Coelho takes TITC with ‘hardest win’ of career

Bruno Coelho has successfully defended his TITC title after a thrilling A3 at the Infinity Addict Circuit in Thailand with the Xray driver afterwards describing the victory as the ‘hardest win of (his) career’. Winning the opening final with ease, he would crash out of A2 while leading meaning the 15th running of Asia’s most famous race would be decided between him and A2 winner Nicolas Lee in the closing encounter.  Securing the overall TQ on a tie breaker with Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp, it was the Dutch driver who despite no longer being in title contention would put him under the most pressure as he had done in A2.  Running bumper to bumper, Groskamp would hit Coelho allowing Ronald Volker to go to the front but it was now the battle for second that got all the attention.  Having the fastest winning time, second would still be enough for Coelho to give Xray its third consecutive TITC win but having waited following the contact, Groskamp wanted to get the pass on the ETS Champion.  Applying intense pressure however he couldn’t get it done as Coelho, despite the Bangkok heat, kept his cool to get the all important P2 for a win even his great rival Volker said afterwards he didn’t get easy.  While Lee would get 2nd, something he was guaranteed after A2, Volker would somehow pull off an unexpected podium with 3rd thanks to his A3 win leaving Groskamp to miss the podium at what is now his home race.

‘I never had pressure like this before.  It was 5-minutes complete pressure and I have to say I don’t like the feeling’, was how a noticeably relieved Coelho summed up A3.  Reflecting on the event he continued, ‘It was a super hard weekend.  It was one of the hardest races going from being fastest in practice to struggling the first day of qualifying but we worked really hard to keep fighting for the win.  I don’t believe it was set-up.  We made changes and there was zero difference. Maybe it was the additive or cleaner we used but me & Alex had the same problem.  We made one week of work preparing and when we switch to race tyres everything changed but we fight to the end and even with the problems we got the win.  This is the hardest win of my career’.

‘I shouldn’t have backed off in A2’ was Lee’s reaction to finishing as the runner-up.  His first time to podium at the TITC he continued, ‘Obviously I am still with second but I was too close to winning’.  With the result decided by a tie-breaker, each driver having a win and a second and the fastest winning time the decider, Lee’s win was just 0.791 of a second slower.  On A3, in which he finished 5th, he said, ‘I tried to pass Alex (Hagberg) but he made no mistakes and I was stuck behind him all the way’.  Having led the Yokomo challenge all weekend, Lee said he was ‘happy’ to finish as the top Yokomo adding he hopes he can carry his momentum from the weekend into his next race which will be the first outdoor round of the current Euro Touring Series season which takes place in Spain in April.

The last non Xray driver to win at the TITC when he became champion in 2014, Volker said, ‘I have no idea how I should feel. I think I’m quite happy with 3rd after what happened on Friday but the whole weekend was crazy’. The World Champion went on to say, ‘I put on new tyres for A2 and was slowest of everybody’s lap time and then change to my A1 set and was totally on pace.  I did benefit from mistakes ahead of me to get the win, admittedly I would have been better if Nicolas could get the win’.  Set to go head to head next weekend in Germany with Coelho at the final carpet round of the ETS, he complimented his rival by saying ‘Congrats to Bruno as he didn’t have an easy weekend either’.

On a weekend when Infinity officially announced its EP program, Groskamp said, ‘I’m really happy, just with my performance.  It’s disappointing to finish 4th as it would have been nice to be on the podium with everyone supporting me here but the car was amazing’.  He continued, ‘I was all over Bruno but I just couldn’t get passed.  I knew he was in for the win and didn’t want to crash him again but it’s good he wins and I’m all over him’.  Having dominated the opening day of qualifying taking all three qualifiers, he said, ‘we were a bit unlucky here and there but I’m super happy with the cars performance and I think maybe I am the moral winner of this race’.  Behind Groskamp, Infinity team-mate Andy Moore would complete the Top 5.

In the other classes Jan Ratheisky took the TQ and win in Open Brushless 13.5 class ahead of local Kittipong with the podium being completed by the Tamiya of former TRF team-manager Kono Takayuki.  In Formula, the single 15-minute main having a mandatory tyre stop, it was Infinity driver Trin who took the win, thanks to a lightning quick pitstop, ahead of Serpent designer David Ehrbar and the Yokomo of Naoya Kitagawa with Top Qualifier Ratheisky fourth.  In the Front Wheel drive class Hong Kong legeng Stick King took the win while Non Boost 17.5 went to Patchara S. with Philippine driver Axo A. victorious in Tamiya Super GT.

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Lee wins A2 after Coelho & Hagberg errors

Nicholas Lee has won the second A-Main of the TITC, the Yokomo driver benefiting from errors from race leaders Bruno Coelho and Alexander Hagberg, both incidents delaying a very unlucky Jilles Groskamp.   From the start Groskamp had Coelho under intense pressure and on the fourth lap the Xray driver would roll trying to keep the door closed on the Infinity driver.  Trying to avoid the Top Qualifier, Groskamp would have to take to the infield allowing third place starter Hagberg into the lead but four laps later he would do almost a carbon copy of his team-mates error. With Groskamp all over the 2015 Champion, on the exact same corner Hagberg was also to roll again, Groskamp having to take evasive action only this time it would end his challenge for both the leg win and that ‘dream’ TITC victory that eludes him.  With Lee going to the front after the second incident he would pull clear to add a win to his A1 second place with Andy Moore, from 9th on the grid, finishing 2nd ahead of Infinity team-mate Chavit Sirigupta and Hagberg.

Guaranteed at least second overall with his A2 win, Lee said, ‘I just tried to be patient and show how I got to the front’. Going into the deciding round as one of three drivers who can win the 15th running of the famed Asia race, he continued, ‘my car has been good all weekend but I think it will be difficult starting from 4th’.  With Coelho having the faster race winning time, the defending champion only needs a second once Lee must get the win. The other potential winner, Moore, has already ruled himself out for the overall win describing his second place as ‘very lucky’.

Commenting on his error, Coelho said, ‘I don’t know if the track was slower or my set of tyres was from a bad batch but I came under a lot of pressure from Jilles and trying to keep a tight line I flipped on the curb on the fourth lap’.  Hagberg said he ‘struggled again with understeer’ adding, ‘I don’t have a good set-up now. It was worse than expected and I don’t know how to fix it’.   Groskamp kept his summary of the race short saying ‘I was super unlucky’, the Thai based Dutch driver adding, ‘It’s a real pity I have no chance to win now but everyone could see I was fast enough’.

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Easy A1 win for Coelho with frantic finish for 2nd

Bruno Coelho took an easy win in the opening A-Main of the TITC, the Top Qualifier able to fend off an early challenge from Jilles Groskamp to cruise home to a winning margin of over 6-seconds from Nicholas Lee.  While the leader had a straight forward race the battle for second would end more spectacular fashion as Yokomo team-mates Nicolas Lee and Ronald Volker reeled in a slowing Groskamp.  With a lack of race announcements creating confusion as what stage the race was at, Lee, thinking it was the last lap, would attempt a pass on Groskamp into the final corner.  Hitting the Infinity driver, causing the Dutchman a body tuck, then Volker, trying to capitalise on the incident, would hit his team-mate but the impact stripped his spur gear. Unfortunately for Volker, the race still had another lap to go.  With Lee thinking that the race was finished he initially stopped after his contact with Groskamp who continued but on hearing the crowd reaction continued on the lap but Groskamp would spin out allowing him to go by for second.  With the incident causing Groskamp’s last lap not to count the result would initially show Volker, with a 4:59.563, third but bringing the error to the attention of race control he was given back the lap demoting Volker a lap down to fourth.

‘As expected Jilles attacked at the beginning  but I was able to keep the door closed and after 1-minute I was able to pull away’. The ETS Champion continued, ‘I have not so much to say, I pulled away and then just tried to stay in front and I will try to do the same in the next one’.  In contrast team-mate Alexander Hagberg, who started third but finished last, was very frustrated by his race saying, ‘the car was completely un-drivable.  I could even turn and people could pass me around the outside’.

Summing up his race, which started from 4th on the grid, Lee said ‘it went well’. He continued, ‘Hagberg went wide and we got side by side and he was unlucky and went off.  Then I caught Jilles towards the end and I thought it was the last lap so I tried a move on Jilles and hit him but as we both crossed the line I thought the race was over.  Then I realised it wasn’t and went again.  That aside I am happy with the pace I had for the race and to get second was good’.

Groskamp said, ‘I had a good start and could easily follow Bruno but half way through I lost a lot of pace and the car started to push, it was the same as the last qualifier’.  He continued, ‘I decided to settle for second but the drop off got worse and Nico & Ronald could catch me’.  On the hectic finish, he said, ‘I was slower but it was not super nice from Nicolas and I hope the second one is not so rough’.  Also hoping he doesn’t ‘not have so much drop off’, he added, ‘shame I cant have the pace from Friday but still we will fight for the podium’.

‘The starting grid is crazy to avoid other cars’ said Volker, the 10 car grid lined up extremely close to one another given the size of the Infinity Addict Circuit straight.  He said going into the first corner with cars either side of him he ‘came out the best to go to the front with Nico (Nicolas Lee). We caught Jilles and Nico tried a move and I tried to benefit but hit someone and broke my spur gear’.  He concluded, ‘I could have been Top 3.  With my grid position it isn’t easy but I am very happy with my performance’.  Behind Volker, Akiyama would finish fourth.

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Coelho Top Qualifier at TITC

Bruno Coelho is the Top Qualifier at the TITC after an exciting final qualifier at Infinity Addict Circuit.  After taking both of yesterday’s qualifiers, Coelho was the only driver who could deny Jilles Groskamp his first overall TQ at the famous Asia race and initially it looked like the Infinity driver was about fill that void.   With Coelho’s Xray coming good from the mid race, the Portuguese driver would start to close the gap and as the heat entered the final minute it was apparent Groskamp was starting to struggle.  With Coelho already ahead on the timing screens, Groskamp’s would attempt to keep his dream alive running a tight line off the straight but clipping the curb flipped off the track. While all the attention was on Groskamp and Coelho, Alexander Hagberg was all the time closing on his team-mate but in the end came up 3/10ths short.  With Coelho and Groskamp sharing TQ runs each it was Coelho’s time from last night’s Q5 rocket round which would secure the defending champion his second consecutive TITC TQ.  With Groskamp second and Hagberg third, Nicolas Lee starts fourth as the best Yokomo ahead of Akio Sobue, whose attempt to try to take third on the grid from Hagberg didn’t materialise.  World Champion Ronald Volker would complete the Top 6 on the grid, the 2014 TITC winner very critical of the track conditions drivers faced in the final qualifier.

Reacting to taking the TQ Coelho said, ‘It was very good.  At the beginning Jilles pulled away a lot but as we knew from yesterday my car works better from the middle to the end. It was double fast compared to the others and I could catch Jilles.  He then made a mistake maybe because of the pressure I don’t know but for sure it is great to get the TQ again.’  Asked about the finals, the World Championship Top Qualifier replied, ‘It’s difficult to know because we have a new set of tyres and we don’t know what is waiting for us, it’s a lottery, each set is different’.  He continued, ‘I am not confident.  I’m confident in myself and my car, we will see what happens’.

‘A good job from Bruno but my tyres just switched off after 4-minutes’ was how Groskamp summed up the final qualifier.  Using the same set of tyres he used to TQ the opening two qualifiers, the 2012 World Champion said, ‘I was surprised at the beginning by my pace but suddenly I had not traction.  I think Xray have something better with their tyre preparation and that I was too heavy, too long with mine’.  He added that ‘running the tyres for a third time may also have added to how much they dropped off’.  Saying it was a ‘dream to TQ the TITC’ he added ‘2nd is OK because the outside is a good starting position (on this track)’ and ‘it’s a new game because we are all on new tyres so there are no strategies’.

Returning to the Xray cabin, Hagberg understandably looked pleased with his final qualifying performance.  The 2015 Champion said, ‘At the start it pushed a lot but then came in at the end.  I was closing at the end but it was not enough but I have a good starting position for the final’.  Describing the track as ‘pretty open’ and feeling ‘you can overtake in a few spots’, the Swede said, ‘It will be interesting to see how it goes with everyone on the same tyres.  We all start from zero’. Runner-up to team-mate Coelho last year he concluded, ‘I think I have a good car for the final and it was always good on new tyres’.

Lee felt he ‘drove better today’ but added ‘I needed 2nd for the round to start higher and couldn’t make it.  This was the best I could do because the track changes so much’. Asked about his expectations for the race, the Singapore driver said, ‘I have no idea, I think there is no space to overtake. I raced the Ride Cup race here 2-weeks ago ad there was no space to overtake’.

Changing his car from an aluminium chassis to a carbon chassis in an attempt to TQ the round to get 3rd on the grid, Sobue said he had too much understeer to challenge for the round.  Another driver who feels it will be ‘difficult to overtake’ in the final, the Infinity driver plans to remain on the carbon chassis but change how the car is set-up.

Getting a P6 for the final qualifier to improve his overnight P8 position in the ranking, Volker wanted to voice his opinions on the final qualifier in particular how it cost Thailand’s top international driver Meen Vejrak a spot in the A-Main.  The German said, ‘I’m pretty upset with how things went for Q6.  It was wrong to have no free practice to clean the track before the qualifier started and it meant the conditions were unfair as the qualifying round was the track cleaning and it was of course going to get faster every heat’.  Running in the second fastest heat after Day 1 tyre issues saw him reseeded out of the top heat, he said, ‘I can complain even more today about being in the second heat but I feel sorry for Meen as the track was way worse than the top two heats’.  Running in the third fastest heat, Vejrak who has been on the podium at his home race for the last three years, would top his heat but would end up 15th fastest, compared to a P5 yesterday in Q5, a result that puts him 2nd on the B-Main grid.  On his own performance, Volker said, ‘I couldn’t do much to get Top 5 (on the grid), my car & tyres actually fell alright.  As I expected yesterday I am mid pack and I can’t do much but like anyone starting 5th or 6th I can just hope there is some incidents ahead of me’.

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