Chassis Focus – Mattia Polito (Sworkz)
Chassis – Sworkz S35-4 EVO
Engine – O.S. Speed B04
Fuel – Energy
Tires – Matrix Nubela
Radio/Servo – Futaba T10PX / KO Propo RSx4S Power HC
Body – Xtreme Aria
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Polito takes Q1 ahead of Ronnefalk & Ongaro at SIGP
Having topped seeding on his SIGP debut, Sworkz’s Mattia Polito capped off an impressive Day 1 of official action in Xiamen, China, by topping the opening round of qualifying. The Italian who executed a clean run to record the only 13-lap run took the first of the four scheduled qualifiers ahead of Xray ‘s David Ronnefalk and Team Associated’s Davide Ongaro, both drivers having mistakes that would prove costly due to the race’s supplied marshals. While Polito put together a very impressive first qualifier, setting the fastest lap in the process, it would be contrasting performance from Xray’s Bruno Coelho who had many mistakes eventually claiming the fourth fastest time. Behind, Mayako’s Joseph Quagraine put together a run that allowed him to the fifth fastest time but the Finn believes he as driver has more to give tomorrow.
‘The track for the first qualifying was really difficult but we don’t make mistakes, just little errors but it was fast. Difficult but fast’, that was how Polito reacted to his TQ round. Leaving his buggy unchanged from seeding, he summed up the first meaningful day of the SIGP as ‘good’. Having also topped eBuggy seeding, he said his P3 in the categories opening qualifier was down to a mistake, and also him not being super happy with his tyre choice for the electric buggy. With three more qualifier on the schedule for tomorrow (Saturday), he said, ‘I think the plan is to start the same as we finished today and maybe in electric we might change the tyres, we will see in the morning.’
Ask how his Q1 went, Ronnefalk replied, ‘It was going really well, I had a couple of those small little mistakes nothing major in the start and I saw Bruno gapped me a couple of corners but I was just trying to stay on the wheels which is most important obviously. I saw Bruno had two mistakes so then I knew from dad telling me on the headset that I was close to Polito. I was within 1-second at one point I think and then I had a couple of cars I went through but the very next corner after passing them I just came in a little too hot a flipped over.’ Not normally a huge loose of time he explained, ‘I flipped over right in front of the marshal’s feet but I still lost 10-seconds cause the marshal was waiting for all the cars to come by before he grabbed mine. This is always the thing when you have marshals that haven’t really marshalled cars in their life. I think the two mistakes Bruno did he lost 23-seconds. That why it is so important to stay on the wheel. Even with a 10-second mistake I saw Ongaro had the same on the last lap so I ended up second. I’ll take it.’ The 2016 World Champion concluded, ‘both my cars felt really good, I changed my nitro so it is almost like my electric, only small differences but mainly the same, it is just a matter of staying cool, calm and collected up there.’
A driver we have come to expect will be the hence mark at most international races, Ongaro was a little more upbeat at the end of the day following Q1. The Italian described the opening qualifier as ‘better than the last round of seeding’ but added, ‘I had a crash on the last lap and lost 11-seconds. It was my fault so it wasn’t the marshals fault but I lost a lot of time there.’ Looking to Day 2’s qualifying action he said, ‘for tomorrow we have a better car, we are improving step by step. Compared to yesterday today is a lot more comfortable for sure. The Top 5 are super close so I think the key on this track is don’t flip and have a car that is easy to drive. So lets see for tomorrow.’
‘Very poor driving from myself today’ was Coelho response after qualifying. Winner of the SIGP Onroad race earlier this year, he continued, ‘both cars were working pretty good, I was pretty fast but in both categories I struggled to keep the concentration I believe and I made some rookie mistakes for sure.’ With 3/4 of qualifying rounds still to run, he stated, ‘We are confident in the cars for tomorrow and for me today was just an off day. Tomorrow there is three more qualifiers to go in each category which I hope everything will go well for.’
Having attended the last SIGP hosted in 2019, the track now running in the opposite direction on the very same layout to the 2019 edition, JQ described his opening nitro qualifier as ‘good’ despite one mistake. He continued, ‘My car was very easy to drive and I see a lot of people struggling, so I am quite happy with the that. I honestly feel that I need to work on my driving. I am a bit too careful everywhere so driving wise I need to improve a lot.’ Asked if he felt he was driving too cautious due to the tricky track conditions, the Finn replied, ‘No, it’s because I am old and haven’t driven.’ On his buggy set-up he said, ‘car wise I don’t feel like I need to change but I will change because I am changing every run to learn and just test things. I’ll keep changing things and drive better but I’m happy, everything is good.’ He concluded, ‘basically I am confident enough for a lexan wing now.’
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Polito tops seeding at SIGP in China
Sworkz’s Mattia Polito is the top seed at the SIGP Offroad Race in Xiamen, the Italian fastest in both Nitro and Electric Buggy on the return of China’s biggest annual offroad race after a 5-year break. Over 3-consecutive laps of the challenging 3-Circles track, overnight repairs making for improved conditions for today’s two seeding rounds, Polito would go fastest in both ahead of Xray’s Bruno Coelho. It was however the first round that was the fastest for the 21-year-old who had 1.6-seconds on Coelho. With Coelho’s fastest time coming from CP2, the margin on that occasion was down to 2/10ths of a second as Polito’s best was 7/10ths slower than his earlier attempt. Behind Davide Ronnefalk took his Xray to the 3rd fastest time with his CP1 time ahead of Davide Ongaro, the reigning World Champion improving by over a 1-second in CP2. WIRC’s Gabriel Astorino and Mayako’s Joseph Quaqraine completed the Top 6.
With this his first visit to the SIGP, Polito was pleased with his performance in seeding describing it as ‘pretty good’. The 2021 Italian National Champion is also liking the track layout if not the surface adding ‘it’s bumpy but the racing line I like.’ Switching to a different Matrix tyre for the second practice run, he said, ‘It was not fast like the previous one so we go back for the first quali’. Having been Ongaro’s main title challenger in the Italian National Championship the last 3-seasons, looking towards qualifying he said he confident that he can transfer his seeding pace to a consistent 7-minute qualifier.
Summing up his seeding performance as ‘pretty good’, Coelho added, ‘we are still trying some tyres. The car is working pretty good now so we are just trying to find out the tyres. In the morning the track is a bit wet and during the day it starts to become drier and the compounds change completely the grip. I was changing the tyres during the run and at the end I was able to run 3 pretty good laps’. Using Hotrace’s Bangkok tyre, he said ‘from super soft to medium it works pretty ok depending on the time of the day so we need to find the best solutions for this.’ Having admitted yesterday that the track was challenging he feels, ‘today seems to be easier to drive than yesterday, I think they fixed some jumps which was the biggest trouble yesterday, this has made it was drivable and more, lets say more, racing that before.’
His first Nitro Buggy race since the World Championship in Redovan, Ronnefalk said, ‘I tried tyres in both rounds, the first round I came into pit and tried different compounds, I ended up liking the second one better which was the (Hotrace) Bangkok Super Soft. Then for the last one I decided to try something else on the tyres, a different compound again just to see because we don’t have a lot of tyres between Bruno and myself. We have to make sure we have enough for the whole race. So I just checked how another one felt but in the 2nd seeding is was not really working well. The car felt good and everything but I had no lap time speed cause I had not traction. The car was been feeling good today after some changes this morning.’ Asked if he noticed the track repairs, the Swede said, ‘the first couple of runs in the morning has always been nicer than the last few, it seems the grip is a little higher in the morning when the track is a bit damp but as soon as it dries out those small little bumps get sharper again and its difficult towards the afternoon to drive.’ Looking to Q1, having taken the opening eBuggy qualifier, he explained, ‘I was able to TQ eBuggy and I am running the same set-up on both cars so it is just a matter of collecting data we have had so far from all our tyres tests because it looks like the tyre is making the most difference out there, of course the shock package and everything is important but the track gets kind of polished after lunch so then you have a lot less grip than in the morning.’
Without out his father as his pitman this weekend, former World Champion Adrien Bertin filling that role here, Ongaro said, ‘We struggled a little bit with the set-up compared to two days ago. We started with a good base but then after one practice the car start to make strange things so we struggle a lot with the set-up.’ Second fastest in the opening eBuggy qualifier, he continued, ‘Now we change for the eBuggy and it seems like the car was really really better, I feel I can push so I will put the same setting on my nitro for Q1 and see if that makes he difference. If yes we start from that point again. I think now changing a few small things makes a huge difference, the consistency was much better than before.’
SIGP favourites expect challenging race in Xiamen
With 2024 marking the return of the SIGP Offroad Race with its highest profile international entry yet, the three leader contenders for the race’s major cash prize have all predicted a challenging weekend ahead in Xiamen. Organised by Sunpadow Batteries, the entry for this year’s edition of the race is led by Team Associated ‘s 3-in-a-row World Champion Davide Ongaro. The first time the Italian has been to the former IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championship track, on paper his biggest rivalry should come from Xray pairing David Ronnefalk and Bruno Coelho but talking to all 3 at the end of Thursday’s free practice they all believe it’s the track surface that is going to be their biggest challenger. The dirt offroad track, which together with an onroad track and 200m long driver stand!, is located on the grounds of the almost 500 strong workforce 3 Circles factory that manufacturers batteries, has not seen race action since the last running of the SIGP in 2019. Joern Neumann was the winner on that occasion, but having lay idle for 5-years the track had to undergo some significant preparation to clean it up with Max Lim, who put on the World Championships here in 2017, tasked with the track preparation over the last three weeks. Getting the track back to looking like an active one, it is the surface bumps that are going to challenge man & machine with buggies being very unpredictable to drive.
Having not yet started racing in the 1:1o Electric Offroad category when the track hosted the 1:10 World Championship 7-years ago, asked his first impressions of the track, Ongaro replied, ‘The layout is fun but the surface is…. not super bumpy but rough. The bumps are small but lets say everywhere.’ He continued, ‘we struggled a little today and yesterday with nitro, and yesterday I didn’t run eBuggy, but we arrived at the end of today with a good set-up for both cars.’ Watching out his pit area window while final repair works were being made to the bigger holes and some of the jumps, Ongaro continued, ‘It is an amazing place and I am driving for Sunpadow so it was nice to the see the factory’, his battery sponsor bringing him on a tour of the factory yesterday which is adorned with a huge poster celebrating his 1:10 4WD World title win and Coelho’s Touring Car World title.
Asked his thoughts on the track layout, the 1:8 build very different to the 1:10 layout he raced on here before, Ronnefalk said, ‘From what I understand it the same as what they used the last time but they have just changed the direction. I think the track layout is totally fine, what makes it super difficult is the roughness of the track. It is super bumpy, edgy, even though you might think you are on a good line then something just catches the car and just spins it out or flips you over, so it’s really tough to manage, also mentally. You are trying to make clean laps and sometimes you are not even trying but still you would flip. It is frustrating.’ The Swede added, ‘car set-up is definitely important and I have been working a little bit on the shock package as well as some small stuff on the rear geometry to make it a little bit easier.’ The 2016 World Champion concluded, ‘overall the track is the same for everyone and everyone is struggling, so it’s definitely going to be tough. I don’t mind the track being bumpy in between the jumps but what makes it so difficult is the jumps are totally broken in the faces so sometimes the car just comes out super weird in the jump and then you are not able to save it. It is a long time since I drove a track as difficult as this one, which would probably be the Euros in 2017 in Sweden, but its good fun when you are able to make a clean and it frustrating when you are not so its all about being smooth out there.’
Fresh from his FEMCA ISTC Championship title win at the GDC Indoor track in Foshan last weekend, asked how he was enjoying being back in Xiamen, Coelho replied, ‘It is always nice to be here at the Sunpadow factory cause they are one of my sponsors and who I have been with them for many years. This is like my 4 or 5 time here and the facilities are among the best in the World. I just visited their new showroom and I didn’t know that they existed since 1952.’ Having been to the track earlier in the year for the SIGP Onroad race, which he won, on the offroad track he said, ‘It’s an offroad track but it’s a bit rough, it’s very difficult. It feels like the old time of offroad. I think we are so used to super flat tracks and this looks like a track we raced in the past with the holes and everything and we are not used to this anymore but it is nice to be back in these conditions. It’s still offroad, it is still the same for everybody, of course nobody was ready for that but we need to work on that and that’s it.’
2024 Asian Buggy C/ships Indonesia Chassis Focus Index
Last weekend Indonesia played host to the season finale of the 4-round Asian Buggy Championships. The all natural dirt West Side Raceway track, which is owned by very competent racer Adrian Wicaksono, would prove challenging but a big hit with racers, the event bringing drivers from 12 different countries to the capital of Jakarta. While Kouki Kato took the win for Infinity, overall it was the Sworkz of Australian Christian Wolhuter who became the inaugural Champion of the 2024 season. Rewarded for his efforts in hosting the race with a podium finish, WicaksonoIt’s Team Associated made it three different manufacturers in the Top 3 at the end of the 1-hour final. Attracting over 130 entries, we got the chance to photograph 8 buggies from 5 different manufacturers including the Xray of promising 12-year-old Indonesian talent Yansen Wijaya, who, like a certain 3-in-row World Champion, races using a Sanwa stick radio. In case you missed any of the Chassis Focus’ during our coverage of the race, we have compiled them all in our latest Chassis Focus index.
Kouki Kato (TQ/Winner) – Infinity
Christian Wolhuter (Q4/P2 – Overall Champion) – Sworkz
Adrian Wicaksono (Q5/P3) – Team Associated
Naoto Matsukura (Q2/P13) – Infinity
Jason Nugroho (Q3/P10) – Sworkz
Jonathan Yeung (Q8/P7) – Tekno
Zac Ryan (Q10/P8) – Team Associated
Yansen Wijaya (Q12/P11) – Xray
Kato executes perfect 1-hour main to win ABC Indonesia
Infinity driver Kouki Kato executed a perfect race to win the season finale of the Asian Buggy Championships in Indonesia, the Japanese driver winning the fourth round in Jakarta from the Sworkz of newly crowned overall Champion Christian Wolhuter. Lining up on pole position for the 1-hour final at West Side Raceway ahead of team-mate Naoto Matsukura and Wolhuter, Kato quickly gapped the field and grew that advantage over the rest of the 15 car grid as his rivals made errors and later hit problems. While Kato ran his own race out front, the focus turned to the battle for 2nd between Wolhunter, Matsukura and Jason Nugroho. Unfortunately leading local challenger Nugroho and Matsukura, who had just set the fastest lap of the race, would both suffer the same faith within 5-laps of one another as they needed lengthy pit stops to fixed rear suspension links on their cars. With Kato winning by over a lap from Wolhuter, it would be the Team Associated of track owner Adrian Wicaksono who completed the podium, a just reward for both his driving in the final and his efforts in staging the Asian Buggy Championships first race in Indonesia. Finishing on the same lap as Wicaksono having held the final podium position for a time, Mayako’s Joseph Quagraine finished fourth.
‘For me it was a perfect final because I could make a consistent race with no mistake so I am very happy’, was Kato’s reaction to winning on his Asian Buggy Championship debut. The only issue for the 18-year-old would be his body shell not sitting correctly, something he said was caused by it braking as a result of how it had been cut out. But the raised body didn’t bother him as he said he was ‘only thinking’ about his driving adding also that he had no issue with maintaining that focus for the 1-hour. Changing to a heavier diff oils in his IFB8 given the duration of the final and the local hot temperatures, he described his car in final as was best it was all weekend and he could ‘make fast pace’. Set to try to defend his Japanese 1:8 Offroad National title next month, he said today’s win was perfect preparation for that race with the host track having a similar surface.
Very pleased with his effort in Jakarta, Wolhuter summed up 2nd place with, ‘It was awesome racing against everyone and huge congrats to the other podium finishers. The car was very good but I think our tyres wore out maybe half way through the race and this made keeping consistent very difficult’. Enjoying his battle with Matsukura he continued, ‘Naoto pushing me was insane trying to keep on line, I was trying to keep my own lines as well but he was faster than me. At the end of the day though unlucky for him he broke and I got the better end of the stick but it was a great race’. On his strategy for the final, the Australian said, ‘We put in a new engine just in case so we weren’t too sure of the fuel mileage so the first two pit stops we came in around only 7, 7 30 (minutes), something like that so after those two stops dad had a look at the fuel tank and noticed we could go a lot longer’. On his overall title success in the Asian Buggy Championships, this being the first year points were awarded over the four race with the best three to count, he said doing the championship has hugely benefited his driving. ‘It 100% has benefited me, different tracks, going from oiled tracks to slippery tracks to very rough tracks, it has been a massive experience’. He also agreed racing against drivers such as 6-time World Champion Matsukura has also brought on his racing. Not just taking the Nitro Buggy title, Wolhuter completed the season double by also claiming the eBuggy title with the win in Indonesia.
Asked to sum up his race Wicaksono said, ‘I just drove consistent and somehow the guys in front of me had problems so I got third’. Asked how it felt to get a Top 3 finish he replied, ‘To be able to be on the podium at your own track at such a big event is such a nice feeling, I’m happy.’ With his pit crew pulling off some very impressive stops and launching the car down pit lane at a velocity that looked quicker than the top speed of the buggies down the main straight, he acknowledged their work saying, ‘they have been doing really well, they have been with me since I started RC, they always did an amazing job so thanks to them also.’ Asked if he had any troubles during the race he said, ‘No, no trouble, I had like three bobbles but that was it. I did have a flame out coming in on the second pit stop and that was because the track was dusty and I pushed more so that’s why the fuel didn’t make it.’ After all the hard work of successfully putting on the country’s biggest international buggy race since it hosted the World Championships in 2006, the friendliness of Indonesian’s really standing out, asked if he plans to do it again his response was, ‘Scotty (Ernst) asked me two days ago the same question and I said ‘Scotty please don’t ask me this weekend, lets finish this one and then we speak’ but yes if everyone is happy to come here why not.’
Summing up his race JQ said, ‘I had a good start, I think for me I had good pace in the beginning and I figured if I just keep going like this I will be on the podium cause people are going to flame out and have issues. I was very close to being right because Naoto had an issue, I was battling with Jason and he flamed out or had an issue also and then I was in third but I knew Adrian was catching me and then we battled for maybe one stint.’ He continued, ‘I knew he was faster than me, I had to get out in front of him, we were pitting at different times, and he just beat me coming out of pit lane, then I knew I was probably going to be fourth and that’s how it ended.’ He added, ‘But you know on the other hand he was my host, he invited me here, so it is good I didn’t beat him as that would have been rude.’ Asked how his pit stops went in the final, the Finn replied, ‘I was worried about that because I didn’t have a pit guy here but luckily we managed to find a guy who speaks English and another guy with a fuel gun. We practiced three stops, I rolled the car in and they did their thing, and then we went through how we were going to communicate and do the pit stops, and it was really good actually, really on point, no issues at all. The only problems were my own mistakes, I had a couple of bad laps, other than that it was surprisingly good as I haven’t been racing and this track is very difficult, so I’m happy.’
