January 8, 2010

Volker gets No.1 spot for qualifying

VolkerNaoto-LR

Ronald Volker has claimed the No.1 spot for qualifying after he set the fastest super pole pace here in Denmark in the fourth round of practice for the 2010 DHI Cup. Originally set to be the last round of free practice, the organisers have decided to the move the first round of qualifying to the morning and instead give drivers the chance to run in their new reseeded groups.

Volker took his Yokomo to an average of 16.252 over three consecutive laps to top Xray’s Teemu Leino but in terms of outright pace it was still the Finn who was quickest, setting a new fastest lap of 16.088.  Although not a member of the Tamiya team it is former factory Kyosho driver Steen Graversen who completes the Top 3 in the reseed ahead of last years Top Qualifier Alexander Hagberg.  Next up are two current World Champions with the 1:12 title holder Naoto Matsukura and his Yokomo getting the better of Touring Car title holder and defending DHI Cup champion Marc Rheinard whose average of 16.446 puts him sixth. Christer Andersson is the top Associated in seventh.

Armed with only his car and transmitter, which he luckily carried in his hand luggage, Corally team driver Marc Fisher is doing a good job and was classified ninth in the super pole run.  The German has been running around the pits all day borrowing bits and pieces from fellow racers after his main luggage was lost by his airline.  Having to paint up a new bodyshell for practice, Fisher, who finished 4th here last year, is hopeful the missing bag will be here in time for the first round of qualifying in the morning.

In Pro Stock Tommy Bergfeldt was again the class of the field but the defending champion was unable to improve on his Practice 3 time.  His closest rival Alexander Stocker, who has been switching between his regular Hot Bodies chassis and a Yokomo today, produced his best lap of the event last time out with Cyclone but the man who has become accustomed to dominating Pro Stock racing on carpet is still not 100% happy with his pace.

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January 8, 2010

Leino fastest for Xray

LeinoP3-LR

After three rounds of free practice for the 2010 DHI Cup it is Team Xray’s Teemu Leino who is at the top of the time sheets here in Odense with his Team Orion powered T3 recording a best lap time of 16.559.  The former European Champion says he has done little with the set-up on his car and is just waiting for the traction levels to come up on the brand new carpet.  Asked about the track design for the 10th Anniversary of the famous Danish race, the Finn said that it was very tight compared with last year but it was the same for everyone.

Second fastest is 2007 winner Ronald Volker who managed a 16.623 lap time with his LRP powered Yokomo.  The German has been playing with a number of little set ups on his BD5 and plans further changes for the final round of practice as he would like to make the car a little easier to drive. Behind Volker it is the very much on form young Finnish driver Christer Andersson.  The winner of the warm-up race for the up coming European Indoor Championships in Finland and the Italian Grand Prix, the young Associated driver is running a self modified chassis which has the motor positioned more towards the centre line than the standard TC5.

Last year’s Top Qualifier Alexander Hagberg is fourth fastest with his Xray.  The Swede struggled in the opening two sessions but said the third run was OK and that he is confident better is to come.

Running his privately entered Tamiya which features a self designed motor mount, local star Steen Graversen said the car was running fine.  Having conducted some extensive testing over the last few weeks the Dane who was a podium finisher here in 2008 said he will remove some screws for the fourth and final practice to get more flex in the car. Former champion Viktor Wilck completed the Top 6 with a best time of 16.924.

Defending DHI Cup Champion Marc Rheinard lies a rather lowly 19th on the time sheets but the German is not too worried yet! The World Champion said the set-up on his Speed Passion powered Tamiya TRF416X is for sure not brilliant but he feels he is heading in the right direction with the set-up.

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In Pro Stock defending Champion Tommy Bergfeldt again set the pace improving to a lap time of 17.214, topping fellow Hot Bodies driver Alexander Stocker.  The Swedish driver, who enjoys support from Red Bull, made the slightest of changes to his Cyclone for the last run shimming out the top mounting point for the rear shocks which he said made the car a little more stable.  Fellow countryman Ola Westholm driving a TOP Photon is third fastest on a 17.776.

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January 8, 2010

DHI Cup celebrates 10th birthday

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10 years ago a guy by the name of Kim Bendiksen decided that instead of chauffeuring his friend Jonas Kaerup around Europe all the time that maybe it would be possible to get the top international drivers to come to Denmark for a change.  Naming the event after his r/c distribution business, Dansk Hobby Import, the DHI Cup was born in 2001. The entry for the inaugural event was not what Kim had hoped for but he didn’t give up on the idea of Denmark having an annual international race. Instead he made a promise to the drivers that if he got over 100 entries for the 2002 event he would make trophy girls a feature of the event.  The incentive worked and the event has gone from strength to strength to become one of the major touring car races in the World.

The previous 9 running’s of the DHI Cup have produced seven different winners and four of them are back here this weekend as serious contenders for victory of the 10th Anniversary race.  Heading that line up is defending champion Marc Rheinard who is one of only two drivers to have won the event twice.  He is joined by Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck who took his first ever international race win here in 2008. Ronald Volker, Champion in 2007, is here as part of a very strong Yokomo line up with 2003 winner Juho Levanen the other past winner present here this weekend at the impressive Odense Congress Center.

As always all the big teams are present but one team out in force this weekend is Yokomo.  The Japanese company have a real quality line up with Volker being joined by current 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukura, former 1:10 Off Road World Champion Hayato Matsuzaki and the latest recruit to the team, former European Championship Top Qualifier Steven Weiss. Yukijiro Umino who showed great speed on his last visit to Europe when he finished second at the Euro Touring Series race in Hungary will carry the hopes of the Yokomo team in Pro Stock.

Heading the entry for the 94-strong field of Pro Stock drivers is defending Champion Tommy Bergfeldt.  The Swede dominated proceedings here 12 months ago winning from pole position and after the opening two rounds of practice finds himself at the top of the time sheets ahead of Alexander Stocker and last year’s runner up Henry Salmén.

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New for this year’s event is the new pre-glued controlled VTEC CPX tyre from LRP which has been specially developed for indoor carpet racing.  With two rounds of practice just completed, and a racing line starting to appear on the brand new carpet, we can expect to get a good indication of who is at what and who has a little more to do ahead of the first round of qualifying which will bring Day 1 of the 2010 DHI Cup to a close.

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August 23, 2009

20 years on & Collari still top of the World

The weather forced us to wait a day longer than originally planned but today we got to witness another great World title drive from the master of 1:8 Onroad racing Lamberto Collari and see just why he is the greatest 1:8 driver off all time. Starting the one hour final from second, the Italian drove the perfect race taking his ninth title 20-years on from when he claimed his very first World Championship. Taking the challenge to Top Qualifier, and the only true danger man, Robert Pietsch in the opening part of the race Collari hit cruise control once he had forced problems on the German. In the end the Kyosho/Novarossi driver took a very comfortable two lap winning margin over American Mike Swauger who came out top of the biggest battle of the race to claim second over former Champion Adrien Bertin.

Following Pietsch for the opening part of the race Collari, who was on longer runs between fuelling than the other nine drivers, caught everyone by surprise with his early pace in particular Pietsch. The Mugen driver was forced to push much harder than planned as Collari, who set the fastest lap of the 1 hour final, chased him down. This extra pace meant both higher fuel consumption and tyre wear for Pietsch and in the end this was to bring an end to his challenge. At mid point of the race Pietsch’s car flamed out as he tried to hang onto Collari. Afterwards Collari was quick to praise the key role played by his pit crew, Andrea Gardini and Luca Poggiali, in helping him to claim the title today. Described as the Ross Brawn of the operation, Poggiali’s strategy just left the opposition with little or no chance, with Collari handed a 7 second extension every 20 minutes thanks to his 5 minute fuel stop stategy.

Runner up Swauger said he obviously came here wanting to win but was pleased with his result considering the man that finished in front of him and his lack of experience on European tracks which he said are completely different to the flat tracks in his home country. After a bad start and his engine needing to be leaned off during the first stop, the Mugen driver said once he settled into a rhythm the race went pretty much as planned. Working his way back up through the field he was part of the biggest battle of the race eventually getting the upper hand over Bertin. Having struggled in qualifying and having to come through from the 1/4 finals, Bertin said he wasn’t surprised by his podium. Having found the problem with his Team Orion powered Kyosho in time for the 1/4 Finals, which he won, the Frenchman said he had the package to beat Swauger for second but in the end it was his physical condition that let him down. Throughout the championships Bertin has suffered with a painful right arm but after the race he paid tribute to Collari saying the best driver won.

Missing out on a podium finish Pietsch was justifiably feeling low about the outcome of the delayed race. Having been the pace setter all week claiming the TQ honours and recording the outright fastest lap of the week, he said Collari’s speed in the early part of the race had caught them out and forced them to change strategy. Disappointed at not even making the podium he said he can take some consolation from the fact he was the only driver to challenge Collari for the victory.

For the other two direct qualifiers the race was a difficult one. Starting from third Alberto Picco said he just didn’t have the set-up to challenge for a podium placing. The Italian felt his Picco powered Mugen was very good in the 1 hour practice yesterday and he was confident of a good race. However this morning his car didn’t suit the conditions and despite changes in the 4-minute warm-up before the final he couldn’t get the car to work. Contact in the early part of the race saw him roll and chunk his rear right tyre. Trying to continue till his scheduled fuel stop he went off onto the grass losing a lot of time as the now wet tyres, from the morning dew, had no traction. In the end Picco finished fifth, six seconds adrift of Pietsch with the Motonica of Dario Balestri completing the Top 6.

Carrying all the hopes of the Serpent team in the final, Mark Green was disappointed to finish 8th. Having claimed his first ever direct qualification to a World Final, starting from fourth, the British ace got tagged a number of times on the opening lap and said his frustration got the better of him and he went off onto the wet grass. Having had to switch to an emergency engine from Novarossi, after problems with his other motors in the warm up yesterday, Green said his 966 and engine was great but his driving was the weakness today.

Final Official results
1. Collari Lamberto (IT) – 172 Laps in 1:00:19.212
2. Swauger Mike (US) – 170 Laps in 1:00:04.276
3. Bertin Adrien (FR) – 170 Laps in 1:00:11.468
4. Pietsch Robert (DE) – 169 Laps in 1:00:14.138
5. Picco Alberto (IT) – 169 Laps in 1:00:20.582
6. Balestri Dario (IT) – 167 Laps in 59:58.875
7. Shimo Takaaki (JP) – 167 Laps in 1:00:06.954
8. Green Mark (EN) – 166 Laps in 1:00:09.586
9. Vrielijnck Rick (NL) – 165 Laps in 1:00:10.562
10.D’hondt Robin (BE) – 164 Laps in 1:00:01.518

Click here for full final standings.

So the two year count down to the next 1:8 Onroad World Championship is already underway when the World’s best drivers will travel to the USA. Rumoured to being hosted at Kissimmee R/C Raceway in Florida, all the team’s need to go back to the drawing board if they are to deny the master, who still has the hunger for success, his 10th title. RedRC would like say ‘grazie’ to everyone at the Mini Racing Ticino E Moesa club for their help throughout our enjoyable stay at what is the most picturesque track settings in the world. Thanks also to Serpent and Mugen for making our coverage of this great event possible.

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August 23, 2009

Collari claims 9th World title

Lamberto Collari has claimed a ninth World title after cruising to a two lap winning margin this morning at the 17th IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championships here in Lostallo, Switzerland.  The Italian ran a perfect race winning ahead of American Mike Swauger and former World Champion Adrien Bertin.  Top Qualifier Robert Pietsch pushed Collari at the start but flamed out ending his chances of a first title and ended the one hour race in fourth.

Final Result
1. Collari
2. Swauger
3. Bertin
4. Pietsch
5. Picco
6. Balestri
7. Shimo
8. Green
9. Vrielijnck
10.D’hondt

Full report to follow shortly.