High winds force cancellation of qualifying at Worlds

The opening day of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championships has been cancelled due to high winds in California.  The gusting winds forced officials to make the call on the grounds of safety with concerns over the integrity of the huge tent in which everyone is pitting at Steel City RC Speedway.  Despite being held in position with large concrete weights such was the power of the wind it exerting huge forces on the tent frame making it too dangerous to pit under.  With the winds that are causing huge issues for fire fighters dealing with wild fire in the California area not expected to pass until this evening, IFMAR president Jeff Parker confirmed that due to safety concerns caused by the conditions today’s qualifying would be cancelled.  He added that the track would open as normal tomorrow morning at 07:00 with one hour of practice from 08:00 to 09:00 to ‘groove the track’ which would be followed by the opening round of qualifying.  Parker was quick to make it clear that ‘at this point we are not going into Sunday’, Sunday being a reserve day but only for should there be issues with the Saturday Main Finals programme.  So far no details have been released as to whether it will be possible to run all 6 rounds of qualifying as originally schedule but it is expected that today’s cancellation will see that number reduced.

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Balestri Top Seed at 1:8 World Championships

Dario Balestri has got the defence of his 1:8 Onroad World title off to a strong start by becoming the Top Seed for qualifying at Steel City RC Speedway in California.  The Infinity driver capped off today’s seeding practice by posting the fastest time of the day in the fourth & final round with a considerable advantage over second fastest for the round Toni Gruber.  Behind the Italian, Naoto Matsukura made it an Infinity 1-2 in seeding being the only other driver to top the time sheets when he went fastest in the third round.  Having a tough day by his normal standards, Simon Kurzbuch would manage to complete seeding in the Top 3 but openly admitted the gap to his great rival Balestri was quite a big one.  Having surprised with his second fastest time in the opening seeding round, JJ Wang is the 4th seed ahead of young Italian talent Jonathan Gandin with former Champion Tadahiko Sahashi completing the Top 6.

After dropping off the top of the time sheets for the first time in third round of seeding, Balestri’s reaction to his final run was ‘now I am happy the car is perfect.  Sometimes you feel you can’t arrive at perfect but now the car is really perfect’.  He continued, ‘Don’t ask what I changed on the car because I don’t tell you, but it was the right way’.  Asked about consistentcy over the 7-minutes that now counts for qualifying, he replied, ‘Today was only three laps but my car is fast and super consistent which is all you can ask for qualifying’.

Despite crashing out of the final round but luckily having set the 10th fastest time to secure 2nd overall, Matsukura explained, ‘the traction was more high and the car was a little edgy.  I couldn’t go full punch and had a mistake in the chicane and hit the wall which broke the car.  Also the engine wasn’t so good’.  Despite this, the Top Seed on his Onroad nitro Worlds debut two years ago in France declared himself ‘ready for qualifying’ pointing out the first round should have less traction and so he should be OK adding he will also have one of his good engines fitted.

‘Another difficult run’, was Kurzbuch reaction at the conclusion of seeding.  The Shepherd driver explained, ‘the track changed that much in the last 2-hours our set-up was not good enough.  We need to understand the changes to the track better so that we can have our car right for them’.  The reigning ENS Champion, a battle fought out between him and Balestri, he concluded, ‘right now 1st position feels really far from reach but let’s see’.

On his P4 seeding, Wang said he felt while his results following a strong opening round don’t reflect it they ‘made progress’ over the day.  The Mugen driver added, ‘we had bad luck some rounds so we didn’t show our real pace but I think we have a good car for qualifying so I will do what I do’.  Asked about running the full 7-minutes in qualifying he replied, ‘My full run pace is better than my 3-laps so I think I am ready for tomorrow.  Everything with the car seems good now’.

Leaving his best run to last, recording the third fastest time of Round 4, Gandin said making the top heat for qualifying was a ‘real surprise’ and ‘absolutely not expected’.  Running a prototype car, the ARC driver who has renowned nitro onroad mechanic Stefano Colombini looking after him in the pitlane, he didn’t change the car set-up during the day but instead tried different positioning of weight in the car each run’.  His second 1:8 Worlds appearance, having raced in France, the 16-year-old is confident that he can translate his 3-lap pace into a competitive 7-minute performance.

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Matsukura fastest in 3rd round of seeding

Finally there was a change at the top of the timing sheets at the 1:8 World Championships as Naoto Matsukura set the pace in the third round of seeding.  Having suffered a heavy crash in the previous round, the Infinity driver came back to set the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the day ahead of a much improved Simon Kurzbuch.  Having been the benchmark up to now, Dario Balestri would set the third fastest time ahead of fellow Italian Alessio Mazzeo with Jesse Davis and Robert Pietsch completing the Top 6.

Commenting on his performance, Matsukura said, ‘My car was very good in the second round.  I did the warm-up and broke in the tyres but then the steering failed and I had a big crash.  I had to rebuild the car and fit a new chassis as it was a little bent from the crash but I ran the same set-up’.  The reigning 1:10 Nitro World Champion admitted that while he got the fastest 3-laps the car started to struggle half way through the run saying, ‘after 4-minutes the car was not so stable and the lap times were up and down so for the last one I will make a change to the front of the car’.

Kurzbuch said, ‘we changed a lot on the car.  We made the same changes as Patrick (Schafer) made on his car the previous round’.  Asked about the changes he said, ‘we changed the geometry and the body to take out some steering so we could run a clean round without flipping’.  While happy with the improvement the Shepherd driver aired caution about the set-up saying, ‘yesterday we set a good time in the evening but I am not sure the set-up will work all day but this was a result we needed after the the results we had in Rounds 1 & 2 (of seeding)’.

Asked about his P3 time, the Top 3 cars pulled in to technical inspection to have their pipes tested, Balestri said, ‘we tried something and it doesn’t work so we will just come back to our old set-up and try something else’.  The Infinity driver elaborated, ‘we went super hard in the front (of the car) and it was the wrong way’.

Leading Xray’s challenge at Steel City RC Speedway, Mazzeo said, ‘this morning the car was super good.  Our focus was to get the car not to flip.  It is easy to have a fast car but we work to make our car more easy’.  He continued, ‘If you flip a few times in qualifying you will lose a lot of time.  For sure our car is still on the limit but hopefully it will not flip and this is the direction we have worked towards all week.  We have the speed to fight’.  Running a car on which they are ‘testing some new stuff’, Mazzeo concluded, ‘today is only about 3-laps and not a true picture of how it will be in qualifying.  Many drivers are flipping many times in their runs today’.

‘I think I just drove well then’ was how Davis summed up his best run.  The Australian continued, ‘I didn’t really change much set-up wise but the car was lacking power, heavy to drive and boring’.  Describing the set-up as ‘safe’, the Infinity driver said, ‘its lacking steering so its not fast over 3-laps but over a qualifying distance the pace is still good but we’ll try a few things for the next one to make it a little livelier’.

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Balestri continues to set the pace at Worlds

Dario Balestri continues to set the pace at the 1:8 World Championships with the Infinity driver topping the second round of seeding practice at Steel City RC Speedway. Slightly slower track conditions saw Balestri go fastest over 3-consecutive laps as Japanese drivers came to the fore with Infinity team-mate Takaaki Shimo putting in the second fastest time ahead of Shoki Takahata and 2013 World Champion Tadahiko Sahashi.  While Carmine Raiola had an improve run setting the fourth fastest time, for some of the expected title contenders it was a tough round. Simon Kurzbuch was only 28th as he struggled with his car traction rolling, a problem which also left Dominic Greiner uncompetitive for the round.  Star of the last 1:8 Worlds, Naoto Matsukura had a spectacular exit from the round when his steering came off as he turned off the straight resulting in his car being firmly buried under the track barrier.

Commenting on his latest run, Balestri said, ‘I am still first so it’s all good but I still think we can improve something in the car’.  The defending Champion continued, ‘It is too much on the limit.  I don’t really know what to change to improve it but I think maybe we will change the body for the next one’.

Running a prototype of Infinity’s next 1:8 chassis release along with Lamberto Collari while the rest of the team run the current IF18, Shimo said, ‘the car was good but my clutch was slipping a little’.  Improving the car the multiple World Vice Champion said, ‘I made the car lower.  The first round it was not bad but I lowered the ride height .5mm and it made it easier to drive’.  Asked if he had more changes planned for the 3rd of the 4 seeding rounds he said, ‘the car is good so I will leave it and just tighten the clutch’.

Having tried a different set-up for the first run of the day which he described as ‘not good’, Takahata returned to his ‘good’ free practice set-up for the second run and in doing so returned to form.  Running a front chassis stiffer from Yurugix on his Mugen, which he says has improved his car a lot in the high traction conditions here in California, the 25-year-old Worlds podium finisher wants to try to make his car quicker from the start of the run.  Like the majority of drivers, he said his car is not good at the beginning of the run and this is an area he wants to focus on improving ahead of qualifying tomorrow and he will now discuss with his team what possible changes to make for this.

Sahashi was happy with his run claiming his car was now good from the start of the run right through to the end of the 8-minutes. Changing to a softer rear spring he said this made the car easier to driver particular in the left side chicane’.  With former 1:10 World Champion Keisuke Fukuda as his pitman this week, he plans to discuss further set-up changes for the third round which should take place at the hottest time of the day.

‘It was better this round’, was Raiola’s reaction to his P5 time. Only 20th on his first seeding attempt, the Italian explained, ‘we changed the shock oil to harder and and made the ride height super down in the rear.  It made it want to flip less so I was able to drive now.  We will try harder oil in the front now and see what happens’.

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Balestri tops opening seeding round

Dario Balestri has picked up from where he left in free practice yesterday to go quickest in the opening round of seeding at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in California this morning.  The Infinity driver set his fastest three laps before getting caught out by the extra high morning traction with a roll that chunked at rear tyre and ended his run a minute & a half early.  Behind the reigning Champion, JJ Wang surprised even himself with the second fastest time, the Mugen driver running in the heat before that of Balestri.  Making a return to World Championship action after some time out from the sport, Steven Jovanovic was another surprise at the front of the times sheets as he posted the 3rd fastest time for the first of the 4 rounds of seeding practice.  Next up it was Dominic Greiner in fourth place followed by Silvio Hachler and 2011 World Champion Robert Pietsch.  For 2015 World Champion Simon Kurzbuch the extra traction caused him problems and his Shepherd made contact with the Steel City RC Speedway barriers leaving him 8th fastest.

Summing up his effort Balestri said, ‘It was ok.  I just did not drive so good but anyway it was enough’.  The calm and very collected Italian continued, ‘there was again more traction and I was not able to drive perfect and I rolled’.  Asked if changing the car or adjusting his driving style was the best solution, he replied, ‘the problem is if you stop the flip you stop being fast.  Even with the best set-up in these conditions you have to manage the driving.  I think it’s the same for everyone’.

‘I’m pretty surprised to be honest’ was Wang’s reaction to his 3-laps which were just 6/100th off Balestri.  The American driver continued, ‘the car was super hard to drive in the beginning so I just wanted to get the run over with.  I didn’t see that (time) coming’.  Hoping he can maintain his strong start to the day he will try to improve the car for his second run saying, ‘Everyone is having difficulty at the start, the traction is so high but we will make a few changes and it should be better for the next one’.

Reacting to his time, Jovanovic said, ‘I cant complain, the car is good and the engine is super good’.  The Australian, who is running Capricorn’s new 804 Prototype, explained, ‘the first time I drove the car was when I got here and we got the set-up right pretty quickly after a day or so’.  He continued, ‘clutches and engines were the biggest issue but we got that sorted now and as a combo it’s now working great’.  Looking to his next run, he said, ‘If I can be a little more consistent in my driving we will be alright’.

‘Better’ was Greiner’s reaction to his P4 time.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘now it’s on four wheels all the time but we need a little more steering, then it is good’.  The German also felt he lacked power from his engine saying, ‘the engine was not good so we will change to another one’.  He concluded, ‘things are looking better now than they were yesterday’.

Enjoying consistency in his form having had strong runs throughout free practice, Hachler said, ‘It was a good run I think’.  The ARC driver said, ‘now there is more grip like two days ago and my car is so easy to drive’ before jokingly remarking ‘I hope the traction will increase’.  Happy with his car’s performance, the Swiss racer who finished 5th at the previous Worlds in France two years ago said, ‘we will just change to another engine for the next one to make sure we have three good engines ready for qualification and the racing’.

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Balestri fastest as free practice concludes at 1:8 Worlds

At the conclusion of two days of free practice at the IFMAR 1:8 World Championships in California it is reigning Champion Dario Balestri who was fastest.  The Infinity driver set the fastest 3-consecutive laps in the tenth & final free practice run topping the times from a much improved Simon Kurzbuch, the two great rivals separated by just 12/100ths of a second over the best respective 3-consecutive laps.  Shoki Takahata added variety to the top of the time sheets at Steel City RC Speedway taking his Mugen to the 3rd fastest time, his best laps also set in the final round of practice.  Behind the top three, the margin a little bigger, Jeffrey Rietveld posted the fourth fastest time followed by Silvio Hachler and former champions Lamberto Collari & Robert Pietsch.  Tomorrow drivers face four rounds of seeding practice to determine the order of the heats for qualifying which gets underway on Wednesday.

Reacting to topping the times with ‘it’s ok’, asked why it was only OK, Balestri replied, ‘because maybe I can find something more.  The car is fast but not perfect’.  The Italian added, ‘it’s consistent but I think we can make it faster over the full run.  At least that’s what I will try for tomorrow’.

‘Finally’ was how a much more upbeat Kurzbuch described his finish to free practice.  The Shepherd driver said, ‘the last two rounds were really good as I finally had feeling in the car.  Now it is going in the right way’.  Having struggled with the tracks high traction he said, ‘we tested so much that last few days but we started from zero again today and now we are on the right way.  It has been a hard four days for the whole team and my dad.  Tonight we can go for dinner happy.’  Asked what the improved set-up was, the 2015 World Champion replied, ‘It is tending to flip less and now I can push for good lap times.  We are back in the game’.

Takahata said his time was a culmination of putting the best of all the set-ups he tried in the two days of IPD running and yesterday opening free practice day together adding he was ‘satisfied’ with how his car is performing, not just over 3-laps but also over the entire run.  Asked what he thought of the track, the 2017 Worlds podium finisher said, ‘It looks easy but it’s difficult. It is totally different to anything we have in Japan and the traction is different everyday so I have to adapt the car for this’.  On a track where horsepower is a big part of performance due to the high traction, the factory OS driver said the new engine he has been supplied with from the Japanese manufacturer is ‘working very good’.

‘Not too bad’ joked Rietveld when asked how his day went.  The Dutch driver continued, ‘engine is super important on this track and we finally made a selection of the good engines.  Now we know what is fast and not fast and it is looking really good’.  On car setup the Infinity driver said, ‘we have run the same set-up for 6 or 7 practices.  The car is amazing so we could just focus on doing a lot of stuff with engines’.  Commenting on the track layout, he said, ‘it’s an awesome track.  One of the most fun I have driven.  It has everything you want as a driver’.

Giving his thoughts on free practice, Hachler said, ‘yesterday was better than today but we are very competitive all the time.  We have a good car and good engines.  We are more than ready for qualification’.  Asked why he felt yesterday was better, the ARC driver replied, ‘the track changed a lot from yesterday.  There was a lot more traction yesterday and for my car it was a lot easier to handle the super high traction’.

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