair for Massimo Fantini. Setting his best time in the final qualifier, the Italian could only manage 28th and will line up in the 1/4 B Final two places behind former World Champion Adrien Bertin.  2007 podium finisher Chris Tosolini who qualified one place behind Fantini will line up in the 1/4 A Final where he will be joined by current 1:10 Onroad World Champion Daniele Ielasi.

Final Starting order
Final – A
1. Pietsch Robert (DE) – Mugen/Novarossi
2. Collari Lamberto (IT) – Kyosho/Novarossi
3. Picco Alberto (IT) – Mugen/Picco
4. Green Mark (EN) – Serpent/Novarossi
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1/2 Final – A
1. Salven Michael (DE) – Serpent/Mega
2. Vrielijnck Rick (NL) – Mugen/Reds Racing
3. Mack Oliver (DE) – Shepherd/Novarossi
4. Tanaka Masao (JP) – Kyosho/Max
5. Balestri Dario (IT) – Motonica/Novarossi
6. Swauger Mike (US) – Mugen/Novarossi
7. Solaroli Stefano (IT) – Motonica/Sirio
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1/2 Final – B
1. Morganti Paolo (US) – Serpent/Max
2. D’hondt Robin (BE) – Motonica/Novarossi
3. Cristiani Andrea (IT) – Serpent/Max
4. Cyrul Josh (US) – Shepherd/Novarossi
5. Fukuda Keisuke (JP) – Mugen/Novarossi
6. Shimo Takaaki (JP) – Kyosho/O.S.
7. Müller Marco (CH) – Shepherd/Novarossi

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August 20, 2009

Who is using what at the 2009 Worlds

Trawling through the details given by competitors for the 2009 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championships it is current TQ holders Mugen and Novarossi that are the No.1 equipment of choice here in Switzerland. A total of 47 drivers have listed Mugen, who were last Champions back in 2001, as their chassis with Serpent’s 966 being the second most popular with 39 users. Sharing third are Shepherd and defending Champions Kyosho with 23 drivers each. The only other manufacturer present Motonica are represented by 16 drivers.

Powering the cars around the large Lostallo track, Novarossi is being used by over a third of the drivers making them by far the most popular engines with 52 racers. Max Power are closest on volume with 19 competitors choosing the Novarossi based unit. Sharing third with 18 drivers each are Picco and Sirio.

Keeping the cars on the track, it is ATS that is most popular with 32 racers using the Italian tyres. Enneti and Matrix have 22 drivers listing them as their tyre of choice with Xceed the other big player with 17 running their foam.  In total 19 different tyre brands are listed by the 148 competitors running at the 16th World Championships.

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August 20, 2009

Pietsch breaks 30 laps in Q5

He was on target for it in Q3 yesterday but misheard the timing computer and pitted before completing the full 10-minutes, but this morning in the penultimate qualifier Robert Pietsch became the first driver to set down a 30 lap run. The German ace was clearly delighted with the impressive run saying his Mugen was perfect for the conditions. Paying compliments to his pitman for two perfect fuel stops, the factory driver feels it will be very difficult to better the time in the last qualifier with the forecast predicted today as the hottest of the championships.

Setting the fastest 29 lap run was defending Champion Lamberto Collari. The eight time World Champion said the run was good but felt conditions were better yesterday in Q3 but unfortunately on that occasion he had an off caused by a faulty battery lead in his Kyosho. The time moves the Italian back ahead of fellow countryman Alberto Picco who failed to better his Q3 time.

He said yesterday that his Serpent 966 was capable of running in the Top 4 and that is exactly what factory driver Mark Green achieved this morning. The British driver has been happy with his Serpent/Novarossi combination throughout qualifying but said his driving was letting him down. Finally completing a run free of driver error he managed the fourth fastest time to put himself in the direct qualification position for the Main Final.

Just outside that highly desirable position is Serpent team leader Michael Salven. Improving from 12th overnight to 5th the German had problems with his engine running very rich for a few laps after each pitstop causing his 966 to shift late and making it difficult to drive. Once the Mega engine cleared out Salven said it was very good. Incidentally using a radar gun the fastest top speed we seen this morning was 111 Kph for European Champion Jernej Vuga but more impressive was the speed recorded by Japanese driver Tadahiko Sahashi’s, his Serpent exiting the pitlane at 94 kph.

Completing the Top 6 and now heading the American challenge is Winternats Champion Paolo Morganti. The factory Serpent driver said his new found speed is down to him becoming more consistent as he gets more accustomed to the banked corners of the Lostallo track. Used to racing on completely flat US tracks he said it takes a bit of time to adjust to the banked corners which pull the car into the apex.

Having not really featured so far here in Lostallo, old tyres transformed the Mugen of factory driver Rick Vrielijnck. Asked if he had found something that caused the huge jump in pace the Dutch Champion replied ‘Oh Yeh’. Having run a new batch of tyres all week and suffered with excessive tyre wear this morning he ran a year old set which allowed him to complete the full 10-minutes without struggling for traction over the second part of the run. Vrielijnck believes the new batch of tyres are too fresh and thats the reason for the high wear rate.

Holding fourth overnight Robin D’Hondt drops to eight. The Belgian, who was tipped as a real danger man this morning, suffered a leaking front bearing on his Novarossi engine which resulted in a lack of brakes on his Motonica P81. For Motonica team-mate Dario Balestri, who had all his qualifying times disallowed yesterday for running an unmarked engine in Q4, the penultimate heat saw him record the 13th fastest time and this should be good enough to see the 2007 Finalist qualify for the Semis.

Elsewhere Josh Cyrul didn’t live up to expectations this morning. The Team Shepherd driver was expected to challenge for a Top 4 time but as he put it himself, ‘Drove like shit’. The American said his car and engine were perfect but the run was the ‘Worst I’ve driven in a very long time’. 2007 World’s Top Qualifier Massimo Fantini was on for a potential Top 4 run until he got hit by Marco Müller in the pits taking a wheel off his Serpent 966. Muller got a stop go for the incident but that was little consolation for Fantini who lies 31st. Former World Champion Adrien Bertin continues to struggle with a very painful right arm. The French ace is finding the 10-minutes very hard going with the movement in his steering arm very difficult. The man behind Team Orion’s engine development, Bertin said the motor he used in Q5 was better and its just a case of soldiering on. Currently he lies 24th on the times sheets.

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August 19, 2009

Balestri gets penalty but still in the event

Factory Motonica driver Dario Balestri, who was found to have an unmarked Novarossi engine fitted in his P81, will continue to take part in the 2009 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championships but the 2007 World Finalist loses the times from the opening four qualifiers along with receiving an official warning for the incident. Under World Championship rules each driver can nominate up to three engines for the event which are in turn marked by IFMAR but in Q4, in which he only ran for 3 minutes, technical inspection found the unmarked unit causing the Race Director Franky Noens to call for an international Jury meeting.

After the meeting the International Federation of Model Auto Racing issued the following decision –

In Round 4 the car from Dario Balestri (Italy), “driver 6” was found to have a non-marked engine in the car.

The Race Director asked for an international Jury meeting to decide for this unforeseen situation for the penalty is not clearly described in the IFMAR rules.

The international Jury felt that an appropriate penalty was in place and nade the following decision.

– All the results from Round 1 till Round 4 will be lost
– The un-marked engine will be marked as engine number 3 (only 2 engines were marked up till now).
– One official warning

On behalf of IFMAR,

Sander de Graaf
IFMAR IC Section Chairman

Having been struggling here at Lostallo, Balestri appeared to have found his way today setting the seventh fastest time in Q3 but with his heats cancelled the Italian will have to pull out all the stops in tomorrow’s final two qualifiers.

Top 18 Qualification Ranking (after Round 4 of 6)
1. Pietsch Robert (DE) – Mugen/Novarossi – 29/09:59.566
2. Picco Alberto (IT) – Mugen/Picco – 29/10:03.465
3. Collari Lamberto (IT) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 29/10:06.099
4. D’hondt Robin (BE) – Motonica/Novarossi – 29/10:06.209
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5. Tanaka Masao (JP) – Kyosho/Max – 29/10:07.045
6. Cyrul Josh (US) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 29/10:07.222
7. Green Mark (GB) – Serpent/Novarossi – 29/10:08.355
8. Shimo Takaaki (JP) – Kyosho/OS – 29/10:08.588
9. Solaroli Stefano (IT) – Motonica/Sirio – 29/10:08.991
10.Müller Marco (CH) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 29/10:09.049
11.Patrick Schäfer (DE) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 29/10:09.109
12.Michael Salven (DE) – Serpent/Mega – 29/10:09.374
13.Morganti Paolo (US) – Serpent/Max – 29/10:09.409
14.Cristiani Andrea (IT) – Serpent/Max – 29/10:10.935
15.Swauger Mike (US) – Mugen/Novarossi – 29/10:11.529
16.Mack Oliver (DE) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 29/10:11.551
17.Vrielijnck Rick (HO) – Mugen/Reds Racing – 29/10:11.889
18.Pirani Andrea (IT) – Mugen/Novarossi – 29/10:12.984