Volker leads Reedy Race after Day 1

Ronald Volker is the points leader at the end of the first day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions, the Yokomo driver capping off the day with his 3rd win from the five rounds of racing. With weather effecting the legendary race’s move to Steel City RC Speedway it was a busy first first day with 2 rounds of practice and the five rounds of heads up racing crammed into the schedule as the rain that washed out yesterday’s practice looks set to return on Sunday.  Having opened the day in the best way possible with a win the first round, Volker’s closing win ahead of team-mate Randy Caster gives him a 2 point advantage over the Infinity pairing of Viktor Wilck and defending Champion Marc Rheinard.  Rheinard finally doubled up on his Round 2 win in the final round but afterwards was less than happy with the performance finishing ahead of team-mate Akio Sobue.  After claiming the first win of the 22nd running of the event, Meen Vejrak’s day went slowly downhill, ending the day with a P7, which as his dropped score still leaves him 4th but a massive 6 points off the leader.

Reacting to his lead, Volker said, ‘Overall it was a good day for sure as I wasn’t sure what to expect coming to this track and how the different kind of format would play out’.  A three time champion of the event, he continued, ‘the way they choose the starting grid is not perfect and not 100% fair. Sometimes you need to be lucky’.  Despite registering the most number of wins, one from last on the grid, the German feels they could be getting more from his car. ‘Tomorrow morning we have free practice and we will make further changes again. Then we will see what happens but it has been a good day for me and the team’.

Classified second in the overnight standings as he has a faster winning time than Rheinard, Wilck didn’t hold back on his thoughts about the new format for making the grids for each round.  With the winners from each round gridded in the same race and on the same row for their next encounter, the Swede said, ‘I got f**ked by the system.  When I got the win we started from the back but now the winners got the front row. I think that system is not far’.  Asked about his fifth round encounter, the former Champion said, ‘I was side by side with Randy (Caster) but got stuck in the pipe.  The marshal was really fast but when he lifted the car the body got stuck and then I couldn’t catch the leaders anymore’.  Again posting the fastest lap for the round he said, ‘I think the car is good and hope I get to use its full potential tomorrow’.

‘I was lucky I was not in the heat with Viktor and Ronald. My car was so loose. I was lucky I started from the front row and could get the win’, was Rheinard’s reaction after winning the less loaded of the two heats.  He continued, ‘It must have been the tyres because my set-up is almost the same as Viktor’s.  He had the fastest lap but I had to fight to keep the car on the track’.  Asked about his position in the points table the 7-time Champion replied, ‘At this stage I would be happy to just finish on the podium’.

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Volker wins from the back in fourth round

Ronald Volker has added a second win to his tally on the opening day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions, the Yokomo driver coming from the 12th on the grid to win ahead of pole sitter Eric Albano and Randy Caster.  The win puts the three time champion equal on points with Viktor Wilck, the Infinity driver having his worst run of the day with a P3 after suffering a body tuck. For Yokomo it was their second double for a round as Nicholas Lee held defending champion Marc Rheinard at bay from previous round winners Wilck and JJ Wang.

Reacting to his impressive drive through the field, Volker said, ‘I started last and nobody was crashing so I had to get by everyone which eventually worked out perfect’.  Last winning the Reedy title in 2016, he continued, ‘We improved the car from the last round and I was able to drive more confident which is important for heads up racing.  We will still make a small change for the last run of the day but it’s hard to think about the set-up too much as there is minimal time between runs’.  With rain stopping yesterday’s practice day and more rain showing for Sunday, the schedule has been condensed to get in at least 5 rounds of racing each day which means quick turnarounds between rounds.

Lee was pleased to register his first win saying, ‘we improved the car and were closer to the rest of the guys. At the beginning of the run I was under a little pressure but then I pulled away but towards the end I made a mistake and was under pressure again from Marc so it was good to get the win’.  Looking to the final round of racing for today, the Singapore driver said he hopes he can get more front grip into the car so it will be even better for racing.

Starting 11th on the grid and making up four places by the second lap but dropping back to last on lap 4, explaining his up & down race Wilck said, ‘I got a body tuck after a few laps and dropped to last’.  Touching off Ryan Cavalieri as he put a pass on the Yokomo driver, it was enough to result in a bodyshell tuck.  Again with the fastest lap of the round,  he was able to put in a strong recovery saying, ‘the car worked good so I was able to come back to 3rd’.

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Wilck first double winner at Reedy Race

Viktor Wilck is the first driver to double up on wins at this year’s Reedy Race of Champions, the former champion benefiting from a last lap contact between race leader Lucas Urbain and Marc Rheinard who finished 2nd & 3rd.  Going into the round sharing the points lead with Meen Vejrak, Wilck has now pulled two points clear with Vejrak claiming a third from 7th on the grid in the second of the Round 3 encounters.  That race was won by JJ Wang, the Xray driver becoming the first US driver to register a win at the 22nd running of the legendary touring car race after he held off immense pressure from Ronald Volker.

Commenting on his strong start to this year’s event, which has seen it move to the new Steel City RC Speedway, Wilck said, ‘that was a lucky round. They touched on the last lap and I could get by’.  He continued, ‘It took me some time to get by Cav and that lost me time to Marc but my car was not too bad actually and I could close up’.  Setting the fastest lap of the race once he got by Cavalieri, the Swede was not reading too much into his early lead saying, ‘there are so many runs left I just have to wait and see what happens’.

‘That was super fun for me’, was Wang’s reaction after his race.  The college student added, ‘it’s Volker so I had to defend everywhere.  I was happy to get that done and it was entertaining for everyone to watch’.  Volker said, ‘I took a lot of opportunities to pass JJ but he defended well.  We made a change to the car but it made it way too stable.  I pushed really hard but I had understeer so I couldn’t get by. We will try to get more steering for the next one’.

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