Chassis Focus – Juan Carlos Canas (Sworkz)
Chassis – Sworkz S35-4 EVO
Engine – REDS 721 Superveloce
Fuel – Nitrolux
Tires – JConcepts
Radio/Servo – FlySky NB4 Pro+ / Highest B210
Body – JConcepts
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Canas is Top Qualifier as Coelho sets blistering Q5 pace
For months he has been widely tipped to become the new 1:8 Offroad World Champion, and living up to the well justified hype Juan Carlos Canas has completed the first stage and locked himself in as the Top Qualifier in Spain. The Sworkz driver topped Q2, 3 & 4, giving him the perfect score with only reigning Champion Davide Ongaro left in the TQ race going into the penultimate round. Having thrown away a potential TQ run a round earlier in Q4, Xray’s Bruno Coelho managed to omit the last lap error this time to take his first TQ and by default hand Canas an early overall TQ. Having already switched to using the remaining two rounds of qualifying as testing for the Semi Finals, Canas would still get a P2 for the round although the gap to Coelho was a massive 5.4 seconds. A rocket round, Coelho’s time almost 6 seconds better than the previous best from Q4, Ongaro would finish 3rd 0.154 off Canas with Elliott Boots having his best run in P4. The Top 6 was completed by David Ronnefalk and the TLR of top American challenger Dakotah Phend.
With it widely accepted that Canas’ Q4 run was job done in terms of overall TQ, the Spaniard was very much already moved to the next stage of his campaign. Asked about Q5, the European Champion said, ‘I tried some things like planned. It was working good, it made it more comfortable but it was a bit slower compared to Bruno, also he did a superb run, super clean and super fast.’ Planning to try another change for the sixth & final round, asked if the set-up from Q5 was something he could use in the finals, he replied, ‘maybe if the grip changes a little bit I can use for Saturday but for the next one I will try some other ideas to have more options for Saturday.’
‘Finally a clean run, that was what was basically missing’, was Coelho’s reaction. He continued, ‘the car was very good and it is giving us very good confidence for the rest of the race. We changed small things on the car and it was good, now we want the track not to change until the end of the event but we know that is not going to happen.’ On his plans for Q6 he said, ‘I can still be second (overall) but in the end it doesn’t change much so we want to try something more because I am sure the competition won’t stay where they are and will improve their package so for sure try something to make it faster’. He concluded, ‘We are very positive at the moment.’
Having struggled for pace in the previous round Ongaro said, ‘That was better than before, we completely changed the car, we switched to the 2022 World Championship set-up from here and it was better in some parts of the track and worse in others so we try to adjust now’. He continued, ‘we cannot do worse than P3 (overall) now so we will keep changing stuff ‘.
Summing up his best round so far Boots said, ‘Obviously we didn’t have the pace of Bruno, he was on a blistering one but I think we are going in the right direction. Elaborating on what he is missing he said ‘just corner speed.’ He continued, ‘you see from watching Bruno’s car how much the car rotates so that’s the way we need to go after watching his car. We had a bit more that time so we’ll keep going that direction.’ Asked how his set-up was compared to team-mate Canas, both also running Reds Engines, he said, ‘It similar but there are small changes because he drives a lot harder than me but its not far from each other. Tyres are the big thing, they act differently, different side grip and things. Before it was easier because we ran the same (tyres) so you can run the same set-up’. Looking to Q6, the British driver said, ‘we are the Semis so it is nice we can try stuff for the next one’.
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Chassis Focus – Davide Ongaro (Team Associated)
Chassis – Team Associated RC8 B4.1
Engine – O.S. Speed B2105
Fuel – Energy
Tires – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa Exzes ZZ / Sanwa PGS-XR II
Body – JConcepts
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Canas opens Day 2 with another TQ run
Sworkz’s Juan Carlos Canas has opened Day 2 of qualifying at the IFMAR 1:8 Offroad World Championship with a TQ run, the Spaniard bringing his tally to 3 meaning only defending World Champion Davide Ongaro can deny him from becoming the Top Qualifying. With three from 6 to count, Canas took the fourth round with a new fastest time over the 10-minutes with Top Seed David Ronnefalk his closest challenger 4/10ths off. It was a good round for Xray with Bruno Coelho adding another P3 run to his tally after a rough ending to yesterday’s action. Despite a clean run from Ongaro, the Team Associated driver was lacking the outright speed of his main rival Canas finishing over 2.5-seconds off the TQ pace. It was a good round for Berkan Kilic, the Mugen Seiki driver posting his first Top 5 run ahead of the Canas’ team-mate & former Worlds Top Qualifier Elliot Boots.
While he came out top, Canas said for the first half of the run his car was ‘so difficult to drive’. Running everything the same as he did in Q3 including the same set of tyres, the back to back reigning European Champion put that difficulty down to the lower temperatures this morning, their heat running an hour & a half earlier than Q1 yesterday. ‘The car was stiff, the tyres are hard so you need 3-4 minutes for it all to warm-up. After the fuel stop the car was very good’. With three TQ runs on the board, he said they will use the next two runs to work on ‘some fine details’ to be ‘perfect for Saturday’. Asked about track conditions, ‘the grip is quite similar (each round) and the surface is ok, it is just the temperature that is causing changes’.
With Q4 his best round so far Ronnefalk didn’t expect to better his trip of P4 run from yesterday, ‘It was better than I thought when driving ’cause I felt I had a bit of understeer, I had two rolls where I lost 2-seconds or so during the run, luckily I ended up on my wheels, so it wasn’t that bad in the end. When we finished Max said it was a 10 40, I was like almost surprised, how did that happen, it didn’t feel like I was going that speed which is a good thing, you’re not feeling 100% but you’re still fast. Couple of small mistakes hit pipes on 2-3 laps and that was the 2-seconds I lost which ended up being the TQ in the end. Canas was just 3/10th ahead which is crazy over 10-minutes, you go 10-minutes on track with 50-second lap times with pit stop and everything and it comes down to 3/10th it’s super close out there. Bruno also had a good run but unfortunately he crash in the last lap. If I removed my bobbles and Bruno would remove his we would have been very close and a 38-39 (finish time) would have been possible’. Looking to Q5 the former World Champion said , ‘the feeling was not bad but a little bit of understeer I felt so we are going to have to check what to do for the next one. With this one now we have a 2-4-4 so I am set for the Top 4 with means a Top 2 starting position for the Semi. I am not going to touch car much cause it is in the ball park’.
Summing up his run and missed opportunity, Coelho said, ‘It went ok the car was really really good. I screwed everything up on the last lap basically. I flipped and lost 2-seconds otherwise I would be TQ but you know that’s the if! The current Electric Touring Car World Champion and former 1:10 Offroad World Champion continued, ‘The car is working good so I am really happy, that’s one more qualifier and two more to go. The car is on point and that’s what matters for the Semis. We are going to change small things next round, it’s getting much hotter so we need to adjust for that.’
Somewhat frustrated with the start to his day and having a deep discuss about his car with his father, Ongaro said, ‘It wasn’t bad on my driving because I didn’t crash and it was a clean run, all pretty much every lap was 49.0, 48.6, so the consistency is amazing. The thing is I need a few tenths more to be faster to find the 2-seconds that I lost. We have four good rounds so I am 99% in to the Semi so we have to use the last two qualifying as a test and of course try to do well. I think we are good for the long run but for qualifying we are struggling for the fast laps.’ Asked what he felt he was lacking he said, ‘I can drive super easy like this for 1-hour without mistakes but I am missing speed in some parts. We are improving for sure but they are fast. I watched his (Canas) lap time and he made 48.1 and then 49.4 so its strange to compare’.
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Chassis Focus – Ryan Cavalieri (Sparko)
Chassis – Sparko F8
Engine – Nova Engines B3R Evo
Fuel – TNR
Tires – TZO
Radio/Servo – Sanwa M17 / Savox SB-2290 SG
Body – JConcepts
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Welcome to my World (Quali Day 1) – Marcus Kaerup
After 8 rounds of practice over 3 days with the emphasis being on 3-laps, the time finally arrived for racing proper to start with 3 rounds of qualifying making up Wednesday’s schedule. Placed in Group 13 of 15 after Tuesday’s seeding, Ruddog Racing’s Marcus Kaerup kicked of the first of the 6 rounds of qualifying with 9th place just behind Dakotah Phend. Bigger mistakes in his second effort however meant he stopped the clock in the 15th fastest time but the 16-year would go on to closing out the day with a 12th for the third round. With his Ruddog RNX22.3 powered Associated RC8B4.1 doing what he wants it to do, the big take away from the day for this Danish talent is the need to tidy up his driving and charge his headset!
‘We started out great with a pretty decent qualifying in the first round, 9th with some mistake so it could have been a lot better. Second qualifying I was pretty confident going into it after the first one but once again a stupid mistake, also on the last lap, so two mistakes and that was pretty annoying with still 15th for the round. In the last one the car felt really good but coming up to the left on the 180 on right side I hit the pipe and rolled over, so a stupid mistake again and I needed to be marshalled’. Asked about his mistakes and if it was from the pressure of the occasion or just his determination to prove a point, he said, ‘it is just over doing it, clipping a pipe or shorting a jump, just basic things that are not supposed to happen’.
Asked about his car he said, ‘I haven’t been doing much to the car really, no changes, I am really just checking screws after each run to make sure they are tight’. On track conditions Marcus said, ‘It has been pretty consistent, for sure the last heat had the most grip of the day’. Looking to Day 2’s qualifying action, three more rounds on the cards around the challenging RC Redovan track, he said, ‘We will probably just change tyre component for the different times of the day but I think the car is good so we don’t need to change it’. Asking his stand in pit man Brent Thielke how his driver was doing, the Team Associated Team Manager said, ‘he needs to remember to charge his headset’. The American having to revert to good old shouting up at his driver as a form of communication for Q3 due to a dead headset.