May 26, 2019

Wilck puts himself back in hunt with Round 8 win

Having conceded defeat after the seventh round when, going head to head with Ronald Volker, him finishing second behind the points leader, Viktor Wilck has put himself back in the game with a win in Round 8 at the Reedy Race of Champions.  The Infinity driver added his third win of the event when from fourth on the grid he found a way passed Meen Vejrak, Ryan Cavalieri and team-mate Marc Rheinard for the crucial win.  Lining up in the other encounter, Volker could only manage 3rd from fourth on the grid, the result the Yokomo driver’s second worst finish of the event.  On the points table, Wilck is now 2-points off Volker with 4-scheduled rounds of racing remaining however with bad weather forecast for tomorrow it is widely expected that the 22nd running of the Reedy Race will be determined on 10 rounds. For Wilck this means he needs wins from today’s remaining two runs, with Volker currently having the advantage of more wins should the tie break be called into play.  Winning the race in which Volker was running, Akio Sobue’s second win of the day moves him into contention for a podium finish with that battle set to be between him and team-mate & defending champion Rheinard.

‘At least now we have a small chance. It’s still open’, was Wilck’s reaction after the latest round.  The former Champion continued, ‘we just need some more rounds with Ronald.  He has one more win than me so I need to go for wins. Again I start behind him in the next one but my car is really good, so I’ll be going for it’.

Volker said, ‘I had a lot of understeer for some reason. I couldn’t fight at all but at least I got a P3 on the last lap’.  Looking to claim a 4th Reedy Race title, asked if he knew the reason for the understeer he replied, ‘it’s hard to tell if it was the change to the car or the track.  This round was the highest the wind has been since we’ve been here’.

Sobue echoed Volker’s thoughts on the wind, the Japanese driver saying, ‘it was more windy and this made the track feel different’.  He added, ‘my car was easy to drive but I was lucky that Nicholas, JJ and Ronald were fighting with each other as it took the pressure off me’.  Only 1-point off third place in the points, last year’s podium finisher said, ‘the top two are out of reach but I will try to fight Marc for the podium’.

View the event image gallery here.

May 25, 2019

Volker edges clear at Reedy Race with win No.4 over Wilck

Ronald Volker has moved a step closure to a fourth Reedy Race of Champions title after taking an important win ahead of Viktor Wilck in the seventh round of heads up racing at Steel City R/C Speedway.  With two drops from the 7 rounds run so far, Volker holds a 3-point lead over Wilck with the gap to third placed Marc Rheinard now up at 4-points.  For the defending champion, his latest race was another disappointing run as he got a P4 which he is currently counting together with his P7 from the day’s opening round as his two drop scores.  That encounter was won by RROC debutant Lucas Urbain, the Awesomatix driver winner from previous round winners, Ryan Cavalieri and Akio Sobue.

‘For sure that was an important heads up with Viktor to stay in front of him and get the single point’, was how Volker summed up win No.4 of this year’s event.  The 3-time Champion, who went to the front when JJ Wang spun out in the sweeper with 6-laps to go, continued, ‘He put me under a lot of pressure so I’m just happy I was able to save that one. It was an important one’.  Breaking Wilck’s run of fastest laps, the German concluded, ‘The car was for sure better than the 1st run but we will make an adjustment to get a little more steering under braking for the next one’.

Commenting of his battle with Volker, Wilck said, ‘I was unlucky again. They (Volker & Wang) crashed together and they still go out in front. And again he (Volker) started in front of me’.  Lining up 5th with his title rival 3rd on the grid, the incident the Swede was referring to was when the two leaders made contact on the entry to the chicane but unable to avoid both cars he couldn’t capitalise and all three resumed in the same running order.  Having looked very strong yesterday to battle for a second Reedy Race title, looking at the latest points table the 2012 Champion said, ‘Now its pretty much over actually. The heat before killed me when I hit two back markers.  That should have been a win’.

View the event image gallery here.

May 25, 2019

Volker comes off best as tricky Rd6 produces 2 new winners

Ronald Volker came out best on tricky track conditions this morning at Steel City RC Speedway, as the first round of racing on Day 2 of the Reedy Race of Champions produced two new winners.  With the first heat of Round 6 loaded with three title contenders after yesterday’s action, it looked like Viktor Wilck was going to close the gap on overnight points leader Volker with a win but at the 3-minute mark while holding a comfortable he collected a car that spun out in front of him in the sweeper pulling the front right corner off his Infinity.  This gave the lead back to Ryan Cavalieri who would see of a late challenge from Volker who ended up P2.  Ending yesterday with a win but not happy with his set of tyres, having to use the same tyres again this morning Marc Rheinard would spin out twice in the race and end up 7th.  The second encounter would see Akio Sobue register his first win, finishing ahead of early leader Rick Hohwart, Kyle Klingforth and Round 3 winner JJ Wang.

‘It was a hard one. The traction was terrible out there. It was hard for everyone’, was how Volker summed up the first race of the day.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I crashed by myself once trying to just keep the car on the track’.  A good round for the 3-time champion in terms of his rivals, he said, ‘I’m happy I beat Marc and Viktor. It was an important 2nd place’.  Looking to the next race, all drivers having new tyres for Round 7, he said, ‘we will try to make the car more comfortable. Everyone is looking for better balance from their car’.

Commenting on his first win, Cavalieri said, ‘the track was very slimy.  After the first few lap I was just trying to hold on for the rest of the race but I managed to squeeze a win out of it’.  The Offroad ace, who has become a regular of the the Touring Car Reedy Race in recent years, continued, ‘the lap times and pace was so bad right now.  What ever they sprayed on the track is making it worse. It’s going to be a tough day’.

Explaining how he lost an almost certain win, Wilck said, ‘two cars were stopped in front of me and I hit them.  I was cruising and they spun out at the end of the straight and I couldn’t avoid them. It’s a shame. I was an easy win’.  Continuing to set the fastest lap for each round, the pace this morning much slower, the Swede shared the general feedback from drivers that the track was ‘more slippery’ than yesterday.

‘Super difficult’, was Sobue’s reaction after his first win of this the 22nd running of the legendary race.  He said after I over took Jan and had to drive safe and even driving like this I spun out at the end of the straight. It was super difficult to stay on the racing line.

View the event image gallery here.