Rheinard first repeat winner at Reedy Race

Having taken a win in the opening round of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions Marc Rheinard has become the first repeat winner as he held off Christopher Krapp in Race 2 of the third round.  Starting from the outside of the front row, the Infinity driver got the jump and broke clear quickly but once Krapp found a way passed pole sitter Randy Caster, he quickly reeled in his fellow countryman.  In the end however Krapp got caught at the loop allowing Rheinard to take a victory lap with JJ Wang finishing a close third.  Following Rheinard’s win all the attention was on what Ronald Volker could do in Race 3.  Starting from pole position Reinard’s team-mate Jilles Groskamp would become the day’s 8th different winner keeping Volker in second which leaves the duo even on points at the top of the standing – Rheinard having 2 wins and a 3rd compared with a win and 2 second places for Volker.  In the opening race of the round Ryan Cavalieri came through from 3rd to post his first win followed by pole sitter Barry Baker who had a good battle holding off Jan Ratheisky.

‘I was on the limit’, was Rheinard’s reaction after win No.2.  The reigning 6-time Reedy Champion added, ‘It was a tough one but the result was perfect, every point is important’.  Explaining why it was such a tough race, the German said, ‘I had to fight with the car. I had a lot of understeer. I made a good start and with Randy behind me it took a while till Krappi went by and that’s what allowed me win’.

Summing up his win, Groskamp said, ‘it especially nice when I can keep Ronald behind me.  I had good pace and he didn’t come too close. The pace is there and the speed of the car is good so I’m happy’.  The former World Champion added, ‘it was windy now and sometimes it caused one of us to go wide.  The win is good but better because I beat Ronald, and it was good too for Marc.  It’s nice to start the first day with a win especially because my heats today are pretty tough. There is still a lot of racing to go’.

Commenting on his race, Volker said, ‘I got a decent start and was able to get 2nd quickly behind Jilles.  It took time to close the gap but then the wind caught me two times in the wrong spot and blew me off line and that ended my race for the win’.  Changing cars for Round 3 in anticipation of the sun finally showing itself at Tamiya Raceway, he said the aluminium chassis was pushing and not as good as his first carbon chassis car.  He said while conditions were sunnier, the wind negated the benefits the car change should have brought.

Claiming the first win for the American drivers, Cavalieri said his race ‘wasn’t too bad’ but quickly added, ‘we need to make more changes’.  Asked where he felt his Associated could be improved, the offroad ace replied, ‘I don’t feel super comfortable. Finally we are racing in the sun but the weather is playing a role in making it hard to make the right decisions with set-up but I hope we can get it right for the next one’.

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Wins for Sobue, Wang and Wilck in RROC 2nd round

The second round of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions produced an all new batch of winners with Akio Sobue, JJ Wang and Viktor Wilck registering their first wins of the event.  In the first of the 3 encounters, Infinity’s Sobue recovered from a first lap altercation with the Tamiya Raceway’s kink to come from the back to win ahead of Meen Vejrak. Also recovering from an early incident, when he caught the kernbing in the sweeper and rolled, Christopher Krapp completed the Top 3 ahead of pole sitter Keven Hebert.  Having failed to start in Round 1, Xray’s JJ Wang would bounce back in the best way possible take the Race 2 win ahead of Jilles Groskamp and Nicolas Lee while pole sitter & offroad ace Ryan Cavalieri had a tough race dropping back to 6th.  The main attention however would be on the stacked Race 3 in which both title favourites Marc Rheinard and Ronald Volker lined up against Wilck.  Both Wilck and Volker had bad starts while Rheinard got things wrong in the chicane while holding third.  This and an incident between Volker and Barry Baker played into the hands of the recovering Wilck he would take the win ahead of Volker, with whom he now shares the points lead together with Sobue.  A disappointing race for Rheinard given he started ahead of his title rivals he would have to settle for third.

Commenting on his win, Wilck said, ‘It was a good result but I got lucky with incidents and traffic’.  Starting the race 6th on the grid, the Serpent driver continued, ‘I made an ok start but got hit at the first corner and was at the back again but they crash a lot in front of me so it was possible to come back’.  Showing good speed in practice and taking second to Rheinard in Round 1, the Swede said his car was ‘ok but needs to be a little faster to fight’.  With his best lap time slower than that of both Volker and Rheinard he said, ‘the car is really stable but needs a little more so we will try a different setting in the front for the next one’.

‘That was a competitive round and we came away with valuable points’,  was Volker’s reaction after Round 2 of 12.  The Yokomo driver said, ‘I made a bad start off the line and was last.  The number 7 spot is too far in and it’s dirty but I started to get positions back.  When I passed Randy (Caster) he accidentally ht me and spun me so I was at the back again.  Later I had an incident with Barry (Baker) and got very emotional but we cleared everything after’.  He continued, ‘Marc and me then ran toe to toe trying to reduce the gap to Viktor but we didn’t have enough time to put pressure on him’.  Getting by Rheinard when he went wide in the middle of the race, he concluded, ‘the car was on pace and 2-points is a good result’.

Rheinard summed up his race as ‘a bad result’ adding ‘it was my own fault’.  The defending champion continued, ‘ it started ok but I had one stupid mistake at the chicane and went onto the green while I was second.  Then the tyres were dirty and I had no grip Viktor dived down my inside.  Then I hit someone and Ronald went by so not a great race for me’.

‘Not perfect because we were in a rush to make the start but it was a good comeback’, was Wang’s reaction to his win.  Suffering an unknown electrical issue that meant he couldn’t start Round 1, the Chinese American said, ‘we changed everything possible and because it was a rush the car didn’t feel perfect but after our bad start I’m glad that things worked out that round’.  Looking to Round 3 he said, ‘I will look through things (on the car) and take my time so we do things right’.

Commenting on his race, Sobue said, ‘I had to comeback because I jumped the kink on the first lap but luckily everyone made mistakes or crashed.  I made back the positions but didn’t make so many overtakes’.  With the fastest car in his race, the Japanese driver said, ‘the car is good but the next one I start 8th so it will be a difficult race but I hope to move up some places’.

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Champion Rheinard opens 21st Reedy Race with win

Reigning Champion Marc Rheinard has opened the 21st running of the Reedy Race of Champions in the best way possible winning the opening race of the first round of racing at Tamiya Raceway in California.  Starting on pole for the opening race, the Infinity driver took an easy win ahead of no.2 starter Viktor Wilck with Christopher Krapp moving up one place to complete the Top 3 ahead of Jilles Groskamp.  Posting the fastest winning time of the 3 races, Rheinard was also the only driver to post an 11-second lap with the best lap of 11.958.  Race 2 of the opening round would produce the best lead battle with Andy Moore coming under intense pressure from Infinity team-mate Akio Sobue but the pole sitter held on for the win despite the pair making contact a number of times. Behind Xray’s Jan Ratheisky completed the Top 3 from 5th on the grid. After a delayed started to Race 3, JJ Wang having an electrical issue that prevented the Xray driver who second fastest in practice yesterday from taking the start, it would be Ronald Volker who came out on top.  Fastest in practice yesterday, the Yokomo driver started third behind team-mates Meen Vejrak and Nicholas Lee who was on pole.  A great pass around the outside of Lee moved Volker up to second and that soon became the lead when Vejrak became the first casualty of the kink. Rick Hohwart would come through for second from P5 on the grid as Lee and Vejrak battled for third, Lee holding on for the position.

‘For sure a good start because after yesterday I was pretty worried for the first round’, was Rheinard’s reaction to what turned out to be an easy win.  Chasing a 7th RROC title, he continued, ‘it was a pretty difficult heat with Viktor starting beside me and Chrissi behind me because he was quick in practice but I could feel from the start the car was working better than yesterday’.  Making changes to the car’s PRS settings and also a diff change he said these gave the car ‘good corner speed’, adding ‘I’m happy with the car now, the pace is there and this was an important win’.

Making a return to the Reedy Race after a two year break, commenting on his win Moore said, ‘Having a front row start I knew it was likely to be a battle between me and Akio’.  The former World Champion continued, ‘it was super loose but I held on and a win is a win.  It is still cold and my set-up is not quite right for cooler conditions but it was fun to battle with Akio and he was fair when we touched. It was a good start to the weekend’.

‘A better start than usual, I have never had a win in the first round before’, was how Volker summed up his opening win.  The World Champion went on, ‘I tried to take it easy at the beginning and was just following for the first 2 or 3 laps.  Then I was able to get the lead and saw the others were in fights behind me so I took it easy to save tyres for the next one’.  He continued, ‘it is still cold so it is tough in the beginning. It is similar to yesterday so my car is good and I will stick with for the next one’.

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Volker set pace ahead of 21st Reedy Race of Champions

With the 21st running of the Reedy Race of Champions getting underway tomorrow with the first of 12 rounds of heads up racing over 3 days it was Ronald Volker who set the pace in practice today at Tamiya Raceway.  The final time the legendary race will take place at the iconic track which come September will no longer be, a wet surface greeted competitors this morning resulting a 2-hour delay to the start of practice.  While the track dried, drivers faced much cooler conditions than normal as the sun never managed to break through the thick cloud cover with it particularly cold for the 4th and final round of practice.  Fastest both in outright lap time and over 3-consecutive laps, Volker led the way from JJ Wang with Christopher Krapp third quickest.  For reigning champion Marc Rheinard the day would end with him 5th fastest with him declaring he is ‘not as confident as I was after practice last year’.

‘Practice was good for the team but this race is not only about pace but also having luck in the race. Anyway, so far it is a good start’, was Volker’s reaction to topping the times.  The World Champion continued, ‘I ran two cars and both had good pace so depending on the conditions of the track I can swap cars to suit’.  Asked about today’s colder than usual conditions the Yokomo driver said, ‘we are not allowed tyre warmers and the tyre compound is a little hard for the temperatures today so it took a couple of laps to get them working. Normally the evening time should be the faster but it was slower, these tyres are not for when it is that cold’.

Summing up his day, Wang said practice had gone ‘not bad’.  Joking ‘I didn’t hit the kink’, the track’s infamous kink ending many driver’s quest for glory, the Xray driver said his main focus was ‘trying to get comfortable with the car’.  ‘Trying different stuff throughout the day’ with car set-up he said, ‘the track changed over the day which made it much harder to find a set-up but I think we have a good base now’.  Given the RROC heads up race format he concluded, ‘but tomorrow is going to be a different story’.

Krapp said, ‘Overall practice was good. It started out well and I knew what to do for this track as it is my fourth time here so I focused on getting into a rhythm as the car was working fine’.  The German who finished runner-up to his Yokomo team-mate Volker in 2016, continued, ‘my pace is good and also is Ronald’s so we are race ready but hopefully we will get some sunshine for the racing’.

‘Pretty decent’ was how Viktor Wilck summed up his performance after ending practice 4th fastest.  The Serpent driver, who made the podium last year, added, ‘we tested some small things all day and think we know what to run tomorrow to have a safe car’.  He went on, ‘Ronald is a little faster but after him it is very close’.  On the challenge of the today’s cold conditions the Swede said, ‘it made the car very loose at the beginning so we will need to do a good warm up before the start but hopefully its warmer tomorrow so its not as big an issue’.

Chasing his 7th Reedy Race title and wanting to win for the final race on what is one of his favourite tracks, Rheinard said, ‘the biggest problem is it is really really cold and the tyres take a long time to get up to temperature. It is hard to say exactly were we are at but I am not as confident as I was after practice last year’.  The Infinity driver continued, ‘I have no feeling in the car and the pace is not where I want it to be’.  He concluded, ‘I hope it warms up for the racing’.  Behind Rheinard, 2015 podium finisher Meen Vejrak completed the Top 6.

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