May 26, 2019

Volker & Wilck match each other with 10th round wins

The tenth round of racing at the Reedy Race of Champion saw title rivals Ronald Volker and Viktor Wilck match each other as they both came through the field of their respective heats to add another race win.  Separated by 1-point going into the final round of Day 2’s action at Steel City RC Speedway that is how the gap remains in the overnight standings with 2 rounds to go but whether they go ahead is in the hands of mother nature.  With the general conscious from various weather apps being that no racing will happen tomorrow due to forecast overnight rain, should that be the case Volker will be crowned Reedy Race Champion for a fourth time but if racers wake up to dry conditions in Fontana tomorrow morning its all to play for for Wilck. While Volker is sure to be doing his best rain dance and Wilck wishing for a dry day, for defending champion Marc Rheinard which ever way it swings he is set to give up his title with 3rd place on the podium.

Not comfortable with congratulations given to him by members of the Infinity team, asked about his latest race Volker said, ‘I took a hard hit going into the first corner but somehow the car stayed rubber side down and I was able to recover.  This time was the best the car has been all day so I was able to close the gap and make some moves to eventually get the win’.  Asked about the possibilities of a fourth title, he replied, ‘tomorrow there is a high chance of rain so we will have to wait and see how things look but I’m ok with the weather forecast being correct’.

Contesting his first Reedy Race with reigning manufacturers champions Infinity, Wilck said, ‘It was a perfect race again.  I just feel I needed to get more races against Ronald’.  With four wins compared to Volker’s five and accepting defeat to his rival, he continued, ‘Congrats to him. He made the most of his car. It was not perfect, our’s was better but we didn’t maximise our results.  The big one was this morning when I hit the two cars’.  With a small number of people reporting that their weather app was showing a dry morning Wilck said, ‘It would be nice if its dry tomorrow but on my phone it does look good, let see’.

View the event image gallery here.

May 26, 2019

Reedy Race Champion set to be decided in Round 10

This year’s Touring Car Reedy Race Champion looks set to be decided this evening in the 10th round of racing at new venue Steel City RC Speedway.  Originally scheduled to run over 12 rounds of racing, rain is looking increasingly likely to wash out Sunday’s 2 remaining rounds meaning the Champion of the 22nd running of the legendary race will be decided between former champion Ronald Volker and Viktor Wilck in today’s final round of heads up racing.  Just one point separates Wilck from longtime points leader Volker after the former finished 2nd in front of his rival in the Round 9 encounter – Brandon Clements winning the heat from the pole as the big battles happened behind the American.  With Marc Rheinard finishing second in the other encounter behind second time heat winner Nicholas Lee, and Akio Sibue only fourth, the 7-time defending champion now looks almost certain relinquish the Mike Reedy perpetual trophy with a podium finish.

Needing nothing but a win to try to regain the title he won back in 2012, on his Round 9 performance Wilck said, ‘the car was really good but I just took too long to get to the front’.  The Infinity driver continued, ‘the (grid) system is the problem because for the last round Ronald will drive alone again’ – the Swede meaning that his rival is in the easier of the two heats. He added, ‘It really a shame what happened in the morning run because with that result I would have already won overall. I will try my best in the last one but it’s a big ask as even if I win Ronald only needs a second and he will win on the tie break’.

Commenting on his race, Volker said, ‘At least Viktor didn’t get the win.  When I was passing a few guys he got by me. I was still lacking steering so I couldn’t fight back and now it comes down to the last one’.  The Yokomo driver concluded, ‘I hope we can improve the car and fight for the single point’ – 1 point awarded for a race win.

View the event image gallery here.

May 26, 2019

Wilck puts himself back in hunt with Round 8 win

Having conceded defeat after the seventh round when, going head to head with Ronald Volker, him finishing second behind the points leader, Viktor Wilck has put himself back in the game with a win in Round 8 at the Reedy Race of Champions.  The Infinity driver added his third win of the event when from fourth on the grid he found a way passed Meen Vejrak, Ryan Cavalieri and team-mate Marc Rheinard for the crucial win.  Lining up in the other encounter, Volker could only manage 3rd from fourth on the grid, the result the Yokomo driver’s second worst finish of the event.  On the points table, Wilck is now 2-points off Volker with 4-scheduled rounds of racing remaining however with bad weather forecast for tomorrow it is widely expected that the 22nd running of the Reedy Race will be determined on 10 rounds. For Wilck this means he needs wins from today’s remaining two runs, with Volker currently having the advantage of more wins should the tie break be called into play.  Winning the race in which Volker was running, Akio Sobue’s second win of the day moves him into contention for a podium finish with that battle set to be between him and team-mate & defending champion Rheinard.

‘At least now we have a small chance. It’s still open’, was Wilck’s reaction after the latest round.  The former Champion continued, ‘we just need some more rounds with Ronald.  He has one more win than me so I need to go for wins. Again I start behind him in the next one but my car is really good, so I’ll be going for it’.

Volker said, ‘I had a lot of understeer for some reason. I couldn’t fight at all but at least I got a P3 on the last lap’.  Looking to claim a 4th Reedy Race title, asked if he knew the reason for the understeer he replied, ‘it’s hard to tell if it was the change to the car or the track.  This round was the highest the wind has been since we’ve been here’.

Sobue echoed Volker’s thoughts on the wind, the Japanese driver saying, ‘it was more windy and this made the track feel different’.  He added, ‘my car was easy to drive but I was lucky that Nicholas, JJ and Ronald were fighting with each other as it took the pressure off me’.  Only 1-point off third place in the points, last year’s podium finisher said, ‘the top two are out of reach but I will try to fight Marc for the podium’.

View the event image gallery here.