Red RC Events » Off Road

March 16, 2018

Ryan Lutz tops EP Buggy practice after 2 rounds

Ryan Lutz continues to lead EP Buggy here in Xiamen at the SIGP, once again topping the times in CP2 with a faster lap time than in the opening round, however failing to improve his consecutive 3 lap time. Stopping the clock with a 33.618 his fastest lap was some 2 seconds quicker than that of 2nd placed Hu Weiping but over 3 consecutive laps the Kyosho driver was only 1 tenth of a second behind in Rd2, though with his first round time 3 seconds quicker the US Tekno driver currently tops the overall seeding. Jonathan Yeung was 3rd with a solid practice, finding a lot of time between rounds, with Czech Sunpadow supported Xray racer Kaja Novotny getting on the board with P4 following a problematic first practice, just in front of Yusuke Sugiura in 5th.

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March 16, 2018

Sugiura heads Controlled Practice at 2018 SIGP

Controlled Practice is in full swing here in Xiamen, China and it is Japanese Kyosho driver Yusuke Sugiura who heads the Nitro times with an impressive 2nd round run that saw him move to the top of the times, leapfrogging Ryan Lutz, the American failing to improve after trying a complete setup change. Chinese National Champion Hu Weiping would remain in 3rd, who along with young Hong Kong driver Jonathan Yeung, failed to improve in the 2nd round as track conditions changed and the surface got more dusty.

Kyosho team driver Sugiura is a fan of the track but feels the surface has changed a lot since the first practice run, saying it was wet and loose in the morning and now it is very dusty and loose. Setting the fastest lap of the event so far with a 34.596, set on the last lap of CP2, he is still getting used to the track and puts his improvement down to that as well as a change from Proline Blockade M3 to AKA Impact Soft long life tires. For the final practice to be run later this afternoon he plans to try a damper change, going to harder oil because of the warmer conditions.

Fastest in the first practice this morning, for CP2 Tekno star Ryan Lutz made the decision to completely copy the setup of team mate Jonathan Yeung having ‘watched his car and it looked good, how it absorbed the bumps was amazing’. Feeling the setup he ended up was too soft for his liking, rolling too much in the corners, he now has a good base and will tweak it to get it to his liking.

Top Chinese driver Hu Weiping would end up in 3rd, some 4 seconds back over 3 laps, the Kyosho racer going the wrong direction in tires for CP2, switching from Sweep’s Defender to Pixel tires but ending up with no traction as the track started to break up in the sections that were damp this morning. For the final round of practice today Ping will go back to the Defender but choose for a harder compound.

Hong Kong Tekno racer Yeung was 4th fastest following the two round of controlled practice having made lots of changes to his car to improve stability and make it land better. Enjoying the dusty conditions and the track layout, his main problem is with traffic as he was placed in the 3rd fastest heat and in the challenging S-section is running into a lot of crashed traffic which is hampering his pace.

Rounding out the top 5 after 2 rounds is reigning Taiwanese Champion Chen Guanxian driving the Agama car and chasing setup with him feeling his car was too stable in the opening round this morning but becoming too aggressive in the 2nd round, something he puts down to the damp track in the morning and the higher temperatures in the afternoon.

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March 16, 2018

Track Focus – Xiamen ARC International Raceway

Track Name – Xiamen ARC International Raceway
Host – 3-Circles
Country – China
Location – Xiamen
Direction – Clockwise
Surface – Sugared and glued dirt

Host of the most recent IFMAR EP Offroad World Championships, ARC International Raceway are hosting their annual big money offroad race at their impressive facility situated in the grounds of the 3-Circles battery factory in Xiamen, China. The second time running the event, which also has an onroad variant run on the large tarmac track that is set next to the dirt track, this year’s SIGP has attracted a large entry with close to 200 entries spread across both 1/8th nitro and EP Offroad.

In terms of the track itself, its has been made bigger again to fill the full 75m x 40m track area having been reduced for the 1/10th scale Worlds back in November. Designed once more by Lung Chuan Lee from Taiwan, the building process started 3 weeks ago and was only completed last Saturday after which it was treated with glue and sugar and covered in tarpaulins having rained since.

With the sun now out it means most drivers are only getting their first taste of the track this morning, one of those being visiting US Tekno driver Ryan Lutz. Asked for his thoughts on the track he really liked the size and layout, saying the jumps were pretty straight forward with the main challenge in the first of 3 controlled practice sessions being the damp mud patches on some of the corners which are very sticky. When the track dries however he feels the right side S section coming off the back straight is the most technical, needing to ensure you don’t carry too much speed off the back straight to be sure you are lined up perfectly.

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March 3, 2018

Hagberg best of the rest in Q5

With the Bruno Coelho domination at the TITC showing no signs of abating, the Portuguese driver notching up his fastest TQ run in the penultimate qualifier even with getting out of shape, it was team-mate Alexander Hagberg who came out best of the rest. Posting a time 1.6-seconds off Coelho’s 5th TQ run, the result puts the Swede in contention to make it an Xray 1-2 on the grid that will decide the champion at the 16th running of Asia’s most famous race. Akio Sobue would complete the Top 3, with the Infinity driver together with team-mate Naoto Matsukura and, with an outside chance, Marc Rheinard all vying to start second with one final qualifier left to run on Sunday morning.

‘Finally I was fairly competitive in the first laps and I could get a second place’, said Hagberg afterwards. He continued, ‘I will try to do the same again tomorrow morning but it is gong to be pretty dusty as we are out first’. Not sure if he will change his car for Q6, he said, ‘2nd (on the grid) is still open so anything can happen in the last one. I will try my best to repeat what I just did. The car is definitely better than yesterday’.

One of only 3-drivers to run 14-second laps, Coelho and Matsukura the other two, Sobue said track conditions were not as cool as expected but added they were better than the previous round. Describing his car as ‘a little loose’, the Japanese National Champion goes into the final round of qualifying holding third on the grid but with a good final qualifier has the chance to overtake Matsukura. He said, ‘I will try to fight for second but I need a 20 lap run in 5:10 and in the morning the track will be dusty so it is going to be hard’.

Needing a TQ in the morning to get P2 on the grid, Rheinard, who found himself in the B-Main last year, was pleased to get a 4th as it almost certainly secures him 5th on the grid. The German said, ‘the starting order (for Q5) was based on the order of Q4 so I started 3rd last and it was hard to judge my pace compared the others. One time the car spun out at the chicane but the rest was ok’. He added, ‘we are still missing something. Bruno is on one level, then it is Akio, Naoto, Hagberg and me. Maybe tomorrow it will be a different game because the organisers will give us all new tyres for the final but I am sure Bruno will still be fastest.

With Q5 proving his worst round, Matsukura said, ‘my car was pretty good for the first minute but after that it started to understeer. It was not very stable’. Crashing on lap 12 of 20 at the end of the straight, the Japanese driver took full responsibility for the impact saying, ‘that was my mistake’. Sitting second overnight in the provisional qualification ranking, the former touring car & reigning 1:12 World Champion said, ‘it will be an important run in the morning to hold onto second’. Asked is he was to hold on to 2nd if he believes he can mount a challenge on Coelho he replied, ‘Bruno still has the advantage and don’t think that will change tomorrow’. Behind Matsukura, a good run from Charlee P would see him post his first Top 6 run as the lead Yokomo driver followed by the Infinity of 2017 second place qualifier Jilles Groskamp.

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